I have been absolutely fascinated for the past 3 weeks since the night I discovered Valter Longo and his research by watching the documentary (free on amazon prime) for "The Science of Fasting". I am not sure when they added that title, but I am so incredibly grateful to have discovered this very important research and all the implications that I have learned over the past weeks! I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017 in the early Spring and my life has taken that difficult path of trying to get a cure from the typical "standard of care" type of treatment. Before I learned about the concept of starving around your chemo sessions, I had already endured 4 rounds of Adriamycin/Cytoxin and 1 round of Taxol. I was in the depressing situation of being numb in my feet, starting to get numb in my hands, and totally freaked out about it. Also, that first round of Taxol had almost crippled me for 3 days, making all my joints unstable to the point that I had to use a walker. I am only 47, so I started to think that I'll be left so numb in my feet that it wouldn't be safe for me to ride my bicycle anymore, which would truly be sad to me. So about 3 weeks ago, I was depressed about those thoughts and desperate to find something to watch other than "The Walking Dead" (terrible show now), and I found a documentary that I could watch for free on Amazon Prime ("The Science of Fasting") and I decided to watch it. I was kind of skeptical until I saw the interview with Valter Longo, who was showing the lab mice who had been starved versus the lab mice who had been allowed to free feed prior to and during a massive overdose of a chemotherapy drug. Then I knew that I had to consult google to see if this was really true. I expected to only see alternative medicine people talking about it, but I realized it was all TRUE, while also having a sickening realization: many of my loved ones have died of cancer in the past 4 years and there was actually a lot of talk occurring on the internet about this topic, about research and promising results for a variety of illnesses including cancer. I consider the man behind the book to be exactly the type of person we all needed to be doing this, because he can't be discouraged from taking a better and more insightful look at these incredibly important issues. There is nothing more important than living in a way that sustains and protects life, since life is beautiful but delicate and should be held with respect. I truly appreciate that the perspective of this book is that people should live longer and healthier lives, combined with what science says on the topic. By the way, I can't resist adding that I think Lord Byron must have jumped for joy in his grave when this book was published. If only he had known that his habits of starving himself and then bingeing on "fish and vegetables" was actually a huge boon to his health, and not just to his fashion sense. Byron also spoke greatly about the mental clarity he enjoyed when he was in starvation mode, which is fascinating when you learn that brain neurons are created, new brain neurons, when you fast and then re-feed. Imagine this: Byron's worst problem, his hated tendency to get fat, drove him to a cycle of fasting and re-feeding that literally galvanized his poet skill? Not sure about that. But I like to think so, because I honestly would not have even dreamed of thinking about that unless I learned of Valter Longo's research. I'd also like to add that this book is wonderfully written and intelligent. I did feel a slight twinge of uncertainty about the diet but I realized that I can follow the eating plan by measuring ingredients on a scale, and believe me, after you finish a fast... you literally have tons of energy and fascination with preparing healthy and small portions of highly nutritious food. This diet will sound like hell to you if you are already stuffed on a rich diet, but if you actually fast, you will find that this is exactly the kind of food that you crave. I am so grateful for your kindness and fortitude of spirit that you brought this book out now. Bless!!!Edit: I forgot to mention the most important thing, which is that I was able to do a 4 day water fast around my 2nd infusion of taxol. I faster for only 2 days prior to chemo day (I was afraid of getting too run down, and I didn't know what to expect), plus I fasted the day of the infusion and the day after. The first thing that I noticed was that my neuropathy almost totally went away after only 24 hours on the fast! So that neurapathy eased even before I got in the chemo chair. I felt fine after chemo, and pretty ok the day after, and then the day after that (so on my 4th day of fasting), I knew that this method of starving yourself to protect from the toxic effects of chemo actually works. Because I was walking with good balance, in a normal gait, without any limping or feeling like I must walk with the aid of a "walker". That is what happened to me when I had my first taxol infusion, without any fasting. So to me, this was totally proven and I realized this book was coming out within a couple of days, so I ordered multiple copies to share with EVERYONE. Because all proceeds go to charity, and people are being damaged by chemo drugs every day around the world. Patients have the right to know about this!!!! I am so happy and active right now that nobody can believe I just had chemo.