Is Sugar Really Causing Cancer?

You’ve probably heard that eating sugar increases cancer growth. Is this really true? And, if it is, how does it do that?

Well, some researchers wanted to find out. Their findings may not surprise you, but the solution to stop it might.

That’s because one particular diet works wonders. And so do several supplements.

Recently, researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York stressed the important links between sugar levels, insulin, and many forms of cancer. The team leader is Dr. Lewis Cantley, an eminent cancer researcher whose ground-breaking work in this field began in the 1980s with his discovery of an enzyme known as phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K). Since then, PI3K has been implicated in as many as 80% of cancers and is called a “master switch” by many scientists.

The action of PI3K in cancer is to increase the growth-stimulating effect of sugars and insulin. This allows the sugar-addicted cancer cells to take up more sugar, allowing the tumor to grow more effectively. This corresponds to the known link between high insulin levels, type-2 diabetes, and cancer.

In their paper, published in the journal Nature, they concluded that “this insulin feedback can be prevented using dietary or pharmaceutical approaches.” Dr. Cantley and his team have successfully used PI3K inhibitors along with a ketogenic diet to lower insulin levels causing tumors in mice to shrink.

Recent studies have demonstrated that a number of natural products found in plants inhibit the PI3K pathway. Not surprisingly, these substances have potent anticancer properties. Some of the leading natural P13K inhibitors are curcumin, DIM (diindolylmethane), isoflavones found in soy (genistein and deguelin), quercetin, resveratrol, and tocotrienols.

Dr. Cantley’s work adds to the growing body of evidence showing that carbohydrate restriction through a ketogenic diet along with a diet high in vegetables and the above mentioned supplements is so important for cancer prevention and treatment.