In this week’s podcast, we continue our conversation on how the ketogenic diet can be used to help prevent you from getting cancer.
Cancer is a disease that affects us all in some way or another, so I believe it is very important for people to understand how cancer really works and why going on a low carb diet is one of the best things you can do to help you avoid ever getting it.
Right now there are two competing theories on how we should view cancer: the gene theory, which focuses on damage to DNA and how that effects the cell cycle, and the metabolic theory, which focuses on the dysfunctional metabolism of cancer cells.
I truly believe the metabolic theory of cancer is correct. The gene theory has taken charge of most of the research and development of a cure for the past 40 years and nothing has come of it. We are no closer today to a cure than we were 40 years ago and that’s because we’re viewing cancer through the wrong lens.
If we were to focus on cancer through the lens of the metabolic theory, it would become very clear that cancer is a disease of dysfunctional metabolism. More specifically, damage done to our mitochondria sets the stage for a series of events that make our cells rely more and more on glycolysis and activates the genetic pathways that result in the cell becoming immortal.
Cancer cells have dysfunctional mitochondria that prevents them from efficiently metabolizing fatty acids and ketone bodies. This forces them to rely on sugar for the majority of their energy. This sets the stage for cancer. When cancer cells increase their capability to burn glucose, called the retrograde response, they also turn on genes that prevent cancer cells from dying. Now the cells rely heavily on sugar for fuel and won’t die. This is cancer!
The best way to avoid this from happening to you is to limit the amount of fuel these cancer cells have access to; this is the ketogenic diet. This low carb diet sets the stage that prevents cancer from ever developing. To learn more about how the ketogenic diet can help prevent cancer, listen to this week’s podcast.
Links To Studies Mentioned
The occurrence of cancer in an eskimo
Loss of acetoacetate coenzyme A transferase activity in tumours of peripheral tissues.
Why Cancer of the Heart is So Rare
Is there a role for carbohydrate restriction in the treatment and prevention of cancer?
