• Investigating the Effect of Ketogenic Diets on Quality of Life in Women with Breast Cancer
  • Ali Keivani,1,* Parisa Kiyasati,2
    1. Department of Nutrition Sciences, Varastegan Institute for Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
    2. Department of Psychology, Payame Noor University (PNU), P.O. Box, 49175, Gorgan, Iran.


  • Introduction: Ketogenic Diets (KDs) are low-carb, high-fat diets that offer many health benefits such as weight loss and benefits against diabetes and epilepsy and cancer. On the other hand, breast cancer, the most common cancer diagnosed in women, is proven to be related to obesity. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of KDs on quality of life (QoL) in women with breast cancer.
  • Methods: Google scholar, Scopus and Pubmed databases were searched using related MeSH terms and keywords and Relevant articles were used in this review.
  • Results: The evidence reviewed in this paper shows that using a KD, as a complementary treatment for breast cancer, may improve patients’ QoL by shifting brain’s preference to use ketones as its primary fuel instead of carbohydrates. In addition, This diet also helps patients by reducing Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) and maintaining homeostasis. Patients receiving KD showed improvements in Physical Functioning, Cognitive Functioning, Fatigue and Insomnia compared to whom received a Standard Diet (SD). It should be considered that KDs are not palatable for everyone and they might cause some side effects such as micronutrient insufficiency, nausea/vomiting and muscle loss therefore, patients should be screened for unwanted side effects.
  • Conclusion: This study indicated that consuming a KD compared to SD has the potential to improve some aspects of QoL in breast cancer patients. However, further studies conducted in this subject would be necessary to draw conclusions about more possible effects of KDs in QoL of Breast Cancer sufferers.
  • Keywords: Diet, Ketogenic; Breast Cancer; Quality of Life; Breast Neoplasms