Reducing the amount of protein a person takes in his diet can reduce the size of cancerous tumors, as the experiments on the mouses tell us.
What if the immune system in the body is strengthened to fight cancer cells by a diet that determines how much protein a person consumes? This is the question posed by researchers at the National Institute of Medical Research and Health at the University of Cote d'Azur before conducting a study on the effect of restrictive diets on the growth of cancerous tumors in mice.
The researchers noted that the diet low protein helps to reduce the growth of cancer tumors, by strengthening the response of the immune system in the body.
This system also has an effect on the survival period
In order to conduct the study, researchers compared the effect of several diets on the growth of cancerous tumors in mice, increasing or decreasing the amount of carbohydrate or protein, but also the number of calories. The results showed that the diet low in protein but not carbohydrate has a positive effect on reducing the growth of the tumor and the length of survival in mice.
"We found that limiting tumor growth does not inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells as previously thought, but increases the effectiveness of the immune system's response, which is also called immune monitoring," the researchers explain.
Clinical trials should determine which protein should be restricted so that the diet is effective in humans, whose immune systems and metabolic processes are definitely different from those in mice.
