FIGHTING CANCER WITH INTERMITTENT FASTING
EAT WHOLE FOODS
Regular intake of high a fiber diet increases the amount of butyric acid produced in the gut which is well-known to reduce the risk of colon cancer. Studies have proven that butyric acid has the potential to prevent and treat colon cancer by blocking the growth of colorectal tumor cells. Moreover, it also leads to apoptosis that stops the growth of cancer cells completely.
CANCER
Cancer lives on sugar (glucose), but cancer also can use another fuel, so it has two different types of fuel. One of the types of fuel is sugar of course and the second is Glutamine, an Amino acid. Cancer and tumors cannot live on ketones, this is why the ketogenic diet or Low-Carb diet is important as it stops fueling cancer.
If we take a moment to understand the nature of cancer, and the difference between a normal cell and a cancer cell. We can gain insight into how to control cancer and eliminate it through understanding its fuel source.
What triggers cancer? You have radiation, chemicals, environmental, and of course processed foods, and sugar. Stress and a wide range of things can initiate cancer as well. These things trigger damage in the mitochondria, So the first trigger in the chain of events is damage to the mitochondria and its metabolic systems on processing ATP (energy).
MITOCHONDRIA
What are mitochondria? It is an Organelle found inside cells. It is an energy factory that produces energy in your body called ATP. When the mitochondria are damaged the body attempts to survive and adapts the entire metabolic system. This adapted system is now in a cancer cell. A cancer cell is primitive, and it compensates for the damage inside cells. This is called fermentation. You ferment sugar as a fuel without oxygen, there might be oxygen there, but cancer cells do not use oxygen. So, we have fermentation of sugar and an Amino acid called Glutamine and cancer can live on sugar (glucose) or glutamine. But cancer and tumors cannot live on ketones, this is why the ketogenic diet is especially important as it stops fueling the cancer.
GLUTAMINE
Like all cells, cancer cells need nutrients to grow. Sugar is one important fuel, but it is far from cancer’s only requirement. Current research is aimed at targeting cancer’s dependence on the amino acid glutamine as a weakness.
Glutamine is so widespread in your diet it is almost impossible to get rid of it in meats. It is an eggs, it’s in fish, it's in vegetables, nuts & seeds so what are you going eat. People can reduce glutamine but cannot eliminate it by reducing it for example green tea has certain chemicals that will inhibit glutamine and peppers all types of peppers also have certain properties that can inhibit glutamine. The biggest thing that will reduce glutamine is intermittent fasting. The key to cancer is understanding cancer, like damaged mitochondria and the fermentation and fuel sources and dealing with these fuel sources by eliminating or reducing them.
SUGAR
Why does this lead to cancer?
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Well, when you have a bunch of insulin it signals to your cells to uptake that glucose and start burning it for energy, this is how our heart pumps, how we move our muscles, etc. We derive energy from glucose through a chemical reaction known as oxidation. Oxidation breaks down molecules which release energy which our cells can convert into ATP. ATP is the main energy molecule in the body.
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Still, how does this lead to cancer?
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Well, the problem is, when you just had a BUNCH of glucose enter your cell all at once your body will respond with insulin and break it down. The only problem is now you have way too much INSULIN than you need for homeostasis. When you break down glucose through oxidative reactions it leads to things known as Reactive oxygen species. Your body really does not like these because these ROS can wreak havoc on your cell by going through redox reactions on your molecular machinery. Typically, you have antioxidants that can bind to these ROS and neutralize them, so they do not attack something like your DNA. However, too much ROS can overwhelm these defense mechanisms and cause damage which is known as oxidative stress.
SUGAR Count:
Still, how does this lead to cancer?
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These ROS can cause redox reactions with the DNA which can cause the cells to replicate uncontrollably or interfere with the defense mechanism. Insulin also binds to cell surface receptors and activates the PL3K/Akt pathway leading to downstream activation of the mTOR complex. This complex is a central regulator of cell growth. So, if you have insulin resistance like in the case of diabetes you will have problems. High circulating levels of insulin also upregulate the hepatic synthesis of insulin-derived growth factor-1 (IGF-1) which is a major endocrine and paracrine regulator of tissue growth and metabolism as it both suppresses apoptosis and initiates cell cycle progression from G1 to S phase. This can lead to uncontrolled growth. Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VGEF) is what allows blood supply to grow in tumor cells. It typically is out of control in cancer which is what allows the tumor to grow. VEGF production is induced by insulin and IGF-1.
CHEMOTHERAPY AND INTERMITTENT FASTING STUDIES
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Weight loss is just one benefit of intermittent fasting for a normal healthy (disease-free) adult. Recent animal studies and a few preliminary human trials have shown a decrease in risk for cancer or a decrease in cancer growth rates. These studies indicate this may be due to the following effects from fasting:
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decreased blood glucose production
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stem cells triggered to regenerate the immune system
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balanced nutritional intake
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increased production of tumor-killing cells
In one study of time-restricted feeding during 9–12 hour phases, fasting was shown to reverse the progression of obesity and type 2 diabetes in mice. Obesity is a major risk factor for cancer, which may support fasting to treat cancer.
A second study of mice showed that a bimonthly fasting-mimicking diet reduced the incidence of cancer. Results were similar in a pilot trial by the same scientists with 19 humans; it showed decreased biomarkers and risk factors for cancer.
In a 2016 study research showed that a combination of fasting and chemotherapy slowed the progression of breast cancer and skin cancer. The combined treatment methods caused the body to produce higher levels of common lymphoid progenitor cells (CLPs) and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. CLPs are the precursor cells to lymphocytes, which are white blood cells that migrate into a tumor and are known for killing tumors.
The same study noted short-term starvation makes cancer cells sensitive to chemotherapy while protecting normal cells, and it also promoted the production of stem cells.
