Fad or fact: Can cutting sugar reduce your risk of cancer?

Processed foods rich in carbs can be an indirect risk factor for cancer but it's a complete myth that starving yourself of sugar would protect you from the big C

Published23 Dec 2024, 07:11 PM IST

Carb-rich foods raise insulin levels that can make your body conducive to free radicals, which are bad for you in the long run.(Unsplash/Adrian Regeci)

There is a lot of confusing and misleading information about the relationship between sugar and cancer. The notion that depriving cancer cells of sugar leads to cancer cell death or consuming excessive sugar leads to cancer, are both common myths and are equally incorrect.

The idea that cancer is ‘addicted’ to sugar came from a German scientist Otto Warburg. He noticed that cancer cells though consuming more glucose were not using it in the most efficient way. Cancer cells convert glucose to lactate, thus leaving most of the energy untapped. This theory came to be known as the ‘Warburg effect’. This effect is today considered a hallmark of cancer cells and is also the principle behind using PET CT scans for staging cancers. However, the exact function of the Warburg effect remains unclear and continues to be a subject of major ongoing research.

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What is the link between sugar and cancer?

Obesity is proven to be a risk factor for a lot of malignancies. The fat in your fat cells is mostly made from carbohydrates. So, processed foods rich in carbs lead to obesity and are an indirect risk factor for cancer. Carbs (sugar) raise insulin levels and create a milieu where a lot of free radicals are released, and these free radicals are dangerous in the long run.

Why is it hard to ‘starve’ cancer if sugar just changes your diet?

The body never lets your blood glucose level fall below a certain level. So, eating less sugar will make the body use its remaining resources to produce its own glucose. This process, known as homeostasis, is innate in every human being. So, the claim that starving yourself of sugar will lead to the death of cancer cells is untrue.

Can a special diet like the ketogenic diet aid in cancer treatment?

A ketogenic diet might help you lose weight, and thereby, reduce one of the risk factors for cancer, but does a ketogenic diet matter once you have cancer? Does it improve your cancer cure? There is no current evidence to prove this is true. On the contrary, a person going through cancer treatment might benefit from a few additional calories and nutrition to help his or her body recover from the effects of cancer treatment. To surmise, it is of utmost importance to maintain healthy glucose levels for cancer prevention – and when needed – for the treatment of cancer patients.

This article is authored by Dr. Hemanth G N, Consultant - Surgical Oncology & Robotic Surgery, Manipal Hospital Old Airport Road, Bengaluru.