We always hear about those one-off studies finding things like "compounds in blueberries promote brain health" or "an antioxidant in green tea may prevent breast cancer." And while they're fun and exciting and may cause us to change our eating habits for a couple of days, they really don't tell you all that much. After all, our overall diet—and the interplay of a variety of different foods and nutrients—is a much better predictor of health and future disease risk than whether or not we're simply eating a whole lot of spinach.

That's not to say the information from these studies isn't useful—it's just that, for the average person, figuring out how to put it all together is pretty hard. Fortunately, that's exactly what world-renowned physician and researcher William Li, M.D., has done in his new book Eat To Beat Disease: The New Science of How Your Body Can Heal Itself.

In his book, Li gives a science-backed approach to using food as medicine. He explains how the body naturally resists chronic diseases like cancer and dementia through five health defense systems (angiogenesis, regeneration, the microbiome, DNA protection, and immunity) and what exactly we should be eating to activate these defense systems.

Pretty cool. But that got us thinking: What does the man who literally wrote the book on eating to beat disease actually eat on a daily basis? I was lucky enough to chat with Li to find out. While he emphasized that no day is "typical" and that there are a variety of ways to eat a healthful diet, he did share some meals you might find him eating on a pretty regular basis.