Cancer and Insulin

A lot of the metabolism-focused cancer talk seems to coalesce around insulin and its cousin IGF-1  (see for example colon cancer , breast cancer, or do any Google Scholar search on the topic).   Moreso than glucose lowering or ketone producing, the keto for cancer folks seem to be trying to reduce insulin (see this recent blog post).  

So yesterday when I relistened (because sometimes I just torture myself) to Gary Taubes' walk back his G3P argument, something else caught my ear at the end, especially in light of the earlier convo in the podcast about protein and insulin.  Have a listen [I cropped together just 4 minutes for you :-) ]

Now IGF-1 (Insulin-like Growth Factor-1) gets the low carbers and longevity folks and pretty much anyone who takes a position on it one way or the other in trouble, because the literature is full of beneficial effects (see for instance this blog post's links: Protein, Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) and Glucose Homeostasis), and it's full of negative implications, especially cancer (check out this Google Scholar search).  I don't know for sure, but I lean towards, as with insulin, problems with IGF-1 being due more to impaired action and/or dysregulated and inappropriate secretion (excess OR deficiency) than absolute levels themselves.  Another way to say the same thing is that when they are problematic this is often seen in conjunction with some underlying pathology that is likely the real culprit.

So, I learned something the other day, this Scott Connelly is the founder of Met-RX founder.  For those that are unfamiliar, this is a big supplement and protein powder manufacturer.  You would think he would know his proteins, right?  Whey is notorious for being both insulinogenic and fast absorbing/digesting.    I could give you some peer review (such as here and here - I'm sure there are many more, feel free to link in comments and I'll add them in!), but on this subject, let's go to the man himself, Mark Sisson.  After all, the man is an expert in all manner of whey stuffs and supplements.  Just to make sure Connelly wasn't blowing steam, this Google Scholar search turns up several papers regarding whey and breast cancer.

No if whey → insulin↑ but also whey → breast cancer↓, then there goes that neat little causality/relationship.  Most of the problem is the Taubes-fueled mistaken notion that postprandial insulin release is related to basal insulin release in any sort of clear cut direct manner (e.g. chronically elevated insulin after a meal leads to chronically elevated baseline levels).  I do find it interesting how these side issues poke additional holes into TWICHOO as well.