Can the Keto Diet Fight Cancer?
You’ve probably heard about the latest trendy low carb diet - the keto diet. But did you know that the keto diet might be a promising road to new cancer treatments?
What Is the Keto Diet?
The keto diet, or ketogenic diet, is high in fat and protein and low in carbohydrates. Parisian physicians first developed the keto diet in 1911 as a treatment for epilepsy. Fasting has been used for thousands of years to treat seizures and the low carbohydrate diet seemed to have some success as an alternative to fasting that also controlled some seizures. Once researchers developed modern antiseizure medications, the keto diet fell by the wayside.The keto diet resurged in popularity in recent years, with proponents promoting the low carb diet for everything from epilepsy, weight loss and cholesterol reduction, to better insulin and blood sugar control. Of course, researchers have also begun investigating how the keto diet might help fight cancer, albeit in unexpected ways.In 2011, a study from researchers at the University of Wuerzberg suggested that a keto diet “might improve quality of life and classical blood parameters in some patients with advanced metastatic tumors.” A 2018 study in the U.S. offered even more promising results.Researchers have begun testing a new class of cancer drugs that attempt to inhibit a pathway in cancer cells that is triggered by insulin. The new cancer drugs basically attempt to starve the cancer cells by blocking metabolic pathways and insulin production. But researchers encountered a problem - in response to a reduction in insulin, which breaks down glucose in the blood, blood sugar increases to dramatically high levels. If patients developed abnormally high blood sugar, they would need to stop taking the drug.To overcome this obstacle, researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian tried various treatments for controlling blood sugar and insulin, including medications and the keto diet. The keto diet was the most effective treatment at controlling blood sugar, allowing the cancer drugs targeting metabolic pathways to continue to work. Scientists stress that this is a combination approach—a keto diet alone won’t slow down cancer. But the keto diet may help develop a more effective cancer drug.The Madeksho Law Firm has nearly five decades of experience helping obtain needed compensation for victims of illnesses and cancers related to toxic exposure. For a FREE consultation, call 1-888-910-6376, or contact us here.
