Nutrition guide
Eat to support your defenses
Dr. William Li's Eat to Beat Disease organizes food around five health defense systems. Here they are, with the foods linked to each and an honest label for the evidence.
About Dr. Li's books
🟡 LI-B1 🟡 LI-B2 🟡 LI-B3 🟡 LI-W1
The five defense systems are real biology. Many links between a single food and a defense come from lab, animal or observational studies, so we label most of them 🟡. Li's "food doses" are amounts seen in studies, not prescriptions (LI-W1). Note that the How to Eat to Beat Disease Cookbook is a companion and wasn't written by Dr. Li.
The five defenses
Foods for each health defense system
Defense 1
Angiogenesis
Keeping blood-vessel growth in balance
Foods
Cooked tomatoes with olive oil, green and black tea, berries, whole soy foods (tofu, tempeh, edamame), stone fruit, leafy greens
Most of these links come from lab, animal or observational studies. Soy foods were linked with better survival in breast-cancer survivors (🟡 LI-S4), which helped retire old fears about eating soy. That isn't a treatment.
Defense 2
Regeneration
Supporting the body's stem-cell repair
Foods
Unsweetened cocoa or 70%+ dark chocolate, pomegranate, walnuts, berries, a consistent overnight fast
A small trial found high-flavanol cocoa increased circulating repair cells in 16 people (🟡 LI-S5). A Cochrane review of cocoa found blood pressure fell by only about 2 mmHg (🟢 LI-S6).
Defense 3
Microbiome
Feeding the trillions of microbes that help digest food and train immunity
Foods
Yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, miso, beans and lentils, whole grains, avocado, kiwi, onions and garlic
In the Stanford trial, 10 weeks of fermented foods (working up to about 6 servings a day) increased microbiome diversity and lowered inflammation markers (🟡 LI-S10). Fiber intake of 25–29 g a day had the strongest link with lower mortality (🟢 ST-FIBER).
Defense 4
DNA protection
Helping everyday DNA repair and healthy telomeres
Foods
Kiwi, coffee in moderation, tea, colorful vegetables, a plant-forward lifestyle
Short human trials found less background DNA damage with kiwi and coffee (🟡 LI-S12, 🟡 LI-S13). The Ornish lifestyle pilot is small and wasn't randomized (🟡 LI-S14).
Defense 5
Immunity
Supporting innate and adaptive defenses
Foods
Shiitake and other culinary mushrooms, broccoli sprouts, garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, the Mediterranean pattern
Eating 5–10 g of shiitake a day for 4 weeks shifted immune markers in 52 healthy adults (🟡 LI-S15). These were biomarkers, not illness outcomes.
Every day
A plants-first, Mediterranean-style plate
The eating pattern with the strongest randomized evidence (PREDIMED).
- ½ plateVegetables and fruit, in at least 3 colors🟢 ST-FIBER
- ¼ plateWhole grains, beans or lentils🟢 ST-FIBER
- ¼ plateProtein: fish, legumes, eggs, poultry, tofu🟢 ST-PREDIMED
- FatExtra-virgin olive oil, nuts, avocado🟢 LI-S17
- FermentedA daily serving of yogurt, kefir, kraut or kimchi🟡 LI-S10
- DrinkWater first, plus tea or coffee in moderation🟢 ST-POPKIN
Hydration
Water first
Total intake guidance is about 2.7 L a day for women and 3.7 L for men, from all drinks and food. Needs vary with size, climate and activity. Pale urine is a simple check. People with heart failure, kidney disease or a fluid restriction should follow their doctor's limit.
Myth check
What the evidence doesn't support
Alkaline diets change your blood pH
Blood pH is tightly regulated by the lungs and kidneys whatever you eat. Fruit and vegetables are good for other reasons.
You need a detox product
Your liver, kidneys, gut and lungs do this work every day. Fiber, water and sleep support them.
Fasting for 16 hours triggers autophagy
The fasting length that triggers human autophagy isn't known.
Vitamin D pills prevent cancer and heart disease
The VITAL trial found no overall prevention in mostly non-deficient adults. Correcting a true deficiency still matters.
“Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.”