Does the Keto Diet Help Ovarian Cancer Patients?
- The ketogenic diet is very low in carbohydrates and very high in fat, with a moderate amount of protein.
- Cancer cells collect energy from glucose, and the goal of the keto diet is to limit the amount of glucose the body gets by minimizing carbohydrate intake. Instead, the body gets energy from burning fat to create another kind of energy molecule called ketones.
- Because the keto diet provides less of the glucose that cancer cells need to grow, scientists have hypothesized that this diet may be able to aid cancer treatment by slowing tumor growth.
- While there is a hypothetical benefit of a keto diet as an adjunct to other cancer therapy, there are no studies that show any survival benefit with use of a keto diet in cancer patients.
Ovarian Cancer Diet
Ovarian cancer is a disease that develops in the ovaries, and can spread throughout the pelvis and abdomen. The ovaries are the parts of the female reproductive system that produce hormones and eggs. Women have two ovaries, which are connected to the uterus by the fallopian tubes. In some cases, ovarian cancer is not identified until it spreads beyond the ovaries, making it harder to address. Ovarian cancer is typically treated with surgery and chemotherapy.
Read MoreWhat is the Keto Diet?
Commonly used by people attempting to lose weight, the keto (short for ketogenic) diet is high in fat and low in carbohydrates. This diet breaks from the low fat, moderate carbohydrate, and high fiber diet recommended by the American Cancer Society. Krista Maruschak, a registered dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center, told Survivornet that a typical keto diet meal starts with “a good lean protein source, such as a fatty fish or chicken, maybe some lean beef.”She continued, “After that, you’re really going to add in healthy sources of fat to bump up the fat in the meal. Things like olive oil, avocado, canola oil, things like that. Lastly, you’ll want to add in some non-starchy vegetables on to your plate to really get the vitamins and the minerals and the phytonutrients there.”
By replacing carbohydrates with fats, the keto diet pushes the body to burn fats instead of carbs as its main source of energy, which may affect the broader metabolism of cells in the body.
Does the Keto Diet Help Cure Cancer?
Some studies suggest that the keto diet may deprive cancer cells of their typical energy source. Cancer cells get the bulk of their energy from glucose, which is broken down from carbohydrates. When the body digests fats, however, it breaks the fats into molecules called ketones. Because cancer cells cannot use ketones to grow, scientists hope that the keto diet may be able to aid chemotherapy and other cancer treatments. The brain and many other tissues use ketones as fuel, and depriving cancer cells of glucose may slow their growth and give the immune system more time to respond.
How Does Diet Impact Health?
In an interview with SurvivorNet, Dr. Sairah Ahmed of the MD Anderson Cancer Center at The University of Texas said that diet is one way that cancer patients can take control of their health: “I think that in terms of cancer, oftentimes patients feel that they don’t have any control over any part of their life and that’s not true. Diet, exercise and stress control are extremely important when going through both cancer therapy as well as once you’re done treating your cancer and trying to get back to the rest of your life.”
Dr. Ahmed is skeptical, however, of the idea that there is any one-size-fits-all dietary solution for cancer patients. She says, “I’m asked about keto diets, alkaline diets, no sugar diets. There’s no data that shows that any of those help to treat cancer any better.” Dr. Ahmed warns that for many patients, it can be dangerous to lose weight during chemotherapy as the patients in the University of Alabama study did.
Though trials on mice and small trials with humans have suggested that the keto diet may help slow tumor growth, boost anti-cancer drugs, avoid weight gain, and ease inflammation, Dr. Stefanie Avril (a gynecologic pathologist at Case Western Reserve University) emphasized that there has not yet been sufficient testing: "It's important to mention that the effects of a keto diet on cancer are not yet known, and this way of eating may not be safe for everyone. Anyone who is interested in making changes to their diet during ovarian cancer treatment should first have a discussion with their oncologist."
Dr. Krista Maruschak agrees: “The research at this point is not very clear, and the research is still ongoing.” Clinical studies that have followed humans on this diet have been small, short, and nonrandomized. Though these early findings are hopeful, it is too early to say with certainty whether the keto diet can help treat ovarian cancer.
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