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Eat to Beat Disease: How to Eat for Optimal Health

AHA Publisher — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 08:00:04 +0000

Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DMN, CNS – It’s no secret that what you eat has immense effect on your health, and it turns out you can actually eat to beat disease. No one know this better than Dr. William Li, MD, author of the book “Eat to Beat Disease: The New Science of How Your Body Can Health Itself.” Li has been featured on numerous media outlets, and he’s also the author of over 100 scientific publications, including research published in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Lancet. He’s also served on faculty at Harvard Medical School and has spent decades practicing medicine. I was lucky enough to talk with Dr. Li on my podcast, where he shared insights on how to combat cancer and other diseases through diet by activating the body’s five health defense systems. Here are his insights on how to eat to beat disease. The Study of Food One of the biggest breakthroughs for Dr. Li during his career was the realization that while the practice of medicine is vital and life-changing, a lot of his formal training focused on treating diseases and little on prevention. “When I went to medical school, I was really taught about health for maybe a few courses, and then everything else was about disease and what we should do to stamp it out, treat it, cut it burn it, give chemotherapy or antibiotics. That’s really how I entered the world of medical practice,” he says. “It is really just waiting for the horse to come out of the barn, which is illness, and then throwing the kitchen sink, ideally, smartly at it. “… I started to realize after many years of practice that the science was advancing so rapidly for treating disease and yet it didn’t seem like it was being applied to actually preventing disease, and you know prevention is really the mirror image of treatment.” Li realized that you can’t really use drugs as a prevention method so in order to focus on disease prevention, he shifted his attention to food. That led him to start researching the effects of food on health in the same manner medical researchers studied drugs, utilizing the same tools and methods to understand just how powerful food can be — and how to eat to beat disease. “I grew up uh eating traditional Asian cuisines and Mediterranean cuisines, whole foods freshly cooked not too much, designed to be really tasty. So I always felt that food was something that sustained me and sustained my well-being,” says Li. “… As an adult on my own eating in the cafeteria or hospital food, traveling around and going to restaurants, I started to realize we’ve actually lost touch with what our own history and cultures actually have given us, which is something pretty elemental that speaks to the body.” The focus for many today is on dieting, which can cause its own issues. Most diets are strict and exclusionary, and that can make them difficult for people to follow and sustain. “I just felt like there’s got to be a better way to do this, and what I discovered is when it comes to food and health, in fact it’s not just about the food — it’s about how our body responds to what we put inside it,” Li says. “You have to understand first before you choose any diet and any food combination how your body responds to keeping your health intact.” What Li found working for more than 30 years with Dr. Judah Folkman, a pioneer in the medical field, is that health is critically dependent on circulation. When circulation is excessive, it can feed diseases like cancer, while lack of circulation can cut off oxygen and nutrients to tissues so they die off — which in turn can promote disease. “Lab research has shown when a cancer that doesn’t have a blood supply suddenly gets one, that tiny little tumor can grow 16,000 times in only a couple of weeks. That’s enough to kill somebody. That’s led to the development of more than 18 medicines that cancer doctors use to cut off the blood supply to cancers,” Li says. “Using the same tools to discover medicines that can interfere to cut off a blood supply to starve a cancer, I’ve actually been able to test food, and when you test food in those systems, you can test them head-to-head, side-by-side, you wind up seeing that green tea, soy, lavender, citrus fruits, broccoli — they can stand up right next to cancer drugs.” The 5 Health Defense Systems The body is designed to protect health, while environmental factors all around are trying to get in. “Think of our body as a fortress. If you remember a medieval castle, you got the moat, you got the tall, sloping walls, you’ve got the little slits in the walls where people could shoot arrows out, you’ve got the little tiger traps, little holes with spikes in middle it, you got the winding staircases — all these things. A fortress is designed to protect itself from invaders,” says Li. “That is exactly our body except that rather than stone structures or spears, it’s actually biology.” There are five main health defense systems, according to Li: Blood or circulation/angiogenesis — The body grows blood vessels that feed every cell in the body. Stem cells in bone marrow — Help us heal from the inside out and regenerate our organs as we age or when we’re injured. Microbiome — This is the healthy gut bacteria, and humans have almost 40 trillion gut bacteria. “You know how a pregnant mom says, ‘I’m eating for two?’ We’re eating for 40 trillion, and that’s leading to a whole new insight into what we eat and how it impacts our gut defense,” says Li. DNA — Our DNA is hardwired to protect us against the assaults from the environment. Immune system — “It is more powerful than we ever thought because we now know that even an elderly person in their 80s, their immune system is so powerful that it can not only help resist infection, but it can help resist cancer as well.” “These five health defense systems are at play all the time, and when we sit down to eat something we are either building up and fortifying and boosting these defense systems or we’re taking it down and destroying it, ” says Li. “Everybody who thinks about food and health according to the traditional ways that have been everywhere for the last few decades, it’s about what program should I get into and what things should I cut out and what do I need to eat every single day. Here’s the news flash, which is good news: There’s no one size fits all. It’s about our individual preference, what our bodies seek, what we enjoy — and by the way, the enjoyment’s really important because if you can pick something that’s healthy that you enjoy, then you are already ahead of the game.” How to Eat to Beat Disease In “Eat to Beat Disease,” Dr. Li touches on 200 foods that can help boost immunity and activate the health defense systems. Here are some of the top foods to eat to beat disease: 1. Soy “There’s a belief out there that soy is actually dangerous for your health because it can cause breast cancer, and we believe this because there’s a plant estrogen in soy that we know is there, and we know that some types of human breast cancers can be activated by human estrogen. However, if you look at soy plant estrogen vs. human estrogen, they don’t look anything alike, and it turns out the science shows us that plant estrogens actually counter the effects of human estrogens so they actually block human estrogens almost like a drug does,” says Li. “There’s a study of 500 women who already have breast cancer, and it was studied that those women with breast cancer who actually ate more soy had better survival — they had about a 30 percent reduced risk of dying from breast cancer — and those who ate more soy were able to decrease the risk of having the cancer come back.” A note is to be wary of highly processed foods, including in soy products. A lot of soy milk is overly processed and contains unnecessary and sometimes harmful additives. That’s why I’m a proponent of natto, a fermented soy. It’s also why I’m in favor of fresh foods instead of buying juiced foods. Eating blueberries or an apple vs. buying blueberry juice or apple juice — it’s better to eat the whole, fresh fruit that hasn’t been processed or had any unhealthy ingredients added. Flaxseeds have a similar compound as soy that can protect against disease, along with lavender, vitex, clary sage. They can actually balance estrogen. 2. Tomatoes “There’s a lot of people out there saying tomatoes are harmful because they’re related to the nightshade plant,” says Li. “In fact, tomatoes don’t have any of the poisons of nightshade, and in fact there is a really important natural chemical called lycopene which is present in tomato. “Lycopene in tomato has been studied. There’s a study of 35,000 men, and they looked at their intake of tomatoes, cooked tomatoes, and found that those men who ate two to three servings of cooked tomatoes actually had up to a 30 percent lowered risk of developing prostate cancer. “In those men who did develop prostate cancer, the more tomatoes they ate, the less aggressive their prostate cancer because lycopene is anti-andorgenic, which means it cuts off the blood supply feeding cancers. It starves cancer in this really remarkable way.” 3. Green Tea Drink two-plus cups of green tea a day. It floods the system with natural bioactive chemicals that come from the tea plant that can actually cut off the blood supply to tumors, actually even kill cancer stem cells. It also protects blood vessels. 4. Tree Nuts Pistachios, almonds, cashews, macadamias and walnuts are some of the best options. “A major study of over 700 people from the American Society of Clinical Oncology showed that people who ate a couple handfuls of walnuts a day, about 15, a week actually had up to a 50 percent reduction in death if they had stage 3 colon cancer, and if they had their cancer successfully treated, it also markedly decreased the risk fo their cancer coming back,” shares Li. “A couple handfuls of nuts as a snack is a really great way to reduce your risk of cancer. “It turns out nuts not only have healthy omega-3 fatty acids that can cut off the blood supply feeding cancer cells, but they also have insoluble fiber. They’re a great source of fiber. “This insoluble fiber feeds our microbiome and activates our immune system. It lowers inflammation, which lowers cancer risk.” What Does Dr. Li Eat to Beat Disease? First and foremost, Dr. Li stresses “there’s no single food you need to eat all the time. It’s eating diversity, mostly plant-based foods, minimal processing like ultra-processed foods and cutting down on your meat also reduces your risk of cancer as well.” Instead, he says to focus on dietary patterns, such as the Mediterranean dietand traditional Asian diets. In addition, he likes to focus on plant-based foods and tries to build his meals around a vegetable. So what does Dr. Li typically eat to beat disease each day? Breakfast “When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is reach for either green tea or coffee,” Li says. “Coffee contains caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, all these natural bioactives that are amazingly healthy for you. They increase your telomeres, which slows down cellular aging. They’re anti-androgenic so they cut off the blood supply feeding cancers, and they make our blood vessels actually healthier. Many lower the risk of dementia. “… I’ll have tea or coffee every day. Every day...

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Metabolic Syndrome: The Best & Worst Foods to Eat

AHA Publisher — Sun, 09 Aug 2020 07:00:45 +0000

Dr. Don Colbert – Metabolic Syndrome now affects 1 in 3 people in the United States (1). That’s a staggering number. Unfortunately, it increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and death. If you’re at risk of metabolic syndrome, it’s imperative to take action with your diet and lifestyle. Here’s how you can use the ketogenic diet for metabolic syndrome, and what the worst types of foods are for metabolic syndrome. Metabolic Syndrome Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a clustering of risk factors including high blood glucose, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and obesity that lead to the increased risk of Type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), which are among leading causes of death in the world. Metabolic syndrome increases the risk of Type 2 diabetes mellitus and CVDs by approximately five and three folds, respectively (2). The Ketogenic Diet for Metabolic Syndrome A ketogenic diet is a great option for metabolic syndrome. It supports whole-body health and improves the underlying cause of it: obesity, impaired blood sugars, and impaired cardiovascular numbers. Here’s how: The ketogenic diet has been shown to support a healthy weight. In fact, many people who use it lose weight within the first 2 weeks, and keep weight off over years similar to other diets. Next, the ketogenic diet promotes healthy blood sugars. Since blood sugars are often elevated due to insulin resistance (often due to being overweight or obese) and carbohydrates in the diet, weight loss and low-carb eating can help. Many people who use the ketogenic diet are able to normalize blood sugars. Lastly, the ketogenic diet is associated with healthy triglyceride levels. A Study: The Ketogenic Diet for Metabolic Syndrome One study conducted by researchers at Bethel University, Minnesota, compared the health of three groups of adults diagnosed with metabolic syndrome (3). The first group used the ketogenic diet without exercise. The second group followed the standard American diet and did not exercise. The third used the standard American diet plus 30 or more minutes of exercise 3-5 days per week. Whose risk factors improved the most? This study found that the ketogenic diet without exercise was most effective at achieving weight loss, lowering body fat percentage, and decreasing HbA1c. HbA1c is a measurement of averaged blood sugars 3-month periods and used as a long-term measure of blood glucose control. Improving and normalizing these factors in metabolic syndrome is a healthy step towards overall health and decreased mortality from the condition. There were some drawbacks to the study. It only had 30 participants who were split between the 3 groups. It was also only conducted for 10 weeks. Whether the outcomes would remain the same for more participants over a longer period isn’t yet certain. However, it is promising that the ketogenic diet can improve these markers. The Best Foods for Metabolic Syndrome From this study’s and other’s conclusions on the ketogenic diet and metabolic syndrome, we can surmise that healthy high-fat foods are some of the best foods to eat for metabolic syndrome. In fact, many healthy fats actively improve insulin resistance and cellular health. For example, avocados have been found to be lipid-lowering, antihypertensive, antidiabetic, anti-obesity, antithrombotic, antiatherosclerotic, and cardioprotective for decades. Studies are being conducted to support their specific effects on metabolic syndrome (4). Fish and fish oil improve insulin sensitivity and support healthy blood sugars. Extra virgin olive oil supports heart health while reducing inflammation and cholesterol oxidation in artery walls (4). It also promotes lower blood pressure and the reduction of high blood pressure. In some studies, hypertension medications have been reduced by up to 48% (5). What’s more, studies have found that those who consume olive oil have a significantly lower risk of stroke than those who don’t (6). The best foods for metabolic syndrome include healthy fats that support heart health and normalized blood sugars. These include many ketogenic diet foods. What Foods Are the Worst for Metabolic Syndrome? On the other end of the spectrum, there are foods that worsen outcomes for metabolic syndrome and increase the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and even death. These foods are ultra-processed foods. Ultra-processed foods commercially made foods that have many added ingredients such as sugar, salt, fat, and artificial colors or preservatives. They are primarily made from substances extracted from foods, such as fats, starches, added sugars, and hydrogenated fats. They often contain additives like artificial colors and flavors or stabilizers. Examples include soft drinks, many fast-food items, many microwave meals, hot dogs and cold cuts, fast food, packaged cookies, cakes, and salty snacks. Unfortunately, a study published in The BMJ found that ultra-processed foods are the main source of calories (nearly 58%) eaten in the US. They found that they contribute to almost 90% of the energy derived from added sugars (7). How Are Ultra-Processed Foods Linked to Metabolic Syndrome? In one study from Brazil, 210 adolescents were surveyed. Those having 3 or more metabolic syndrome conditions were classified as having metabolic syndrome. Over 6% of the teens had it. This study concluded that high consumption of ultra-processed foods was associated with the prevalence of MetS in this adolescents group (8). Another meta-analysis found that many studies showed higher consumption of ultra-processed food was associated with overweight/obesity, higher fasting glucose, metabolic syndrome, increases in total and LDL cholesterol, and risk of hypertension (9). Yet another large observational prospective study concluded that higher consumption of ultra-processed foods was associated with higher risks of cardiovascular, coronary heart, and cerebrovascular diseases (10). And a new study published this month of more than 100,000 participants, researchers found that consumption of ultra-processed foods is significantly linked to an increase in the incidence of Type 2 Diabetes (11). The takeaway here is that ultra-processed foods are associated with the development of metabolic syndrome, and then the increased risk of metabolic syndrome leading to diabetes and heart disease. How to Avoid Ultra Processed Foods Avoiding ultra-processed foods is easy. First, make sure most of your foods are single-ingredient foods. This means it is it’s single, natural form. For example, kale only has kale as an ingredient. Meat, eggs, nuts, oils, vegetables, and more can be found as single ingredients. Then, if you do need to buy commercially prepared food, check out its ingredients and make sure it’s made from healthy single-ingredient foods. For example, butter should only have cream and salt as ingredients. These are both single-ingredient ingredients. If it has a whole bunch of other preservatives and additives, find another brand. Lastly, make as much food as you can from home. For help, you can start with the Keto Zone book, cookbook, and 21-day challenge: Dr. Colbert’s Keto Zone book Quick & Healthy Keto Zone Cookbook FREE Keto Zone 21-Day-Challenge Bottom Line There are steps you can take to improve your health and reduce your risk of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and heart disease. Avoid ultra-processed foods like the plague. Instead, choose healthy keto-friendly low-sugar foods. You’ve got the power to improve your health! To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Colbert click here.

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Crustless Spinach Quiche Recipe

AHA Publisher — Sun, 07 Jun 2020 07:00:30 +0000

Dr. Axe – This crustless spinach quiche recipe is keeping things simple yet delicious with only five key ingredients. It’s loaded with impressive spinach nutrition, eggs and healthy raw cheese. Get ready to make a healthy crustless spinach quiche recipe so loaded with flavor you’ll easily end up eating it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And that’s really one of the best things about a quiche — that it makes a perfect snack or meal any time of the day. This crustless spinach quiche recipe is delicious, so easy to make and high in protein. Plus, it’s gluten-free, vegetarian and ketogenic diet-approved. The History of Quiches Where are quiches from? Most people think of quiches as a classic part of French cuisine … and they are, but some sources say quiches actually got their start in a different European country — Germany. In fact, the word “quiche” comes from the German word kuchen, which means cake. Italian and English cuisines were also known for using eggs and cream in pastries dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries. (1) Quiche didn’t become popular in the United States until the 1950s. Throughout history and to this day, there have been many variations on quiche. If you’re looking for some ways to change this recipe up, you can also try: crustless spinach mushroom quiche (add about one cup of sliced mushrooms) crustless spinach feta quiche (opt for feta as your cheese of choice) crustless bacon spinach quiche (include a couple of chopped up strips of high-quality turkey or beef bacon) crustless fresh spinach quiche (simply use fresh spinach rather than frozen — a typical 10-ounce package of frozen spinach is equivalent to one pound of fresh spinach sautéed down to about one and half cups of spinach after draining) crustless spinach quiche with cottage cheese (cottage cheese is another healthy cheese option to use in quiche recipes) Crustless Spinach Quiche Nutrition Facts How many calories are in a slice of spinach quiche? One serving of this amazing spinach crustless quiche contains about: (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) 200 calories 13.7 grams protein 13.9 grams fat 3 grams carbohydrates 1.3 grams fiber 1.7 grams sugar 27 milligrams cholesterol 253 milligrams sodium 132 micrograms vitamin K (110 percent DV) 4,641 IUs vitamin A (93 percent DV) 293 milligrams calcium (23 percent DV) 52 micrograms folate (13 percent DV) 1.4 milligrams iron (7.8 percent DV) 0.1 milligrams riboflavin (7.7 percent DV) 1 milligram vitamin E (6.7 percent DV) 27 milligrams magnesium (6.4 percent DV) 0.1 milligrams vitamin B6 (5.9 percent DV) 3.1 milligrams vitamin C (3.4 percent DV) 145 milligrams potassium (3.1 percent DV) 0.2 milligrams zinc (1.8 percent DV) As you can see, this healthy spinach quiche is truly loaded with so many key nutrients you should be getting in your diet on a daily basis. It’s also low in carbs yet high in energizing protein and fat. This just may end up being the best crustless quiche recipe you’ve ever tasted. How to Make Crustless Spinach Quiche How do you make a crustless quiche? You simply combine all of your ingredients in a well greased pie pan and bake. The eggshelp to hold all of the ingredients together really nicely and you won’t miss the crust at all. How do you make the filling for a quiche? You simply combine the cooked and raw ingredients with cheese and eggs. So simple! You can easily use this recipe to create crustless mini spinach quiches simply by choosing a few pieces of smaller bakeware rather than one large pie pan. Be sure to slightly reduce the cook time if you choose this option. And don’t forget that it’s easy to put your own twist on this recipe and create a crustless spinach and feta quiche, crustless spinach and mushroom quiche, spinach bacon quiche (turkey or beef bacon, of course) or a fresh spinach quiche. INGREDIENTS: 8 eggs, beaten 1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained 1½ cups shredded raw cheese 1 onion, chopped 1 tablespoon coconut oil + extra for greasing ¼ teaspoon sea salt ⅛ teaspoon black pepper DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9-inch pie pan with coconut oil. Heat coconut oil and onions over medium heat in sauce pan until onions are soft. Stir in spinach and cook until excess moisture has evaporated. In a bowl, combine eggs, cheese, salt and pepper. Stir. Add spinach mixture and blend together. Scoop into pan and bake for 30 minutes. I hope you enjoy this dish … any time of the day. This article has been modified. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Axe click here.

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What You Eat May Change the Way That Antibiotics Affect Your Gut

AHA Publisher — Sat, 28 Sep 2019 02:55:45 +0000

Sally Robertson, B.Sc. via News Medical – Net – “Doctors now know that each antibiotic prescription has the potential to lead to some very harmful microbiome-related health outcomes, but they do not have reliable tools to protect this critical community while also treating deadly infections.” A new study by researchers at Brown University in Rhode Island has found that diet can influence how the gut microbiome is affected by treatment with antibiotics. The scientists examined how antibiotics change the gut bacteria in mice and then looked at how diet may exacerbate or mitigate these changes. “For a long time, we’ve known that antibiotics impact the microbiome,” says study author Peter Belenky. “We have also known that diet impacts the microbiome. This is the first paper that brings those two facts together.” Belenky says the goal of his laboratory’s work is to identify new ways to protect the microbiome, which may alleviate some of the worst antibiotic side effects. The Gut Microbiome The gut microbiome is made up of trillions of bacteria that benefit the host. They aid the breakdown of dietary fiber and maintain overall intestinal health by competing with harmful bacteria for resources that would be essential for their survival such as nutrients and space. Although antibiotics save the lives of countless people who are infected with harmful bacteria, these drugs can also disrupt this community of beneficial bacteria that live in the human intestine. This, in turn, can lead to other life-threatening infections. Belenky, who is a Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Brown’s, has been studying the effect fo antibiotics on the gut and looking for ways to counteract imbalances in the microbiome that can lead to potentially life-threatening infections such as C. difficile. “Although antibiotics disturb the structure of the gut microbiota, factors that modulate these perturbations are poorly understood,” writes the team. Reducing the Detrimental Effects of Antibiotics Through Diet As recently reported in the journal Cell Metabolism, Belenky and colleagues have now demonstrated that although the antibiotics they used did perturb the composition and metabolic capacity of the murine gut microbiome, this disruption could also be exacerbated or minimized by making changes to the animals’ diet. Belenky and colleagues already knew that bacterial metabolism is an important regulator of antibiotic susceptibility in vitro and probably plays a significant role within the host. They applied a metagenomic and metatranscriptomic approach to investigate associations between antibiotic-induced taxonomic and transcriptional responses within the mouse microbiome. For the study, lead author Damien Cabral and colleagues treated three groups of mice with different antibiotics, namely amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin or doxycycline. They then charted how the composition of the animals’ gut microbiomes changed and how bacteria adapted at the metabolic level following treatment. Amoxicillin, an antibiotic commonly used to treat strep throat and ear infections, significantly reduced levels of bacteria in the gut and also changed the genes that the remaining bacteria use. Ciprofloxacin (often used to treat urinary tract infections) and doxycycline (commonly used to treat sinus infections), also altered the gut microbiome, although those changes were less pronounced. The team found that the antibiotics significantly altered the expression of key metabolic pathways at the whole-community and single-species levels. Notably, one type of beneficial bacteria, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, flourished in response to amoxicillin treatment. This bacterium upregulated polysaccharide utilization to aid the digestion of fiber, a change that seems to enable it to bloom in the altered ecosystem and somehow protect against the antibiotic, says Belenky. Generally, the bacteria downregulated the use of genes involved in normal growth processes such as producing new proteins and DNA. They also upregulated their use of genes that are essential in stress resistance The Effects of Glucose (Sugar) Were Clear Interestingly, the researchers found that adding glucose to the animals’ diet — which is usually low in simple sugars and high in fiber — increased susceptibility of B. thetaiotaomicron to amoxicillin. “In vitro, we found that the sensitivity of this bacterium to amoxicillin was elevated by glucose and reduced by polysaccharides,” writes the team. This suggests that diet can provide some beneficial effects that may protect gut bacteria from the adverse effects of antibiotic use. According to Belenky, the findings represent a step toward helping humans to better tolerate antibiotic treatment: Revealing New Opportunities However, “now that we know diet is important for bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics, we can ask new questions about which nutrients are having an impact and see if we can predict the influence of different diets,” he says. Belenky warned that the study only looked at rodents and much remains to be learned about the interplay between host diet, microbiome metabolism and susceptibility to antibiotics. Belenky and team are currently investigating how different types of dietary fibers may impact how the microbiome changes following antibiotic treatment, as well as how diabetes may affect the microbiome’s metabolic environment and vulnerability to antibiotics. To read the original article click here.

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Stem Cells: Your Best Ally Against ALL Disease

The AHA! Team — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 07:00:00 +0000

Al Sears, MD, CNS – This new field of medicine is exciting and echoes what I’ve been telling my patients for years: keep your immune system strong. In the not-so-distant future, I see a world where all the chronic diseases that plague us today will be cured before they’ve even begun. That may sound like science fiction, but it’s not. In fact, it’s already happening with a revolutionary stem-cell treatment developed by oncologist and stem-cell pioneer Dr. Dipnarine Maharaj right here in South Florida. And that’s why I made Dr. Maharaj one of the key speakers at my Palm Beach Anti-Aging Summit at the historic Palm Beach icon Mara-a-Lago. You’ve probably heard about stem cells on the news and wondered if they can help you or a loved one with a chronic or autoimmune disease. The answer is YES. The problem is that most doctors won’t talk about stem cells. That’s because the latest breakthrough treatments – which have only recently become available to people who want to reverse or protect themselves from chronic disease – are considered “experimental.” Stem cells are the master cells from which all other human cells are made. They’re also the ultimate natural cure, because they let the body do what it does best: heal itself. Many stem cells have the power to morph into any kind of cell in your body, heart, brain, nerve, liver cells, you name it. That’s why scientists say that stem cells will be used someday to regenerate the damaged tissue of any organ. But stem cells in your bone marrow have a different purpose â€“ they are destined to become vital components of your immune system. And that’s the key to this breakthrough treatment that has already reversed various cancers, diabetes, and a number of autoimmune disorders. It’s based on the answer to a simple but important question: Why do some people get chronic diseases and others don’t? Because when chronic disease strikes, it means your immune system has broken down. A study published by the American Society of Hematology found thriving immune systems in centenarians and healthy seniors, but those who were younger and had chronic diseases all had weakened immune systems. Specifically, those with chronic diseases had fewer special killer cells called Natural Killer (NK) cells, a type of white blood cell that targets cancer and infected cells. And only adult stem cells in your bone marrow can make NK cells. At the first sign of trouble, your NK cells flood into your blood stream to infiltrate tumors and infections, and attack them. It’s all about bulking up your immune system. Take cancer, for example. Cancer isn’t the mysterious illness your doctor and the rest of the medical establishment want you to believe. Like other chronic diseases, cancer is your body’s natural reaction to the inflammation caused by the toxic, modern environment around you. That’s why cancer cells are constantly forming inside you; we live in a toxic world. But if your immune system is strong, it will swat those cancer cells like flies, along with every other disease going. The problem is that inflammation destroys your immune system. In fact, your immune system has been under attack from inflammation-causing irritants for years and you’ve been unaware of it, because it’s been happening at the cellular level. These silent irritants are slowly killing you: • Environmental toxins and pollutants; • Poor diet; • Excess weight; • Cigarette smoke. But there is one irritant that is worse than all of the above… I’m talking about stress. Chronic stress has a devastating effect on your immune system, and has been linked to the inflammation that causes heart disease, high blood pressure, and cancer. Here’s why: Your immune system responds to chronic stress with one, overriding reaction – and that’s inflammation. But here’s good news: The solution to repairing your broken immune system is found in the stem cells of your own bone marrow – no matter what your age or your state of health. This breakthrough therapy works by tapping the stem cells you already have in your own body, then freezing and storing them so you can use them against diseases you may get in the future. Storing your stem cells is perhaps also the ultimate in “bio-insurance.” But even if you already have a chronic disease, your immune system stem cells can still be “activated” with a special protein to produce more NK cells. This new field of medicine is exciting and echoes what I’ve been telling my patients for years: keep your immune system strong. It’s your best ally against disease – even cancer. So here are my top four immune-system boosters you can start with at home right away: 1. Watch your diet. Our modern diet has replaced nutritious, healthy protein and fats with “empty” calories like grains and starchy carbohydrates. Switch to a diet rich in antioxidants and vitamins to boost your immune system and your ability to fight off infections. You should also avoid high fructose corn syrup, which causes inflammation. 2. Get plenty of sleep. Your stem cells and immune system need sleep. This is when your body’s maintenance work takes place. When you’re deprived of sleep, your immune system suffers and your body becomes vulnerable. 3. Cut your stress. Stress creates a hormone called cortisol. A little cortisol can help you. But a steady stream of it is toxic to your immune system. You should clear the stress from your mind and your body for at least 10 minutes every day. Mediation or yoga can be great stress busters. And so is exercise. 4. Take cat’s claw. There are a number of immune-system boosting herbs you can take, and one of my favorites is cat’s claw. This herb stimulates T-cells to boost the immune system and fight infection. You can find it in health food stores. Look for a supplement made from the inner bark of the plant and take 500 mg. per day. To your good health, Al Sears, MD, CNS To read the original article click here. For more articles by Al Sears, MD click here.

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