Assessing a Possibility of Divergent Metabolic Responses to Diet Adjustment and Changes of Eating Behaviours in Female Schizophrenia Patients

<b>Background/Objectives:</b> Individuals with schizophrenia are particularly susceptible to overweight, obesity, and metabolic disorders. This study was aimed at assessing the effects of approved diet adjustments, changed nutrition regimes, and eating behaviours on carbohydrate-lipid metabolism. <b>Methods</b>: This 3-year study involved 52 residents of a 24 h social welfare home for the chronically mentally ill. Diet adjustment involved balancing the diet energy content and nutrition value as well as changing the sources of basic nutrients. Both metabolic (concentrations of glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol, and its HDL and LDL fractions) and anthropometric (body weight, waist circumference, hip circumference) parameters as well as body composition were monitored. <b>Results</b>: In almost all the subjects, including 12 female schizophrenia patients, diet adjustment and nutrition supervision resulted in beneficial changes in the parameters monitored. The exceptions were three women suffering from schizophrenia, who were sisters, in which glucose concentration declines (5.27 ± 0.22 mmol/L vs. 4.05 ± 0.36 mmol/L) were associated with increased concentrations of triglycerides (0.72 ± 0.17 mmol/L vs. 0.94 ± 0.32 mmol/L), total cholesterol (4.69 ± 0.70 mmol/L vs. 5.44 ± 0.38 mmol/L), and its LDL fraction (2.98 ± 0.65 mmol/L vs. 3.80 ± 0.41 mmol/L), as well as with a decreased HDL cholesterol fraction (1.38 ± 0.04 mmol/L vs. 1.30 ± 0.06 mmol/L). However, the observed changes were not statistically significant. <b>Conclusions</b>: It is concluded that diet adjustment and the improvement of nutrition regimes for people with schizophrenia does not always translate into improved parameters of carbohydrate-lipid metabolism.