Eat to Starve Cancer

Most of us underestimate the impact of lifestyle choices on our ability to live vigorous and disease free lives. For example,  epigenetics (the study of gene activation) teaches that simple lifestyle choices can determine whether a “disease gene” such as heart disease or cancer (it runs in the family) is activated or ignored.

Physician and researcher Dr. William Li is founder of the Angiogenesis Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to fighting disease globally. Angiogenesis is the process that our bodies use to grow blood vessels. According to Dr. Li, over 70 major diseases, including every kind of cancer, have as their common denominator unchecked blood vessel growth.

Concerning cancer, he says it’s not uncommon for us to grow microscopic tumors. At this point the tumor isn’t dangerous. The problem arises when the tumor develops a supporting network of blood vessels allowing it to grow.

Dr. Li asked an interesting question, since answered through years of research. Can we use diet to inhibit the unchecked blood vessel growth which accompanies these diseases? In other words, can we eat to starve cancer? Turns out that the answer is a resounding YES. By lacing our diet with foods rich in anti-angiogenic properties, we can dramatically decrease the chances of falling prey to cancer and many other dreaded diseases.

To find out what these foods are, watch his riveting TED video above. You’ll find his bio here.

“Imagine that one medical advancement held the promise to conquer cancer, perhaps within your lifetime … the potential to also end more than 70 of life’s most threatening conditions, affecting one billion people worldwide. This is the promise of angiogenesis, the first medical revolution of the 21st century.”

-William Li