With research being so broad regarding the Ketogenic diet as a cancer treatment there is still much to be learned on which cancers can be prevented or treated with this diet as well as those which do not respond significantly to metabolic changes. In general, those which do respond to this are the ones where the cancer cells feed off sugars and will starve when the body begins to fuel off the highest percentage of fats, with moderate protein and almost no carbohydrates.
Originally for Weight Loss
As you will see in the following section the details of the Ketogenic diet for weight loss are not as stringent as those needed to treat or prevent cancer. While a Ketogenic diet which contains 60-75% of daily calorie intake from fat is good for weight loss, in order to starve the cancer cells of the body that percentage needs to be increased to almost 90%.
So, the definition of the Ketogenic diet is one that “consists of high fat, with moderate to low protein content, and very low carbohydrates, which forces the body to burn fat instead of glucose for adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis.”
It is important to remember that in the standard Western diet there is usually a traditionally daily consumption of 50-75% carbohydrates. Our population has been taught for years that fat is the most dangerous piece of the diet and must be reduced in order to help prevent illnesses like heart disease, cancer, obesity and more. However, contemporary research is starting to show differently.