The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a 12-week ketogenic diet program combined with lifestyle strategies (called KMT-LS) is practical and acceptable as a fully remote intervention for adults with Long COVID who also have Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. (ME/CFS) and dysautonomia (problems with heart rate, blood pressure, or other automatic body functions).
The main questions it aims to answer are:
Can a ketogenic diet program be successfully delivered entirely from home using online tools and virtual support?
Do participants stay in the study, follow the diet, and find the program safe and satisfactory?
Do participants experience improvements in fatigue, sleep, mood, daily functioning, and symptom flare-ups after exertion?
Participants will:
Follow a ketogenic diet for 12 weeks with weekly virtual nutrition support sessions
Use at-home tools to track their ketone levels and confirm they are following the diet
Complete online questionnaires about their symptoms, energy, sleep, mood, and daily functioning at the start of the study, after 12 weeks, and again 3 months later.
Inclusion Criteria:
Age 18 years or older
English-speaking
Suspected, probable, or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection as defined by the Pan American Health Organization
Long COVID diagnosed via structured clinical interview, consistent with the World Health Organization clinical case definition and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2024) definition
Physician-confirmed diagnosis of post-infectious dysautonomia and ME/CFS; OR self-reported dysautonomia symptoms with a Malmö POTS Score Assessment (MAPS) score greater than 40
Met the National Academy of Medicine diagnostic criteria for ME/CFS
Exclusion Criteria:
Active cancer diagnosis
Renal or liver failure
Pancreatitis
Atrial fibrillation or significant cardiac arrhythmia
Significant atherosclerotic disease
Uncontrolled hypertension or hypertriglyceridemia
Active or recent thrombosis
Use of antiepileptic medications
Use of SGLT-2 inhibitors
Substance use disorder
Type I diabetes
History of inborn errors of metabolism
Previous completion of a nutritional and lifestyle program for this condition
Portland, Oregon 97229, United States
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