Keto & Cancer
Hey everyone,
I've been reading quite a bit this week on the positive effects of fasting and the role of a ketogenic diet for people with cancer. I've read up on this before but it was great to go through everything again and totally fascinating, so I thought I'd share some key bits of information with you all. Happy reading and if you have any questions, feel free to drop me a message!
Exploring the Keto diet & cancer; do we really need to keep an eye on blood sugars?
Firstly, lets look at what ketones are. Ketones are a type of chemical that your liver produces when it breaks down fatty acids or fats. When the body can’t use sugar for energy, Our bodies will use ketones for energy instead. This typically happens during fasting, long periods of exercise or when the body just doesn’t have much glucose or carbohydrates to use up.
Why this matters…- The Warburg Effect
The Warburg effect, also known as aerobic glycolysis, is a phenomenon observed in the majority of cancer cells where they favourably use sugar as an energy source, even in the presence of oxygen. There is a lot of ongoing research in the field of cancer metabolism.
This observation was first published by Otto Warburg, who was awarded the 1931 Nobel Prize in Physiology for his discovery.
Diagnostically the increased sugar consumption by cancer cells resulting from the Warburg effect is the basis for tumour detection in a PET scan, whereby an injected radioactive glucose substance is detected at higher concentrations in malignant cancers than in other normal healthy cells.
What’s the connection between blood glucose and ketosis?
There is a connection between ketosis and blood glucose. When you’re eating a ketogenic diet, your blood sugar is regulated thanks to such a low daily carb intake. Blood glucose doesn't necessarily indicate whether you’re in ketosis, but it is linked with the ketone levels in your body. =very low carb / glucose intake for prolonged time (usually 3-5 days) takes you into ketosis.
So, what about Ketones?
Most cancer cells can’t use ketones as fuel. New research is emerging every day that backs this up. There are 9,596 results on PubMed – The national library of medicine.
What does that mean?
In summary, research has shown that ketones may actually stop cancer from growing, reduce tumour size and growth. – That’s pretty incredible.
Ketones have an anti-cancer, direct cytotoxic (killing) effect on tumours and cancer cells.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6375425/
Beyond lowering blood sugar (fasting), and use of a ketogenic diet may also help treat cancer via other mechanisms.
Reducing insulin levels
Lowering growth factors
Improving gut health
improve dopamine production (mood)
increased ketones - immune regulation.
I tend to do an 18 hour fast, 3 times a week. I feel good for it, and it brings my blood sugars right down and I know it is ultimately helping create a hostile environment for those pesky cancer cells.
I’m looking into purchasing a ketone monitor, or maybe Dr Tim Spector (The gut microbiome specialists) new gadget for monitoring ketones / blood levels – the full shebang…so watch this space – I will be reporting back once I make my mind up and try it out.
However, for now I am using a blood glucose monitor which is working well. It keeps me accountable and on the right path.
It’s simple to do: -
Step 1) take a finger prick of blood 🩸
Step 2) 📱 measure glucose levels with a monitor
Step 3) Get your results and record them. This keeps me accountable and on track.
According to the Mayo Clinic, a fasting blood sugar level under 100 milligrams per decilitre is healthy (a reading of 5.6mmol/L). Your blood sugar following food (even ingesting pure sugar) should not exceed 125 milligrams per decilitre (6.9mmol/L) – this is considered pre-diabetes.
I aim to have a fasting blood sugar of 72mg/Dl (or 4.0mmol/L) to 81.0mg/dL (or 4.5mmol/L), as I know this means I am producing higher levels of ketones.
Interesting study on Keto & cancer on PubMed
I’ve come across a fascinating study on PubMed, (insert below from PMC nih.gov).
The trial used the Glucose Ketone Index Calculator (GKIC) to estimate the GKI for children with brain tumours that were treated with either calorie restriction or ketogenic diets. The first clinical study evaluated two paediatric patients with brain tumours: one with an anaplastic astrocytoma, and another with a cerebellar astrocytoma. Both children were placed on a ketogenic diet for eight weeks. During the 8-week treatment period, GKI dropped from about 27.5 to about 0.7 – 1.1 in the children. The child with the anaplastic astrocytoma, who did not have a response to prior chemotherapy, had a 21.7% reduction in fluorodeoxyglucose uptake at the tumour site (no chemotherapy during diet). The child with the cerebellar astrocytoma received standard chemotherapy concomitant with the ketogenic diet. Fluorodeoxyglucose uptake at the tumour site in this patient was reduced by 21.8%.
This means in short, a decrease in active cancer cells by 21.7% and 21.8% - One of these results was off diet alone, over an 8 week period! There are soooo many research papers like this out there, its incredible.
I could go on and on....the research findings are out there. If you're interested, take a look on PubMed.
Don't get me wrong, I am human and I do make bad food choices from time to time but 5/7 days I keep carbs to an extreme minimum and reach a good level with my blood sugars and then on the weekend If I want to treat myself, I don't guilt trip myself over it, I just make sure to pull myself back during the week. My only reason for doing this is to help starve cancer, it isn't to loose weight or follow some diet plan, its pure and simple - to decrease inflammation in my body and starve / kill cancer.