Foods to BOOST your body’s repair system
AFTER years of listening to everchanging advice on healthy eating, it can be easy to become confused about what foods you should include in your diet in order to optimise your wellbeing.
All this week, the Daily Mail is serialising a ground-breaking new book by U.S. doctor and scientist Dr William Li, who has immersed himself in the study of how certain foods can help us fight disease.
His lifelong work is centred on the study of the body’s five key defence systems — immunity, stem cells, gut bacteria, blood vessels and DNA protection — and research that identifies the specific compounds in certain foods that support them.
He has sifted through research to provide scientifically backed advice.
Yesterday, he discussed how food can actually be prescribed in specific doses to help fight certain diseases.
Today, Dr Li shows you the true ‘ superfoods’ — foods that work hard to enhance all five of the body’s health defence systems.
He also explains the important disease-fighting role played by your stem cells — and reveals the foods that can keep them working efficiently.
OUR stem cells are the special forces in our body that gather intelligence, conduct reconnaissance and execute missions to keep organs in optimal shape. Whenever you suffer an injury or develop a disease, your stem cells swing into action: repairing, replacing and regenerating dead and worn-out cells on demand.
How stem cells work is still something of a mystery, but we do know they are factories for important chemicals needed in organs that are growing or being repaired.
They help mend and build bone and skin, nerves and hair, so to support your own defence against illness and disease, you should aim to eat at least one food that can protect and support your stem cells every day.
We know babies are born with a rich supply of stem cells that prompt growth and development, but their number — and potency — diminishes with age.
Over time, stem cell activity can also be knocked back by smoking, air pollution and alcohol. When this defence system comes under pressure, your body can get to the state where there aren’t enough stem cells to repair blood vessels, heart muscle and brain tissue.
Chronic wounds in the feet, ankles and lower legs also need stem cells to regenerate healthy tissue and close the injury, in order to avoid infection and the development of deadly gangrene.
When the muscles, tendons and nerves of your legs start dying in peripheral arterial disease ( a narrowing of the blood vessels in the legs), the body will try to call in stem cells to reverse the damage.
If you are pre-diabetic or have type 2 diabetes, the high blood sugar levels can damage stem cells and lower their numbers, reducing your body’s ability to repair itself. Many of the complications of diabetes (heart attack, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, chronic wounds) are tied to dysfunctional stem cells.
In fact, many conditions that are associated with ageing (such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, as well as cardiovascular disease) can be exacerbated if your stem cell defence system is not working optimally.
So, turn the page to find the ‘superfoods’ that enhance your body’s defence mechanisms.