The role of sugar in the formation, growth and metastasis of cancer cells is an issue that has often divided the scientific community.
While the Cancer Society explicitly states that eating sugar does not make cancer cells grow faster, other reliable sources disagree and claim the opposite.
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The Warburg effects.
The so-called Warburg effect describes the way that most cancer cells produce energy through aerobic glycolysis, which means that they metabolize sugar. Normal tissue has very low glycolytic rates; about 200 times lower than fast-growing cancer cells.
The process is named after Otto Warburg, who was the first to hypothesize that this change in metabolism is the root cause of cancer.
Even though Warburg’s theory received a lot of publicity when it was published and even though it even won him a Nobel Prize, it was later shelved. Most of the current literature sees the change in aerobic glycolysis as a result of cancer, rather than its cause. But new research puts the Warburg effect at the center of cancer research.
Nine-year research project identified a connection between sugar and cancer.
A nine-year joint research project has led to a crucial advance in cancer research. Scientists have clarified how the Warburg effect, a phenomenon in which cancer cells rapidly break down sugars, stimulates tumor growth.
This discovery provides evidence for a positive correlation between sugar and cancer, which can have a far-reaching impact on tailored diets for cancer patients.
According to one of the researchers, their studies reveal how hyperactive sugar consumption by cancer cells leads to a vicious cycle of continuous stimulation of cancer development and growth. Therefore, with this they are able to explain the correlation between the strength of the Warburg effect and tumor aggressiveness.
This link between sugar and cancer has radical consequences. The results provide a basis for future research in this domain, which can now be done with a much more precise and relevant approach.
Sugar and Cancer – The Research.
A scientific study published in 2014 confirmed that higher sugar intake promotes cancer development or oncogenesis.
The research team demonstrated that increased glycolytic activation caused overexpression of glucose transporter type 3 (GLUT3) in non-malignant human mammary cells.
This resulted in the activation of known oncogenic signaling pathways. When the malignant cells received less glucose, this promoted the formation of organized structures that did not grow as quickly and suppressed oncogenic pathways.
In other words, if the sugar was less available, the cancer cells revert to their pre-cancer structure. The researchers used a 3D model to show that glucose uptake levels determined whether breast cancer cells formed colonies with malignant or non-malignant behavior.
You may be interested in reading the article about the truth behind sugar, the sweet thief of life. It is a publication with more than 10 articles and many years of research.
These new scientific findings further increase the credibility of methods that use nutrition to prevent and treat cancer.
The ketogenic diet, which reduces sugars/carbohydrates and targets healthy fats and proteins, has been found to be very helpful in even the most aggressive cancer treatment.
How these findings are put into practice in cancer diagnosis?
Even if the role of sugar in cancer formation has been previously discussed, Warburg’s findings have been put into practice in cancer diagnosis. PET scans use radioactively labeled glucose to detect sugar-starved tumor cells.
Also, oncologists (cancer doctors) often use the systemic multistep cancer therapy (SCMT) protocol, which involves injecting patients with glucose to increase blood glucose concentrations.
This causes the tumor to grow rapidly, making it easier to attack with chemotherapy and radiation.
Other reasons to minimize sugar consumption.
- One of the most obvious reasons is that sugar is very calorific, but not very filling. Therefore, people tend to consume sugar in excess.
- Sugar suppresses the immune system: If you consume sugary foods and drinks regularly throughout the day, you will be preventing your immune system from working properly.
- Sugar causes inflammation: This causes pain and can lead to diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.
- Sugar can cause cavities.
- Sugar reduces the release of human growth hormone, which accelerates the aging process.
Why is sugar a poison?
For many scientists and doctors, sugar must achieve the enemy status that tobacco has, and some believe that legislation must be put in place to prevent companies from making money by causing a serious deterioration in the health of the population.
Sugar addiction can be called a metabolic syndrome in which obesity is considered its symptom. Today people are focused on losing weight, when in fact they should be addressing the underlying problem of hormonal imbalance caused by high sugar intake.
Additionally, a scientific study found that obesity is a major risk factor for cancer.
When there is too much insulin in the blood, which happens when you constantly eat sugary foods, the hormone leptin is blocked. Leptin is the hormone that regulates the amount of fat stored in the body.
When your leptin levels drop, the brain no longer recognizes excess weight and the self-regulation mechanism is affected. So, you keep eating until you explode. Fighting cravings becomes as difficult as trying to suppress the urge to drink when you’re thirsty.
Sugar is an independent primary risk factor for all types of diseases. It’s not just about calories and weight gain; it’s about what it does to the physiology of our bodies. This is why diets work for two months, maybe six, and then people regain the weight they just lost.
Biochemistry drives our behavior and it is surprising to see how some people act when they start to lose their sugar. The scenes are not much different from those of addicts looking for a way to get their drugs.
Global sugar consumption has tripled in the last 50 years, and obesity is a global problem that affects both the developed and the developing world.