POWERFUL Foods that Fight Cancer, Boost Longevity & Regenerate Stem Cells🔥 Dr. William Li

You know, we are not just hapless pawns of aging, we can actually do something about it. And we can also fight against our environment. Because, look, the tax that we pay for being on planet Earth is you're exposed to stuff. Hello, everyone. Today, we have the privilege of welcoming a true pioneer in the field of nutritional science and medicine, Dr. William Lee. Dr. Lee is a renowned medical researcher, author and speaker, whose work focuses on understanding how our diet can influence our health and longevity. Through his groundbreaking research on angiogenesis and the body's response to food, Dr. Lee has identified specific foods that enhance our health span. Please join me in welcoming Dr. William Lee as he shares invaluable insights into the powerful role that food plays in our lives, guiding us toward a longer, healthier future. Dark chocolate. Oh, you're speaking my language now. Okay. Can you eat too much dark chocolate? That's the question. You know, I have never seen anything about an overdose of cacao. But I will tell you that cacao has been shown to actually double the number of stem cells flowing in your bloodstream, just by having two cups of hot chocolate made with 80% high flavanol dark chocolate. Come on. Yeah. It's been done in people, 60-year-olds with heart disease. So wait, what happens when you drink or you eat this dark chocolate? What happens? Yeah. The polyphenols in this dark chocolate, we know what they are. They're called pro-anthocyanidins. So I'm a scientist. So my job is to actually know what the inside chemicals actually are. These are natural chemicals, all right? Most people don't need to know that, but you drink it and it tastes good. That's all you need to know. But I'll tell you, these natural chemicals found in cacao actually trigger a reaction in your body so that they call out the stem cells. So it is literally like bees flying out of a hive. It can double the number of stem cells. And what's the practical impact? Well, there was a study done at UCSF in San Francisco that looked at 60-year-old men with heart disease. So these are people whose blood vessels were already not doing so well, and their blood flow wasn't going so well either, and their blood vessels were kind of sick. That's kind of the definition of heart disease. By having the stem cells coming out, they were able to actually double the resiliency, the function of their blood vessels. So they got better rebound, better agility. Their blood vessels are in better shape because their stem cells are regenerating their circulation. So this is human studies, right? Most of the time you hear scientists talking about rats or mice or cells, I'm talking about human studies. And that's kind of where we are with food as medicine. It's not the guesswork. We can do serious research to get down to exactly what's actually happening at the human level. So that's the second health defense systems. Okay. What are those top three foods that help lengthen the telomeres? Green tea is one of them. Coffee. Really? Yeah. It's amazing. I still live in Italy, and I just got into this habit of drinking espresso. So I got a little cup here. Amazingly, coffee actually lengthens your telomere. Come on. I kid you not. It's quite amazing. And leafy greens, some of the polyphenols and leafy greens can also slow down. And some of them actually look like they can lengthen the telomeres as well. So the key thing is that we are not just hapless pawns of aging. We can actually do something about it. And we can also fight against our environment because, look, the tax that we pay for being on planet Earth is we're exposed to stuff all the time. And we count on our body's health defenses to fix our immune system, which after two years, over the last two years, we all know how important our immune system is. But what if I told you that your immune system is so powerful that when it's in its best shape, even when you're 80 years old, it is strong enough to fight cancer. In fact, it can even wipe out metastatic cancer that's spread all over your body. That's how strong your immune system is if you give it the chance. And so here's what the immune system does. It's like an army of super soldiers. So rangers, seals, marines, special forces, they've all got, these are all parts of the immune system, all cells of the immune system. And like the special forces, they've got their own weapons, their own training, their own tactics, but they all work together for the collective good. And what happens is that when you've got good, strong defenses, you can fight off invaders from the outside, bacteria and viruses, for example. But it's not just outside invaders. You've got inside invaders as well. And those little microscopic cancers are inside invaders. And so our immune system patrols our body, okay? Cops on a beat. And they're looking for things that don't look right. And you see that microscopic cancer that can't grow because it doesn't have a blood vessel, but blood vessels feeding it, angiogenesis. Basically, the immune system goes there and takes them right out, okay? And takes a sniper shot and it's gone. And so that's why we've got to protect our immune system. And there are lots of foods that can actually boost our immunity as well. What would be those top three that boost the immune system? Blueberries are a food that definitely boosts the immune system. It's in young people as well as older people. They boost the natural killer cells, which is really cool. Broccoli sprouts can boost our immune system. Now, these are the three-day-old sprouts, right? Okay. Here's something most people don't know. When we eat broccoli, our moms told us to eat the treetops, right? They're all the same. You go to the freezer section of a grocery store and you buy some frozen broccoli and they all look the same. They're all the same size. That's not really what broccoli looks like. If you go to the farmer's market and you see a real broccoli, it's this gigantic stem with a little bit of treetop, okay? So what's in a broccoli? It's called sulforaphane. So that's what gives broccoli that unique taste of broccoli. It's a little sulfurous, okay? So you got to put a little olive oil, a little bit of garlic, and you can saute it up. Okay. So the sulforaphanes. We've done research now looking at what's in the treetops. It turns out that these sulforaphanes can starve cancer, anti-angiogenic, help your body cut off the blood supply to cancer. Broccoli treetops have it. But guess what? The stalk of the broccoli has twice as much of the good stuff than the treetops. Eat the stalks. Eat the stalks. So man, if you don't want to saute the stalks, a lot of cultures will just cut the stalks and saute them. Stick it in a blender. You can make it into a smoothie or make a soup out of it, you know? And so there's a lot of good things you can do. Put a little broccoli stem, a little oregano powder. You can light it right up with a little turmeric. It'll be a really good smoothie or a soup. However, here's the thing. So imagine adult broccoli having these sulforaphanes. Well, it turns out that these big broccoli plants used to be sprouts. And the sprouts pretty much were born or sprouted from the seed with all the sulforaphanes it's ever going to have. So when it gets bigger, it just gets distributed with the stalk closer to the ground having more of it, of course. But the broccoli sprouts have 100 times more of the sulforaphanes, the good stuff, as a grown-up broccoli. So sprouts, broccoli sprouts. Now, studies have been done to show that if you give people a flu shot, people in the winter should get a flu shot so you don't get the flu, all right? Just go to your drugstore to get one. Turns out that if you...people, they did a study looking at people getting the flu shot, and they gave half the people a little shake made with broccoli sprouts, and the other group just got a placebo. And the people who got the broccoli sprout shake and the flu shot, their beneficial response of their immune system is 22 times higher. Like it totally rocked if they actually had a broccoli sprout shake. So that's not food versus medicine. That is food and medicine, which is really cool, right? Interesting. So we never want to throw out...we don't want to want to throw out the baby with the bathwater. We want to figure out how to make everything go work even better. Absolutely. We've seen how powerful foods like green tea, dark chocolate, and brassica vegetables can be for longevity, each packed with antioxidants and vital nutrients. However, it's important to also consider the other side of the spectrum. Foods loaded with refined sugars, trans fats, and excessive sodium can undermine these benefits, contributing to inflammation, obesity, and chronic health issues. As we aim to promote our health and longevity, understanding what to limit is as crucial as knowing what to consume. Let's dive into how these less desirable foods impact our well-being and how we can make healthier choices. Processed meats. Now, all of us that were kids grew up, you know, at the, you know, eating deli meats, turkey and a ham, right? I mean, like, that's basically you...what did your mom...what did your mom pack in your lunch bag, right? Yeah, exactly. Okay. Well, that's a relic of the 1950s, you know, of this sort of ultra processed foods that are everywhere laden with chemicals. That's not what we want to be doing. Now, I have to say, it doesn't mean categorically that hams or sausages are bad for you because if you go to Italy, or if you go to places in Asia or Latin America where they create dried meats, kind of the old way, they're not putting chemicals in there and they're not manipulating it. But here, you know, where you go to the deli counter and, you know, like, take a look at that deli meat. Like, that's not...meat doesn't come like that, okay? Yeah, exactly. So, here's the thing. Processed meats are actually classified by the World Health Organization as a carcinogen, you know, linked to the causation of cancer. You got to eat a lot of it, but a lot of people actually eat...I mean, how many hoagies or soaps, right? And I got to say, you know, like, when I was growing up as a kid, I loved those kind of, like, fancy kind of, like, the deli meats and stuff like that. Absolutely. Totally not good for you. So, that's not good for you. It also damages the gut microbiome and it can actually damage your DNA. So, you want to kind of be cut down or cut out, sodas and processed meats. And then the other thing is really a category. And I call these ultra-processed foods. So, things that are in a box or in a can that, you know, like, are instant this or, you know, scoop it out and eat it quick. You know, I don't want to name any particular products. I don't want to call any products out, but I think we all know the stuff. A lot of stuff we grew up with and were advertised on television to kids, you know, the frosted this, the pop that, the things that used...you know, like, the TV dinners, like, things that used to be, like, instant foods. Got to be really careful about that because if you take a look at the packaging, and I'm telling you, there's one thing your viewers can get from me about things to watch out for, whatever you buy, pick it up, if it's in a box or in a can, and look on the side. Don't look just at the label. Look at the, I mean, at the name of it. Look at the side and see if you recognize the ingredients. If you start, you know, if you start losing track and you can't pronounce and you don't know what most of that stuff is, it's an ultra-processed food. That harms your DNA, that lowers your immunity, that screws up your gut microbiome, it impairs angiogenesis. It actually causes our cells to age faster. Those telomeres burn down faster. Oh, man. By those processed foods. Yeah. Ultra, ultra-processed foods. Ultra, right? What's the difference between ultra and processed? Okay. So, look, processing is technically any type of food you manipulate. Like, if you pick a tomato and you cut it up and you make spaghetti sauce at home, that's processing. You're processing it, okay? If you're taking flour in an egg and you're making homemade pasta, you're processing it. I'm talking about ultra-processed. You know, there's a term called extrusion. Have you heard of this? Yes. Okay. So, basically, you've got these die-cut machines that, like, this goop gets thrown into. And, like, the big oil, like, crazy oils get thrown in there, and then it just, like, pushes out, like, Play-Doh chunks of food that get cut and dried. That's what I'm talking about. Like, that's the ultra-processing. It takes, I guess, maybe the definition, it takes food and transforms it into a form you don't recognize. Got it. Okay. You don't recognize that food. Yeah, I don't want that. I'm curious, Dr. Lee, what do you think has been the biggest aha for you in your decades of work from medical school to your research to your practice, what was the biggest aha when you learned this thing, it changed everything for you? You know, there have been so many instances of that. Like, the scientists, I'm seeing new things, literally, on a weekly basis, things are, like, my jaw drops virtually. But, you know, like, last week, Lewis, I read about a new discovery that we just discovered a new type of human cell in our heart last week. Like, you know, like, that's, like, I hit my head, like, oh, my God, really? A couple years ago, we discovered a new brain cell called the rose hip neuron, okay? And it seems to be linked to depression. So, I'm always amazed. I mean, as a scientist, I'm amazed by the marvelousness of the body and how much we don't know about it and still, so we have to respect it. Do you think that people could live without modern medicine if they eat properly? Like, all the things that you talk about in your book, eat to beat disease, do you think we could live longer lives, healthier lives without the need of certain medicines? Or are you saying we should be using medicine and eating food when we need them? Well, we should be eating to enrich our lives from the time we're young all the way until our last breath. And that should actually be able to tackle about two-thirds of all the chronic diseases. And by the way, about a third of all cancers are thought to be due to diet and lifestyle, one-third of cancers, all right? We ought to be able to dodge, but you got to start early, right? I mean, this is not one of these things where I've been smoking my whole life and now I'm going to actually turn over a new leaf. It's never too late to quit, by the way. However, the fact of the matter is, is that, you know, like, so you grew up, you know, in the Christian science framework. Which, you're in the Boston area, so you- Yeah, that's where the hub is. The Mother Church is in Boston, yes. It's an amazing place, really a spectacular place to visit and a very special place, actually. But I will tell you that the idea of having formative years groomed in a healthy mindset, which is, I think, what you're talking about, is so important. So that if you've got kids, and if you're involved with teaching, and if you're involved with a business where you can actually impact on kids, think about the impact that you have now could actually influence their health 30, 40, 50, 60 years from now. And that, to me, is a big responsibility. It's a giant opportunity to make a better society. I'm curious. We've got a few more minutes left. What do you think? You're telling me that every week you're essentially finding these aha moments based on the research papers you're finding and things that you're discovering yourself. And what do you think, in your mind, if you could predict the future 10 years out, 5, 10 years out, what are going to be the groundbreaking things that we as humans discover in the next 5 to 10 years that is going to transform our health? Wow. Based on what you've seen in the last 5 to 10 years, where you're like, these are unbelievable. Every one of these new findings, what do you think is on the horizon for us? Well, one thing that I think is one of the big aha jaw-droppers for me in the journey that I've actually had in my career is the fact that we can regenerate ourselves. And I never thought that was even possible. I had been working in stem cell therapy and regenerative medicine, and it's a real struggle. It's an uphill climb to really try to show that we can actually regenerate the heart or the brain or nerves. And yet, the body does it every single day. And when I discovered that you could regenerate tissue by barley, eating barley, which has beta-D-glucan, or with chocolate, as I mentioned to you, cacao polyphenols, or even olive oil. There's something called hydroxytyrosol. It's a natural chemical in extra virgin olive oil. It helps to kind of make that distinctive olive oily taste. That can actually help to protect your stem cell. Or if you are not a vegan, but you eat seafood and you're really adventurous, that black pasta squid ink that they have sometimes on menus. I like to explore different kinds of food. Squid ink actually protects your stem cells. It's like a shield. And so the fact that we can actually eat to regenerate. So I'm very excited by this idea that we can eat foods and we're still discovering what foods can help propel our body's regenerative capacity. I think that's going to actually be groundbreaking. And then something that I'm actually working on that is really future forward. So you're asking what's going to be mind-blowing in the future? Yes. All right. Well, look, I'm kind of like a pretty down-to-earth guy. I believe that we should be protecting our planet, doing everything we can to take care of, nurture this ball that we live on, and we should be doing better for our community. But I also, I think from the time I was a kid, I appreciated and I was excited by this idea of space travel, which is now happening more often, right? All right. So here's something I think is going to happen over the next decade. As humans become extraterrestrial, we're going to be the first extraterrestrials we're ever going to meet ourselves. And we get beyond near-Earth orbit. We're going to be, our bodies are going to be bombarded by galactic radiation and have the effects of negative gravity changing our body. We're going to find out what kinds of foods or supplements that we got to eat to protect ourselves. That's crazy. So I'm working on that. That's cool. So I've been meeting with astronauts. I've been talking to people in the space program, flight surgeons. And what I'm figuring is that if we can figure out what we're going to need in the future for that, we could probably bring that right down to Earth right now to actually do something good for us. So that's, you know, so I'm excited by that. That's cool. That's really cool.