Glycemic Index and breast cancer

A German biologist won the noble prize for discovering that tumors are fed by glucose. Glucose is a form of digested sugar. Most PET scans commonly use glucose to check for cancer. If an area image shows a high consumption of glucose, cancer is very likely. Glycemic index is the measure of how quickly something turns to glucose after you eat it.

When we eat sugar or things that turn to sugar, foods with a high glycemic index make the blood sugar rise rapidly. This results in the body releasing insulin, which then triggers the release of Insulinlike Growth Factor (IGF). IGF has the job of stimulating cell growth. So sugar nourishes tissues and makes them grow faster. This is why sugar can make you fat.  The other thing sugar does is promotes inflammation which is like fertilizer for tumors. There is a high incidence of cancers in the diabetic population. Studies have also shown that in areas of the world were sugar consumption is the lowest there is also a low incidence of cancer. There are currently trials with medicines that work through the glycemic path. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/compound_that_blocks_sugar_pathway_slows_cancer_cell_growth

Here is the good news. It is not the sugar itself that triggers cancer cell growth, but the IGF.  There are three  things in the diet that can help reduce the amount of insulin produced by the body when you eat sugar and carbohydrates. These are protein, fat, and fiber. When eaten along with even the simplest sugars, these three items help the body to make less insulin in response to simple sugar.If you eat sugar with some protein, some fat, or some fiber, your body won’t produce as much insulin. Eating this other food helps your body process sugar more slowly, and this means that your body does not overproduce insulin. In short, protein, fat, and fiber help your body process sugar in a more healthful way.

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