In a new study, researchers found that a healthy diet may help with cancer treatment.
They found limiting the intake of an amino acid found in red meat and eggs could help improve cancer treatment and slow down cancer growth.
The research was conducted by a team from Duke University School of Medicine and other institutes.
It is known that diet plays an important role in managing diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure.
In the current study, the team examined how restricting intake of the amino acid methionine could affect cancer growth.
Amino acid methionine is key to a process called one-carbon metabolism that helps cancer cells grow.
Methionine restriction has already been linked to both anti-aging and weight loss.
The team tested the diet in healthy mice to confirm it was having the positive effects on metabolism.
They then moved to test it in mice with colon cancer.
They found that a low dose of chemotherapy led to inhibition of tumor growth when combined with the diet (methionine restriction).
The researchers explain that this diet can starve the cancer cells of certain nutrients at a very basic level.
They say that for cancer patients, drug therapy by itself doesn’t work well.
The current finding shows that if doctors combine the drug with this diet, it may improve cancer treatment.
Future work needs to test the diet on humans and on other types of cancer.
The lead author of the study is Jason W. Locasale from Duke University School of Medicine.
The study is published in Nature.
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