GoKawiilMIT study finds ketogenic diet raises small intestine tumor risk in mice
MIT researchers led by Omer Yilmaz found that mice fed a ketogenic diet developed more tumors in the small intestine than those on a control diet, even as the same diet suppressed colon tumor growth. The team traced the small intestine effect to fatty acid oxidation, a metabolic pathway that spurs intestinal stem cells to multiply faster, and found that ketone bodies themselves appeared uninvolved in either outcome.
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The finding suggests that popular ketogenic diets and commercial ketone supplements may carry organ-specific risks that aren't captured by studies focused on a single part of the gut, according to the researchers. Yilmaz cautions that this points to a broader need for caution before generalizing health claims about diets across different tissues, since the same regimen can have opposite effects depending on location.
- Ketogenic diets increased small intestine tumors in mice despite suppressing colon tumors
- Fatty acid oxidation, not ketone bodies, drives faster stem cell multiplication linked to tumor growth
- Researchers urge caution against broadly generalizing diet effects across different organs
Source: technologyreview.com — Anne Trafton, 2026-10-20
Published there as: “A reason to eat carbs”
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