#145 | Food for Thought | William Li, MD

Sep 29, 2024

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Food as medicine is an old idea...it's the original idea on how to be a healthy person dating back more than 2000 years, but can food be the way to achieve athletic longevity? Can wise athletes target certain foods to target faster recovery, better health, and longer life? Can it be done without extreme or highly restrictive diets?

Today on episode 145, I am joined by Dr William Li...a physician, scientist and author of "eat to beat disease" and "eat to beat your diet" to discuss his research on using plant and animal based foods to boost our 5 body defense systems to fend off the chronic diseases associated with aging. And, in particular, I asked Dr Li to talk about combating chronic inflammation and activating stem cells to rebuild our body.

All right, let's talk to Dr Li .

Bio: William Li, MD

William W. Li, MD, is a physician, scientist and author of the New York Times bestsellers “Eat to Beat Disease: The New Science of How Your Body Can Heal Itself” and “Eat to Beat Your Diet: Burn Fat, Heal Your Metabolism, and Live Longer.” His research has led to the development of more than 40 new medical treatments that impact care for more than 70 diseases including diabetes, blindness, heart disease and obesity. His TED Talk, “Can We Eat to Starve Cancer?” has been viewed more than 11 million times. He is President and Medical Director of the Angiogenesis Foundation, and he is leading global initiatives on food as medicine.

Bullet points:

Science shows many foods can prevent, halt or even reverse cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and other life-threatening chronic diseases.
Over the past decade, the Angiogenesis Foundation has discovered and gathered evidence that fruits, vegetables, herbs, seafood, tea, coffee, and even chocolate contain natural substances — bioactives — that can prevent and intercept disease by influencing angiogenesis and other defense systems in the body.
What we eat and drink is enormously impactful when it comes to preventing disease.

5 body defense systems -- key pillars

Each of these systems is influenced by diet. When you know what to eat, to support each system, you can then use your diet to maintain health and beat disease. The five defense systems are angiogenesis, regeneration, microbiome, DNA protection, and immunity.
Angiogenesis: The process by which blood vessels are formed. Angiogenesis keeps the sixty thousand miles of blood vessels found in your body working to support health and fight disease. This is the common component in cancer tumors. Barley and mushrooms are good for growing blood vessels where you need them.
Regeneration: The process of creating and renewing 750,000 stem cells that power our bodies. Stem cells maintain, repair and regenerate our bodies. Avoid too much salt, saturated fat, alcohol, smoking. Do eat dark chocolate, barley, mushrooms, fruit skins (apple, pear, peach, strawberry...also anti-inflammatory)...to get stem cells to come out to heal the body.
Microbiome: The bacteria that is found within our bodies that act to defend our health.
DNA Protection: This is our genetic blueprint. Foods can help repair damaged DNA caused by daily living, but can also help lengthen our telomeres, which protect DNA and slow aging.
Immunity: Our immunity defends our health. Too much or too little of each of the above defense systems can cause problems in the body systems in fighting disease. When the angiogenesis function is out of control, it feeds cancer tumors. The key to keeping all of these systems in balance.

5 x 5 x 5 framework that supports the five defense systems.

In order to support the 5 defense systems you choose five health-supporting foods you already like to eat and then eat them up 5 times each day. There is overlap in foods that serve more than one defense system. The goal is to eat 5 different foods every day that support each system. Examples below:
Angiogenesis: almonds, blackberries, chicken thighs, coffee, eggplant
Regeneration: black/green tea, cranberries, EVOO, red wine, coffee
Microbiome: tomatoes, dark chocolate, sourdough bread, cauliflower, broccoli
DNA Protection: coffee, broccoli, grapefruit, kale, carrots
Immunity: apples, mushrooms, spinach, broccoli, capers

Related info and episodes:

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