Brian,
Resurrecting older threads here can be painful to some of the old timers, as is the case on this thread, some of those participating in the discussion are no longer alive.
Nutrition is a subject that Charm and I discussed often, swapped recipes and blender techniques etc, and gratefully I was blessed to be able to break bread with him before he passed. It is with this in mind that I'll weigh in on this subject.
This is not the first clinical trial on Ketogenics, and in the other trials I've read it will generally come down to how the patients tolerate the diet as Keto's can be difficult. Those that do tolerate them and stick to them have had good results, those that didn't..well, didn't.
There are several benefits to a ketogenic nutritional plan during treatment due to the positive effects they have on balancing blood insulin levels and the emphasis on high protein.
Malnutrition accounts for between 25-40% of deaths for cancer patients, not cancer or the treatment of. When our bodies immune system is activated, it has the unfortunate side effect of reducing digestion and absorption, yet the need for amino acids rises dramatically as they are used in the production of macrophages (specifically the amino acid lucien).
As the body is constantly having to rebuild itself, without an ample supply of amino acids (protein), it will begin to rob Peter to pay Paul, by breaking down skeletal muscle to keep vital organs functioning and throw at the immune response.
In the case of advanced disease, the metabolic imbalance is too much and eventually causes organ failure or the immune system can no longer fight off infection (which accounts for another 40% of deaths).
This explains the studies that have shown those with higher percentage of lean body mass have higher survival rates, they have more muscle to break down to fuel the immune system and generally have higher protein diets.
Short term, say typically the six to seven weeks of treatment, Ketogenic Diets would work well, but they are tough to stick to. It's hard on digestion, and will often cause indigestion and heartburn, and will lower appetite. That's the thing about KD's eventually you're not taking in a lot of calories so you're going to burn a ton of both adipose and lean tissue causing massive drops in weight.
Ketogenic Diets are often used by athletes to cut weight before competition, and they suck, but you'll shed the pounds so it's a fine line there in my opinion when you are wanting to keep as much weight as possible.
Where I favor a high protein, high fat diet, I also know that to keep muscle long term you need complex carbs.
Anyway, those are my thoughts for what they are worth
E
