. . . guidelines focus on managing a chronic problem Last March the American College of Gastroenterology released its updated guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), more commonly known as heartburn. Nowhere in this lengthy report which analyzed 51 years of medical research on GERD was there any mention of either prevention or cure. Nor did it allude to what Beyond Health believes is the primary cause of GERD: inadequate or faulty digestion.  Although in some cases, it may also be caused by mechanical problems such as hiatal hernias. Apart from quite a few recommendations involving the use of drugs (H2 blockers, antacids and proton pump inhibitors), the report’s primary treatment recommendations were weight loss, elevating the head of your bed, and avoiding high-fat meals 2-3 hours prior to bedtime. To assess these recommendations as well as the role played by digestion, let’s first review what GERD is and what causes it. There is…

…helping kids handle stress may be your biggest challenge this school year A 2009 APA Stress in America survey showed nearly half of all students stress about doing well in school. And it’s only gotten worse. In fact, we see mounting evidence that school-aged kids today are drowning under the stress of peer relationships…academic overload…and pressure to perform. While it may be impossible to keep your kids worry-free, use the following proven tips to ease kids through the stress of another school year. Keep a consistent day-to-day routine—Routine helps kids feel safe and relaxed. Thus, they’ll be better equipped to focus on one task at a time…steer clear of overwhelm…and perform to expectations. Researchers say kids eventually hard-wire this into their behavior. So it’s important parents start routines early, and keep kids consistent with them. Get plenty of sleep—Experts insist kids 5-12 years old should get up to 10 hours of restful sleep for proper physical and…

By Raymond Francis What does being happy have to do with staying youthful as you age? Everything! Happiness creates health, and when you’re healthy, you can be youthful at any age. I just finished my new book, Never Feel Old Again. In it, I propose that successful aging – staying strong and energetic, with all faculties intact, for a lifetime – requires the same holistic approach to living I’ve been recommending for decades to achieve optimal health. This approach involves maximizing nutrition and minimizing toxicity along 6 different pathways: nutrition, toxin, mental, physical, genetic, and medical. All the pathways are important, and none can be excluded if you want to age with vitality. For example, it doesn’t matter how much you exercise (physical pathway), if you eat a terrible diet (nutrition pathway), you’re going to create disease and what I call premature or accelerated aging. But perhaps the most important pathway, although usually given the least credibility and…

. . . and how Vitamin C is essential in maintaining gut flora balance When we think of bacteria, we usually think of the bad ones that cause disease, or sometimes death. Bad bacteria—like botulinum, E. coli, salmonella, and streptococci—disrupt our body’s normal functioning when they injure cells and tissues, compromise its immune system, and deplete vital nutrients. But most bacteria in our body are harmless, and actually essential to our survival. Like the bacteria—along with other microorganisms—that make up our intestinal microflora, or gut flora. These helpful bacteria in our digestive tract play a key role in our overall health by synthesizing nutrients from our diet and making them available to cells, protecting against foreign invaders, preventing inflammation, directing metabolism to regulate weight, and ensuring digestive waste is easy to eliminate. Our gut flora is constantly under assault There is a strong connection between the kind of food we eat and what happ…

Question: I have read Dr. Francis’ books and understand the information about vaccinations. However, would you please address the Hepatitis B shot? My school is asking that I get the vaccination and I want to know specifically the problems for and against getting the shot. S. E. - Internet Answer:  The Hepatitis B shot is no different from other vaccinations in terms of its damage to the immune system and introduction into the body of a variety of toxins. It has been linked specifically with autoimmune and neurological illnesses like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, seizures, encephalitis, etc. It is difficult to make the case for the shot. Hepatitis B is not a widespread problem except among IV drug users and those with multiple sexual partners, as it is most often transmitted through the blood. I take it you are an adult who works in a school. Hepatitis B is rare among children. The vaccine does protect some people against getting Hepatitis B, but the risks are too…

REPRINTED FROM BEYOND HEALTH® News by Raymond Francis All mammals eat raw food.  Unfortunately for us, humans have departed from what nature intended, and we are paying a heavy price for this foolishness.  One of the most egregious assaults on the nutritional quality of our food is cooking.  Heat damages nutrients, makes food more difficult to digest, and high heat even creates carcinogenic (cancer-causing) toxins. Cooked foods will not support healthy life in animals or humans.  Accordingly, some researchers have suggested a diet of at least 50% raw foods.  Others have suggested at least 80%.  The long-lived Hunza people ate about 80% of their diet fresh and raw.  What is the ideal percentage?  Nobody really knows.  It may be 100%. As I was researching the effects of food processing, I came across some shocking experiments.  I found that a calf would die from its own mother's milk, if that milk had been cooked (pasteurized).  As a chemist, I knew that heat altered the chem…

REPRINTED FROM BEYOND HEALTH® News By Hyla Cass, MD We have been called a pill-popping society, and statistics bear this out. Nearly 50 percent of American adults take at least one prescription drug, and 20 percent take three or more. In a survey, more than half of those over 65 and 30 percent of people 45-to-65 used at least three prescription drugs in a onemonth period. With our increasing reliance on medications comes nutrient depletion, a problem we can’t ignore. Every medication, including over-the-counter drugs, will drain the body of specific nutrients. On top of this, most Americans are already suffering from nutrient depletion. In fact, many of the conditions we see in everyday practice may actually be related to this deficiency. The good news is that with the right supplements, you can avoid depletion side effects, and even better, you may be able to control and prevent chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. I have seen case a…

REPRINTED FROM BEYOND HEALTH® News By Brianna Grigsby “Got milk?” We see it all the time, on T-shirts, television commercials and advertisements. “Milk…it does a body good,” we are told by the media and the dairy industry. If you don’t drink milk, where are you going to get your calcium? Will you end up with osteoporosis? What about vitamin D? These are the kinds of questions that immediately pop into most people’s minds when it is suggested that they or somebody else stop consuming milk. I remember being angry and confused when I first discovered information that seemed to prove that milk and dairy products were not the healthy foods I believed them to be. As a child and young teenager, I religiously drank my milk, thinking that I was doing my body a favor. Perhaps you feel angry that I even suggest that milk is not the great health food it is touted to be. Consider the facts: All cow’s milk, including “organic” milk, contains more than 50 active hormones, scores of allergens…

REPRINTED FROM BEYOND HEALTH® News By Raymond Francis People often ask, “Why should I exercise?” Others say, “I’m too busy, I don’t have time.” Here is what you need to know. Without movement, life cannot exist. At the molecular level, movement is the essence of life, and moving our bodies is essential to health. With more than three out of four Americans suffering from at least one chronic disease, the need to get moving is more important than ever. A recent explosion of studies about the benefits of regular exercise have shown a strong connection between inactivity and many health problems ranging from cancer to depression, dementia, diabetes, arthritis and premature death. We are all made of little microscopic units of life called cells. We started life as a single cell in our mother. Each cell is a separate unit of life, and while we think of our body as one thing, in truth it is a community of tens of trillions of cells all acting together to allow us to do the things we…

. . . can your gut’s microflora impact your weight? Anyone who’s ever tried losing weight and failed knows just how hard it is. Whether it’s the latest diet craze, workout routine, prescription drug, or hypnosis program...the most popular solutions do little to help you drop weight and keep it off. In fact, most people are disappointed to discover that all their hard work actually added a few pounds. So it’s no surprise the latest statistics from the American Heart Association indicate the epidemic of overweight Americans continues uninterrupted. It revealed that 23.9 million children ages 19 and under and 154.7 million men and women ages 20 and above are overweight or obese. These numbers are staggering considering we’ve written before on how significant weight gain has serious consequences on one’s health. Overweight and obese people suffer much greater incidences of diseases—including breast cancer, colorectal cancer, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, stroke, catarac…

REPRINTED FROM BEYOND HEALTH® News By Russell L. Blaylock, M.D Over 460,000 people per year are now dying of a disorder called sudden cardiac death according to CDC statistics. This is a condition striking otherwise healthy people, who have experienced no obvious symptoms of heart disease prior to their deaths. An alarming number of these deaths are occurring in young athletes, both in high schools, colleges, as well as among professional athletes. While cardiologists have found coronary disease and suspect previous scars from silent heart attacks in a number of these individuals, one mechanism is getting no attention at all, and that is excitotoxic damage caused by food additives and the artificial sweetener aspartame. This is despite growing evidence that the excitotoxic mechanism plays a major role in cardiac disease. Previously, it was thought that excitotoxin food additives, such as monosodium glutamate and aspartic acid in aspartame, cause their damage in the cardiova…

. . . the strongest pancreatic enzyme formula available Once you recognize the need for taking digestive enzymes, which ones should you choose? Which work the best? After one of Raymond’s exhaustive research projects to find “the best of the best,” he chose Bio-Zyme. Bio-Zyme provides the highest-potency pancreatic enzyme complex available and is the most similar to the body’s own natural enzymes. Eight different key enzymes provide full enzyme coverage for digesting carbohydrates, fats and proteins. While other pancreatic enzyme products are often diluted with salt or lactose, Bio-Zyme contains full-strength, undiluted pancreas extract with ten times the usual strength. In addition, Bio-Zyme has been clinically tested (see citations below) for absorption and effectiveness. Many of our customers are mold-sensitive and have problems with most enzymes, which are grown on the aspergillus mold. Even if no living mold and only traces of dead mold remain in these products, appare…

. . . is it helpful or harmful? If you’re a careful supplement label reader, you’ll often see magnesium stearate listed at the bottom under “Other Ingredients.” You may also have heard or seen various warnings about how magnesium stearate is a toxin, that it interferes with digestion and absorption, or suppresses immunity, or generates harmful “biofilms” in the intestines. While some of these claims fall into the category of false marketing hype, there are valid concerns about this much-maligned substance. Magnesium stearate is commonly used as a lubricant in the supplement industry. It prevents nutrients from sticking together, allowing for a consistently maintained mixture, and it prevents ingredients from sticking and jamming the encapsulation machinery. Problems arise when too much is used, when it is improperly applied or when it is impure and of poor quality. Magnesium stearate is not a toxin. It is a combination of one molecule of magnesium with two molecules of a fatty…

. . . you may not be benefiting from nutrients in your food You can be eating the best diet in the world, but if you aren’t absorbing nutrients well, your body won’t be getting the nutrition it needs to be healthy. Unfortunately absorption problems aren’t unusual; in fact they’re all too common. The primary function of the gastrointestinal system is to break down the food we eat into smaller and smaller particles. By the time it gets to the small intestines, where most absorption takes place, it needs to be fully disassembled into tiny sugars, free fatty acids and amino acids that can pass easily through the intestinal lining into the bloodstream. Without fully breaking down your food, not only do you miss out on nutrients, but undigested food particles in the intestines become toxic, leading to all kinds of disease, from headaches to skin problems, arthritis, depression, muscle weakness and many more. Breaking down food into smaller and smaller particles depends on enzymes, s…

. . . Raymond Francis’ new book on aging is available now! Anti-aging medicine has become a booming industry, with worldwide sales expected to top $291 billion by 2015. Although it’s led some to healthier living (what a concept!), too much of it seems to be a somewhat desperate and sad attempt to regain youth through “magic” pills and risky hormone therapies. Hanneke Hops was 56 when featured in an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about her use of human growth hormone (HGH). Hops was injecting her thigh with HGH 6 days a week, at $23 a pop, and was elated with the results — she was feeling stronger, happier and healthier. A lifelong athlete, she looked forward to continuing her active lifestyle of running marathons, riding horses, and flying private planes. “I don’t mind dying,” she said. “But I mind growing old and suffering.” Hanneke Hops never did grow old. Three months after the article was published, she was dead, her liver riddled with cancer tumors. While not e…

. . . a low-tech way to prevent stroke damage When someone we love is in distress, it’s instinctive to reach out and touch them in a comforting and reassuring way. If that person is having a stroke, such a simple, human response may prevent the stroke from damaging their brain! In the July/August issue of Scientific American Mind, science writer Stephani Sutherland reports on three years of rat studies conducted at the University of California at Irvine. These studies show that when ischemic strokes are induced in rats by severing a cerebral artery, touching their whiskers prevents stroke damage entirely. Strokes occur when blood, carrying oxygen and other nutrients, is blocked from getting to brain cells. Deprived of nutrients, especially oxygen, the brain cells soon die. About ¾ of all strokes occur because of clots (ischemic strokes); the other ¼ (hemorrhagic strokes) occur because a blood vessel has burst. Touch, at least in rats, stimulates the creation of new routes f…

. . . most Americans are deficient in this essential fatty acid Omega-3 fatty acids, found primarily in fish and flax oils, are notoriously deficient in the modern diet. These deficiencies have been linked to mood disorders, addictions, and even schizophrenia that typically occur from adolescence to early adulthood. A recent University of Pittsburgh study used rats to look at how two generations of omega-3 deficiency affected cognition and mood. Both generations suffered impairments, but the second generation, now in its adolescence, fared worse. Although the rats appeared to be in good physical health, when tests were administered to measure learning, memory, decision-making, anxiety and hyperactivity, impairments were noted, and these were worse in the second generation of deficient rats, now in their adolescence. The teenage rats were “more anxious and hyperactive, learned at a slower rate, and had impaired problem-solving abilities,” according to a University of Pittsburgh…

. . . stunning results from recent survey show Americans are confused and misinformed What do rotting pears, rusty car fenders, and sunburned skin have in common? If you guessed oxidation, you’re right! Oxidation occurs naturally in all living cells. Including the human body. Scientifically, oxidation is a natural chemical reaction between any substance and oxygen—a highly reactive molecule—where the reacting atom loses an electron. When an atom loses an electron, it becomes a free radical…and very unstable. Yet its tendency is to become stable again. So, it begins attacking other substances to “steal” back an electron. The attacked atom loses an electron and becomes a free radical itself…beginning a chain reaction. What if this chain reaction in the body is not stopped? The free radical assault damages cell membranes and other structures including cellular proteins, lipids, and even DNA. This cellular damage leads to chronic disease and premature aging. Free radicals aren’…