HEALTHY LIVING


Eat These Foods to Beat Disease


Making right food choices will support your body’s natural ability to prevent illness. ::


BY LYNN C. ALLISON T


he idea that food can function as medicine dates back to Hippocrates, the “Father of


Medicine,” who famously said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Modern science is


catching up to that ancient wisdom. Research increasingly shows that what we eat plays a powerful role in preventing


82 NEWSMAX MAXLIFE | MAY 2026


— and even fighting — disease. In his bestselling book Eat to


Beat Disease, William Li, M.D., a Harvard-trained physician, says the body has built-in systems to defend and heal itself — and that food can activate those systems. Eating to beat disease,


LI


Li says, means making intentional food choices that support your body’s natural ability to prevent illness. Li cofounded the Angiogenesis Foundation


in 1994 to explore how food can influence health at the cellular level. After evaluating thousands


of compounds, he and his team identified about 200 “preferred foods” rich in antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and bioactive compounds that help reduce inflammation, strengthen immunity, and repair cellular damage. Among them: berries, cruciferous


vegetables, tomatoes, green tea, nuts, and even dark chocolate. Some foods, such as purple potatoes, have demonstrated the


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