( continued from page 17 ) mitochondrion . A symbiotic bacterium we humans appropriated for our own benefit ? A tiny , kidney-shaped key to obesity , longevity , and malignancy ? Dr . Thomas Seyfried , researcher at the University of Illinois and author of Cancer as a Metabolic Disease , devotes a lot of time to studying mitochondria . He describes the “ retrograde response ,” a mitochondrial distress signal sent to the cell nucleus when there is trouble . This signal acts on Myc , Tor , Ras , NfkB , CHOP - genes involved in energy creation and cell proliferation . Dr .

Seyfried proposes that the mitochondria get sick first , then the DNA gets damaged . Epigenetic stimuli lead to alterations in nuclear DNA .

Cancer starts in the cytoplasm , not the nucleus .

calorie restriction ( in a meta-analysis of 21 animal models , CR ’ s association to tumor incidence has an odds ratio of 0.20 , p < 0.01 ). Seyfried began to explore a diet that induced metabolic changes similar to calorie restriction . The Ketogenic Diet ( KD ), originally used in treatment of refractory epilepsy in children , now shows up all over the internet with diverse proposed benefits : weight loss , tolerance of deep sea diving and high altitude , Parkinson ’ s , Alzheimer ’ s , ALS , and many others .

One more deep breath , I promise it will be worth it . Ketone bodies are synthesized in times of controlled fasting or starvation ; but also if consuming a high fat , low carbohydrate ( HFLC ) diet ( and if supplemented exogenously ).

Ketones must be metabolized

Dr . Warren Schaeffer and

Dr . Jerry Shay investigated this cytoplasm / nucleus interplay . Schaeffer placed cancerous nuclei into normal enucleated cells and placed these “ recon cells ” into mice . One out of 68 of the mice developed tumors .

He then placed normal nuclei into enucleated cancer cells and implanted them . 97 percent of those mice developed tumors .

Shay repeated the first recon test and had 0 / 10 mice with cancer , then performed a control : Nuclei of cancer cells into enucleated cancer cells . Result : 7 / 8 mice riddled with tumors .

Evidently , many cancers of genetic basis have mitochondrial links : retinoblastoma , xeroderma pigmentosum , paraganglioma , renal cell carcinoma . The guardian of the genome , p53 ,

in the mitochondria and do so at the cost of less oxygen . Cells produce ATP more efficiently with ketones than with glucose .

Ketones also prepare cells very well to resist damage by free radicals ( aka reactive oxygen species ( ROS )) by activating glutathione , our major cellular antioxidant .

Without getting into the nuances of ketone-fueled metabolism alternating with glucose-fueled , I believe the switch happened regularly in humans for thousands of years . We starved for a few days , then we ran after a large animal ( depleting some glycogen ), then we ate . Now we are “ starving ” when we miss the snack between dinner and 4 th meal , and we are the large animals driving to Taco Bell ( or ordering food to be delivered to limit our movement even more ).

is involved in transcription of a key component of the electron transport chain in mitochondria . BRCA repairs DNA but is also

“ intimately involved in biogenesis of mitochondria .” Apparently even GLEEVEC , the designer drug to treat CML , has a link to mitochondria . GLEEVEC ’ s target , the manic bcr-abl tyrosine kinase , activates the PI3K / AKT pathway to increase glucoses utilization and uptake . This same PI3K / AKT pathway is activated by damaged mitochondria .

Also intriguing to Dr . Seyfried were the anti-cancer effects of

Referring back to the Warburg Effect , " cancer cells have poor mitochondrial activity and therefore do not metabolize ketones very well . They use glucose to activate glutathione , not as efficient as using ketones . Chemotherapy and radiation work by creating large amounts of free radicals , and this works because cancer cells have a hard time anti-oxidizing ."

Now let ’ s synthesize these concepts : place a ketone-burning normal cell next to a glucose-burning cancer cell in a low glucose , high ketone milieu . The cancer cell is already choking , it cannot

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