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Halting the metabolic complications of antipsychotic medication in patients with a first episode of psychosis: How far can we go with the Mediterranean diet? a pilot study
Patients experiencing first-episode psychosis (FEP) often develop unhealthy eating habits, increasing their risk of weight gain, metabolic issues, and cardiovascular disease. Ntalkitsi et al. (2022) investigated differences in biometric and anthropometric parameters of 21 first-episode psychosis patients on a Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) – based nutritional intervention. The authors compared the effects of two types of antipsychotic (AP) medication, which differed according to the degree of their side effects: AP1, associated with a lower risk of complications, and AP2, linked to a higher risk of weight gain and metabolic issues. The authors recorded the patients’ blood biochemical profiles before and after the dietary intervention while also monitoring their dietary habits and body composition over six months. Following the intervention, the authors noted that every patient reported notable increases in their intake of fruits and vegetables and reduced consumption of red meat and poultry, demonstrating an increased adherence to MedDiet and reduced daily carbohydrate, sodium, and caloric consumption. Patients on AP1 showed lower vegetable consumption and reduced energy, protein, and carbohydrate intake compared to those on AP2. Overall, none of the subjects had significantly gained weight. Significant decreases were seen in salt, urea, iron (lower in AP1 patients), total and LDL cholesterol, and potassium. These findings indicate that AP medication influences blood lipid, urea, and iron levels in FEP patients. At the same time, the MedDiet intervention resulted in notable improvements in their eating habits, helping to prevent weight gain and lower blood sodium and urea levels. [NPID: First-episode psychosis, nutritional intervention, Mediterranean diet, MedDietScore, body weight, body fat, muscle mass, dietary intake, cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides, blood glucose, urea]
Year: 2022
