India, Dec. 11 -- Diet is a factor that is often overlooked when it comes to cancer treatments.A 2023 paper by researchers at Spain's National Cancer Research Center -Carlos Martinez-Garay and Nabil Djouder - shows that cancer cells have a strong "sweet tooth" and consume sugar in huge amounts to grow and spread.

Unlike normal cells, cancer cells grow uncontrollably and need a lot of energy. To get this energy, they mainly use glucose, a type of sugar found in many foods. This process, called the Warburg effect, was first discovered nearly 100 years ago. Even when oxygen is available, cancer cells prefer sugar for energy.

Sugar cravings are why tumours show up clearly in PET scans, which track glucose in the body. Some cancers also rely...