Eat to Beat Disease: The New Science of How Your Body Can Heal Itself

Written by William W Li

Narrated by Peter Ganim

Eat your way to better health with this New York Times bestseller on food's ability to help the body heal itself from cancer, dementia, and dozens of other avoidable diseases.

Forget everything you think you know about your body and food, and discover the new science of how the body heals itself. Learn how to identify the strategies and dosages for using food to transform your resilience and health in Eat to Beat Disease.

We have radically underestimated our body's power to transform and restore our health. Pioneering physician scientist, Dr. William Li, empowers readers by showing them the evidence behind over 200 health-boosting foods that can starve cancer, reduce your risk of dementia, and beat dozens of avoidable diseases. Eat to Beat Disease isn't about what foods to avoid, but rather is a life-changing guide to the hundreds of healing foods to add to your meals that support the body's defense systems, including:

• Plums
• Cinnamon
• Jasmine tea
• Red wine and beer
• Black Beans
• San Marzano tomatoes
• Olive oil
• Pacific oysters
• Cheeses like Jarlsberg, Camembert and cheddar
• Sourdough bread

The book's plan shows you how to integrate the foods you already love into any diet or health plan to activate your body's health defense systems-Angiogenesis, Regeneration, Microbiome, DNA Protection, and Immunity-to fight cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative autoimmune diseases, and other debilitating conditions.

Both informative and practical, Eat to Beat Disease explains the science of healing and prevention, the strategies for using food to actively transform health, and points the science of wellbeing and disease prevention in an exhilarating new direction.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hachette Audio
• Release date: Mar 19, 2019
• ISBN: 9781549117183

Reviews for Eat to Beat Disease

[booktsunami · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

First up. I need to clarify that this is really a review based solely on the Blinkist summary of the book. So it’s not especially fair to the author. However, I have found Blinkist summaries to be remarkably good and indicative to me of whether it’s worth my while finding a copy of the whole book and reading it. In the meantime, here are some extracts from the summary that I found interesting or that captured the thrust of the arguments.
Soy foods and broccoli can help boost your body’s cancer-fighting defense system.
Microscopic tumors start growing when your body’s cells divide incorrectly. And shockingly, your body makes around ten thousand of these mistakes every day. The result? Cancer formation isn’t just common; it’s inevitable..........your body has a natural defense system that stops these cancers from ever becoming a problem. It’s called angiogenesis. [The author has specialised I the study of angiogenesis].......Blood vessels grow irregularly, then they’re just as likely to deliver this nourishment to your microscopic cancers instead [of where you would like the nourishment delivered], providing them with the fuel they need to grow, spread and eventually invade your organs..........Angiogenesis stops this from happening by controlling where and when blood vessels grow, and thus stops tumours.
A 1993 study by the University of Heidelberg found that soy foods contain genistein, a potent cancer-fighting substance that suppresses the blood vessels that feed nutrients to tumours.
Furthermore, it was found that genistein prevented the growth of several types of cancer cells, including Ewing’s sarcoma cells, which lead to bone and soft-tissue tumours.
You’ll need to consume a daily portion of at least 10 grams of soy protein to enjoy the cancer-fighting benefits.......
Broccoli has also been found to have a potent effect on angiogenesis too.....Broccoli contains brassinin and sulforaphanes, substances that help angiogenesis keep blood vessel production in balance and fight cancer........So to reduce your risk of cancer, add between one and two cups of broccoli to your diet each week.
Drinking cocoa can boost your body’s ability to repair and regenerate itself.
Your body is made up of around 37 trillion cells. Of this gigantic number, only around 0.002 percent are classified as stem cells......Stem cells form the basis of one of your body’s key health defense systems: your regenerative system.......This rate of regeneration differs according to the organ involved. For instance, stem cells regenerate your lungs every eight days, your skin once a fortnight, and your small intestine almost every other day.
Feed your body’s health-giving bacteria with fruit, sauerkraut and cheese.
Mushrooms and olive oil help your immune system fight everything from colds to cancer.
You can help protect your DNA by snacking on nuts and berries.
Your DNA is being damaged continuously throughout your life.
Health benefits can also be found in some surprising foods.
Final summary
Eat to beat disease
My take on the book. Hard to know what to believe, There are so many books on eating right to combat cancer and other diseases but for every recommendation there seems to be a counter recommendation. Without access to all the research, and even with it, it is hard to come to rational conclusions. If the Blinkist summary is reasonably accurate, the author seems to have extrapolated from very few studies to make remarkable conclusions. I have no great arguments with his recommendations to eat nuts and berries. Nor his recommendation to eat soy and broccoli. But not sure about cocoa, mushrooms and olive oil. Maybe he is right but not really enough evidence presented here to convince me. Overall, I found it interesting and challenging. But I would have liked to see some discussion of any downsides to eating some of these foods. There was no mention of that. Three stars from me.

[deldevries · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well written with excellent information. A textbook of info.