How To Use Food As Medicine with Dr. William Li

This episode is brought to you by Mitopure, InsideTracker, and Cozy Earth. Humans have coevolved with food and its medicinal actions on our bodies, meaning we have actual cell receptors for specific food-derived molecules. So why aren’t doctors trained in how to use food as medicine? We’re taught all about using pharmaceuticals to affect our biology, but the power of food is left high and dry. I think this is a foundational area of medical training we need to change. That’s why I’m so excited to talk to one of my favorite people and thinkers in the world of food and medicine on this episode of The Doctor’s Farmacy, Dr. William Li. Dr. William Li 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. His groundbreaking work has impacted more than 70 diseases including cancer, diabetes, blindness, heart disease, and obesity. His TED Talk, Can We Eat to Starve Cancer? has garnered more than 11 million views, and he has appeared on The Dr. Oz Show, Martha Stewart Live, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, Voice of America, and has presented at the Vatican’s Unite to Cure conference. An author of over 100 scientific publications in leading journals such as Science, The New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, and more, Dr. Li has served on the faculties of Harvard, Tufts, and Dartmouth Medical School. This episode is brought to you by Mitopure, InsideTracker, and Cozy Earth. Get 10% off Mitopure at timelinenutrition.com/drhyman and use code DRHYMAN10 at checkout. InsideTracker is offering my community 20% off at insidetracker.com/drhyman. Right now, get 40% off your Cozy Earth sheets. Just head over to cozyearth.com and use code MARK40. Here are more details from our interview (audio version / Apple Subscriber version): Dr. Li’s journey to understanding the power of eating to beat disease (6:53 / 3:20) How food can activate our body’s healing defense systems (15:56 / 13:11) Why Dr. Li changed his mind about organic foods (20:44 / 17:23) The benefits of nutritional diversity and eating “weird foods” (25:45 / 22:04) Research showing how eating tree nuts benefited colorectal cancer patients (30:18 / 26:00) Combining food and pharmaceutical drugs (34:06 / 30:31) Prescribing food as medicine (44:01 / 39:37) Reimagining our approach to Covid and long Covid (52:37 / 47:38) Foods that lower inflammation and boost the immune system (55:22 / 51:50) Three ways to start using food as medicine (1:09:46 / 1:04:49) Find Dr. Li’s Eat To Beat Disease Masterclass at drwilliamli.com/masterclass and get a copy of his book, Eat To Beat Disease, at drwilliamli.com/book-li.