Fasting is abstaining from food for a set period of time. We all do it at night and don’t eat until breakfast the next morning. Fasting can be longer than overnight, and it has powerful healing benefits for your body.
Let’s take a look at how various fasting methods can benefit your health specifically directed at cancer growth in your body. Fasting is one of nature’s ways of promoting healing. When you don’t feel well, you generally take a break from eating until well. This may be an intentional healing practice, and the research backs this up.
Benefits of fasting
Fasting has many benefits that promote a healthier body. You can use fasting on occasion or on a daily basis. It is safe, effective, and inexpensive. Using specific fasting methods, you can access these benefits, which include:
- Improved immune regulation
- Greater cell autophagy
- Improved cell repair mechanisms
- Improve insulin sensitivity
- Reduced symptoms of chronic diseases
Fasting boosts immunity
Digestion uses a lot of energy. Once digestion has taken place, your body diverts that energy to other processes like immune regulation. This is a key reason that fasting can help support healing cancer. Fasting improves the regulation of inflammatory cytokines Interleukin-6 and Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha. Both are very inflammatory and frequently found in high levels in people with cancer. Studies have shown that specific fasting methods can reduce these inflammatory substances to improve the immune system.
Fasting encourages autophagy
Fasting also stimulates autophagy, which is the process by which damaged and dead cells are collected and recycled in your body. This stimulates the formation of new cells, and the process begins to occur when insulin levels drop. This typically happens after around 16 to 24 hours of fasting for the average person.
Cancer cells are metabolically damaged, serve no beneficial function to the human body, and are harmful to your health. Prolonged fasting helps the body target and eliminate them as well as inhibit parasitic and viral replication.
In addition, fasting encourages mitochondrial biogenesis. The mitochondria of cancer cells are damaged and produce excessive amounts of oxidative stress, waste product, and contribute to inflammation. Fasting can help stimulate the formation of new, more efficient mitochondria which helps to reverse these effects.
Improves genetic repair
There is a link between fasting, reduced prevalence of disease, and greater longevity. At the cellular level, cells may live longer when energy sources are scarce. This may be because fasting improves genetic repair to keep cells functioning well.
When energy is scarce, the body slows down cell division because it is an energy-intensive process. Cancer cells reproduce through rapid and uncontrolled growth. Slowing this growth is necessary.
One reason this slowing occurs may be that fasting impacts human growth hormone (HGH). HGH is a key factor in controlling cellular repair, preventing muscle wasting, and stimulating fat burning. A recent study found that a 24-hour fasting period increased HGH by 2000% and 1300% in men and women, respectively.
Improved insulin sensitivity
Our ancestors typically went for long periods without eating. This changed with the advent of farming both crops and animals. An abundance of food and our modern, processed, and carbohydrate-heavy diets have contributed greatly to insulin resistance and blood sugar dysregulation. This has led to much higher rates of chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s.
Insulin is a direct inhibitor of HGH. Therefore, we can help our bodies fight cancer cells by supporting insulin sensitivity and boosting HGH as much as possible. Fasting can help achieve both objectives.
Targeting cancer with fasting
Many dietary strategies can produce benefits for those with cancer. Fasting is one of those strategies and a powerful aid in boosting your body’s cancer-fighting ability.
These benefits include cancers such as leukemia. There are several mechanisms by which fasting can improve cancer outcomes including:
- Upregulating AMP-K to help prevent cancer cell sugar metabolism
- Inhibiting the mTOR pathway to prevent rapid cell growth
- Stimulating natural apoptosis (programmed cell death) of defective cells.
- Inhibiting IL-8 to prevent angiogenesis
- Depriving cancer cells of sugar, their preferred energy source
- Improving White Blood Cell function to improve immune targeting of cancer cells
The undifferentiated state of cancer cells
Fasting also impacts the path a cell will take as it matures. Cells are undifferentiated at first, which means they don’t have a purpose until they mature. They may become a liver cell or an immune cell or some other type of cell. Cancer cells remain in an undifferentiated state and replicate uncontrollably. There is evidence that fasting may encourage the differentiation of cancer cells and release them from uncontrolled replication.
Importance of mitochondrial health
Research shows that cancer cells have damaged mitochondria, which are the elements that produce the energy for our cells to carry out normal functions. When mitochondria become damaged, cells lose efficiency and produce excessive oxidative stress. This results in high levels of inflammation.
Fasting can promote autophagy and target damaged cells. Because of the benefits of fasting for mitochondria, there is improvement in cancer outcomes and improvement in your overall well-being. Fasting is an effective method to promote healthy mitochondria and help reduce or prevent various chronic diseases.
Mitochondrial dysfunction is found in the following:
- Epilepsy
- Parkinson’s
- Cerebral Palsy
- Autism
- Developmental delay
- Chronic fatigue
- Diabetes
- Huntington’s
- Cardiomyopathy
- Muscular dystrophy
- Atypical learning disabilities
- Lou Gehrig’s
- Fibromyalgia
- Alzheimer’s
Fasting methods to target cancer
You can choose from a variety of fasting methods, although some will target cancer. Shorter fasts will produce benefits for metabolism, digestion, and inflammation. Longer fasts will produce greater autophagy and deep ketosis for other therapeutic benefits.
Protein and carbohydrate restriction
Ketosis is a metabolic state where the body burns fat for energy instead of sugar. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests being in a ketogenic state is beneficial when trying to fight cancer. This is likely because cancer cells primarily burn sugar for energy and ketosis does not provide that for them.
While fasting altogether can get you into ketosis, so can doing a fat fast. During a fat fast, you simply avoid protein and carbs, opting for healthy fats instead to provide a source of ketones for energy. This can be done as an intermittent fasting strategy or a prolonged fast of 2 to 3 days.
Using healthy fats to support ketosis and fasting from protein/carbs for periods of time is a cancer-fighting strategy because it deprives cancer cells of sugar and offers ketones as energy for healthy cells.
Prolonged fasting
During a fast, healthy cells become highly resilient to stress. At the same time, cancer cells seem to become vulnerable to apoptosis by the immune system or by therapies such as chemotherapy and radiation.
While shorter fasts produce many benefits, prolonged fasting methods can be beneficial in cancer conditions. Typically, a period greater than 48 hours is a prolonged fast. This can be done either by consuming water or with the assistance of healthy fat sources.
One method that produces success is performing a 48-72 hour fast once a week to produce the benefits noted above and enable your body to target the cancer cells. These longer fasts are effective for fast-growing cancers as they inhibit glucose utilization and stimulate higher levels of autophagy than shorter fasts.
You may wish to try a 21-day water fast for deep healing. It can be uncomfortable for the first 2-3 days but after your body adapts, it gets easier to follow. It is important to reduce stress and focus on resting as much as possible during these periods. And you may want to add some salts to the water and drink herbal teas to enhance the benefits.
Combining fasting methods
Fasting is a powerful healing strategy when combined with other cancer healing modalities. There are a variety of natural approaches for supporting the body to heal cancer including the following:
Plant-based ketogenic nutrition
One reason fasting is effective is that it deprives cancer cells of sugar, their preferred energy source. This same benefit can result from following a ketogenic diet that supports your body’s ability to burn fat as energy instead of sugar, which puts cancer cells at a metabolic disadvantage.
In addition to reducing carbohydrates and sugar, reducing protein intake may be an important strategy in cancer that limits the activation of the mTOR pathway. mTOR is a biological pathway implicated with the growth of cells in different tissues and has been found to be overly expressed in cancerous conditions. Consuming protein is one of the activators of this pathway.
In addition, numerous plant compounds have been found to inhibit cancer development and growth through a variety of mechanisms. For a plant-based keto fast include fermented foods, natural sweeteners, fiber, bioavailable proteins, anti-oxidants, and healthy fats.
Hyperbaric oxygen
Cancer cells prefer low oxygen, high sugar environments. As they consume sugar, they produce lactic acid, which makes the surrounding environments highly acidic. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a method in which you entire a pressurized chamber that contains higher levels of oxygen than is normally found. This combination super-enriches the body with oxygen.
The combination of fasting strategies and hyperbaric oxygen therapy provides a powerful combo to place cancer cells at a disadvantage, support the immune system, and energize your healthy cells. The combination of ketosis and hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been shown to slow tumor progression and support ketone formation.
Detoxification
Almost everyone has some toxicity in their body. It is a stressor that we cannot avoid. It is common to find that those with cancer have been subjected to higher levels of toxicity. It becomes helpful to practice daily detoxification activities to help ease the stress on the body and free up energy to perform other tasks.
Fasting is one of these strategies. In addition, using activated charcoal, staying hydrated, using a sauna 2 to 4 times per week, using detoxifying herbs, and coffee enemas can help your body eliminate toxins.
Traditional treatments for cancer
Fasting has been shown to improve cancer outcomes when used in conjunction with traditional treatments like radiation or chemotherapy. This may be due to the restriction of the food supply to cancer cells. They also become vulnerable to other stressors. It may be possible to use lower doses of chemo or radiation while achieving greater results and minimizing side effects.
A 2009 study documented the experience of 10 patients who were undergoing high-dose chemotherapy and elected to undergo various fasting protocols. The fasting ranges for these patients ranged from 48–140 hours leading up to their chemotherapy treatments as well as 5–56 hours following treatment.
The authors of this report observed that these 10 patients were able to avoid common side effects of chemotherapy such as fatigue, weakness, and digestive upset by fasting leading up to and following treatment. These patients avoided side effects without lessening the effectiveness of the chemotherapy.
A 2018 study implemented a 60-hour fasting protocol split into a 36 hour fast before treatment and 24 hours following. The researchers concluded that fasting improved quality of life during chemotherapy treatment by reducing side effects such as fatigue.
And a 2016 study separated 20 patients into 3 groups:
- 24-hour fast leading up to platinum-based chemotherapy
- 48-hour fast leading up to platinum-based chemotherapy
- 72-hour fast (48 hours leading up to and 24 hours following platinum-based chemotherapy)
The researchers found that longer fasting windows were associated with lower inflammation markers and DNA damage indicators following treatment. All fasting groups experienced a lower instance of chemotherapy side effects.
The press pulse method to restrict cancer growth
Dr. Thomas Seyfried is a well-known cancer researcher at Boston College and the author of the book, Cancer as a Metabolic Disease. He developed the Press-Pulse treatment for cancer in which the individual weakens cancer cells by restricting glucose while targeting cancer with powerful oxidative therapies such as chemotherapy, radiation, hyperbaric oxygen, or IV vitamin C.
The protocol based on the Press-pulse method is:
- Follow a ketogenic meal plan
- Fast at least 14-hours leading up to a chemotherapy or radiation treatment
- Break the fast shortly after treatment
- Consume plenty of plant-based anti-cancer foods and receive HBOT in the following days
- Follow up with subsequent fasting cycles and ketogenic eating
A common protocol being used with success is following a ketogenic diet, fasting for at least 14 hours prior to treatment, and breaking the fast shortly thereafter. The days following are a great time to load up on antioxidant-rich plant foods and partake in hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Final thoughts
Cancer is devastating and traditional treatments often have harsh side effects. Fasting methods are a powerful, efficient, and inexpensive way of improving your body’s fighting power against cancer cells. If you are currently battling cancer, incorporating a 48-72 hour fast once per week may be something to consider.
If you are undergoing conventional chemotherapy or radiation therapies, fasting at least 14 hours before treatment may help improve outcomes and mitigate side effects. Combining fasting with a plant-based ketogenic diet, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and daily detoxification practices will help enhance your cancer-fighting potential.