My thoughts on the Ketogenic Diet Approach for Cancer
Today I want to talk about the ketogenic diet. It was first recommended to me back in February of this year, and honestly, I wish I had known about its benefits much sooner. If I had understood how powerful it could be for someone battling cancer, I would have started it last year.
In my personal opinion, the ketogenic diet is critical if you’re actively fighting cancer. Cancer thrives on glucose, which comes from carbohydrates and sugars. This is tied to something known as the Warburg effect—a metabolic hallmark of cancer cells. Essentially, cancer cells rapidly consume glucose and convert it into lactic acid, which fuels their growth and reproduction.
Interestingly, the ketogenic diet wasn’t created for cancer at all—it was originally developed as a treatment for epilepsy. But today, it has become a powerful tool in the cancer-fighting arsenal.
The diet isn’t easy at first. Your body must switch from burning glucose for energy to burning fat, and that transition can be tough. I’ve been doing this diet consistently for a long time now, and I truly believe it has played a major role in my progress.
Last year, I ate whatever I wanted. I was ravenous from months of steroids and didn’t give my diet any real thought—and my cancer continued to progress aggressively. But this year, with a steady ketogenic approach, combined with hyperbaric oxygen therapy and the occasional necessary gamma knife radiation for new brain lesions, I feel like I’m in my best physical and mental shape since my diagnosis.
I’ve had 40–50 tumors in my brain over the course of this journey. Every MRI is a metric for me—proof of whether what I’m doing is helping or not. My most recent MRI on November 16th felt like a moment of validation. It showed me that the consistent work I’ve been putting in since the beginning of the year is making a difference.
Measuring the effectiveness of alternative approaches is hard. I want immediate results—who wouldn’t? But cancer doesn’t work that way. Even radiation can take months or a year before a tumor finally shows clear shrinkage. Patience becomes part of the treatment.
Back to the ketogenic diet. To me, it makes logical sense: if cancer feeds on sugar and carbohydrates that convert to glucose, why not starve that energy source? I keep my total net carbs under 20g a day. For me, that means roughly 70% fats, 20–25% protein, and the rest carbs. I also walk 10–20 minutes after each meal (weather permitting) to help burn off any carbohydrates before they spike my blood sugar.
If you want to dig deeper into the science, there are two books I strongly recommend:
“Keto for Cancer” by Thomas Seyfried
“How to Starve Cancer” by Jane McLelland
Both are powerful, inspiring, and full of strategies you can use right away. Some of the science can be tough—especially if you have chemo brain—but there are YouTube videos, podcasts, and summaries that make the information easier to absorb.
For now, that’s what I want to share about keto. I believe it’s incredibly important and absolutely worth exploring—especially if your cancer feels at a stalemate or is progressing rapidly, like mine was.
