Episode 16: Cancer as a Mitochondrial Metabolic Disease & The Calorie-Restricted Ketogenic Diet

Dr. Seyfried has dedicated his career to changing the way we think about- and therefore treat- cancer. Going back to Otto Warburg and others, couple with newer research Tom and his colleagues are actively conducting, it’s clear that the origin of cancer is in a fundamental disruption of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. Cancer is not, as is commonly thought, a genetic disease. While somatic genetic mutations abound, their origin is from a proliferation of reactive oxygen species generated by damaged mitochondrial cellular respiration. The triggering agents for cancer are anything that disrupts mitochondrial energy metabolism, from chemicals and xrays, to viruses, diet (including GMOs) and lifestyle habits. Switching primary fuel sources from glucose to ketones by using the calorie-restricted ketogenic diet (RKD), we start to shut down the energy supply to cancer cells and reverse the trajectory of the disease.