Statistically, almost every second person will develop some form of cancer in their lifetime. Because you have been affected yourself or know someone who is affected, the issue affects everyone. At the same time, many patients and their families know very little about the disease. What happens in the body? Why does not everyone get cancer? How does an individual treat cancer? Dr. Marisa Kurtz answers these and other questions in her column, “Understanding Cancer.”
My patients often ask me if giving up sugar has a positive effect on their cancer. They hope to “starve” the cancer with a low-sugar diet. Unfortunately, I have to tell them that it doesn’t work that way – and that such diets can be harmful.
Cancer needs sugar – just like the whole body
The metabolism of cancer cells differs from the metabolism of healthy cells in some respects. For example, cancer cells ferment sugar for energy rather than burning it as efficiently as possible with the help of oxygen. For this it is called Warburg effect Many legends circulate. One of them is that cancer can be fought with a sugar-free diet.
It is in fact that cancer cells have an altered metabolism and absorb an especially large amount of glucose to generate energy. Unfortunately, this fact does not mean that eating less sugar fights cancer. There are several reasons for this: First, the supply of sugar to cancer cells cannot be specifically prevented. Healthy body cells are always in short supply when a person is without sugar. Secondly, cells can also obtain energy from other nutrients, for example from fats or proteins. If cancer cells get too little sugar from their diet, they will find another way to provide themselves with energy, for example by promoting the breakdown of fat and muscle in the body. Cancer cannot be starved, rather it makes people starve. There is no evidence that low-carb diets have a beneficial effect on cancer.
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