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El ayuno contra el cáncer: Una guía novedosa para prevenir y tratar los tumores

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MATAR DE HAMBRE AL CÁNCER, NUTRIR AL PACIENTE

Cuando se habla del tratamiento del cáncer, Valter Longo, el experto mundial en la relación entre alimentación, longevidad y salud, cambia por completo el enfoque para complementar el tratamiento. Tras años de  investigaciones y programas experimentales, el autor demuestra que la aplicación de protocolos controlados de ayuno es un aliado muy poderoso en la lucha contra varios tipos de tumores, y a partir de esa idea explora nuevas y posibles combinaciones con las terapias estándares. 

A pesar de los avances de la ciencia, casi una de cada dos personas corre hoy el riesgo de enfermar de cáncer. ¿Cómo es posible que hayamos logrado reducir la posibilidad de padecer enfermedades mortales como las  cardiovasculares y muchas otras, y no hayamos obtenido un éxito parecido con el cáncer?

La explicación la encontramos en el hecho de que los tumores son extremadamente complejos -ninguno es igual a otro- y están formados por  células que no siguen un desarrollo previsible. Ahora bien, todos tienen  algo en comú están hechos de células «confundidas y rebeldes» que comen mucho más que las sanas, sobre todo si se atacan con terapias convencionales. Según esta premisa, ayudar a prevenir, pero también a vencer, las enfermedades tumorales es posible haciendo que las células enfermas se mueran de hambre. Este libro abre una nueva vía para que el paciente se convierta en protagonista activo de su tratamiento y curación.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

STARVE CANCER TO DEATH. NURTURE THE PATIENT.

When speaking about cancer treatment, world expert in the links between diet, longevity, and health Valter Longo changes his approach entirely to complement the therapy. After years of research and experimental programs, the author proves that controlled fasting protocols are a very powerful ally in the fight against several kinds of tumors, and from that notion explores new and possible combinations of the standard treatment.
 
Despite scientific advancements, almost one in every two people is at risk of developing cancer. How is it possible that we have managed to reduce the possibility of suffering mortal diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and others, but we haven’t been equally successful regarding cancer?
 
The explanation is that tumors are extremely complex—none identical to another—and are formed by cells that don’t follow a foreseeable development pattern. Nevertheless, they all have something in they are made up of “confused, rebellious” cells that eat much more than healthy cells do, especially when attacked with conventional therapies. Following this premise, it is possible to help prevent, but also defeat tumoral diseases by starving the sick cells to death. This book opens a new pathway for the patient to become an active protagonist in his own treatment and health.

433 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2021

111 people are currently reading
248 people want to read

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Valter Longo

24 books87 followers

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5 stars
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70 (43%)
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45 (27%)
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
Profile Image for Sheliz.
44 reviews
March 18, 2025
This book I believe would be more enjoyed by professionals in the field. Very technical especially when it came to clinical trials. There are better books out there for the non-physicians or persons in the trade.
Profile Image for Sharon.
1,710 reviews41 followers
August 5, 2025
Longo and his team are doing incredible work in oncology. What I found interesting was that he said we should focus on ageing because cancer is in age related disease. I think in terms of prevention there’s a lot of merit in eating a plant-based diet that’s low and sugar and then periodically going on a fasting mimicking diet.
Profile Image for Michael.
662 reviews1 follower
February 17, 2025
An underwhelming book. I'm a grade 3 astrocytoma patient currently entering week 5 of radiotherapy and temozolomide (chemo), so I was thrilled to see a full chapter on brain cancer in the preview of this book! I bought it immediately.

I'm not sure who this book is for. Clinical practitioners? Too shallow for them . . . maybe the references might be useful. Researchers? Definitely not deep or extensive enough. Patients? Maybe, but there's little here that hasn't been said FAR better in other places, for example by Miriam Kalamian in Keto for Cancer.

As an author myself, I think this book feels like a doctor in an expensive city (Los Angeles) attempting to make a buck. It's as much a pitch for patients to pay for metabolic consultations as it is to persuade anyone of the clinical efficacy of fasting. (Not to mention far too much about Dr. Longo himself.) It's also highly repetitive.

Save your money.

Always make sure to consult with your care team about all your decisions. Other resources I'd recommend are, in this order:

NCCN's guidelines for patients
Food Rules by Michael Pollan (extremely concise and easy to read!)
The Moss Report's free podcast
The Cancer Journey by Dr. Chadi Nabhan
Keto for Cancer by Miriam Kalamian
research of Thomas Seyfried, PhD. Contact him for a free info packet, including this recent paper: Duraj, T., Kalamian, M., Zuccoli, G. et al. Clinical research framework proposal for ketogenic metabolic therapy in glioblastoma. BMC Med 22, 578 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-024-03...
2015 PBS documentary Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies from 2015 (runtime 6 hours)
Natural Strategies for Cancer Patients by Dr. Russell Blaylock (though I would proceed with caution on that last one . . . these days you're probably better using Ai prompts instead of relying on a human author. I like Claude Ai's 3.5 Sonnet Explanatory model.)

Most of all, I wish you peace on this difficult journey. Good luck.
61 reviews1 follower
November 9, 2024
Se queda muy lejos de entender los beneficios del ayuno por limitarlo por miedo, estudios que muestra con "dieta que imita al ayuno " de unas 800kcal, eso no es ayuno. Sim embargo, no tiene miedo de poner a la gente en quimioterapia, es asombroso el doble rasero de los científicos sobre drogas vs naturaleza. Aún así tiene puntos interesantes de los datos que da, que con correcta interpretación dan información valiosa.

Si tienes cáncer lee a Arnold Ehret y cúrate.
Profile Image for CarrieLyn.
291 reviews
January 5, 2026
Recommended to me as a way of treating my lymphedema but it’s really about diet as an additional cancer treatment so it was really too late for that for me. Maybe it can help others if they learn about it shortly after diagnosis rather than as I did only after treatment and when reckoning with side effects after treatment is over.
121 reviews
March 30, 2025
Fantastic book if you have or want to prevent cancer. For example: given the content of this book (and other published research), it seems like malpractice not to engage in some type of fasting during chemo.

I'm very grateful to Longo for pioneering these counter-intuitive approaches.
Profile Image for Hugo Cantuarias.
121 reviews1 follower
November 20, 2023
Un buen libro de divulgación, quizás dedica demasiado tiempo a aspectos técnicos antes de entrar en consejos prácticos, pero con un tema tan relevante seguro es necesario.
Profile Image for Jazmín D3.
61 reviews2 followers
January 27, 2025
La información clara que hace el doctor Longo aclara como manejar el cáncer y tratarlo naturalmente.
1 review
February 16, 2025
It’s a good informative read but the author was really pushing hard to read his previous book the Longevity Diet. This might of helped me appreciate this book more.
Profile Image for Anna Mosca.
Author 4 books8 followers
January 3, 2023
Accurato e incoraggiante, aggiunge speranza a chi di speranza ne ha poca. Personalmente ero a conoscenza dei principi che illustra ma leggerli, finalmente, in lingua italiana, e con spiegazioni così chiare che non lasciano dubbi e che possono essere ripetute a chi dubita o a chi ha paura anche solo della parola “digiuno” mi ha dato un enorme conforto. Unisce l’antico principio del digiuno alle terapie mediche affinché queste siano più efficaci, il tutto documentato da studi. Ottimo libro per iniziare l’anno sull’onda della speranza.
48 reviews
August 10, 2023
Planteamiento complementario y parece que demostrado, al tratamiento convencional de algunos tipos de cancer. Además de resultar beneficioso para prevenir. Me parece interesante el reclamo que hace de pedir tratamientos integrados de las distintas disciplinas involucradas en la mejora y mantenimiento de nuestra salud, además de oncólogos, porqué no psicólogos, nutricionistas,...
Ayuno, dieta y ejercicio, no me parece que si se hace de manera razonada, pueda ser perjudicial y si que parece que puede aportar beneficios.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
5 reviews
August 20, 2023
La parte donde explica los mecanismos celulares es fantástica, pero la estructura del libro se hace un poco tediosa, con párrafos que se repiten en cada capítulo.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews

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