Popular Diet Linked to Increased Risk of One Cancer, Study Finds
Summary
A new study from MIT shows that a ketogenic diet, which is high in fat and low in carbohydrates, may increase the risk of tumors in the small intestine in mice prone to intestinal cancer. The research found that the high fat content, not the ketones produced by the diet, activated a pathway that fueled tumor growth.Key Facts
- The ketogenic diet reduces carbs and forces the body to burn fat for energy, producing ketone bodies.
- It was first used to treat epilepsy and is now popular for weight loss and blood sugar control.
- The study used mice genetically likely to develop intestinal cancer to test the diet’s effects.
- Mice on the ketogenic diet developed more small-intestine tumors than those on regular or high-fat, high-calorie diets.
- The tumor growth was linked to the fats in the diet activating a cell pathway called PPAR-delta.
- This pathway affects intestinal stem cells, which renew the gut lining but can also start tumors if mutated.
- The results were seen in mice and may not directly apply to healthy humans.
- Researchers say more studies are needed to understand how ketogenic diets affect cancer risk in people.
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