"Live to 120 years old by eating as much as you want and drinking lots of red wine!"

That's the intriguing finding of a recent study from Harvard researcher David Sinclair and his group.

The only catch?

Well, you'd have to drink about 1,500 bottles of wine a day to get those results.

Of course, that would kill you pretty quickly -- before you'd have a chance to reach age 120!

Still, those are important findings.

In fact, Dr. Sinclair thinks that they're so important that he started a company to produce a pharmaceutical derivative of the active compound in red wine, resveratrol.

Although his findings have merit, I think he is misguided in his attempt to find the "magic pill" that will allow you to eat whatever you want and live forever. 

Imagine eating 12 pounds of food a day -- and still staying thin and healthy.

Sounds crazy, right?

Well, that's exactly what our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate for millennia!

And they didn't have any obesity or chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, or dementia.

Of course, I wouldn't advise anyone today to eat 12 pounds of food, because the food in our society lacks one major secret ingredient that our ancestors ate in nearly all their food -- fiber!

Fiber has so many health benefits that I've made it the entire focus of this week's blog.

But before I tell you about what fiber can do for you, let's a look a little more at the history of fiber.

Medicine doesn't just come in pills.

In many cases, it's as close as your fork or your spoon.

That's right. Your meals can be powerful medicine -- if you eat the right kinds of foods.

Today, I'd like to tell you about my recent trip to China. While there, I was reminded of how the Chinese view the medicinal properties of food -- and the lessons we can learn from this approach.

The Chinese view of food as medicine is evident in their language: Their word for eating is comprised of two characters: chi fan, or "eat rice." 

The word for taking medicine is chi yao, or "eat medicine."

Food contributes taste, texture, delight, energy, and nourishment.  In China, food is all that -- AND a source of medicinal healing compounds to support well-being and health. 

That's because the Chinese recognize that the nutritional value of food goes beyond calories.