I never get tired of saying it: real food heals. Food has the power to prevent and reverse disease, and the more we know about it, the more power we have to curate a targeted diet to help us reach our health goals. The catch is that we have to choose the right foods, the ones that elevate us, and simultaneously ditch the poor-quality ones that harm us. There are powerful compounds in foods—like curcumin, genistein, catechins, lycopene, resveratrol, quercetin—that have medicinal impacts on the body. That’s why I call the grocery store the drug store; we can literally eat our medicine at every meal.
My guest this week on The Doctor’s Farmacy, Dr. William Li, is here to tell us all about eating to beat disease and making the idea that food is medicine second nature. You may also be surprised to find out that angiogenesis, or how the body forms blood vessels, is a common denominator in creating optimal health. William Li, MD, is a world-renowned physician, scientist, speaker, and author of Eat to Beat Disease: The New Science of How Your Body Can Heal Itself. He is best known for leading the Angiogenesis Foundation.
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Dr. Hyman is an 11-time New York Times bestselling author, family physician and international leader in the field of Functional Medicine. His podcast, The Doctor's Farmacy, is a place for deep conversations about the critical issues of our time in the space of health, wellness, food and politics. New episodes are released every Wednesday here on YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts.
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This topic is so TRUE! My mom always said this to me.
Thank you for this incredible factual health giving information…I just ordered the book “Eat to Beat Disease” and also the audio book…Thank you also Dr Mark Hyman.
Dr. Li is equating hypercholesterolemia with fat intake at around 24 min of interview. This is a little misguided. Let’s define what cholesterol? LDL alone is not a major risk marker for normal people unless it’s tied to high triglycerides, and directly related to intake of simple carbohydrates, like the ones from breads, grains, starchy tubers, etc. Ivor Cummins, Dr. Ben Binkman, etc, all showed this via research, it’s more about ratios of total:HDL, and tryglicerydes:HDL. So, medical establishment is yet to catch up. However, people with genetic hypercholesterolemia, those he mentions with high LDLs, in 250-350 range, there was some research that those people are also fine if ratios are in the range, and keep being fine on LCHF or keto despite the high LDL. So, let’s just clarify this point.
3/21/19 edit: a day later, here is Ivor Cummins cholesterol talk:
https://youtu.be/9N7CvW1Jqes
Also, refined oils are bad (high omega 6 ones, which is pretty much all vegetable and seed oils that are refined and not cold-pressed). On the other hand, olive oil, avocados, walnuts, etc (per Dr. Gundry list) are all good, and in combo with low-glycemic vegetables, eat as much fat as you want, without going over your energetic needs (I’m not calling it calories, but you can say, don’t eat more than your body uses.) Other than this, excellent interview.
It is not widely accepted that the way to eat is plant based!! So much plant based eating is seriously lacking major vitamins like D3 and B12. Many plant based eaters have messed up guts, and brain fogs, poor skin, joint issues. It’s not a perfect diet, that is why we need meat products and good fats.
This Dr. Is really out of tune, good fats are not the problem, it’s high carbs plus low quality vegetable fats. Soy is dreadful, mostly GMO, it effects hormones. Many people can’t eat nighshades (i.e. tomatos). Many vegetables and fruits are heavily sprayed with chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides.
There is no one size fits all. Some people are pre-disposed to diabetes and must stay away from too many carbs. Chocolate has oxillates, he doesn’t mention that. Meditterainian diets contain shellfish, fish, cheese, lamb, eggs, some beef, it is just not plants. My husband had colon cancer and ate walnuts, pecans, pistachios every day, way before he got colon cancer, he had diviticulitus and stage 2 colon cancer. Nuts really bother the intestines, are full of carbs and are heavily sprayed. They should be eaten in extreme moderation.
Maybe this Dr. has not really bothered to look at the real world. Most people, including Asians are not healthy. Just a handful of nationalities in so called blue zones, live to be 100. Out of 7 billion people on the planet. Most of these blue zones are segregated from the rest of the population, have little modern day stresses, live near the ocean, with less pollution, genetically from extended families, have no chemical laden foods, on and on.
The SAD diet is the problem, fast food, refined carbs, including white rice, disgusting chemical oils, sugar, soft drinks, potato chips etc. We were told that seafood was full of cholesterol and therefore bad for us, now he’s saying eat them.
He’s saying what hundreds have said before him, eat in moderation, eat a well balanced diet, eat a plant based diet, cut calories, get exercise on and on. Ask Dr. Oz and the likes. Bring out a book that satisfies all the major farmers, food manufacturers, heart associations, where nothing is excluded. Well it hasn’t worked has it? We’re all more obese than ever, more heart disease, more diabetes. He’s relying on people’s will power to drive their success, while being surrounded by advertising selling cheap, junk food. Gosh my husband’s Dr. Said he should eat oats (husband is a diabetic). What? Full of carbs yet seal of approval from American Heart Association, same with peanuts, full of omega 6 crap.
If I see another book telling me to eat moderately, lower calories, vary the diet…I’m going to puke. We’re in trouble because of this advice. IT DOESN’T WORK. and just delays getting people to lose weight and get off meds. I follow low carb, high good fats and moderate protein. Blood work great, works for me.
I’d love to see the studies he’s continually citing, but there are no links.
I agree, and at least some YouTube book sellers will admit, that there really is no one size fits all diet. And you have to take the good with the bad, but it’s pretty cool that we have this platform to hear all these people give their particular views on health. Does anyone else get the same eye-roll reaction when they mention something they learned off of YouTube?
Sandra Bentley . Thank you Sandra! Well said!!
+Glenda Prince you’re welcome. I just get tired of hearing these so called best sellers spout off about eating the right diet, when their advice has changed nothing for most people.
We’re still in the same hole in this country because we buy into the advertisers claims which come directly from fast food chains, and GMO farmers nd food processing companies, who seem to have the support of major health organizations like The American Heart Association. Heck Planters roasted, chemically laden, omega 6 heavy peanuts, have the AMHA seal of approval. Follow the money folks! Tired of being lied to and now do my own thing to get healthy.
I agree, Sandra. You certainly hit the nail square on its head!!!
You are just as biased & extreme as vegans being that you are a low carb meat junkie. Too much animal protein is not good for us either. Yes, eating Whole Foods -a variety of different food groups is good in its most natural state. No one needs industrially refined plant oils-that’s a given or white sugar & flour, etc.
I LOVE this Dr.s answer, Mandatory all Dr. take state of the Art Nutrition~!!!!
Thank you!!! I’ve been sharing this talk with friends and loved ones. Food should be there to nourish our health and well-being. Real food — lots of plants, limited sugar, healthy fats.
I believe the new science is saying LDL is not the factor (in fact, LDL is not even a question on the American Cardiology’s Hear Risk Factor Formula anymore!) – it’s Triglycerides (sugar, refined carbs), are the damaging parts of cholesterol. Tons of new research available. Low carb “real food” very important ~ I am not talking about NO Carb (carbs in fruits & veggies great), stop the white flour, grains, and Vegetable Oils (use Avocado Oil for HIGH Heat & Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil for temps under 350 degrees and directly on food i.e. salads etc. Some research states that if your Total Cholesterol / HDL ratio is under “5” you are doing well. *Your TChol/HDL Ratio should be listed on your blood work information. CAC Scan for $50 no doctor ordering needed, is worth a lot in knowing about your heart health. Total Cholesterol and LDL are less harmful than a bad Trig/HDL Ratio or bad Total Cholesterol Ratio – a person’s blood pressure and any pre-diabetes or diabetes are much more a measure of your general health and certainly of you heart health.
30 years ago when I started cooking workshops called Food is Medicine. Not much interest at all, but now thanks to you and others our work is out there and now may we live long and provide great benefit to all beings. Thank you for bringing back the light.
Thank you Dr.Hyman and Dr. Lee for this wonderful podcast.
I look forward to the next ones and the wisdom you have to share with us ❤️
Is it a book all of us can enjoy reading, or is it more for medical scientific minds.
Excellent interview. Excellent information. Thank you Dr. Li for your work. Thank you Mark for the opportunity to hear this important message.
Another Home Run Dr. Mark!! I can see so many principles of Chinese medicine in this conversation!! Love it!! Keep on truckin’!!!
I agree. You do you. But I’ve been vegetarian/vegan for the past 1 1/2 years and I’ve never felt better. Blood work has always been textbook even when I ate like crap so I don’t feel that’s the best way to completely evaluate health
EXCELLENT!!! Info packed overview of th how and why of eating to heal!
Wow! I listened this morning and bought the book this afternoon! Thank you so much for this information.
eat healthy a day, keep the evil big pharmas away
The guy must not know about heliotherapy and UV light and the benefits of infared therapy.
Thank you for your inspiration as I enjoyed a kiwi and pure cranberry diluted with water and stevia! Your podcasts are such a gift. Going to get the book! I agree with some of others here about the fat and sunshine comments – needs to be nuanced and I believe you (Dr. Hyman) were likely being polite not going there 🙂 S