Low Carb Diet Slows Prostate Cancer Growth

This is good news. I worry a lot about prostate cancer. Have seen so
many fellows fighting it.

But it is still only a "mouse study".

QUOTES (NEWS RELEASE FOLLOWS)

The researchers hypothesized that since serum insulin and a related
substance known as insulin-like growth factor (IGF) had been linked with
the growth of prostate tumors in earlier research in mice, a reduction
in the body’s levels of these substances might slow tumor growth,
Freedland said.

The researchers compared tumor growth in 75 mice that were eating either
a low-carbohydrate diet, a low-fat but high-carbohydrate diet, or a
Western diet, high in fat and carbohydrates.

The mice that ate a low-carbohydrate diet had the longest survival and
smallest tumor size, Freedland said.

The next step will be to test the findings of this study in humans, and
further examine the potential positive effects that a low-carbohydrate
diet may have on tumor growth, Freedland said.

“We are planning to start clinical trials sometime next year,” he said.
“The results of this study are very promising, but of course much more
work needs to be done.”


================================================== ====

Public release date: 13-Nov-2007


A low-carb diet may stunt prostate tumor growth

DURHAM, N.C. -- A diet low in carbohydrates may help stunt the growth of
prostate tumors, according to a new study led by Duke Prostate Center
researchers. The study, in mice, suggests that a reduction in insulin
production possibly caused by fewer carbohydrates may stall tumor growth.

“This study showed that cutting carbohydrates may slow tumor growth, at
least in mice,” said Stephen Freedland, M.D., a urologist at Duke
University Medical Center and lead researcher on the study. “If this is
ultimately confirmed in human clinical trials, it has huge implications
for prostate cancer therapy through something that all of us can
control, our diets.”

Freedland conducted most of the research for this study while doing a
fellowship in urology at Johns Hopkins’ Brady Urological Institute under
the tutelage of William Isaacs, Ph.D., a molecular geneticist there.

The researchers published their results on November 13, 2007 in the
online edition of the journal Prostate. The study was funded by the
Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Surgery and the
Division of Urology at Duke University Medical Center, the Prostate
Cancer Foundation, and the Department of Defense Prostate Cancer
Research Program.

The researchers hypothesized that since serum insulin and a related
substance known as insulin-like growth factor (IGF) had been linked with
the growth of prostate tumors in earlier research in mice, a reduction
in the body’s levels of these substances might slow tumor growth,
Freedland said.

The researchers compared tumor growth in 75 mice that were eating either
a low-carbohydrate diet, a low-fat but high-carbohydrate diet, or a
Western diet, high in fat and carbohydrates.

The mice that ate a low-carbohydrate diet had the longest survival and
smallest tumor size, Freedland said.

“Low-fat mice had shorter survival and larger tumors while mice on the
Western diet had the worst survival and biggest tumors,” he said. “In
addition, though both the low-carb and low-fat mice had lower levels of
insulin, only the low-carb mice had lower levels of the form of IGF
capable of stimulating tumor growth.”

The low-carbohydrate diet definitely had the most significant effect on
tumor growth and survival, he said.

The next step will be to test the findings of this study in humans, and
further examine the potential positive effects that a low-carbohydrate
diet may have on tumor growth, Freedland said.

“We are planning to start clinical trials sometime next year,” he said.
“The results of this study are very promising, but of course much more
work needs to be done.”

###

Other study authors include John Mavropoulos, Timothy Fields, Salvatore
Pizzo and Bercedis Peterson of Duke; Amy Wang and Medha Darshan of Johns
Hopkins University; William Aronson, Pinchas Cohen and David Hwang of
UCLA; and Wendy Demark-Wahnefried of MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Contact: Lauren Shaftel Williams

919-684-4966
Duke University Medical Center

Jim wrote:
This is good news. I worry a lot about prostate cancer. Have seen so
many fellows fighting it.

But it is still only a "mouse study".

The mice that ate a low-carbohydrate diet had the longest survival and
smallest tumor size, Freedland said.


DURHAM, N.C. -- A diet low in carbohydrates may help stunt the growth of
prostate tumors, according to a new study led by Duke Prostate Center
researchers. The study, in mice, suggests that a reduction in insulin
production possibly caused by fewer carbohydrates may stall tumor growth.

"This study showed that cutting carbohydrates may slow tumor growth, at
least in mice," said Stephen Freedland, M.D., a urologist at Duke
University Medical Center and lead researcher on the study. "If this is
ultimately confirmed in human clinical trials, it has huge implications
for prostate cancer therapy through something that all of us can
control, our diets."


The researchers hypothesized that since serum insulin and a related
substance known as insulin-like growth factor (IGF) had been linked with
the growth of prostate tumors in earlier research in mice, a reduction
in the body's levels of these substances might slow tumor growth,
Freedland said.


Good stuff, but you better be ready to go VERY LOW carb and VERY HIGH
fat if you want to duplicate the same diet..

Freedland's team split 75 mice into three groups:

# No-carb diet: 84 percent fat, 16 percent protein, 0 percent
carbohydrate

# Western diet: 40 percent fat, 16 percent protein, 44 percent
carbohydrate

# Low-fat diet: 12 percent fat, 16 percent protein, 72 percent
carbohydrate

I think the concept of IGF driving cancer may be something. I may
have to look again at my "power carb" menu.....although I do try to
eat more complexed carbs.
Hmmm........what can I do with my 50 pound bag of white rice?
Well as you can see, I'm open to all ideas and tweaks in my diet.
Lets see.......if I keep my fats under 20% and lower my carbs to, say
40%, then does that mean I have to eat 40% protein......and kill my
kidneys?
Oh no.......am I headed for a balanced diet? Slowly digested carbs to
reduce the IGF......perhaps.....After all, prostate cancer is
something I'm very keen about avoiding, but then again, the rates of
prostate cancer are far lower in Japan and most of Asia compared to
other countries...
Thats why I'm always looking for a large population where they all eat
low carb so I could see what happens longer term with prostate cancer.

wrote:
Hmmm........what can I do with my 50 pound bag of white rice?

Chickens turn grain into meat and eggs.

Though I admit I'm more inclined to feed them whole grains to supplement
the free-ranging rather than processed crap.

--
http://www.ornery-geeks.org/consulting/

wrote:
Jim wrote:

This is good news. I worry a lot about prostate cancer. Have seen so
many fellows fighting it.

But it is still only a "mouse study".


The mice that ate a low-carbohydrate diet had the longest survival and
smallest tumor size, Freedland said.


DURHAM, N.C. -- A diet low in carbohydrates may help stunt the growth of
prostate tumors, according to a new study led by Duke Prostate Center
researchers. The study, in mice, suggests that a reduction in insulin
production possibly caused by fewer carbohydrates may stall tumor growth.

"This study showed that cutting carbohydrates may slow tumor growth, at
least in mice," said Stephen Freedland, M.D., a urologist at Duke
University Medical Center and lead researcher on the study. "If this is
ultimately confirmed in human clinical trials, it has huge implications
for prostate cancer therapy through something that all of us can
control, our diets."


The researchers hypothesized that since serum insulin and a related
substance known as insulin-like growth factor (IGF) had been linked with
the growth of prostate tumors in earlier research in mice, a reduction
in the body's levels of these substances might slow tumor growth,
Freedland said.



Good stuff, but you better be ready to go VERY LOW carb and VERY HIGH
fat if you want to duplicate the same diet..

I'm not a mouse or a rat.

I will wait till they do the experiments on humans before I experiment
on myself.

Thanks for the insight into the rat diet.




Freedland's team split 75 mice into three groups:

# No-carb diet: 84 percent fat, 16 percent protein, 0 percent
carbohydrate

# Western diet: 40 percent fat, 16 percent protein, 44 percent
carbohydrate

# Low-fat diet: 12 percent fat, 16 percent protein, 72 percent
carbohydrate

I think the concept of IGF driving cancer may be something. I may
have to look again at my "power carb" menu.....although I do try to
eat more complexed carbs.
Hmmm........what can I do with my 50 pound bag of white rice?
Well as you can see, I'm open to all ideas and tweaks in my diet.
Lets see.......if I keep my fats under 20% and lower my carbs to, say
40%, then does that mean I have to eat 40% protein......and kill my
kidneys?

This killing your kidneys with protein is a myth. There have been a
couple of postings here on how the myth got started from bad research.

I have a book on kidney disease from Johns Hopkins where one of the
origins of the myth is cited, and which discusses several studies in
which it has been attempted to induce kidney damage in omnivore animal
kidneys have been failures.

It is possible to induce kidney damage in herbivores by forced feeding
of animal meat, but these animals evolved to not eat meat. So, it
shouldn't be astonishing to find that these "unnatural" foods for them
do damage.

Unless, of course, you are a herbivore.


Oh no.......am I headed for a balanced diet? Slowly digested carbs to
reduce the IGF......perhaps.....After all, prostate cancer is
something I'm very keen about avoiding, but then again, the rates of
prostate cancer are far lower in Japan and most of Asia compared to
other countries...
Thats why I'm always looking for a large population where they all eat
low carb so I could see what happens longer term with prostate cancer.


The old diet of the Inuit indians in polar climates was virtually
carbohydrate free as there were no rice paddies or wheat fields or corn
field or potato plants up above the Arctic Circle.

Actually, your major population of virtually zero carb eaters existed,
but it is no longer in that condition.

writes:

Good stuff, but you better be ready to go VERY LOW carb and VERY HIGH
fat if you want to duplicate the same diet..

Freedland's team split 75 mice into three groups:

# No-carb diet: 84 percent fat, 16 percent protein, 0 percent
carbohydrate

Yeah, that's a little extreme for me. Not that it'd be harmful; just
that it's not very practical. I like butter, but not as the main
course of a meal.

# Western diet: 40 percent fat, 16 percent protein, 44 percent
carbohydrate

# Low-fat diet: 12 percent fat, 16 percent protein, 72 percent
carbohydrate

I wish they'd included a reasonable low-carb diet, say 75% fat, 20%
protein, and 5% carb, or even 60/30/10. These last two are diets humans
are eating in the real world, but the first one isn't. (That doesn't
make the research invalid or unuseful in any way, of course.)

I think the concept of IGF driving cancer may be something. I may
have to look again at my "power carb" menu.....although I do try to
eat more complexed carbs.

Complex carbs are a red herring.

Hmmm........what can I do with my 50 pound bag of white rice?

Trade it for a new keyboard; the period key on yours is sticking.

Well as you can see, I'm open to all ideas and tweaks in my diet.
Lets see.......if I keep my fats under 20% and lower my carbs to, say
40%, then does that mean I have to eat 40% protein......and kill my
kidneys?

Protein won't kill your kidneys, first of all. That's the biggest and
most debunked lie about low-carbing, so if you're still dragging that
one out of the junk heap, you're simply out of touch.

Secondly, yes, 100-20-40=40, so you get a gold star. I'm not sure what
you're going for here, though. Why would you want to keep your fat
under 20%? That's almost Ornish-level, and his diet gets beaten like a
rented mule every time it goes up against any low-carb diet. Why are
you scared of dietary fat; and if you're determined to keep it that low,
why are you here?

And why lower your carbs to 40%? In a typical 2000-2400 calorie diet,
that's 200-240 grams per day. You'll get none of the benefits of
low-carb at that level. You might as well just keep eating out of that
bag of rice.

There's very little to be gained from simply trading a few of your carb
calories for protein. The modern civilized diet is a deadly mess. To
fix it requires a complete paradigm change, not just some tweaking at
the margins.

Oh no.......am I headed for a balanced diet? Slowly digested carbs to
reduce the IGF......perhaps.....After all, prostate cancer is
something I'm very keen about avoiding, but then again, the rates of
prostate cancer are far lower in Japan and most of Asia compared to
other countries...
Thats why I'm always looking for a large population where they all eat
low carb so I could see what happens longer term with prostate cancer.

Well, you could look at the countries Ancel Keys skipped over because
they didn't fit into his low-fat beliefs. Read Taubes: primitive
societies that don't eat refined carbs don't have cancer, but it shows
up with a vengeance within a few decades after refined carbs are brought
in. That's been observed many times in various parts of the world for
more than a century. But you seem to be doing the same kind of
cherry-picking Keys did, defining your requirements in advance, so good
luck with that.



--
Aaron -- 285/254/200 -- aaron.baugher.biz