Eat to Beat Disease summary

Amazingly, your body is made up of around 37 trillion cells. Of this gigantic number, only around 0.002 percent are classified as stem cells. But don’t let their small number fool you, because stem cells are absolutely crucial to your health. So much so, that if these cells were to stop functioning suddenly, you couldn’t survive longer than a week.

Stem cells form the basis of one of your body’s key health defense systems: your regenerative system. Stem cells can regenerate, replace and repair dead cells almost anywhere in your body, keeping your organs in tip-top shape.

Believe it or not, you are not simply a human being. In fact, you are a sophisticated ecosystem, and everywhere you go, you take multiple other species along for the ride. These other species are bacteria, and there are trillions of them living both within and on the surface of your body.

Remarkably, three pounds of your overall body weight is composed of these bacteria, collectively known as the microbiome. And more remarkably still, these minuscule beings have a huge impact on your health.

Your immune system is probably the one health defense system of which you’ve definitely heard. Not only can it prevent you from catching a cold but it also helps stop that paper cut on your hand from becoming infected and combats the nasty germs your fellow bus passengers have been coughing all over you. But it doesn’t just protect you against everyday illnesses; your immune system is also responsible for stopping malignant cells from developing into full-blown cancer.

The cells in the immune system can do this because they’re highly skilled at distinguishing between friends and enemies. Cancerous cells are enemies, so when your immune cells spot them, they call for a swift attack. Specialist cancer-destroying immune cells are then sent into battle and eradicate these abnormal, malignant cells before they ever become a problem.

Your body’s DNA is your genetic design plan, located within your cells. It’s shaped like a twisting staircase, and each step of this staircase is a gene your parents passed on to you. Good health depends on this genetic source code, and yet, worryingly, your DNA is being damaged continuously throughout your life.

It experiences around 10,000 destructive events every day! Many of these events are merely side effects of other things that are happening either inside or outside your body; for instance, DNA is damaged when your body is infected or inflamed. Damage is also caused by toxic chemicals, like those found in polluted air and even in common household cleaning products.

Most of us don’t need a book about healthy eating to tell us that we should eat more health-enhancing foods like fruits and vegetables. But what about things that we don’t tend to think of as healthy, such as alcohol, processed meat and confectionery? Do they have any place in our shopping cart if we want to eat a disease-beating diet? Well, recent scientific research indicates that some incredible health benefits can be found in the most unexpected places.

Let’s start by taking a look in the alcohol aisle. Although beer is high in calories and shouldn’t be overindulged in, this popular beverage does have some redeeming qualities.