Beating Cancer: What You Eat Could Be The Secret

Eating for health is a lifestyle a lot of Americans have adopted. And, yes, food can also activate our built-in healing abilities, contends Dr. William Li, MD, world-renowned doctor and author of The New York Times bestseller, Eat to Beat Disease: The New Science of How Your Body Can Heal Itself.

In his book, Dr. Li revealed there are foods that can help us ward-off and fight diseases, including cancer. His list of everyday foods that can help one in the fight against cancer is eye-opening.

Dr. Li affirmed there are general principles for using food as medicine, especially when it comes to fighting cancer. He said doctors know cancers have to grow blood vessels to feed themselves. Therefore, it’s important to eat foods that can starve cancer by cutting off these bad blood vessels.

These kinds of beneficial foods are called “antiangiogenic foods.”

They include soy, tomatoes, green tea, oily fish, berries and brassica vegetables.

Angiogenesis means the growth of new blood vessels. Antiangiogenic drugs stop cancerous tumors from growing their own blood vessels. Antiangiogenic foods are said to achieve the same effect. Stopping a cancer from growing blood vessels might slow the growth of the cancer or sometimes shrink it.

Dr. Li pointed out cancers are especially dangerous because they also contain cancer stem cells that can keep cancers coming back after treatment such as chemotherapy. He said new research showed there are indeed cancer stem cell-killing foods. Counted in this lot are purple potatoes, green tea, coffee and walnuts.

Cancer cells can also be fought with a strong immune system. Among immune-boosting foods are broccoli sprouts, blueberries and chili peppers.

Lowering inflammation and boosting immunity can also be attained by eating prebiotic foods like mushrooms and beans that contain fiber. Prebiotic foods feed healthy gut bacteria that helps in fighting cancer. Other microbiome-boosting foods include fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut and yogurt.

Apart from identifying which foods can actually fight cancer, Dr. Li also focused on strengthening the body’s health defenses.