Keto diet may slow cancer tumor growth in mice, but with potentially lethal consequences

The ketogenic (keto) diet has become popular in recent years among people who want to lose weight and stay healthy. But what many people don’t realize is that this low-carb, high-fat diet has actually happened. used for centuries For the treatment of medical conditions such as epilepsy. More recently, researchers have investigated its use in combination with chemotherapy to improve remission and survival in patients with: advanced metastatic cancer.

a recently published research Experiments with mice have shown that the keto diet may also be used to treat tumors. However, while this diet appears to slow tumor growth in mice with colorectal and pancreatic cancer, it has also been shown to promote the development of cachexia. Cachexia is thought to be the cause of a severe debilitating disease. 30% of all cancer-related deaths.

To conduct the study, the authors selected two types of cachexia-prone mice. They then transplanted half of the patients with colorectal cancer and induced pancreatic cancer in the other half. Then he assigned the mice to two groups. One group was fed a standard diet, and the other group was fed a high-fat, low-carb keto diet.

Over the next month, the researchers found that tumors grew slower in mice fed the keto diet than those fed the standard diet. However, it was also found that the keto diet was associated with shorter survival due to earlier onset of cachexia.

Ketogenics and cancer

The reason the ketogenic diet is so effective in slowing tumor growth is because of the way cancer cells metabolize their “food” compared to normal, healthy cells.

Every cell in our body gets its energy first and foremost from glucose (sugar) and then from fat. Because cancer cells grow rapidly, they require more energy and rely solely on glucose for energy.

The carbohydrates we eat are released from glucose when broken down in the body. However, the keto diet is so low in carbohydrates that it is believed that cancer cells “starve” of the energy they need to grow. This is what the authors were able to prove in their study.

Keto also starts a process called lipid peroxidationSo the body uses fat instead of the energy it needs. However, this process also produces many highly reactive molecules as by-products. These molecules must be cleared from the body before they cause further cell damage.

Mouse cells lacked an adequate energy supply to rapidly clear these highly reactive molecules, resulting in an increase in a molecule called GDF-15, which suppresses appetite in mice and increases body weight. contributed to the decline.

Researchers also found that the keto diet inhibited the production of corticosteroids. Corticosteroids are natural hormones that help reduce inflammation and regulate the immune system. This accelerated the development of cachexia in mice and shortened the overall survival of mice.

Interestingly, when researchers treated mice with injections of dexamethasone (a corticosteroid drug that counteracts the stress hormone cortisol and is commonly used to treat a variety of cancer-related conditions, including anemia), they found that cachexia It was able to delay the onset of quality and improve symptoms. their overall survival.

cancer treatment

While it’s tempting to draw conclusions from this research, it’s also important to keep a few things in mind.

First, this study was done in mice, but of course we are not mice. Further research is imperative to see if the keto diet has similar effects in humans and, most importantly, whether treatment with dexamethasone delays the development of cachexia in humans. . At the moment, Number of trials in progress Several new evidence It has been suggested that the keto diet has beneficial effects on many types of cancer.

Second, patients on the keto diet experience different benefits depending on the stage of their cancer. For example, cell-based studies have shown that fasting or a keto diet may improve symptoms while undergoing chemotherapy. how responsive is the cancer It is effective against chemotherapy while also reducing damage to nearby healthy tissue.

This is because fasting (and ketogenic) works by: “Magic Shield”protects healthy cells. Chemotherapy damage.

Fasting stops all non-essential processes, including metabolism. However, cancer cells ignore this message and continue to proliferate. Because chemotherapy targets rapidly growing cells, the fasting state targets cancer cells instead, leaving healthy cells safe.

This latest study shows that the keto diet may have detrimental effects by promoting cachexia in mice. some research If we look at the effect of Keto diet for pancreatic cancer find keto in action prevent muscle loss.

These different results may be attributed to the methods used in each of these studies, with some experiments performed in cells and others in mice. However, given these conflicting findings, it would be important to conduct a more detailed investigation.

Although there is evidence to suggest that ketogenics may be effective in slowing cancer growth, less is known about their adverse effects (such as promoting cachexia). Given the many unknowns, cancer patients are advised to discuss any dietary changes they plan to make with their doctor.