diet in cancer

Please understand that the recommendations below are not a substitute for medical treatment and do not guarantee a cure, but may lead to an improvement in health.

Food supplements are no substitute for a varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.

Someone told me that he read that keto diet and coconut oil are forbidden in cancer, because they would favor metastasis. I know, on the contrary, that in general keto or low-carb diets, as well as intermittent fasting, are often recommended in cancer - and the explanation is logical and documented.

The main source of energy for malignant (cancer) cells is glucose, but the way they use it is fundamentally different from normal cells. This phenomenon is called the Warburg effect, after Otto Warburg, who described it in the 1920s.

🔬 What is the Warburg effect?

Cancer cells use glucose energy inefficiently - they produce much less energy from the same amount of glucose than healthy cells. However, this mode of utilization gives them advantages:

  • allows them to divide quickly;
  • function in oxygen-poor environments (characteristic of many solid tumors);
  • It creates an acidic environment by accumulating lactate, which facilitates tissue invasion and immune system evasion.

In addition, sugar stimulates the secretion of insulin and IGF-1 - two hormones that:

  • promotes cell proliferation;
  • reduce apoptosis (programmed death of diseased cells);
  • facilitates the formation of new blood vessels (angiogenesis), which feed the tumor;
  • causes chronic inflammation and metabolic imbalances (insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, obesity);
  • It affects the immune system - studies show that, after consuming sugar, the phagocytic function of leukocytes (the ability to destroy pathogens) decreases significantly for several hours.

🥑 The role of the keto diet and coconut oil in this context

Reducing carbohydrate intake and partly replacing it with healthy fats, including coconut oil, is at the heart of the therapeutic ketogenic diet, used experimentally in some types of cancer (glioblastoma, hormone-dependent cancers, etc.).

In intermittent fasting, but also in the keto diet, the body, being deprived of glucose, begins to use fats for energy. These are metabolized in the liver and converted into ketone bodies.

An important advantage is that:

  • healthy cells can use ketone bodies for energy;
  • Instead, many tumor cells fail to use them efficiently - which can be a therapeutic advantage.

Coconut oil is an excellent source of medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), from which the body quickly obtains ketone bodies. In addition, coconut oil also has antimicrobial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory effects due to its lauric acid, thus indirectly supporting immunity and gut health - essential for cancer patients.

🥗 What can a cancer patient practically do?

❌ Avoid:

  • juices, including fresh;
  • processed sweets;
  • pastries and white bread;
  • "Sugary" and "healthy" cereals only in advertising;

⚠️ Limited:

  • fruits with high sugar content (ripe bananas, grapes, mango);
  • honey and syrups (maple, agave, etc.), even if they seem natural.

✅ Including:

  • green and colored vegetables with low starch content;
  • healthy fats (coconut oil, olive oil, avocado, nuts, seeds);
  • Clean proteins (fish, eggs, lean meat, plant sources);
  • anti-inflammatory spices (turmeric, ginger, cinnamon);
  • intermittent post. Read more: HERE.

All of these measures can reduce circulating glucose and force cells to use ketones - which, in many cancers, can limit tumor nourishment.

💡 Did you know...?

PET-CT, an imaging test to detect cancer, exploits tumor cells' thirst for glucose. A synthetic glucose labeled with a radioactive isotope (fluorine) is injected and the cancer cells avidly absorb it - so they appear "lit up" on the PET-CT image.

🧾 Conclusion:

Claims that coconut oil or the keto diet "promotes metastasis" have no solid scientific support. On the contrary, a growing body of research supports a potential metabolic, immunologic and anti-inflammatory benefit in certain oncologic contexts, with the caveat that they do NOT replace standard oncologic treatments.