A friend recently contacted me to say she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and needed chemotherapy – and asked if I had any advice on what she could do nutritionally to increase her chances of a successful outcome. .
This is a difficult question to answer because although some evidence on diet and cancer is fairly well established (eg the benefits of a Mediterranean diet, see below), other approaches, such as: B. intermittent fasting, much more valuable . contentious.
But new research suggests it may also be useful in the right patients.
There are different types of intermittent fasting, ranging from time-restricted eating, where you limit your food intake to a certain number of hours a day, to the 5:2 diet, where you limit or reduce your calories on two or more days a week. .
Initial evidence of the latter’s potential benefit in preventing breast cancer came from a study from the University of Manchester in 2013. The researchers examined a group of 115 middle-aged women with a family history of breast cancer, putting them at greater risk. placed for breast cancer. . the disease.
There are different types of intermittent fasting, ranging from time-restricted eating, where you limit your food intake to a certain number of hours a day, to the 5:2 diet, where you limit or reduce your calories on two or more days a week. (Image from a photo agency)
The women were randomly assigned to a standard low-calorie diet, or two days a week, half were asked to eat just 650 calories from a low-carbohydrate Mediterranean diet (ie, intermittent fasting).
After eight weeks of this regimen, the intermittent fasting group lost an average of 6 kg – almost twice as much as the group that followed the diet every day.
Notably, they also saw a much greater improvement in their insulin sensitivity, a measure of how much insulin your body needs to produce to lower your blood sugar levels.
This is important because high insulin levels are thought to promote cancer growth. The same researchers published a study in 2016 that showed that a month of intermittent fasting not only resulted in weight loss, but breast biopsies also showed that just over half of the women had changes in gene activity in their breast tissue, which suggests that it is possible in the event they were less likely. become cancerous.
In addition to affecting insulin levels, intermittent fasting can also help fight cancer by increasing the effectiveness of our T cells, an essential part of the immune system. This appears from a new study by the Van Andel Research Institute in Michigan, USA, which was published in the journal Immunity.
The study, conducted on mice, showed that ketones, a type of fuel our bodies produce in response to intermittent fasting, help recharge T cells, enabling them to neutralize cancer more effectively. So there is evidence that intermittent fasting can boost your immune system and help reduce your risk of certain cancers, including breast cancer. And if you have cancer, it can reduce the effect of treatment.
Although few human studies have been done, I was impressed by the recent research presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology conference by Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin.
In addition to affecting insulin levels, intermittent fasting can also help fight cancer by increasing the effectiveness of our T cells, an essential part of the immune system. This appears from a new study by the Van Andel Research Institute in Michigan, USA, published in the journal Immunity (stock image).
The study involved 106 women who had been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer and were about to undergo chemotherapy.
Half of them were asked to follow a low-calorie diet consisting mainly of vegetable juices and vegetable sauces for two days before chemotherapy and then for 24 hours afterwards.
Surprisingly, despite consuming fewer calories than normal, the women who followed the fasting regimen reported much less fatigue and a much greater sense of well-being after chemotherapy than the control group, and no side effects were reported.
Short-term fasting not only increases ketone levels, but also lowers blood sugar levels, which makes it harder for cancers to grow and can make them more vulnerable.
Although encouraging, the study was too short to show whether short-term fasting has a positive impact on long-term survival.
It’s still so early in this study that I wouldn’t recommend trying intermittent fasting for chemotherapy outside of an actual clinical trial.
Instead, as I told my friend with breast cancer, I think it’s safer to eat a Mediterranean diet rich in fatty fish, olive oil, nuts, fruits, vegetables, and legumes. Not only have studies shown that it reduces the risk of cancer, but a recent study also found that it can make chemotherapy more tolerable.
The study from the University of Rochester Medical Center in the US found that cancer patients who followed a Mediterranean diet for several months reported much less fatigue after chemotherapy than those who followed a “usual care” program.
Interestingly, the diet’s positive effects appear to have come at least in part from strengthening the patients’ mitochondria, the tiny batteries in all of our cells that power them, especially those that power T cells.
Currently, the Mediterranean diet is not often recommended for people undergoing chemotherapy, but I would recommend it.
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
