What you need to know about keto diet and cancer

Even though clinical trials are underway to prove how a keto dieting relates cancer prevention, research shows that you can lower your risks of cancer by adhering to a strict keto diet plan. A keto program revolves around low carbohydrates, moderate proteins, and high healthy fats consumption. With cancer, glucose is the fuel that feeds cancer cells. Thus, when you decide to go the keto way, you reduce your carbohydrate intake and thus depriving the cancer cell off their energy.

When on a ketogenic diet, your energy reserves in the mitochondria can still get supplemented using fats as the primary source of energy. Hence the body undergoes a ketosis state whereby the body results in fats as the primary source of energy. This is unlikely to happen with the cancer cells which can only use glucose. When using glucose, for energy, high amount of reactive oxygen species which are potent cancer agents get produced. However, with the use of ketones, less reactive oxygen species are produced, limiting your exposure to cancer. Keto dieting induces a satiating feel helping you curb the unhealthy eating habit.

It is advisable that you couple a keto diet with intermittent fasting. By this, the body is entirely reliant on ketones and hence a prolonged starvation period for the cancer cells. For patients diagnosed with cancer, sixteen hours fasting period can be effective to leave the cancer cells deprived of their energy supply.

A moderate protein diet of about twenty percent should be incorporated to help starve cancer cells. High proteins levels are however not recommended since they have the potential to supplement some energy to the cancer cells. Thus, your keto diet should strictly compose an eighty-seven percent fat, fifteen percent protein and a three percent carbohydrate. By doing this, you rob the cancer cells their chance to proliferate by starving them to death.