Study Shows Ketogenic Diet Shrinks Pancreatic Tumors

Updated

By Tracy Beanz

Keto, carnivore, low-carb. These are all just “fad diets,” right? Not so fast. Scientists at UC San Francisco recently published a study in Nature that showed a high-fat ketogenic diet combined with fasting restricted the growth of pancreatic tumors in mice.

The study took a look at how certain tumors use ketone bodies as an energy source and that fasting and a ketogenic diet change the way messenger RNA “feeds” those tumors. Let’s take a step back for a moment and talk at a basic level about how this all works. Disclaimer: I am a mere journalist and not a doctor or scientist. However, I adhere to the carnivore lifestyle, so I can explain this at a basic level.

On a Standard American Diet (SAD), we consume highly processed grains, chemicals, seed oils, processed sugars, fats, and more. The body (at an inherent level) uses those substances for fuel. Then, it stores the rest as fat. In a ketogenic/low-carb/carnivore diet, you don’t eat many carbohydrates and sugars, and you consume more foods high in fat, which causes your body to first burn fat, and then burn ketones for fuel.

There’s a lot more to it than this. For example, I consume close to zero carbohydrates each day. I also do at least a 16-hour intermittent fast. That means my food consumption consists of fatty red meat and animal products, like milk, eggs, butter, cheese, and bacon. When I eat my meal, I consume some blueberries afterward as well, because I have found that my body works well with blueberries and a small amount of that natural sugar added at mealtime.

In contrast, my husband is a very strict carnivore. He consumes close to zero carbohydrates per day, the only real carbs coming from fresh cream in his afternoon coffee. He eats a nice big rib-eye steak at mealtime, and if we are hungry for a snack in the late afternoon, we will eat a pound or two of bacon.

Sounds like a prescription for a world of health issues, right?

Take this for what it’s worth.

When my husband decided to begin carnivore in January of 2023, he weighed 387 lbs. He suffered from clinical depression, for which he was prescribed SSRI medication. He also suffered from insomnia and low testosterone. Worst of all, he had multiple sclerosis. His MS had presented as optic neuritis, and his vision had been severely impacted; a lifetime of 20/20 vision was reduced to 20/40 with massive field defects seemingly overnight. But that wasn’t all. Upon further scans, the neurologists found lesions on both his cervical and thoracic spine. In this case, a lesion is scarring on the spinal cord where the body has attacked the myelin surrounding the nerves, leading to a defect. Luckily for him, he didn’t notice disability from any lesion other than the ones affecting his optic nerves, but we knew they were there.

So, there is the picture; an obese 43-year-old male with insomnia and lifelong clinical depression “requiring” SSRI medication, low testosterone, and multiple sclerosis. Fast forward approximately a year and a half of a strict, low-carb, carnivore-based diet, and he now weighs 185 lbs. His testosterone is where it should be. He is off the SSRIs and is no longer clinically depressed. His last MRI scans showed that the lesions on his thoracic spine are now undetectable, and his vision is back to 20/20, with significant field acuity improvement.

The weight loss was a BONUS. It wasn’t the best part of this remarkable recovery. Of course, you could say this is all anecdotal, and I mentioned that I, too, am adhering to a very low-carb carnivore lifestyle. So, what happened for me?

I have lost 30 pounds. I was suffering from hair loss, and my hair has grown back. I now have baby hairs poking out all over my head. I was also able to come off the medication I was taking for a condition I was diagnosed with called IIH, or Idiopathic Intracranial Hypotension. It has no known cause and occurs when your body produces too much cerebrospinal fluid. This leads your brain to act as though it is dealing with a brain tumor or increased cranial pressure. That causes a host of issues like constant vertigo, nystagmus, tinnitus, and swelling of the optic nerve, which can lead to blindness. The craziest thing about it is that doctors placed me on a severely sodium-restricted diet and prescribed me a diuretic called Lasix. After about eight months of carnivore and attempting to limit my sodium intake, I said, “What the hay, let me just try and come off the diuretic and see what happens if I eat like a normal carnivore would eat.” Sure enough, my “high” sodium and nutrition-packed carnivore lifestyle led to a complete remission of this mystery affliction.

Outside of those improvements, there was much, much more. My fasting blood sugar was consistently above 100, with no good cause. Now it rests at around 80. My body was constantly inflamed, and I was just puffy. For an example of this, you can check out the documentary “Flynn.” I appeared in this documentary before starting my carnivore journey, and the juxtaposition of “old” me vs. “new” me is stunning. I needed frequent naps throughout the day and was just not metabolically healthy. But, my biggest stunner was a complete halving of triglycerides and a beautiful rise in my HDL cholesterol. The best part about the cholesterol panel? I had a routine visit with my doctor (who is on board with my eating habits) and they substituted another doctor at the last minute. When I told her how I was eating, she gasped and told me that I must add carbs and sugar back to my diet. When I asked her why I must consume sugar, she went on a tirade about how poor the Atkins diet turned out to be and sent me on the way to the lab for some blood work. She snuck a lipid panel in, I assume because she wanted a “gotcha” for me when my cholesterol and triglycerides were terrible. Well, part of me wonders what she thought when she received those results.

I am healthier than I have been in my entire life, and so is my husband.

So again, two anecdotal examples? Sure. But you can take a look at social media and quickly find thousands of people settling on this lifestyle (or some version of it that is right for them) and seeing miraculous results in their mental health and physical health. Gut microbiome…restored, immune system…restored, health…restored.

For years, doctors have told us that a ketogenic diet is not healthy—that it will cause low blood pressure, cardiovascular issues, nutrient deficiency, kidney stones, constipation, and more. They’ve also said that a diet consisting solely of red meat and animal products is a direct gateway to high cholesterol and heart disease—two things that have been perversely corrupted as the “science” has been applied in studies. The keto/carnivore lifestyle is drawing the ire of every single “mainstream” health official. They are using the same “study” methods to disprove keto/carnivore that they did to “disprove” the efficacy of Ivermectin. It’s demonized. We published a column recently showing how Oreo cookies are better than statins at lowering cholesterol—perhaps the medical establishment may want to revisit this one a bit… 

And some doctors are. The Ketogenic diet is being studied as a valuable and effective treatment for epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic inflammation, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, insulin resistance, and much, much more. Speaking from firsthand experience, at my husband’s last neurology appointment (the last one he needs now for several more years, praise God) she had a resident with her. When she asked my husband how he had managed to improve all of this in a short time, he sheepishly responded, “Keto.” As you all well know, “alternative” and dietary “natural” wellness isn’t always widely accepted in the medical field. As soon as he uttered the words, the resident screamed, “SEE! I told you!! There are so many studies showing this is the way to go for autoimmune patients!”

So, perhaps, some of them are starting to “get it.” All of this is to say that when I read the study showing that a ketogenic diet and fasting shrunk pancreatic tumors in mice, I wasn’t surprised, but I was very excited. For far too long, Americans have been ingesting literal poison in their diets, and I have been educating on these very things every chance I get. Seed oil, processed food, glyphosate, sugar, and more are turning us into a nation of sick, tired, metabolically unhealthy people. And, whether you think my experience with my husband is just an “anecdotal” occurrence or not, I think that sometimes, getting back to the basics is what we should do. Incorporating this into my family has changed my entire life. My husband and I are vibrant, healthy, active, and sharp individuals who will absolutely not be beholden to Big Pharma ever again. At the end of the day, that is what scares them, and that is what we are trying to change. Once a nation is healthy, abundant, soulful, and joyful, they are impossible to control. And the more people can figure that out, the freer and more prosperous we will be.

Tracy Beanz

Tracy Beanz is an investigative journalist with a focus on corruption. She is known for her unbiased, in-depth coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. She hosts the Dark to Light podcast, found on all major video and podcasting platforms. She is a bi-weekly guest on the Joe Pags Radio Show, has been on Steve Bannon’s WarRoom and is a frequent guest on Emerald Robinson’s show. Tracy is Editor-in-chief at UncoverDC.com.