It’s long been known that cancer cells have a ‘sweet tooth’—relying mainly on aerobic glycolysis for their energy needs, and that increased refined carbohydrate consumption feeds cancer growth (the Warburg effect). This phenomenon has been investigated mostly in relation to glucose. A study just published in the journal Cancer Research provides evidence that fructose has a similar effect. The authors observe:

“Carbohydrate metabolism via glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle is pivotal for cancer growth, and increased refined carbohydrate consumption adversely affects cancer survival.”

Noting that fructose consumption has increased dramatically and that glucose and fructose are transported and metabolized differently, they investigated whether fructose could fuel the growth of cancer cells similar to the way glucose does. Their findings are of great importance to both patients and clinicians:

“Here, we report that fructose provides an alternative substrate to induce pancreatic cancer cell proliferation…These findings show that cancer cells can readily metabolize fructose to increase proliferation.”

The significance of diet and metabolic support for individuals with cancer is hard to overstate:

“They [these findings] have major significance for cancer patients given dietary refined fructose consumption, and indicate that efforts to reduce refined fructose intake or inhibit fructose-mediated actions may disrupt cancer growth.”