https://www.wired.com/story/cutting-carbs-wont-keep-you-from-getting-cancer/The findings do not prove that eating (or not eating) sugar has any effect on the onset or development of cancer. The research, which was done in yeast, found that high levels of glucose could overstimulate the production of certain proteins often found in tumors. And those proteins could cause cancer cells to grow and multiply faster. In essence, high blood sugar could worsen existing tumors.
An interesting bit of science, to be sure, but nowhere near a medically relevant dietary recommendation. By Tuesday, Thevelein was backtracking in news outlets: “Some people are interpreting that we have found a mechanism for how sugar causes cancer, but that is certainly not the case.”
"Say you’re going to eliminate all the sugars from your body. So not just the occasional doughnut or ice cream cone, but every fruit, vegetable, and whole or refined grain out there. You’re basically left with meat and fat—a ketogenic diet. “That is not meant to be a long-term diet,” says Zoumas. And she says research has shown that while cancer cells prefer sugar as a fuel, they can just as easily survive on fat and protein alone. Plus, while you’re starving all those cancer cells, you’re also depriving your body’s healthy cells too. Which is pretty much the last thing you want to do if you’re sick and on chemo and battling for your life. “You need to be getting calories any way you can,” says Zoumas.
She advises cancer patients on what they should be eating, as well as at-risk populations—people constantly fretting over what they put in their mouth and whether it might feed the disease. Sugar comes up all the time. Zoumas has different advice for everyone, but in general she relies upon a body of scientific evidence that suggests maintaining a healthy weight with a diet based mostly on plants, lean proteins, and (yes) carbs is the best way to reduce your risk of cancer. Even with the occasional doughnut."
