Story at-a-glance
- All dietary carbohydrates are digested into sugars called glucose. Glucose, in turn, can be metabolized (burned) for fuel using two different pathways. First, the glucose is metabolized into pyruvate. The pyruvate can then either enter the glycolysis pathway in the cytoplasm of the cell and produce lactate (this is an inefficient backup pathway), or it can be converted into acetyl-CoA and shuttled to the mitochondrial electron transport chain, which results in optimal energy production
- The Warburg Effect refers to the observation that if your body has access to enough oxygen, it will preferentially burn (oxidize) glucose in your mitochondria by converting the pyruvate into acetyl-CoA
- The state of mitochondrial physiology that Warburg accurately identified occurs when your body has enough oxygen and the mitochondria are not maxed out, yet still uses the backup glycolysis pathway. This is also called cancer metabolism. It gives the false impression that cancer is using glucose to supply its metabolic needs for energy, but it is merely an illusion
- The primary reason glucose cannot be burned in your mitochondria is because the mitochondria are dysfunctional. This dysfunction is the result of the electron transport chain (ETC) being backed up with an excess of electrons that are unable to flow easily through the five complexes. This condition is known as reductive stress. In this situation, your body has no choice but to use the backup system, glycolysis
- Contrary to natural fructose (found in ripe fruits and honey, for example), refined sugars and many starches are more likely to cause gut dysbiosis that leads to the production of endotoxin. This endotoxin is one of the factors that destroys mitochondrial function, resulting in cancer metabolism (the Warburg Effect) where glucose is burned through glycolysis
There’s a common misconception that all sugar, i.e., carbohydrates in general, will act as fuel for cancer, but nothing could be further from reality. When it comes to the “sugar fuels cancer” issue, it’s important to make a distinction between the sources of the carbs.
Continue reading “How Refined Sugar Fuels Cancer”
