Crystal wobbled, then caught herself with her hand on the table. Whoa…I’m dizzy. She took a breath, then planted her feet and felt steady enough to keep moving. As she dug through her purse, her hands couldn’t find her keys in her purse, so she dug deeper. Sighhh…where are they?? After dropping her purse on the table, she looked over the kitchen countertops and saw no keys. Walking through the house, she found no keys in the bathroom or bedroom. Nope, not the living room, either. Scratching her chin, she started opening cabinets. Then the refrigerator. Wow! There they were, ice cold, next to the cream she had used for her coffee. She rolled her eyes. My head is filled with clouds, she thought. She didn’t realize that metabolic psychiatry can heal so many of these symptoms.

Grabbing her keys, Crystal pulled her purse strap over her shoulder, and started out the door to the car.

Weight Gain, Blood Sugar, and Depression

She’d struggled with her blood sugar for 8 years. Her weight had been slowly but steadily climbing. When she went on diets and lost some, she gained it right back.

Now her doctor was referring her to an endocrinologist and cardiologist. He was concerned for her Type 2 diabetes, her blood pressure, and her cholesterol. He told her they often go hand in hand. Anxiety climbed to her throat, choking her, as she drove on.

But it wasn’t just her cholesterol, dizziness, and blood sugar that worried her. She’d lost her motivation. It was getting harder and harder to get up and get things done. Her house was becoming more cluttered, the laundry was lagging behind. Her bathroom hadn’t been cleaned for weeks, and her sheets needed to be changed.

I don’t even recognize myself anymore. What’s wrong with me?

She stopped at her favorite drive-through on the way to order a cheeseburger, French fries, and a diet Coke. After wolfing it down, she felt like she could go to the doctor appointment without feeling so hungry. If only she understood how this high carbohydrate meal was making her worse… and that metabolic psychiatry can heal.

Once she got out of the car, she could hardly walk into the office.

They sent her to the lab for a blood draw, then back to the exam room. She liked the doctor. He was easy to talk to, and understanding about her lack of energy, motivation, and her struggle to find the initiative to cook more nutritious meals for herself.

Her Doctor Gets Real

Then, he leaned against the counter, and said, “I’m going to level with you, Crystal. I think all of the symptoms you’re struggling with are related. They have a common cause.

“We need to work together to get your metabolism healthy and resilient. Doing that will help relieve all these symptoms you’re experiencing. I’ll be keeping a close eye on your blood sugars and your A1C, and your cardiologist will oversee your heart rate, blood pressure, and cholesterol.

“You need a psychiatrist for your depression, anxiety, brain fog, and panic attacks. I’m referring you to one here in the area whose got a whole treatment program that can treat those symptoms and turn your metabolism around all at the same time. One of my patients with her lost 60 lbs, and was able to come off medication–her and mine! Metabolic psychiatry can treat all these symptoms, in addition to those your cardiologist will monitor.

The thing about all these metabolic symptoms you’re experiencing is that they form a vicious cycle. Depression makes you want to eat foods that aren’t healthy, and eating those foods makes your depression worse. Then, you gain weight which makes you feel more out of control and that feeds your depression and drives up your blood sugar and cholesterol. And on and on it goes.

Touchpoints 180™

“The beauty is that by working with this doctor’s program, you get benefits for all these other conditions. She’ll focus on your psychiatric conditions, but the program will help you lose body fat consistently, bring down your A1c and your insulin, and that will eventually resolve your diabetic symptoms, and improve your cholesterol and blood pressure, as well.

“She calls her practice Metabolic Psychiatry, and her program Touchpoints 180™ would be so perfect for you. It’s the first of its kind anywhere. We’re fortunate to have it here in the area.

“Here’s her website. Give her a call and instead of jumping on medication now that I know you don’t want, see what you can do to get your metabolism on track — body and brain. Then I’ll see you back in 3 months.” As he handed the slip of paper to Crystal, her heart did a little leap. Not what she expected. It felt like hope.

When she reached her car, she didn’t want to wait another minute. She pulled up the website on the slip of paper, found the phone number, and called.

She was able to arrange an appointment quickly.

Metabolic Psychiatry Changes Her Life

The doctor evaluated her on a psychiatric and metabolic level. It was medical psychiatry but also holistic psychiatry and integrative. Everything was pulled in. Then, she met with an experienced ketogenic registered dietitian/nutritionist for a deep dive nutritional assessment, looking at her history, her food story, what she liked and didn’t like, and what had happened to her as she gained weight, did develop yo-yo dieting, and got more and more sick of herself.

But instead of feeling bad about herself, she felt heard. Instead of judgement, she found hope.

They really get this, she thought.

Joint Feedback: Psychiatrist and Ketogenic Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist

They both explained how food is the best medicine for her brain cells, as well as those in the rest of her body. There was more about how metabolic psychiatry can heal so much in the body. They talk about this as not a fad, but a leading-edge treatment that could be used to actually get her symptoms to STOP. Comprehensive treatment that was designed personally for her brain, and her body by the whole team, not a download from an app created with AI.

It included both scheduled and drop-in activities, in person and virtual — like walks in nature, building friendships, support for her family and friends, meetings with her to help her maintain therapeutic nutritional ketosis. They introduced her to the idea of meticulous monitoring, labs, biometrics, and digital tools, and explained how it all worked together and why all of this was important.

They didn’t say, “Let’s see how it goes.” They said, “You’re going to feel amazing.”

She felt supported, a new and refreshing element that was unusual in a doctor’s office. She was more accustomed to being told to lose weight. Then 3 months later, being criticized for not losing enough.

This was a whole new experience. And she liked it.

She left the office… which was lovely — in fact more like a spa … armed with a whole new idea of what to keep in the house, what groceries to pick up, what to order out….and excited about joining their nature walks, working with them closely for advice and questions, reading the next book for their book club — she couldn’t believe they ran a BookClub! She got geared up, preparing to learn new recipes, new meal structures, and new digital apps.

She had to push through her anxiety to show up for it all, and she wasn’t sure she’d try it all out all right away, but something this important deserved her best effort. After all, this was her chance to get better… to even maybe get well.

Getting Started

Her first meal was delicious and satisfying. This wasn’t anything like any low-cal diet she’d been on before where still was still hungry when she got up from the table. There was no sense of deprivation. Just her agreement to get rid of carbohydrate-heavy foods in the trash.

So, into the bin went potatoes, bread, rolls, biscuits, rice, and powdered sugar for frosting on cakes. Then she filled her fridge with butter, heavy cream, parmesan cheese, sharp cheddar, avocados, chicken, shrimp, salmon, ribeye steak, and all colors of bell peppers, leafy greens, and broccoli.

Crystal was set for her first week.

The program was active, and the walks in the fresh air began to pierce her isolation. She noticed she began to look forward to those walks, and filling her lungs with fresh air. She even began to venture into conversation.

This idea of walking outdoors among the trees with her doctor and dietitian was a whole new paradigm. Who ever heard of such a thing? But it was confidence- building, and comforting at the same time. If it weren’t for all of the different opportunities to connect, she would never have walked like this by herself. Metabolic Psychiatry really does heal.

But she wanted to get better.

So she just kept showing up as scheduled. Within about 3 weeks, she realized she was relaxing. The anxiety was gone. She hadn’t had a panic attack in awhile. She also was thinking more clearly. Crystal marveled at the changes she was seeing in herself.

And she was losing weight!

So this is how this works. Touchpoints 180™ is the best thing I’ve ever done for myself. Who knew it could be so easy? All I have to do is make it my priority and show up, prepare and eat the meals. Participate in phone calls. Extraordinary.

Six months after she began participating in Touchpoints 180™ Crystal had lost 38 lbs. Her A1C had reduced dramatically. It was still within the “diabetic” range, but her blood sugars were becoming lower and more stable. And she knew this wasn’t some diet she would eventually abandon.

She knew this was a whole therapeutic lifestyle she could continue. So she did, and it got easier and easier as her A1C continued to drop and improve over time. Now she actually believed that her diabetes would eventually resolve.

Meanwhile, her muscle tone had improved from all the walking, and the depression had faded, leaving her with a much brighter outlook. She hadn’t experienced panic in months, and felt so much more control in her life.

And a big bonus: her mind was clear. Clearer than it had been in many years. She was just amazed. Keeping up with her keys was so easy now, along with a host of things that used to baffle her.

Crystal felt younger, more energetic, and liked the way she looked. So confidence building. And this was just the beginning.

A year later, she had dropped 4 sizes, and had gotten her sassiness back. She felt like herself again. Metabolic Psychiatry and Touchpoints 180™ really can heal.

And she continued with Touchpoints 180™ to benefit from the advice, monitoring, and help with changes in her food preparation to slow down her weight loss, and maintain her weight, which was just right.

Her A1C was 5.6, and she was technically no longer a Type 2 diabetic. But she knew that without this lifestyle, it could all reverse. So she stuck with the lifestyle that worked, and all the support that went with it.

Life Transforming

This metabolic intervention had not only transformed her brain but it had also transformed her life. She would never have believed it until she experienced it.

Do you struggle with the symptoms Crystal did?

Metabolic dysfunction can create an array of symptoms like severe depression, OCD, panic attacks, severe anxiety, bipolar disorder, an eating disorder, or alcohol misuse. We harness all of the latest research (and contribute to it!) in metabolic psychiatry to create carefully formulated, therapeutic low carb and ketogenic treatment in Touchpoints 180™ program. We want to reverse what’s gone wrong, heal your symptoms and give you back your life.

If you can relate to Crystal’s story, and want to get both your brain and your body health, call us.

We’re here to figure it all out, help you, guide you, and walk shoulder to shoulder with you, to find your best self ever.

To the restoration of your best self,

Lori Calabrese, MD

Metabolic Psychiatry Can Heal Your Brain AND Your Body