In 10 seconds? We can ‘eat smart’ to improve cancer therapy. There's a growing body of  scientific evidence regarding how dietary strategies that limit protein or specific amino acids can optimize cancer treatments.

What’s the rationale for limiting protein intake? First some background. Our bodies break down the proteins we eat into their building blocks called amino acids. Twenty different amino acids make up all the proteins in our bodies. While our bodies can synthesize some amino acids on their own (called nonessential amino acids), we rely on our nutrition to provide the amino acids that we cannot make (called essential amino acids). Research on cancer metabolism has shown that certain tumors rely heavily on certain amino acids for their growth and survival (because without the proper building blocks–coming from proteins–cancerous cells can’t grow!).

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