Effects of ketogenic diet on oxidative stress and cancer: A literature review

Abstract

The ketogenic diet (KD) is a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet that is primarily used to treat childhood epilepsy. The processes through which the ketogenic diet works, on the other hand, have been proposed as a preventative method for oxidative stress and as adjuvant therapy for various disorders, including cancer. The current review aim is to assess the effect of the ketogenic diet on oxidative stress and cancer. A review of the scientific literature on the effects of the ketogenic diet on oxidative stress, cancer, and the mitochondrial metabolism is provided. Furthermore, the review depicts the human research that evaluated the anti-tumour benefits of ketogenic diets on patients with cancer, with a total of 154 subjects. Although preclinical research indicates that KD has anticancer benefits, prolongs longevity, and inhibits cancer growth, human clinical trials are inconclusive. The effects of KD on cancer and as an adjuvant treatment are mostly unclear due to a paucity of high-quality clinical research. We suggest a series of research recommendations for clinical trials exploring the impact of KD on cancer growth and progression.