Khaberni – A recent American study has shown that following the high-fat “keto” diet may increase the risk of liver cancer within just two decades.
The research paper published in the scientific journal Cell explains the disturbing biological mechanism that converts healthy liver cells into primitive cells more susceptible to malignant transformation.
A research team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University fed mice a high-fat diet similar to the keto diet, then tracked the molecular changes in their liver cells.
The results were shocking, as liver cells (hepatocytes) began to activate genes that help them survive the tough fatty environment, but in return shut down the genes responsible for normal liver functions. This “biological trade-off,” as researchers describe it, creates cells capable of enduring lipid stress but they lose their functional identity.
The even more worrisome issue is that researchers found the same genetic pattern in human liver patients. The patients who showed high levels of these “survival-promoting genes” lived shorter periods after being diagnosed with liver tumors.
Professor Alex Shalek, involved in the study, explains: “These cells activate the same genes they would need to become cancerous later on. They get an early start on the path to malignant transformation.”
While mice developed cancer within just one year, researchers assert that the process in humans takes about twenty years. However, this timeline may dangerously accelerate with factors such as excessive alcohol consumption or viral liver infections, pushing liver cells towards a state of “backward maturation” (when liver cells are exposed to a high-fat diet frequently and chronically, they regress to a state more like stem cells or primitive cells – a state less specialized and less mature functionally), which increases their susceptibility to malignant transformation.
This scientific warning comes at a time when the keto diet is widely popularized with the support of celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Aniston, who promote its effectiveness in rapid weight loss.
This diet, which consists of 75% fats and only 5% carbohydrates, differs drastically from official health recommendations, which advocate for a 50% carbohydrates and 30% fats ratio.
Despite these alarming results, researchers see a glimmer of hope in the possibility of reversing this damage. They are currently studying the use of modern weight loss drugs like “Mounjaro” (from a class of drugslike “Ozempic”) to help the liver burn off excess fats. Additionally, understanding the new molecular mechanism provides innovative therapeutic targets that could improve patient outcomes in the future.
This study does not call for panic but for awareness. As the researchers say, the new knowledge gives us new angles to understand the biology of the disease and reminds us that every dietary choice we make today could have a long-lasting echo in our health tomorrow.
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