When cancer patients complain of losing weight, they are told to go home and eat ice cream. But this advice doesn't work. Why?
The loss of weight and muscle mass during cancer has less to do with calories and more to do with the process of fighting cancer. One of the things that happens is that the body starts to use its own muscles to provide essential amino acids for defense. The process of eating your own muscles leads to increased fatigue, less activity, and more muscle loss from inactivity. It's a downward spiral.
But simply adding more calories isn't going to reverse that cycle. The body needs amino acids, not calories. Providing the body with specific amino acids, or taking a hormone that forces the body to build lean muscle, may provide more benefit than eating more.
Even adding drugs may not help. Two drugs, Megace and THC were not effective at increasing quality of life. Megace did give patients more fat, and THC did help appetite, but neither significantly changed the disease process.
In comparison, a testosterone derivative Oxandrolone did help people build a little muscle mass. The complete information on these trials can be found at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3106221/pdf/nihms276439.pdf
Another path to avoiding weight loss is decreasing inflammation, with interesting trials on things like turmeric and omega 3 fatty acids. The process of decreasing inflammation can change the way the body processes the amino acids.
What's missing from the current discussion is any mention of the bacteria of the gut, which provide one third of daily protein. When these are maximized they increase protein absorption and decrease inflammation. In my book Tending Your Internal Garden I give a brief overview of the fantastic rain forest that lives inside us.
The loss of weight and muscle mass during cancer has less to do with calories and more to do with the process of fighting cancer. One of the things that happens is that the body starts to use its own muscles to provide essential amino acids for defense. The process of eating your own muscles leads to increased fatigue, less activity, and more muscle loss from inactivity. It's a downward spiral.
But simply adding more calories isn't going to reverse that cycle. The body needs amino acids, not calories. Providing the body with specific amino acids, or taking a hormone that forces the body to build lean muscle, may provide more benefit than eating more.
Even adding drugs may not help. Two drugs, Megace and THC were not effective at increasing quality of life. Megace did give patients more fat, and THC did help appetite, but neither significantly changed the disease process.
In comparison, a testosterone derivative Oxandrolone did help people build a little muscle mass. The complete information on these trials can be found at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3106221/pdf/nihms276439.pdf
Another path to avoiding weight loss is decreasing inflammation, with interesting trials on things like turmeric and omega 3 fatty acids. The process of decreasing inflammation can change the way the body processes the amino acids.
What's missing from the current discussion is any mention of the bacteria of the gut, which provide one third of daily protein. When these are maximized they increase protein absorption and decrease inflammation. In my book Tending Your Internal Garden I give a brief overview of the fantastic rain forest that lives inside us.
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