Howard G. Smith MD, AM has been reporting health and wellness news for more than 40 years on radio and via podcasts. Harvard Medical School, MD; Harvard University, AM, Immunology; former Medical Editor, WBZ-AM, Boston. Website: http://www.drhowardsmith.com Email: drhowardsmith.reports@gmail.com
The Keto Diet Increases….But Also Decreases GI Cancers
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The diet appears to protect against cancer in one part of the gastrointestinal tract yet promote it in another? MIT biologists in collaboration with Harvard gastroenterologists document this phenomenon in their preclinical study published in the journal Nature.
Keto diets are high in fat and very low in carbohydrates. They encourage the body to burn fat for energy instead of relying primarily on carbohydrates. The researchers tested this diet in mice genetically predisposed to developing intestinal cancer. They were surprised to find that the ketogenic diet triggers more cancers in their small intestines yet suppresses tumor formation in the colon.
Seeking to understand the mechanisms for this, the researchers traced the increased small-intestinal tumor growth to the way intestinal stem cells process dietary fat. The fat we ingest is oxidized to so-called PPAR proteins that cause stem cells to multiply more rapidly. This action is both good and bad: the new stem cells help repair the intestinal lining, but the excessive cell division increases opportunities for cancer to develop.
With regard to the situation in the large intestine, the colon, previous studies have shown that the ketones generated by the diet protect against the development of colon cancers.
But a caveat: this was research in genetically susceptible mice and not proof that the ketogenic diet causes small-intestinal cancer in humans. Further research is needed to determine whether these findings translate to people and whether particular dietary fats influence the outcome.
The investigators advise those on the keto diet not to discontinue it without consulting their medical teams. But those at higher risk for gastrointestinal cancer, those with inflammatory bowel diseases including Crohn’s and or celiac disease or with a family thhistory of small bowel cancer, should only start a ketogenic diet on the advise of their medical professionals.
The references for this report are available on my website.
#KetoDiet #CancerResearch #MITResearch #NutritionScience #HealthNews
15 Oct 2026
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