Cancer Can Thrive on Fat
Why you can't "starve" cancer by avoiding sugar (and probably shouldn't try to)
Quick disclaimer: if the topic of cancer is extremely triggering and fear-inducing for you, then proceed with caution reading this article.
First and foremost, this is not a post about how carbs are good and fats are bad.
I am not mentioning the fact that cancer cells utilize fats to make you scared of fat.
I am also not on any crusade to start a carbs vs. fats war. Nor am I pretending to be some sort of a cancer expert or to have all the answers, because I definitely am not and I definitely do not. What I do know though is that there is a lot of fear-mongering around carbohydrates in the “health sphere” right now. And the biggest, baddest talking point of the anti-carb crew is that “sugar feeds cancer.” Unfortunately, this has many people convinced they need to “quit sugar” to avoid getting (or even cure) cancer.
However, based on the research that I’ve seen, the reality is not that simple.
If cancer was some sort of a parasite that could only feed on sugar, and if the human body had no need for sugar, then perhaps sugar restriction would make sense.
But the human body does need sugar, and in an ironic twist of fate, carbohydrate restriction can actually contribute to the very metabolic environment that can set the stage for cancerous cell derangement down the line (because cancer isn’t something that we’re destined for because it’s “coded for in our genes,” and the environment, including stress-inducing factors such as sugar restriction, has lots to do with its development).
You can learn more about the metabolic theory of cancer in my article: “Cancer: metabolic or genetic?”
My goal with this article is to present another point of view, one that brings into question the assumption that by “avoiding sugar” or “going keto” we can starve cancer.
Sugar restriction won’t starve cancer
First, let me back up the title of this article. Although the bulk of the article will focus on much more than just this, let’s cover the fact that cancer can indeed use fat for its development, which kind of throws the entire “let’s avoid sugar to starve cancer” approach out the window.