As I understand it cancer cells can only use sugars for energy. If you fast your body starts metabolising fat, releasing ketones. Normal cells can use ketones for energy, but cancer cells cannot. Hence, fasting could be a way to manage cancer. So at least one of the people mentioned in the post might not be a crackpot.
Here's a bit of academic work on the subject:
"The goal of the current study was to test the hypothesis that ketone bodies can inhibit cell growth in aggressive cancers ... all cancer lines demonstrated proportionally inhibited growth ... The results bear on the hypothesized potential for ketogenic diets as therapeutic strategies."
Comments
As I understand it cancer cells can only use sugars for energy. If you fast your body starts metabolising fat, releasing ketones. Normal cells can use ketones for energy, but cancer cells cannot. Hence, fasting could be a way to manage cancer. So at least one of the people mentioned in the post might not be a crackpot.
Here's a bit of academic work on the subject:
"The goal of the current study was to test the hypothesis that ketone bodies can inhibit cell growth in aggressive cancers ... all cancer lines demonstrated proportionally inhibited growth ... The results bear on the hypothesized potential for ketogenic diets as therapeutic strategies."
http://cancerci.com/content/9/1/14
Interesting. By similar reasoning, getting most of your calories from fat would lead to the same result. That may be less troublesome than fasting.
Yes, I think this idea is being taken up by the researcher I linked above.
the guy he was referring to: http://sam.ai.ki/cancer-2.html
Wrong thread?
No, but my point was a bit oblique. In the linked post there is this line:
"Some sweet code has been written by ... (in at least once [sic] case) someone who believes that fasting will cure cancer."
I wanted to point out that said person might not be a crackpot, and I thought HN might find an exercise in pedantry somewhat amusing.
Perhaps you didn't read all of it?
Anyway, the person mentioned in this subthread did reply in a comment on the original post. (http://rusty.ozlabs.org/?p=196#comment-721)
Thanks. I guess I should read more carefully.
Funnily enough, no.
Anti-angiogenesis drugs and supplements also show promise in shutting down cancer cells.