Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Jan joined Food Tank and the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University for *The Power and Peril of Food*, a bipartisan discussion bringing together researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and advocates to examine how nutrition may influence mental health, memory, chronic disease, and longevity.
The panel covered a lot of ground, from ultra-processed foods and chronic disease to nutrition research, prevention, healthy aging, and the growing evidence connecting food and mental health. Speakers included U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy and Roger Marshall, Calley Means of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Dariush Mozaffarian of the Food is Medicine Institute, Ashley Gearhardt of the University of Michigan, Eric Verdin of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Uma Naidoo of Massachusetts General Hospital, and Food Tank President Danielle Nierenberg.
A few weeks ago, Metabolic Mind founder and Baszucki Group president Jan Ellison Baszucki took the conversation about metabolic health to Capitol Hill.
Jan brought metabolic psychiatry into that broader conversation by sharing her family’s experience with serious mental illness. After five years of hospitalizations, dozens of mental health professionals, and 29 psychiatric medications, Jan’s son began medically supervised ketogenic therapy for his bipolar disorder. Within a few months, the family watched Matthew experience major improvements and ultimately reaching remission from his symptoms.
That personal experience helped shape the work of Baszucki Group and Metabolic Mind. Baszucki Group has since invested in research investigating ketogenic therapy for serious mental illness, while Metabolic Mind works to amplify the science, clinical experience, and lived experiences emerging from the field.
On Capitol Hill, Jan’s message was also about what comes next. Philanthropy can help launch promising research, but building a rigorous evidence base requires sustained public investment. She called for greater federal support to investigate nutrition, metabolism, and serious mental illness alongside the other areas of health represented on the panel.
It was encouraging to see metabolic psychiatry represented in a much larger conversation about the role food can play in human health, and to see that conversation happening with researchers, health leaders, and policymakers in the same room.
👉 Learn more about published and ongoing research going into metabolic psychiatry and severe mental illness on our active trials page:
Clinical Evidence: metabolicmind.org/resources/science/clinical-evidence
Active Trials: metabolicmind.org/resources/science/active-trials
🔎 Have questions about how to apply metabolic therapies effectively? Submit them at metabolicmind.org/questions to be featured in a future Metabolic Mailbag episode.
#MetabolicMind #KetogenicTherapy #BipolarDisorder
*Expert Featured:*
Jan Ellison Baszucki, President, Baszucki Group
- https://x.com/janellison
- instagram.com/jan_ellison_baszucki
- linkedin.com/in/janellisonbaszucki
- metabolicmind.org/team/jan-ellison-baszucki
gstatic.com/youtube/img/watch/social_media/twitter_1x_v2.png
*Resources Mentioned:*
*National and State Societal Costs of Schizophrenia in the US in 2024*
jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2844333?guestAccessKey=05bd5849-db07-4eae-b166-379341542e3b
- metabolicmind.org/resources/science/clinical-evidence
- Additional resources
- metabolicmind.org/thinksmart/explore-strategies/matt-baszucki
- youtube.com/@matthewbaszucki
Follow our channel for more information and education from Bret Scher, MD, FACC, including interviews with leading experts in Metabolic Psychiatry.
Learn more about metabolic psychiatry and find helpful resources at metabolicmind.org
About us:
Metabolic Mind is a non-profit initiative of Baszucki Group working to transform the study and treatment of mental disorders by exploring the connection between metabolism and brain health. We leverage the science of metabolic psychiatry and personal stories to offer education, community, and hope to people struggling with mental health challenges and those who care for them.
*Timestamps:*
0:00 - The $300 Billion Cost of Schizophrenia & Why Mental Health Research Funding Matters
0:43 - Jan Ellison Baszucki's Family Story: Her Son's First Manic Psychotic Episode
1:07 - Four Hospitalizations, 29 Psychiatric Medications & Five Years in the Mental Health System
2:26 - When "Stable" Wasn't Enough: Searching Beyond Standard Bipolar Disorder Treatment
3:08 - Discovering Dr. Chris Palmer & Starting a Medically Supervised Ketogenic Diet
3:37 - Full Remission from Bipolar Symptoms with Therapeutic Nutritional Ketosis
4:05 - Why Ketogenic Therapy for Serious Mental Illness Needs More NIH Research Funding
Jan joined Food Tank and the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University for *The Power and Peril of Food*, a bipartisan discussion bringing together researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and advocates to examine how nutrition may influence mental health, memory, chronic disease, and longevity.
The panel covered a lot of ground, from ultra-processed foods and chronic disease to nutrition research, prevention, healthy aging, and the growing evidence connecting food and mental health. Speakers included U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy and Roger Marshall, Calley Means of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Dariush Mozaffarian of the Food is Medicine Institute, Ashley Gearhardt of the University of Michigan, Eric Verdin of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Uma Naidoo of Massachusetts General Hospital, and Food Tank President Danielle Nierenberg.
A few weeks ago, Metabolic Mind founder and Baszucki Group president Jan Ellison Baszucki took the conversation about metabolic health to Capitol Hill.
Jan brought metabolic psychiatry into that broader conversation by sharing her family’s experience with serious mental illness. After five years of hospitalizations, dozens of mental health professionals, and 29 psychiatric medications, Jan’s son began medically supervised ketogenic therapy for his bipolar disorder. Within a few months, the family watched Matthew experience major improvements and ultimately reaching remission from his symptoms.
That personal experience helped shape the work of Baszucki Group and Metabolic Mind. Baszucki Group has since invested in research investigating ketogenic therapy for serious mental illness, while Metabolic Mind works to amplify the science, clinical experience, and lived experiences emerging from the field.
On Capitol Hill, Jan’s message was also about what comes next. Philanthropy can help launch promising research, but building a rigorous evidence base requires sustained public investment. She called for greater federal support to investigate nutrition, metabolism, and serious mental illness alongside the other areas of health represented on the panel.
It was encouraging to see metabolic psychiatry represented in a much larger conversation about the role food can play in human health, and to see that conversation happening with researchers, health leaders, and policymakers in the same room.
👉 Learn more about published and ongoing research going into metabolic psychiatry and severe mental illness on our active trials page:
Clinical Evidence: metabolicmind.org/resources/science/clinical-evidence
Active Trials: metabolicmind.org/resources/science/active-trials
🔎 Have questions about how to apply metabolic therapies effectively? Submit them at metabolicmind.org/questions to be featured in a future Metabolic Mailbag episode.
#MetabolicMind #KetogenicTherapy #BipolarDisorder
*Expert Featured:*
Jan Ellison Baszucki, President, Baszucki Group
- https://x.com/janellison
- instagram.com/jan_ellison_baszucki
- linkedin.com/in/janellisonbaszucki
- metabolicmind.org/team/jan-ellison-baszucki
gstatic.com/youtube/img/watch/social_media/twitter_1x_v2.png
*Resources Mentioned:*
*National and State Societal Costs of Schizophrenia in the US in 2024*
jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2844333?guestAccessKey=05bd5849-db07-4eae-b166-379341542e3b
- metabolicmind.org/resources/science/clinical-evidence
- Additional resources
- metabolicmind.org/thinksmart/explore-strategies/matt-baszucki
- youtube.com/@matthewbaszucki
Follow our channel for more information and education from Bret Scher, MD, FACC, including interviews with leading experts in Metabolic Psychiatry.
Learn more about metabolic psychiatry and find helpful resources at metabolicmind.org
About us:
Metabolic Mind is a non-profit initiative of Baszucki Group working to transform the study and treatment of mental disorders by exploring the connection between metabolism and brain health. We leverage the science of metabolic psychiatry and personal stories to offer education, community, and hope to people struggling with mental health challenges and those who care for them.
*Timestamps:*
0:00 - The $300 Billion Cost of Schizophrenia & Why Mental Health Research Funding Matters
0:43 - Jan Ellison Baszucki's Family Story: Her Son's First Manic Psychotic Episode
1:07 - Four Hospitalizations, 29 Psychiatric Medications & Five Years in the Mental Health System
2:26 - When "Stable" Wasn't Enough: Searching Beyond Standard Bipolar Disorder Treatment
3:08 - Discovering Dr. Chris Palmer & Starting a Medically Supervised Ketogenic Diet
3:37 - Full Remission from Bipolar Symptoms with Therapeutic Nutritional Ketosis
4:05 - Why Ketogenic Therapy for Serious Mental Illness Needs More NIH Research Funding
