Eat to Beat Disease

“Let food by thy medicine and let medicine be thy food”.  Hippocrates is thought to be the source of this quote, but Dr. William Li, world-renowned physician, scientist, and author, reiterated this concept during his keynote speech at the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation’s Annual Conference on August 4, 2020.  Dr. Li authored a recently published book entitled, Eat to Beat Disease, and during Dr. Li’s speech he describes the concepts held within.

According to Dr. Li, there are five body defense systems that forms key pillars to good health.  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.

Regeneration: The process of creating and renewing 750,000 stem cells that power our bodies.  Stem cells maintain, repair and regenerate our bodies.

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.

After learning that specific food plays a very important role in improving or repairing our body the question becomes what foods to eat?   Dr. Li discusses a 5 x 5 x 5 framework that supports the five defense systems.  That is 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.   Choose foods that specifically support each defense system, although many of these foods will support more than one system.  This emphasis on diet then becomes a tool in the toolbox to fighting disease instead of solely depending on modern medications.

Let’s look at just a few of the 200+ foods that support the various defense systems.

Angiogeneis	Regeneration	Microbiome	DNA	Immunity
almonds	black/green tea	tomatoes	coffee	apples
blackberries	cranberries	dark chocolate	broccoli	mushrooms
chicken thighs	EVOO	sourdough bread	grapefruit	spinach
coffee	red wine	cauliflower	kale	broccoli
eggplant	coffee	broccoli	carrots	capers

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.

It may be easier to think of your daily diet simply like fruits, veggies, proteins, nuts, sweets, and drinks.  Some sample snacks and meals to incorporate into your day to help hit the 5x5x5 goal are found in Dr. Li’s book Eat to Beat Disease.  Breakfast can be heavy on the fruits with a smoothie.  A snack mid-morning might be a small bowl of mixed nuts and add dried cranberries and fresh blackberries.  Lunch may include a salad or leftovers from dinner.  Dinner may be a protein (chicken thighs, salmon, or tofu) and a mix of easy oven-roasted veggies.  Sprinkle throughout your day a few cups of tea or coffee, a glass of pomegranate juice, and a piece of dark chocolate and you’ve met your goal.  If you choose several foods that you enjoy and keep them on hand, you can easily add them into your day-to-day meal prep.

Some flexible, healthy recipes to try:

Breakfast Smoothie Slow Cooker Rustic Italian Chicken Baked Salmon Super-Bean Vegetarian Chili Eggplant Caper Tomato Sauce Roasted Veggies Breakfast Smoothie

Any fruits (berries, bananas, apples) and veggies (spinach or kale)  add soy milk and a little water and whip up in your blender.  Also, frozen organic smoothie packs are available at grocery stores or Costco to make your prep time a bit faster and easier.

Slow Cooker Rustic Italian Chicken

• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 2 large carrots cut into ½ inch slices
• 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 14.5 ouch can diced tomatoes
• 1 29 ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 3 cups whole wheat penne pasta, cooked and drained

 

1. Spray slow cooker with cooking spray.  Place chicken in slow cooker and top with remaining ingredients, except pasta.
2. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.   Serve chicken over pasta.  You may garnish with parmesan cheese and fresh parsley.

Baked Salmon

• tomatoes, chopped
• fresh mushrooms – any kind
• 1 large onion
• salmon fillets
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut up (optional)
• 1 lemon

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking dish with enough aluminum foil to be able to fold over ingredients.
2. Stir together the tomato, mushroom, and onion. Spread the mixture into the bottom of the prepared dish. Lay the salmon fillets over the mixture.  Season with salt and pepper.  Dot the salmon with the butter.  Arrange the lemon slices atop the butter pieces.  Fold the foil over the salmon, and press edges together to seal.
3. Bake in the preheated over until the fish flakes easily with a fork, about 40 minutes.

You can jazz up the flavor by adding garlic or red pepper flakes.  This recipe is easily adaptable to your own taste/flavor preferences.

Super-Bean Vegetarian Chili

• 1 14.5 ounce can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup chopped onion (1 large)
• 1 cup canned organic no-salt-added black beans, rinsed and drained
• ¾ cup black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
• ¼ cup no-salt-added tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese (optional)

1. In a medium saucepan combine undrained tomatoes, the water, onion, drained beans, drained black-eyed peas, tomato paste, chili powder, and cumin.  Bring to boiling; reduce heat.  Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.
2. To serve, sprinkle each with cheese or serve with Greek yogurt or a dollop of sour cream and a slice of avocado.

This recipe is very versatile.  Whatever type of beans and veggies you enjoy may be substituted for the above.  Also, kale is a delicious add in.

Eggplant Caper Tomato Sauce

• 1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 1 pound)
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon munced garlic (6 cloves)
• 3 pounds tomatoes, cored and chopped, or four 14.5-ounce cans dices tomatoes,        undrained
• ½ cup capers, rinsed and drained
• ½ cup pitted kalamata olives, couarsely chopped
• 2 tablespons snipped fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon snipped fresh oregano
• 1 tablespoon snipped fresh thyme
• kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 12 ounces multigrain spaghetti
• ¼ cup finely shredded parmesan cheese

1. Preheat over to 375 degrees.  Place eggplant cubes in a 15x10x1 inch baking pan. Drizzle eggplant with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil; toss to coat.  Bake uncovered, for 18 to 20 minutes or until eggplant is tender but still holding its shape.
2. Meanwhile, for sauce, in a large saucepan heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat.  Add onion; cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Add eggplant and garlic; cook and 5 minutes more or until eggplant is very soft and starting to break apart, stirring occasionally.
3. Add tomatoes, capers, and olives to eggplant mixture.  Bring to boiling; reduce hear.  Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Uncover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes more or until desired consistency, stirring occasionally.  Stir in basil, oregano, and thyme.  Season to taste with kosher salt and pepper.
4. Meanwhile, cook pasta in boiling, lightly salted water according to package directions; drain.
5. Serve sauce over cooked pasta; toss gently to combine.  Sprinkle with cheese.

Roasted Veggies

Choose veggies you enjoy – broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, mushrooms.  Lightly coat the veggies in EVOO and sprinkle Everything but the Bagel seasoning on and roast at 425 for 25 minutes.

Other great recipes can be found in Dr. Li’s book, on the Allrecipes app or other cookbooks like Better Homes and Gardens 365 Vegetarian Meals.

One last thought, what dose of these foods needs to be eaten to reduce the risk of a given disease?  This depends on what diseases you are fighting or trying to prevent.   It can be as small as 2 cups of coffee per day to prevent a myocardial infarction or 26 cashews per day for colorectal cancer.   However, any change from processed foods and sugary drinks to healthier options will have an impact on your health.

Food and medicine and food as medicine is a concept that is relatively new as an adjunct to modern medicine.  For more information on how each of the five body defense systems work and/or how foods plays a scientific roll within each system, read Eat to Beat Disease or listen to Dr. Li’s recent keynote speech at the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundations Annual meeting.  Dr. Li also has a fascinating a TED talk and is often a guest on a variety of popular podcasts.

Enjoy!