Longevity pathways and cancer : Investigating super-low carb diet effects on cancer biomarkers
Year: 2026
Type: dissertation
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, making it one of the greatest public health challenges. Ketogenic diets have been found to be beneficial for cancer prevention as most cancer cells rely on glucose for fuel. The aim of this study is to investigate what effects a super-low carbohydrate ketogenic diet has on longevity and cancer prevention. The study design consisted of four healthy adults undergoing a three-week super-low carb dietary intervention, to evaluate pre- and post-intervention changes in different longevity and caner biomarkers. After the diet intervention, 5-10% reduction in body weight and blood pressure was observed. Fasting glucose and ketone levels showed significant changes, no other parameters showed statistically significant changes, but homocysteine and ferritin serum levels showed an increase, while levels of hs-CRP showed a decrease. Glutamine and methionine serum levels decreased while BCAA serum levels increased, and SIRT1 and AKT1 showed slight upregulation. To conclude, our study observed overall positive impacts of the ketogenic diet on various parameters related to longevity and cancer prevention and could be used as a great starting point for future studies. Focus for the future research should be directed towards extending the length of the dietary intervention and increasing the sample size to enhance the understanding of the effects that a ketogenic diet can have on longevity and cancer prevention.
Author: Dragicevic, Vanja
Language: English
Topic: Diet and metabolism studies
Subfield: Physiology (medical)
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7165069887