Greenmedinfo.com offers some compelling research and answers.
In 1924, Otto Warburg, Ph.D., a Nobel Prize winning biochemist, proposed the hypothesis that cancer is a metabolic disease that affects the way cells use food to make energy. Warburg believed that cancer cells exhibit a preference for using sugar to fuel themselves, even when the oxygen needed for normal cellular energy processes is available. He wrote:
“Cancer, above all other diseases, has countless secondary causes. But, even for cancer, there is only one prime cause. Summarized in a few words, the prime cause of cancer is the replacement of the respiration of oxygen in normal body cells by a fermentation of sugar.”
Until recently, Warburg’s hypothesis had been marginalized by the persistent belief in the oncology world that cancer is a genetic disease. However, in his new book, Cancer as a Metabolic Disease: On the Origin, Management, and Prevention of Cancer, Thomas Seyfried, Ph.D., has put Warburg’s work back in the medical limelight.5
In his book, Seyfried argues that cancer is not a genetic disorder, but is, indeed, a metabolic disease.
Thomas Seyfried’s team has shown in several studies that calorie restriction in conjunction with a restricted ketogenic diet improves cancer outcomes because the diet can reduce tumor blood vessel growth; promote cancer cell suicide factors (apoptosis), destabilize the tumor DNA, reduce tumor size, reduce cancer-growth-stimulating IGF-1 hormone, and reduce inflammation.10-14
Given the successful use of a restricted ketogenic diet to treat cancer in controlled studies, one would think that mainstream medicine would at least be curious about metabolic dietary therapy. But, so far, little has been disseminated in the media, and many of the big cancer organizations have not embraced the idea.
I contacted Thomas Seyfried, Ph.D., to ask for permission to reference material and studies from his book, and wrote to Dominic D’Agostino, Ph.D., a ketogenic diet expert at the University of South Florida to ask for assistance in writing the book. I’m happy to say the response was overwhelmingly positive from both gentlemen, and after several months of hard work, the book is now available on my website at: www.ketogenic-diet-resource.com/cancer-diet.html.
Dr. Mercola Interviews Dr. Seyfried (Full Interview)
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