"How Intermittent Fasting and the Ketogenic Diet May Help Fight Cancer"

 "How Intermittent Fasting and the Ketogenic Diet May Help Fight Cancer"

By Nature, cancer is one of the very complex diseases to face humanity. After decades of scientific advancements, breakthroughs in imaging, and the spending of millions on research, every year cancer takes millions of lives. Simply said, cancer remains a multifaceted disease: affecting nearly every part of the body, there must exist a broad range of integration from medical treatment to nutrition, lifestyle, and metabolic health.

Recent years have seen the rise of two dietary methods-intermittent fasting (IF) and ketogenic diet (keto)-holding promising interventions for cancer prevention and treatment. Initially adopted for weight loss and management of some chronic diseases, such as diabetes and epilepsy, these two strategies are now under serious scrutiny for their possible role in cancer. Early observations, although far from conclusive, suggest that these dietary interventions may help starve cancer cells, favor normal cellular activity, and possibly increase the effectiveness of some conventional cancer therapies.

This article discusses what various pieces of contemporary research are saying concerning intermittent fasting, the ketogenic diet, and the potential for impacting cancer management into the future.

Understanding Cancer’s Metabolic Vulnerabilities

Now with an understanding of what the metabolic aberrations of cancer cells are, we can then understand how intermittent fasting and keto might impact cancer development or progression.

The rapid, uncontrolled division of cells is a common hallmark of cancer. Lesser known, however, is that many cancer cells undergo metabolic alterations. In contradistinction to normal cells, which mainly consume oxygen and fat or glucose to generate energy with high efficiency, cancer cells largely prefer to consume glucose via a method called aerobic glycolysis. This is favored even in the presence of oxygen. The Warburg Effect, named after the Nobel laureate Otto Warburg who discovered it nearly one hundred years ago, describes this effect.

Such glucose addiction is regarded as a potential therapeutic target. If glucose is critical for the proliferation and survival of cancer cells, may we impede their growth through dietary restriction of glucose or by pushing the whole body into another metabolic state in which glucose is in short supply? 

Intermittent Fasting: Cycles That Support Cellular Health

Intermittent fasting has specific periods when food intake is restricted-basically, from a few hours to multiple days-with intervals maintained during this fasting state. 

Common methods of intermittent fasting include:

The candidates for the role of short-term fasting include variations of 8 hours with 2 hours of eating, the 5:2 system (eating normally 5 days a week and practicing caloric restriction on 2 nonconsecutive days), and alternate-day fasting—basically fasting every other day.

Fasting does so much more than reduce calorie intake; it brings about rapid changes in metabolism. 

The first benefit? Blood insulin levels decrease, thereby lowering the signals from pro-growth hormones. 

Your body produces ketones and shifts to burning fat for fuel. 

Autophagy increases: the breakdown and recycling of damaged cells. 

Oxidative stress should also be lowered; and that's a good thing, given that oxidative stress is associated with cancer progression. 

It has been shown in animals that intermittent fasting can:

Slow tumor growth

Improve immune response

Sensitize cancer cells to the chemotherapy while protecting their normal counterpart

A study conducted in 2012 and published in Cell Metabolism conceives of an idea called differential stress resistance wherein fasting cycles protect normal cells from chemotherapy damage while sensitizing cancer cells to the treatments. 

While there are fewer studies on humans, so far, they appear to be promising. Some have found chemotherapy-related side effects, such as fatigue and nausea, are lessened with fasting. Patients tend to report an increase in energy, mood, and resilience. Still, much of the data on humans are at best preliminary, while researchers advise that medical supervision is imperative, especially for cancer patients who may have nutritional vulnerabilities along the way.

• The ketogenic diet: Starving Cancer of its Favorite Fuel

  The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low-carb, moderate-protein diet that results in a metabolic state in the body called ketosis. While in this state, fat is converted to ketones by the liver and can then be used as a source of energy for the cells, including brain cells, as a substitute for glucose.

  
  

  Many cancer cells are inefficient at utilizing ketones, thereby creating a hostile environment for their survival by the ketogenic diet. Healthy cells, in contrast, are much more metabolically flexible and continue to flourish on ketones.

  
  

  Here is what the ketogenic diet may offer in relation to cancer: 

  
  

  Decreasing blood glucose levels so cancer cells are deprived of their major source of energy

  
  

  Decreasing the levels of insulin and IGF-1, which are both growth-promoting hormones related to cancer

  
  

  Decrease inflammation that favors cancer development

  
  

  Favor mitochondrial function thereby increasing healthy cells' energy production efficacy

  In experiments on animals, ketogenic diets have proven their worth in:

  
  

  Decreasing rates of advancement of brain tumors, prostate cancer, and melanoma

  
  

  There are improved survival rates of mice with aggressive cancers

  
  

  To synergistically act with chemotherapy and radiation therapy

  
  

  Clinical studies on humans are currently in the preliminary start-up stage, with some pilot studies and case reports giving some credence to the hypothesis that ketogenic diets could prove beneficial for patients suffering from glioblastoma, which is a highly aggressive brain tumor. Patients on a keto protocol have reported stabilization of body weight, enhanced quality of life, and decreased tumor progression when undergoing complementary standard treatment.

  
  

  The Combinatorial Power of Fasting and Keto

  While fasting is the greatest strategy, maintaining a ketogenic diet could reactivate the positive effects of both.

  
  

  Both strategies:

  
  

  Lower glucose and insulin levels

  
  

  Increase ketone production

  
  

  Promotes fat metabolism and reduction of inflammation

  
  

  Stimulates autophagy, "cell cleaning," or the body's self-renewal process 

  
  

  Improves the efficacy of mitochondria

  
  

  With a ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting, the whole body remains in a long-term metabolic activity that is hostile to cancer. Some scholars now hypothesize that this dual approach may:

  
  

  Lengthen remission periods

  
  

  Increase responsiveness to chemotherapy and immunotherapy

  
  

  Mitigate the side effects accorded to common treatments

  
  

  Enhance overall energy, cognition, and immune strength 

  
  

  Another new thought emerging in metabolic oncology is that these strategies may be not curative in themselves, but

  
  

  rather complementary such that together they can help patients withstand aggressive treatments and possibly avoid recurrence.

  Of course, such strategies should not replace the traditional care but should be discussed with medical providers while being combined into an all-inclusive treatment plan.

  
  

  As new discoveries in research are revealed, we might find that the best cancer outcomes require not only laboratory and medical provisions but also some daily choices we make at the table.