Diets with a modified protein content hide under many names such as the ketogenic diet and the protein modified diet. The main component of these diets is how they alter the human metabolism, initiating a protein and fat burning machine and shutting down the normal metabolism of carbohydrate sugars, such as glucose, from providing energy. The first study documenting the impact of this metabolism on cancer was recorded in Germany in 1924. According to Time.com, these studies continue all over the world as the human race fights to find a cure for the lifestyles that contribute to cancer development.
How They Work
Proponents of the modified protein diets believe that by increasing dietary fats and lean proteins, and starvation of the simple sugars like carbohydrates, the body is forced into a survival mode whereby it must use a different energy source. In a healthy individual the body breaks ingested carbohydrates into sugar for an instant energy source. However, in people fighting cancer it is argued that the cancerous tumors grab all of the sugars and use them to divide, multiply and grow new cancerous cells. By starving the body, and the cancer, of this quick energy source scientists believe years of evolution come into play as the metabolism adjusts to the starvation and starts to burn fats and protein for an energy source.
Scientific Evidence
Many published studies show the efficacy of modified protein diets on obesity, such as a 2008 publication in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. However, since cancer is a life-threatening disease, scientists and researchers alike are hesitant to state that this diet may provide a cure for cancer. A study in January, 2010, was published in the Nutrition and Metabolism Journal showing that there was a direct correlation to the development of breast cancer and high carbohydrate diets. German doctors continue to study the effect of protein and carbohydrate balance on cancer tumor growth at the Wurzberg Hospital in Germany, finding positive evidence that by starving tumors of carbohydrates and sugars the tumor growth may stop. This impact on cancer tumor cells has been named the Warburg Effect, after the first German doctor who discovered the correlation.
Dietary Components
Similar to the Atkins style diets, modified protein diets consist of minimal carbohydrate intake, moderate protein intake and high fat intake. Keeping general health in mind, the protein sources are encouraged from lean meats and fish, as opposed to fatty red meats that can increase blood lipid, or fat, levels to an unhealthy extreme. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition discusses the ketogenic diet in terms of daily dietary percentages, in essence creating an inverse food pyramid where fats and proteins are the most important part of the diet. Foods with high glycemic indexes, or those foods that are quickly broken down into simple sugars like bananas, should also be avoided according to the journal of Nutrition and Metabolism.
References
- Time.com: Can A High Fat Diet Beat Cancer?
- Nutritionandmetabolism.com: A High Protein Moderate Carbohydrate Diet Fed at Discrete Meals Reduces Early Progression of N-Methyl-N-Nitrosourea-Induced Breast Tumorigenesis in Rats
- The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition: Effects of a High-Protein Ketogenic Diet on Hunger, Appetite, and Weight Loss in Obese Men Feeding Ad Libitum
