{"id":1319646,"date":"2020-04-26T23:48:01","date_gmt":"2020-04-27T05:48:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/doctors-tip-regeneration-stem-cells-one-of-your-bodys-five-defense-systems\/"},"modified":"2020-04-26T23:48:01","modified_gmt":"2020-04-27T05:48:01","slug":"doctors-tip-regeneration-stem-cells-one-of-your-bodys-five-defense-systems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/doctors-tip-regeneration-stem-cells-one-of-your-bodys-five-defense-systems\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor\u2019s Tip: Regeneration (stem cells) \u2014 one of your body\u2019s five defense systems"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"470\" height=\"620\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/03\/MUG-Feinsinger2019-gpi.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/03\/MUG-Feinsinger2019-gpi.jpg 470w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/03\/MUG-Feinsinger2019-gpi-114x150.jpg 114w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/03\/MUG-Feinsinger2019-gpi-246x325.jpg 246w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 470px) 100vw, 470px\"><figcaption><strong>Greg Feinsinger<\/strong><br \/><em><\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">This is one of a series of columns on Dr. William Li\u2019s five defense systems, from his new book \u201cEat to Beat Disease, The New Science of How Your Body Can Heal Itself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Embryonic stem cells \u201ccan form any cell or tissue in the body, from muscle to nerve to skin to brain to eyeball.\u201d In addition to making up embryos, these cells are found in the umbilical cord and placenta. In adults, stem cells make up only 0.002 percent of the 37.2 trillion cells in our body, yet they play a powerful role in normal body regeneration as well as regeneration after illness or injury.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cNormal body regeneration\u201d refers to the fact that your small intestine regenerates every two to four days; immune cells every seven days, lungs and stomach every eight days; skin every two weeks; red blood cells every four months; fat cells every eight years; and skeleton every 10 years. According to Dr. Li, if your stem cells suddenly disappeared or stopped working \u201cyou\u2019d be dead in a week.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Adult stem cells hang out in \u201cniches\u201d in skin; the walls of intestines; the base of hair follicles; in testes and ovaries; in fat; in heart and brain, and especially in bone marrow. Injuries from events such as heart attacks, trauma, chemotherapy and radiation cause \u201cdistress signals\u201d to be sent out resulting in stem cells rushing to the injured area to rebuild whatever tissue has been damaged.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row gspi-donation gspi-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/PI-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/PI-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Certain factors hinder the stem cell regenerative process, such as: tobacco smoke; air pollution; heavy alcohol intake; diabetes; high LDL (bad cholesterol; low HDL (good cholesterol);, and aging. On the other hand, boosting stem cell number and function is beneficial, as the following example illustrates: The endothelium is an organ system that lines our arteries, and endothelial progenitor cells are stem cells that repair the endothelium. A study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that a higher level of these cells was associated with a 70 percent lower risk of dying from a cardiovascular cause. Another example is that stem cells that regenerate neurons in your brain help prevent dementia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">One of the current frontiers of medicine is the use of stem cells to treat and in some cases reverse disease: Chemo and radiation kill cancer cells but also kill normal cells, including stem cells in the bone marrow, necessitating a bone marrow transplant. Trials are underway to use stem cells to reverse multiple sclerosis, Parkinson\u2019s disease, autism and macular degeneration (the most common cause of blindness in the elderly). In one study injection of fat-derived stem cells \u201cled to a 50 percent decrease in the size of the damage caused by a heart attack.\u201d Stem cells are being used to treat chronic, non-healing wounds, and to form new cartilage in degenerative arthritis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">What\u2019s even more exciting and certainly much less expensive is that, according to Dr. Li, \u201cThe right foods can help boost the number and performance of your stem cells and their ability to regenerate your body.\u201d Following are some examples of \u201cthe right foods\u201d: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, berries, Chinese celery, beer, green and black tea, dark chocolate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">However, the following should be avoided because they damage stem cells: high fat (especially saturated fat) diets; high glycemic foods that raise your blood sugar rapidly, such as sweets, sugary drinks, and refined food; and high-salt diets. Dr. Li says that \u201cby avoiding saturated fats in your diet, you may improve your ability to regenerate your circulatory system, improve your cognition, and help stop your stem cells from generating new fat cells or tumor cells.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Some foods that kill cancer stem cells \u2014 that can contribute to recurrence of breast and other cancers \u2014 are: green tea, purple potatoes, walnuts, celery, oregano, thyme, capers, apples, peppers, green tea, red wine\/red grapes, peanuts, pistachios, dark chocolate, cranberries, chestnuts, blackberries and pomegranates.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\">Greg Feinsinger, M.D. is a retired family physician who has a nonprofit: Prevention and Treatment of Disease Through Nutrition. He gives a free presentation at 7 p.m. the first Monday of the month at the Third Street Center in Carbondale; is available by appointment for free consultations (379-5718); and conducts a shop-with-a-doc session at 10 a.m. the first Saturday of the month at Carbondale City Market.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/news\/health\/doctors-tip-regeneration-stem-cells-one-of-your-bodys-five-defense-systems\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Greg Feinsinger This is one of a series of columns on Dr. William Li\u2019s five defense systems, from his new book \u201cEat to Beat Disease, The New Science of How Your Body Can Heal Itself.\u201d Embryonic stem cells \u201ccan form any cell or tissue in the body, from muscle to nerve to skin to brain [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1319646","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-18 18:19:25","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1319646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319646\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1319646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1319646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1319646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}