The Psychology of Fighting Cancer | Dr Valter Longo

Dr. Michael Gervais (0:00)

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Dr. Valter Longo (1:05)

All the cancer cells go in one direction, which is, I don't care that you're fasting me. I keep on going. And all the normal cells say, hey, I care very much about this condition. I'm gonna stop. This is really probably the most powerful way to separate all cancer cells from all normal cells. We've seen a lot of people in stage four going to remission.

Dr. Michael Gervais (1:27)

Welcome back, or welcome to the Finding Mastery Podcast, where we dive into the minds of the world's greatest thinkers and doers. I am your host, Dr. Michael Gervais.

SPEAKER_3 (1:36)

A high-performance psychologist named Michael Gervais.

Dr. Michael Gervais (1:38)

Who head coach Mike McDonald and former head coach Pete Carroll brought in to work with the Seahawks.

SPEAKER_3 (1:43)

Famous for his work with Felix Baumgartner when he jumped out of space in the Stratos Project.

SPEAKER_4 (1:47)

Olympic athletes depend on something more than just training and talent. They have to stay mentally tough.

Dr. Michael Gervais (1:53)

Gervais' guest is Dr. Valter Longo, Professor and the Director of the Longevity Institute at USC. And author of The Longevity Diet and his latest book, Fasting Cancer.

Dr. Valter Longo (2:03)

So far, we haven't seen anything that looks as promising as the dietary approach. We don't like to say too much about it because we don't want to give the impression that we know it was our treatment that did that. But certainly, we've seen a lot of people go into remission.

Dr. Michael Gervais (2:17)

In this conversation, we explore how small intentional habits may have a far bigger impact on long term health than many of us realize.

Dr. Valter Longo (2:24)

I think you put it together probably looking at maybe 20 year life expectancy difference compared to a Western sedentary lifestyle.

Dr. Michael Gervais (2:33)

With that, let's jump into this week's conversation with Dr. Valter Longo. Valter, it is great to be here with you today. I really enjoyed your book.

Dr. Valter Longo (2:48)

Oh, thank you.

Dr. Michael Gervais (2:49)

Fasting Cancer. Yeah, I really enjoyed it.

And the reason I enjoyed it is because, one, so many people are struggling, whether it's themselves and or their family or an intimate loved one with cancer. It's one of the leading causes of death in the US. And you have presented a very easy to follow, an easy understand path to help, I think, reduce cancer, the onset of cancer and actually how to work with it once you have it. Do I have those two premises correct?

Dr. Valter Longo (3:22)

Yes, it's correct. So the idea, of course, cancer and aging go together.

And so by treating aging, you're also preventing cancer. And so that's one.

And it was important to me to talk about exactly how you did that. What maximizes the aging treatment. And then two, once you have cancer, most people Google, what else should I do? So I go to the whatever medical center and I get the treatment. But then what do I do for lifestyle? What about nutrition and fasting and exercise and all of that? So surprisingly, so many cancer patients were coming to us, my foundation here in Los Angeles, and saying, I don't know where to go. So then maybe 10 years ago or so, we started as a foundation to help cancer patients. And then think about these integrative interventions. How do you combine? How can you be respectful of the standard of care? And at the same time, integrative solutions that at least have the potential of making the side effects lower and the efficacy of the treatment higher.