Ketogenic diet linked to increased small intestine cancer risk in MIT mouse study

A new MIT study published in Nature finds that ketogenic diets may increase cancer risk in the small intestine, even as some research suggests the diet protects against colon cancer, according to MIT News. The high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet forces the body to burn fatty acids for energy, producing ketone bodies including β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) and acetoacetate. Researchers found these ketone bodies can drive tumor growth in the small intestine by suppressing the immune response. Omer Yilmaz, director of the MIT Stem Cell Initiative and senior author of the study, said the diet has distinct effects on different tissues even within the gastrointestinal tract, and that researchers need to be very careful in generalizing its effects because what might be beneficial for one tissue may be detrimental for another. The study, led by MIT postdocs Jessica Shay and Fangtao Chi, involved researchers from the labs of Alex K. Shalek and Matthew Vander Heiden.