Samantha Lewis of Avenel Arts shares her insights on various topics, from exploring new health trends to re-imagining personal growth.

Food is not just fuel — it’s medicine.

Our lifestyle choices can profoundly influence our biology, enhancing the body’s ability to defend itself against disease.

In particular, our diet can play a significant role in both the prevention and treatment of cancer by working with the body’s natural healing processes.

Renowned physician and researcher, Dr William Li has dedicated his life to understanding how our bodies can naturally combat diseases through nutrition and lifestyle.

In his books Eat to Beat Disease and Eat to Beat Your Diet, Dr Li delves into the science of how specific foods and actions can activate our body’s defence systems to prevent and fight various illnesses.

In an intriguing experiment where researchers swapped out conventional cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and targeted cancer drugs, for foods known to activate the body’s natural defence systems, the results were remarkable.

Dr Li’s personal journey provides evidence in his mother, who was diagnosed with metastatic endometrial cancer in her 80s.

Given her age and the advanced stage of the disease, the prognosis was poor.

However, after undergoing immunotherapy, which helped her immune system recognise and attack the cancer cells, all signs of cancer disappeared after just three treatments.

She has remained cancer-free since then.

Dr Li has a wonderful ability to explain our bodies defence system to those of us with limited science literacy (me!).

The five key defence systems

Dr Li identifies five critical defence systems in our body that play pivotal roles in maintaining health and preventing disease:

Findings from recent studies

Cancer tumours need blood vessels to grow and spread.

By consuming foods that promote healthy angiogenesis, such as green tea, berries, and tomatoes, the body could potentially “starve” the tumour of blood, hindering its growth and ability to spread.

Some of the foods included in the study were rich in natural compounds that target cancer cells directly.

For instance, foods such as soy, mushrooms and cruciferous vegetables (such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cabbage) contain compounds that inhibit cancer cell growth and help regulate the body’s defence systems.

The experiment showed that when these foods were integrated into the diet, the body’s defences, including its immune system and regenerative capabilities, were enhanced.

This led to improvements in the body’s ability to fight off cancer, even without traditional drug treatments.

Essentially, the foods worked synergistically with the body’s existing processes to combat the disease.

Foods also played a significant role in tissue repair and regeneration.

For example, stem cell activity, crucial for regeneration, was boosted by certain foods, which helped the body repair any damage caused by cancer cells.

Food can not only help prevent the onset of cancer, but also assist the body in healing and fighting it once it is present.

This approach works by empowering the body’s natural mechanisms, such as angiogenesis and immunity, instead of relying solely on pharmaceutical interventions.

Foods that activate defence systems

Lifestyle actions to support health

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Tuesday, 3rd June 2025

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