Sugar is the modern-day diet villain, but where does the agreement lie between how sugar and cancer are linked? Does it cause cancer? Does sugar feed cancer cells, making them grow more aggressively? And how does the sugar we consume through food and drink affect our health, and what can be done about this? In this article, we take a long hard look at sugar and its relationship with cancer, busting some myths and covering what researchers are studying in the hopes of finding new ways to treat people with cancer.

1. Does sugar cause cancer?

Sugar feeds every cell in your body. But does sugar cause cancer, or help it to grow and spread? Our expert says to watch out for added sugars, but not for the reasons you may think.

Does sugar “feed” cancer cells?

It’s true that sugar feeds every cell in our body — even cancer cells. But, research shows that eating sugar doesn’t necessarily lead to cancer. It’s what sugar does to your waistline that can lead to cancer.

Taking in too many sugar calories may result in weight gain. And, being overweight or obese puts you at a higher risk for cancer and other diseases.

2. What do our bodies need sugar for and where it comes from in our diet?

Glucose – the fuel of life

When you search for sugar and cancer on the internet, you will find many warnings that sugar is the “white death” that feeds cancer cells.

The idea that sugar is responsible for kick-starting or fuelling cancer’s growth is an over-simplification of some very complicated biology.

-What is sugar?

Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars include glucose (also known as dextrose), fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars or double sugars are molecules composed of two joined simple sugars. Common examples are sucrose, lactose, and maltose. “Table sugar” or “granulated sugar” refers to sucrose, a disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose. Table sugar is extracted from sugarcane or beet. In the body, sucrose is hydrolyzed into fructose and glucose.

Glucose is the basic fuel that powers every single one of our cells. If we eat or drink things that are high in glucose, such as fizzy drinks, the glucose gets absorbed straight into our blood ready for our cells to use..

It’s here that sugar and cancer start to collide because cancer is a disease of cells.

3. Sugar and cancer?

Cancer cells usually grow very rapidly, multiplying at a high rate, which takes a lot of energy. This means they need lots of glucose. Cancer cells also need lots of other nutrients too, such as amino acids and fats; it’s not just sugar they crave.

Here’s where the concept that sugar fuels cancer was born: if cancer cells need lots of glucose, then cutting sugar out of our diet must help stop cancer growth, and could even stop it developing in the first place. Unfortunately, all our healthy cells need glucose too, and there’s no way of telling our bodies to let healthy cells have the glucose they need, but not give it to cancer cells.

There’s no evidence that following a “sugar-free” diet lowers the risk of getting cancer or boosts the chances of surviving if you are diagnosed. 

4. What then?

Although there’s no evidence that cutting carbohydrates from our diet will help treat cancer, important research has shown that understanding the abnormal ways that cancer cells make energy could lead to new treatments.

A scientist called Otto Warburg in the ’50s noticed that cancer cells use a different chemical process from normal cells to turn glucose into energy. While healthy cells use a series of chemical reactions in small cellular ‘batteries’ called mitochondria, cancer cells bypass their ‘batteries’ to generate energy more rapidly to meet demand. This discovery was named the Warburg Effect.

This shortcut for making energy might be a weakness for some cancers that gives researchers an advantage for developing new treatments because:

• First, it opens up the potential for developing drugs that shut down cancer cells’ energy-making processes but don’t stop healthy cells from making energy. And researchers are testing drugs that work in this way.
• Second, the abnormal processes in cancer cells can also leave them less able to adapt when faced with a lack of other nutrients, like amino acids. These potential vulnerabilities could lead to treatments too.

As these approaches are still experimental, we don’t know yet if treatments that starve cancer cells are safe or if they work.

5. Why worry about sugar then?

If cutting out sugar doesn’t help treat cancer, why then do we encourage people to cut down on sugary foods in our diet advice?

There is an indirect link between cancer risk and sugar. Eating lots of sugar over time can cause you to gain weight, and robust scientific evidence shows that being overweight or obese increases the risk of 13 different types of cancer. In fact, obesity is the single biggest preventable cause of cancer after smoking, which we’ve written about many times before.

And a study published in 2019 suggested there could be something else going on. Researchers found that people who drank more sugary drinks had a slightly increased risk of cancer, regardless of body weight. The study took weight into account, but there are still lots of answered questions. More studies will be needed to investigate this.

6. So, should you avoid sugar? Our expert says no.

“Your body’s cells use sugar to keep your vital organs functioning,” says Erma Levy, a research dietitian in Behavioral Science. “But too much daily sugar can cause weight gain. And, unhealthy weight gain and a lack of exercise can increase your cancer risks.”

Eat the right amount of sugar: So, how much sugar is safe to eat?  Women should have no more than six teaspoons per day (25 grams), and men should have no more than nine teaspoons per day (36 grams), says the American Heart Association. This equals about 100 calories for women and 150 for men.

Spot hidden sugar in food: The biggest source of added sugar in the American diet is sugar-sweetened beverages. Other sources include cakes, cookies, pies, and ice cream. Pasta sauce, salad dressings, and canned vegetables also have hidden sugars.

It is very important to read food labels and look for hidden sugars.

Your first clue that a product is high in sugar is if the word “sugar” is listed as the first ingredient.

Some sugary foods don’t include “sugar” on the ingredient list. That’s because sugar is often disguised under different names. Here are some hidden “sugar” words to look out for:

• fructose (sugar from fruits)
• lactose (sugar from milk)
• sucrose (made from fructose and glucose)
• maltose (sugar made from grain)
• glucose (simple sugar,)
• dextrose (form of glucose)

Opt for natural sugars: Natural sugars, like molasses, agave nectar, honey, and maple syrup, are packed with antioxidants that protect your body from cancer.

Avoid artificial sweeteners: Do you prefer artificial sweeteners over sugar?

Some studies done with laboratory animals have found links between artificial sweeteners and cancer. But, no proof exists that says artificial sweeteners definitely cause cancer.

Rein in your sweet tooth: Bottom line: sugar, when eaten in small amounts, can fit into a balanced diet.

7. So, what is the future for sugar where cancer is concerned?

On the one hand, sugar itself doesn’t cause cancer, and there’s no way (at the moment) of specifically starving cancer cells of glucose without harming healthy cells too. There’s also no evidence that adopting a diet very low in carbohydrates will lower your cancer risk or help as a treatment. And for patients, getting adequate nutrition is important for helping their bodies cope with treatment.

However, it is alarming, the amount of added sugar people are consuming because it’s promoting weight gain. Being overweight or obese increases the risk of at least 13 types of cancer. Although throwing out sugar won’t stop cancer in its tracks, we can all reduce our risk of getting cancer by making healthy choices, and lowering the amount of added sugar in our diets is a good way to help maintain healthy body weight.

• References:

1. MD Anderson Cancer Centre (2019): Does sugar cause cancer? Retrieved from https://www.mdanderson.org/publications/focused-on-health/FOH-cancer-love-sugar.h14-1589835.html

2. Web MD: Cancer and Sugar: Is There a Link? Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/cancer/features/cancer-sugar-link#1

3. Cancer Research UK (2017): Sugar and cancer – what you need to know. Retrieved from https://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2017/05/15/sugar-and-cancer-what-you-need-to-know/

4. Wikipedia : Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar

Diabetes was the leading cause of death in the US in 2015. To date, it follows closely behind cardiovascular disease and cancer.

For many people, the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes can be devastating as this comes with lots of risks and uncertainties. Also, this implies having to grapple with increasing healthcare costs to manage the chronic condition. The cost of treating diabetes in the US is approximately $7,900 per person each year.

Just across in the UK, the National Health Service (NHS) is looking for ways to curb the diabetes type 2 epidemic which is causing a strain on the already overstretched NHS budget. Towards the end of last year, the NHS initiated a program that involves starting 5,000 patients on a liquid diet of just over 800 calories a day for 120 days in a bid to reverse the condition. This is part of the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme (NHS DPP) intended for people who are at risk of type 2 diabetes The project comes after a highly successful trial of the same nature. This liquid diet is meant to restrict the calorie intake of the patients with the hope of helping them achieve a healthy weight and healthy lifestyle. In the end, these lifestyle changes should lead to diabetes reversal.

What is diabetes type 2?

Diabetes is a condition that causes an individual’s blood sugar levels to become too high. Type 2 diabetes happens when a person progressively becomes insensitive to the effects of insulin. The pancreas then secretes more insulin leading to too much insulin in the body. Eventually, the insulin levels may decline when the production sources are exhausted.

Diabetes type 2 is linked to obesity and cancer. Fortunately, it is preventable through diet and lifestyle changes.

In the US, there are about 100 million people living with diabetes or prediabetes. 9 out of 10 of diabetes cases have diabetes type 2. The study alluded to above suggested that a liquid diet could help in reversing diabetes in most patients.

What Is A Liquid Diet?

A liquid diet (like the one used in the study) is generally a very low-calorie diet. It usually involves eating around 800 calories a day or less. Just to put this in perspective: this is a third of what a man usually takes and half of what a woman should take.

The liquid diet consists of shakes and soups, according to the NHS. A person should use this diet for no more than 12 weeks and should do this only under strict medical supervision.

Side effects to expect include:

• Dry mouth
• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Headaches
• Dizziness
• Cramps
• Hair thinning

This diet is not suitable for everyone.

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Successful trial

The milestone study is called DiRECT which is an acronym for Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial/ As much as the study is not complete, preliminary findings have caused lots of excitement. So much so that NHS England has committed to piloting a Type 2 diabetes remission programme in 2019 with about 5,000 study participants.

The first-year results showed that almost half (45.6%) of those who took part in the programme were in remission after a year. By the end of the second year, 70% were still in remission. Overall 30% of study participants were still in remission two years. This is encouraging for the diabetic community as it dispels that myth that this is an irreversible disease.

The second-year results showed a close correlation between diabetes type 2 remissions and weight loss. The majority of those who lost more than 10 kilos maintained remission after two years. Weight loss was also associated with improved quality of life, improved blood glucose (sugar) control, and a reduced need for diabetes medications.

The researchers admitted that this approach cannot work for everyone. It is important to understand the biology underlying remission before implementing any treatment.

What Is Diabetes Remission?

Diabetes remission means that a person with diagnosed diabetes can maintain normal blood glucose levels without using any medication. This doesn’t mean diabetes has gone for good, but that the person is living symptom-free and medication-free as well. A person in remission still needs regular check-up and follow up by a physician.

What Is The NHS Plan

The NHS long-term plan is to empower people living with type 2 diabetes to take charge of their own health needs. By limiting their calorie intake and reducing weight, most patients can achieve diabetes reversal.

Ultimately, this will result in lower healthcare costs for the NHS as well as individual patients. Speaking to news, NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens had this to say:

“However this isn’t a battle that the NHS can win on its own. The NHS pound will go further if the food industry also takes action to cut junk calories and added sugar and salt from processed food, TV suppers, and fast food takeaways.”

• References

1. CDC: Death and Costs. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/data/statistics-report/deaths-cost.html
2. iNews (2019): Type 2 diabetes patients to be prescribed very low-calorie liquid diet to reverse. Retrieved from https://inews.co.uk/news/type-2-diabetes-patients-prescription-very-low-calorie-liquid-diet-reverse-condition-198716
3. BBC News (2018): Type 2 diabetes: NHS to offer 800-calorie diet treatment. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/health-46363869
4. Diabetes UK: NHS England announces Type 2 remission pilot, and plans to double the size of the NHS England Diabetes Prevention Programme. Retrieved from https://www.diabetes.org.uk/about_us/news/nhs-type2-remission-pilot

Are you considering going to carnivore? This all-meat diet is trending, and many people have reported significant benefits from adopting it. However, totally dropping plant-based food off your plate could have a significant impact on your health. In this article, we’ll discuss what this popular diet is and what it does……

1. What Is the Carnivore Diet?

The Carnivore Diet is a restrictive diet that only includes meat, fish, and other animal foods like eggs and certain dairy products. It excludes all other foods, including fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, nuts, and seeds. Its proponents also recommend eliminating or limiting dairy intake to foods that are low in lactose — a sugar found in milk and dairy products — such as butter and hard cheeses.

The Carnivore Diet stems from the controversial belief that human ancestral populations ate mostly meat and fish and that high-carb diets are to blame for today’s high rates of chronic disease.

Many people who have adopted the carnivore diet report faster weight loss, improved mental clarity, healthier digestion, and even improved athletic performance. Some have also reported remarkable relief from debilitating chronic health problems where conventional methods failed. All this considered, it is definitely worth giving a thought to.

2. Exactly which foods are on the Carnivore Diet List?

As the title suggests, the carnivore diet is made up of mainly meat. We will discuss in more detail what it specifically includes and what to avoid.

-Foods Okay on the Carnivore Diet with an emphasis on fattier cuts of meat to take in enough calories:

• Meat: beef, chicken, turkey, organ meats, lamb, pork, etc.
• Fish: salmon, mackerel, sardines, crab, lobster, tilapia, herring, etc.
• Other animal products: eggs, lard, bone marrow, bone broth, etc.
• Low-lactose dairy (in small amounts): heavy cream, hard cheese, butter, etc.
• Water

Generally, salt, pepper, and seasonings with no carbs are allowed.

• Below is a list of what you should NOT be eating:

• Vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, green beans, peppers, etc.
• Fruits: apples, berries, bananas, kiwi, oranges, etc.
• High-lactose dairy: milk, yogurt, soft cheese, etc.
• Legumes: beans, lentils, etc.
• Nuts and seeds: almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, pistachios, etc.
• Grains: rice, wheat, bread, quinoa, pasta, etc.
• Alcohol: beer, wine, liquor, etc.
• Sugars: table sugar, maple syrup, brown sugar, etc.
• Beverages other than water: soda, coffee, tea, fruit juice, etc.

While some people incorporate some of these foods, a true Carnivore Diet does not permit them:

• Milk
• Yogurt
• Cheese

Coffee and tea: These may be plant-based, but some people keep these in the diet.

The carnivore diet can be considered to be a fad. Is there evidence that any traditional populations practiced the carnivore culture?

3. The ancestral link to the carnivore diet

Many ancestral groups thrived on large quantities of animal products. However, every single one of these groups also took advantage of plant foods when they were available. The Sioux of South Dakota, the Maasai, Rendille, and Samburu from East Africa, Gaucho Brazilians, the nomads of Mongolia, the Russian Arctic Chukotka and the Canadian Inuit are all communities that predominantly ate meat and fish for their core sustenance. They however all looked for supplementation in vegetables, fruits, berries, lichen and other condiments such as honey and whatever other non-meat sources they could get.

4. Carnivore Diet Benefits

The carnivore diet, though not being a new diet in a strict sense, has gained fame in recent times. Let’s look at some of its benefits, both anecdotal and backed by research.

• Weight Loss

As with the ketogenic diet, failing to take in carbs keeps your blood sugar low at all times. You don’t get insulin spikes, so your body has no reason to store incoming calories as body fat. Additionally, the limitations on what you can eat make it almost impossible to get a calorie surplus without a concerted effort.

• Better Heart Health

While there is still no clear link between the consumption of saturated fat and heart disease, there is also a solid pile of evidence that saturated fat can potentially improve heart health.

According to the Mayo Clinic, your cholesterol ratio is a better risk predictor than total cholesterol or LDL. You arrive at it by dividing your total cholesterol number by your HDL score.

Another important factor on cholesterol is that, even though higher LDL numbers are seen as risky, the type of LDL particles you have traveling through your arteries is more important. If they’re small and dense, they’re considered more dangerous than if they’re bigger and “fluffier.” Therefore, two people with the same LDL value could be at very different levels of risk.

According to the Cooper Institute, a good way to determine what kind of LDL particles you have is to find your ratio of triglycerides to HDL cholesterol. The lower the ratio, the less the risk.

• Lower Inflammation

Simply cutting plant foods from your menu can lower inflammation by itself. “If you had a food sensitivity to some of the plants you were eating and had low-grade inflammation,” says Brian St. Pierre of Precision Nutrition, “then removing them will make you feel better.”

The liver produces C-reactive proteins (CRP) in response to inflammation, so measuring CRP levels can indicate how much inflammation is in your system. A level of 10mg/L or less is normal, and 1mg/L or less is good.

Lower inflammation means the reduction of the risk for some chronic illnesses like Type 2 Diabetes, Cardiovascular issues and other conditions that arise as a result of inflammation. A certain kind of inflammation also causes achy joints. There’s some evidence that eating more gelatinous proteins, as you find in bone broth, collagen, and gelatincan improves cartilage health.

• Higher Testosterone

Diets high in fat have been shown to boost testosterone levels. In fact, a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that men who followed a high-fat, low-fiber diet for 10 weeks had 13% higher total testosterone than subjects who ate low fat and high fiber.

• Fewer Digestive Problems

Meat is made primarily of protein and fat, which are absorbed high up in the GI tract, leaving little residue leftover to irritate or inflame the gut. In other words, an all-meat diet is effectively a very low-residue diet and gives the gut a rest.

• Increased Mental Clarity

Just as with the ketogenic diet, carnivore dieters report thinking more clearly and having better focus almost right away. Again, as with going keto, there is a break-in period where your body has to figure out how to fuel your system without carbs, so you’ll probably feel lethargic and moody at first. You may have difficulty sleeping and even develop bad breath, an early sign that your body is making ketones, but you can ride it out. Within a few days, or just over a week, you could feel sharper than ever.

• Simplified Dieting

The carnivore diet is the simplest you will ever come across. You eat animal foods when you’re hungry…..period. If you are the kind of person who gets confused counting calories or macros, is tired of weighing portions on a food scale, or isn’t sure what’s gluten-free and what isn’t, a carnivore diet will all but relieve you of having to think.

And while a meat-rich diet may sound like it would break the bank, the amounts you actually consume may not be high, since meat is so satiating. That should keep costs down—especially if you literally aren’t buying any other food.

5. Is an all-meat, carnivore diet healthy?

Meat is an essential part of a healthy diet, but eating an all-meat diet is an entirely different subject, and I think we need to be very careful about assuming that an intervention that works well in the short term will also be safe and effective in the long term.

Different people are better suited for different diets based on their physiologies and conditions. The diet that best matches your own body could be higher or lower carb, high fat, or even high protein (though perhaps not as high as the carnivore diet). The right diet for any individual depends on their health, their goals, and which diet and lifestyle would best serve them.

• References:

1. Everyday Health(2018): On the Carnivore Diet, People Are Eating Only Meat: Here’s What to Know. Retrieved from https://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/diet/carnivore-diet-benefits-risks-food-list-more/

2. Men’s Health(2019) : Inside the All-Meat, Only-Meat Carnivore Diet That Took the Internet by Storm, Retrieved from https://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/a27405997/carnviore-diet-plan/

3. Chris Kessler (2019): The Carnivore Diet: Is It Really Healthy? Retrieved from https://chriskresser.com/the-carnivore-diet-is-it-really-healthy/

4. Onnit Academy (2017): The Carnivore Diet: Is Eating ONLY Meat Healthy, or Totally Crazy? Retrieved from https://www.onnit.com/academy/the-carnivore-diet/

We have earlier discussed the immense benefits of the carnivore diet. Some may consider this diet to be too extreme, exposing one to potential harm. Are there any other alternatives out there that could give similar results and perhaps have less potential threats? In this article, we will explore some of these options.

1. A Low-Carb Paleo Diet

As opposed to going straight from the Standard American Diet to pure carnivore, oftentimes, a low-carbohydrate Paleo template might provide some of the same benefits, including weight loss, improved insulin sensitivity, and alleviation in autoimmune symptoms.

The paleo diet involves eating unprocessed foods that were likely available to your Paleolithic ancestors before the agricultural and industrial revolutions. While not strictly low-carb, it can be modified to fit such a lifestyle.

According to paleo supporters, returning to the diet of your prehistoric ancestors should improve health because humans allegedly evolved and adapted to eating such foods. Several small studies show that a paleo diet can cause weight loss, reduce blood sugars, and improve risk factors for heart disease

A paleo diet emphasizes meats, fish, seafood, eggs, vegetables, fruits, tubers, nuts, and seeds. A strict paleo diet eliminates processed foods, added sugar, grains, legumes, and dairy products.

2. A Fasting Mimicking Diet

Fast mimicking is a type of modified fasting. Instead of abstaining from food completely like a traditional fast, you consume small amounts of food — but you do it in a way that gives you the benefits of fasting.

A fast-mimicking diet typically lasts about five days — you’ll keep your carb, protein, and calorie intake low and your fat intake high. Calories are kept at around 40% of normal intake. This keeps you nourished with nutrients and electrolytes. It also puts less stress on your body than normal fasting while still giving you the same benefits.

Fasting and especially intermittent fasting have been shown to be an effective mediation in many diseases, including obesity and diabetes. Recently, the fasting-mimicking diet (FMD) has been found to improve metabolic disorders.

Studies show that it can reverse type 1 and type 2 diabetes, alleviate age-dependent impairments in cognitive performance, and protect against cancer and aging in mice. In humans, the fasting-mimicking diet was found to significantly reduce body weight, improve cardiovascular risk markers, lower inflammation, and potentially improve symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

3. Periodic Prolonged Fasting

Undergoing 72-hour fasting once every few months could also achieve many of the benefits boasted by the carnivore diet. Prolonged fasting causes organs to shrink and then be rejuvenated as damaged cells are cleared out and stem cell pathways are activated. Prolonged fasting (PF) has also been known to promote stress resistance.

The latest study to explore the impact of fasting on the human body concludes that it increases metabolic activity more than previously realized and may even impart anti-aging benefits.

4. A Ketogenic Diet

A ketogenic (keto) diet involves reducing carbs sufficiently to induce a metabolic state called ketosis. It’s a very powerful diet to lose fat and may protect against several diseases. The ketogenic diet has been very well studied and has documented benefits for epilepsy, neurodegenerative disease, and autoimmune disease. Ketones themselves are potent anti-inflammatories.

The ketogenic diet is a very-low-carb, high-fat diet. The goal of a keto diet is to keep carbs so low that your body goes into a metabolic state called ketosis. In this state, your insulin levels plummet and your body releases large amounts of fatty acids from its fat stores.

A big amount of these fatty acids are transported to your liver, which converts them to ketones. Ketones are water-soluble molecules that can cross the blood-brain barrier and supply energy to your brain.

So, instead of operating on carbs, your brain starts being largely dependent on ketones. It is, however, important to note that your body can still produce a small amount of glucose required by your brain via a process called gluconeogenesis.

Traditionally used to treat drug-resistant epilepsy in children, the keto diet may also have benefits for other neurological disorders and metabolic problems like type 2 diabetes. Some versions of this diet restrict protein intake as too much protein may reduce the number of ketones you produce.

In recent times, it has also become popular for fat loss — even among some bodybuilders — as it’s a very effective way to lose fat and reduces appetite effectively.

A ketogenic diet involves high-protein, high-fat foods. A very small amount of carbs is allowed. A conventional keto eating pattern is referred to as a standard ketogenic diet (SKD).

Other variations that involve strategically adding carbs are:

• Targeted ketogenic diet (TKD). In this version, you add small amounts of carbs around workouts.
• Cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD). This type has you eat a ketogenic diet on most days but switch to a high-carb diet for 1–2 days each week.

5. The Atkins Diet

The Atkins Diet is a popular low-carbohydrate eating plan developed in the 1960s by cardiologist Robert C. Atkins. The Atkins Diet restricts carbs (carbohydrates) while emphasizing protein and fats.

The Atkins diet has been popular for over 40 years. It is a 4-phase, low-carb eating pattern that allows you to consume plenty of fat and protein. It is the best-known low-carb eating plan and it involves reducing all high-carb foods while eating as much protein and fat as desired.

This diet is divided into four phases:

Phase 1: Induction. Eat under 20 grams of carbs per day for 2 weeks.

Phase 2: Balancing. Slowly add more nuts, low-carb vegetables, and fruit.

Phase 3: Fine-tuning. When you get close to your weight goal, add more carbs until your weight loss becomes slower.

Phase 4: Maintenance. Eat as many healthy carbs as your body tolerates without gaining back the weight you lost.

The Atkins Diet says that it’s eating plan can prevent or improve serious health conditions, such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease. In fact, almost any diet that helps you shed excess weight can reduce or even reverse risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

And most weight-loss diets — not just low-carb diets — may improve blood cholesterol or blood sugar levels, at least temporarily. One study showed that people who followed the Atkins Diet had improved triglycerides, suggesting better heart health. But there have been no major studies to show whether such benefits hold up for the long term or increase how long you live.

The Atkins diet was originally demonized, but current research indicates it’s both safe and effective as long as fiber intake is adequate. This diet is still popular today.

6. The carnivore diet as opposed to other diets

The carnivore diet is sometimes considered to be too severe. Because of the many positive outcomes of this diet for weight loss and managing certain chronic diseases, alternative, milder options can be looked into. The health movement now dictates that people proactively make lifestyle decisions that will affect their lives, and diet is key in this. We expect to see more people engaging in such diets not only as a cure for certain conditions they may have but also for the general maintenance of health.

• References

1. Healthline (2019): The 8 Most Popular Ways to Do a Low-Carb Diet. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/8-popular-ways-to-do-low-carb

2. NCBI (2018): Intermittent administration of a fasting-mimicking diet intervenes in diabetes progression, restores β cells and reconstructs gut microbiota in mice. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6245873/

3. Perfect Keto (2019) : Fasting Mimicking Diet: What It Is and How to Do It. Retrieved from https://perfectketo.com/fasting-mimicking-diet-and-how-to-do-it/

4. Medical news today (2019): Fasting boosts metabolism and fights aging. Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324347.php

5. NCBI (2015): A periodic diet that mimics fasting promotes multi-system regeneration, enhanced cognitive performance and healthspan. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4509734/

6. Mayo Clinic: Atkins Diet: What’s behind the claims? Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/in-depth/atkins-diet/art-20048485

Prehistoric humans ate bone marrow like canned soup 400,000 years ago.

Bone marrow constitutes a significant source of nutrition, it and the cranial vault contents were the few available highly nutritious resources available for early scavengers humans, who subsisted on remnants from larger predator kills.

The access to this fat likely contributed to the direct development of intelligence and brain growth, as saturated fats were the primary driver of brain growth.

In fact, the animal who was inadvertently hunted and found to be lacking sufficient fat was often abandoned.

Direct evidence that early Paleolithic people saved animal bones for up to nine weeks before feasting on them, based upon the translocation of selected body parts of the hunted animal carcasses to the cave structures.

The Paleolithic humans developed preservation strategies for the marrow by covering the bone with skin. The bones were used as ‘cans’ that preserved the bone marrow for a long period until it was time to take off the dry skin, shatter the bone and eat the marrow.

mmm… yummy

Bone marrow storage and delayed consumption at Middle Pleistocene Qesem Cave, Israel (420 to 200 ka). Science Advances, 2019; 5 (10)

Degradation of the intrinsic gut microbiome by processed food consumption

The microbiome depletion may be associated with the increased prevalence of complex conditions like allergies, autoimmune, anxiety, depression, gastrointestinal diseases, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity.

These bacteria exist in a delicate interdependent ecosystem that supports our immune system, which protects us from viruses and pathogens and help us absorb nutrients and produce energy. The complex signaling mechanisms have evolved over millions of years, but have been decimated by hyper-processed foods.

In a recent study in Cell Host & Microbe, on the bacteria found in the intestine of a mummified iceman, Ötzi from the Ötztal Alps. Scientists compared samples of the mummy’s bacteria, to the genome of intestinal microorganisms of over 6500 modern individuals from all continents. The microbiome of contemporary non-westernized populations (from Tanzania and Ghana) that are not used to processed food and have non-Westernized hygiene practices and lifestyle was also compared.

The bacterial shift appears to be related to dietary rather than genetic changes, as modern humans with non westernized diet had more similarity to the iceman.

A change in diet should be the first step for treating inflammatory bowel diseases, like Crohn’s and other human inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). This is quite similar to canine chronic enteropathy (CE). In a study published in Microbiome, researchers investigated the connection between a prescription diet, the gut microbiome, and successful entry into disease remission in pet dogs.

They used genetic sequencing techniques, to catalog the microbes present in the stool.

They discovered the key features of the microbiome and associated metabolic products which contained elevated secondary bile acids that appeared only in dogs that entered disease remission, a type of bacteria (Clostridium hiranonis) that produces these compounds.

Taking the secondary bile acids found to be associated with remission, the researchers applied them to the E. coli and C. perfringens grown from the sick dogs and found the bile acids inhibited their growth.
They also gave C. hiranonis from the dogs to mice with inflammatory bowel disorder to see if the bacteria could reduce disease in a different animal model.

And comparing the impact of diet on the dog’s microbiome with that seen during diet therapy in children with Crohn’s, the study team found similarities, with elevations in Clostridium scindens, which, like C. hiranonis, is a potent producer of secondary bile acids.

Diet-induced remission in chronic enteropathy is associated with altered microbial community structure and synthesis of secondary bile acids. Microbiome, 2019; 7 (1).

Cellular metabolic overactivity leads to metal inflammation.

The immune system protects us from infections and tumors. the linkage between metabolism and inflammation, which seems clinically evident, has been elusive to demonstrate from a biochemical pathway perspective.

Researchers demonstrated that the metabolic activity in the immune cells of primary immunodeficiency disorders (PID) patients is significantly up-regulated, with resulting increased cellular respiration. This then signaled the cells to produce inflammatory mediators.

This study identified the pathway for pathological mitochondrial retrograde signaling leading to metal inflammation.

SDHA gain-of-function engages inflammatory mitochondrial retrograde signaling via KEAP1–Nrf2. Nature Immunology, 2019

Vegetarians and vegans may be at a higher risk of stroke than their meat-eating counterparts.

Those who don’t eat meat have a lower chance of coronary heart disease.

Vegetarian and vegan diets have become increasingly popular in recent years, partly due to perceived health benefits, as well as concerns about the environment and animal welfare.

For ischaemic heart disease, some but not all previous studies reported significantly lower risks of mortality from ischaemic heart disease in vegetarians than in non-vegetarians.

For stroke, two previous reports, including one that included EPIC-Oxford data, found no significant differences in risk of total stroke deaths between vegetarians and non-vegetarians.

This study showed that fish eaters and vegetarians (including vegans) had lower risks of ischaemic heart disease than meat eaters

Vegetarians (including vegans) had higher risks of haemorrhagic and total stroke than meat eaters

BMJ 2019; 366 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l4897 (Published 04 September 2019)
Cite this as: BMJ 2019;366:l4897

EPIC-Oxford study, a cohort in the United Kingdom with a large proportion of non-meat eaters, recruited across the country between 1993 and 2001.

48,188 participants with no history of ischaemic heart disease, stroke, or angina (or cardiovascular disease) were classified into three distinct diet groups: meat eaters (participants who consumed meat, regardless of whether they consumed fish, dairy, or eggs; n=24 428), fish eaters (consumed fish but no meat; n=7506), and vegetarians including vegans (n=16 254), based on dietary information collected at baseline, and subsequently around 2010 (n=28 364).

Inflammation is a biological response launched by the immune system against dangerous assaults which threaten the integrity and normal physiology of an organism. Chronic nutrient overload causes an increase in adipose irregularities in that, if adipose tissue expandability is low, there will be an increased presence of thickened tissue. This condition would lead to a proinflammatory state that can trigger insulin resistance, release of macrophage chemoattractant proteins, and in chronic inflammation, even the death of the thickened adipose tissue itself. This creates cyclic a action that extends the insulin resistance to all adipose tissue.

An important characteristic of overnutrition-induced diseases is chronic low-grade inflammation caused by nutritional excess. Overnutrition-induced inflammation is thought to occur in the brain and thus plays an extensive and steering role in overnutrition-induced diseases.