Legal disclaimer.
What this site is, what it is not, and the limits of what you should do with it.
Last updated 25 October 2026.
General education only
DepressionDiet.co.uk publishes general information about metabolic psychiatry — an emerging research area — and about food. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, treatment or personal dietary advice, and nothing on it is tailored to any individual. No doctor–patient or dietitian–client relationship is created by reading it.
No diet described here is a treatment for depression
Depression is a genuine medical condition. In the UK it is treated with talking therapy, medication, or both, arranged through a GP or an NHS talking therapies service. No diet, food, supplement or eating pattern described on this site is a treatment for depression, and nothing here should be understood as a claim that it is.
Where research is cited, it is cited with its limitations. Most of the stronger findings in this field come from studies of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia rather than depression, and this site does not present them as findings about depression.
Do not change prescribed medication
Do not stop, start, reduce or otherwise alter any prescribed medicine — including antidepressants — on the basis of anything you read here. Stopping antidepressants suddenly can cause withdrawal effects and can make you unwell. Any change to a prescription is a decision for the prescriber who knows your history.
Some medicines require particular attention if carbohydrate intake falls sharply, including insulin and other diabetes medicines, lithium, diuretics and blood pressure medicines. Speak to your prescriber before changing how you eat.
This site describes a restrictive way of eating
The eating pattern discussed here is animal-based and very low in carbohydrate, and in its strictest form excludes all plant foods. The only systematic review of this way of eating identified likely shortfalls in vitamin C, vitamin D, calcium, magnesium, iodine and fibre, together with raised LDL and total cholesterol, and its authors concluded that long-term adherence cannot currently be recommended.
It is not suitable for everybody, and for some people it is a bad idea. Anyone who is pregnant or breastfeeding, has type 1 diabetes, has liver, kidney or pancreatic disease, is under eighteen, is underweight, or has any history of disordered eating should not attempt it without specialist advice.
Eating difficulties
Depression overlaps heavily with disordered eating. This site contains no weight-loss content, no calorie targets and no restriction advice framed as a goal, deliberately. If food or eating feels hard to control, please speak to your GP before changing anything about how you eat. Beat offers free, confidential support in the UK.
See a professional
Always seek the advice of your GP or another qualified health professional about a medical condition, your mood, your medication or your diet. Never delay seeking that advice, or disregard it, because of something you have read on this site.
If you need help now
If you are in immediate danger or have seriously harmed yourself, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. For urgent help that is not an emergency, call NHS 111. To talk to someone at any hour, the Samaritans are on 116 123, free and confidential.
No clinical review
The content of this site has not been independently reviewed by a doctor, dietitian or other clinician. It is written from named, cited research and from published guidance. If a clinical review takes place in future, this page will be updated to say so.
No testimonials
This site carries no testimonials, success stories or personal recovery accounts of any kind, invented or real, and no before-and-after imagery. Images are generated illustrations and are not photographs of real people or patients.
Accuracy and external links
Information is published in good faith and checked at the time of writing, and the date of the last check is given where relevant. Research moves, guidance is revised, and no guarantee is given that every page is complete or current. External links are provided for reference; this site does not control those pages and is not responsible for their content. Links to the NHS, NICE, Mind, the Samaritans, Beat and the British Dietetic Association are editorial references only and do not imply any endorsement of this site by those organisations.
No commercial relationships
This site carries no advertising, no sponsored content and no affiliate links, and it has no commercial relationship with any food producer, supplement manufacturer or treatment provider. The only products it will offer are its own guide and course, neither of which is yet on sale.
Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, no liability is accepted for any loss or damage arising from reliance on the information on this site. Nothing in this disclaimer excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be excluded.
Nothing on this page is legal advice. See also the Terms & Conditions and the Privacy Policy.