The Keto Diet May Help Fight Cancer by Starving Tumors. US scientists have found that the Keto diet cuts off the sugar that tumors need to grow, according to the research journal Study Finds.
Applying the Keto diet combined with corticosteroids caused cancer tumors to shrink and they lived longer
The ketogenic diet involves cutting out starchy foods like rice, bread, pasta and replacing them with more meat and dairy. The team found that combining the diet with corticosteroid drugs produced anti-cancer benefits, without the deadly side effects.
The study was conducted on mice by Associate Professor, Dr. Tobias Janowitz, from the Cold Spring Harbor Cancer Research Laboratory in New York (USA) and his team.
Results showed that in mice with cancer, applying the Keto diet combined with corticosteroids caused cancer tumors to shrink and they lived longer. The Keto diet can reduce body weight by up to 10%, according to Study Finds .
Healthy mice on the ketogenic diet also lost weight, but their metabolism adapted and they stabilized, Dr. Janowitz explained in a press release.
However, the cancer-infected mice failed to adapt because they were unable to produce enough of the hormone corticosterone that helps regulate the effects of the Keto diet, so they continued to lose weight.
To remedy this, the authors solved the problem by giving these cancer-stricken mice a ketogenic diet to supplement their deficient corticosterone levels with anti-inflammatory corticosteroids. The results were stunning: The tumors shrank without causing any loss of strength, according to Study Finds.
The Keto diet involves cutting out starchy foods like rice, bread, pasta and replacing them with more meat and dairy.
What is cachexia in cancer patients?
Cachexia is characterized by severe weight loss, leading to anorexia, fatigue, and immunosuppression.
This condition is very common in patients with advanced cancer. They become so weak that they can no longer tolerate anti-cancer treatment, nor do they have the strength to do everyday tasks.
Cancer is a systemic disease that reprograms normal biological processes to allow tumors to grow, said co-lead author Dr. Miriam Ferrer.
Because of this reprogramming, the mice were unable to utilize the nutrients from the keto diet and suffered from cachexia. But when they were given corticosteroids, they did much better. The cancer mice lived longer than any other treatment we tried, Ferrer explained, according to Study Finds.
This study is part of the international Cancer Grand Challenges project targeting cachexia.
Researchers are currently working to refine the timing and dosage of corticosteroids to effectively apply Keto therapy.
What is the Keto Diet?
The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, adequate-protein, very low-carbohydrate diet that forces the body to burn fat instead of carbohydrates.
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