Humans may have other species beat when it comes to doing higher mathematics, but where food choices are involved, wild geese proved to be significantly more intelligent.Consider this report from anti-GMO activist Jeffrey Smith’s important book, Seeds of Deception.An Illinois soybean farmer had been plagued by a neighboring flock of soybean-loving geese which habitually made a feast of his fields, reducing plant growth to almost a stubble.Unwittingly, genetic engineering helped him to solve this problem. One year, he planted part of one field with genetically modified soybeans. When the geese arrived for their usual feast, they completely ignored this portion of the field and ate only the conventional soybeans, leaving a distinct pattern of growth that showed where each type of soybean had been planted.This solved the problem of keeping the geese away, but it’s just like the refined flour that no bugs want to eat. What are these animals, who are obviously smarter than we are in certain…

. . . shockingly widespread, some estimates say 2 out of 5 lack this vital nutrientWhile nutritional deficiencies are still more common in developing countries, some recent data suggests that it being mostly a third-world problem is simply a cultural myth.According to recent American Journal of Clinical Nutrition data, 6% of the people in the US and the UK are vitamin B12 deficient by age 60. Plus, marginal deficiencies occur in another 20% of those surveyed, with significant deficiencies increasing substantially after age 60.While other studies show vegetarians and vegans are at even higher risk—including babies born to vegetarian mothers—clearly, they’re not the only ones making up these B12 deficiency statistics. Thus, it begs the question…Why are so many of us deficient in vitamin B12?Studies published in numerous medical journals show vitamin B12 is a critical component of brain function. They link deficiency to memory and thinking problems, dementias, and even brain shrinkage. So…

According to Tylenol manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, is used by 50 million Americans each week to treat pain, fever, and the aches and pains associated with cold and flu. It’s become as common as aspirin.And like aspirin, this over-the-counter drug is assumed to be quite safe. In fact, it gained its reputation as being safer than aspirin and the other non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) because it was, as a famous actress told us in a TV ad, “gentle on the stomach.” Translation: it doesn’t cause gastrointestinal bleeding, while NSAIDs do. Then why would neurologist and pain management specialist Aric Hausknecht, M.D., call it “by far the most dangerous drug ever made?”Perhaps because, although when used in low doses its side effects are generally mild, it is notoriously over-dosed when used to address pain. According to the National Institutes of Health, acetaminophen overdose poisons the liver and leads…

“Hello all...I will be answering your questions regarding health and supplements. Please feel free to send any questions you may have to questions@beyondhealth.com. Over the upcoming months, I will try to answer as many of these as possible.”  Question: I am taking St. John’s Wort for depression. Are there any downsides to doing this?M.P. — Delray Beach, FLAnswer: St. John’s Wort has been well studied and it is effective in treating depression. Regarding downsides, the one you should be most concerned with, especially living in Florida, is it makes your skin more sensitive to the sun. So be careful of getting more than a little sun. It is also not good to take this herb with prescription drugs as it can interfere with their metabolism and make them even more toxic.Your best bet is to stop being depressed by getting on a good diet, getting off of sugar, taking our Basic Wellness Kit, getting adequate sunlight, and exercising. This will take care of most depression.…

For years, we’ve repeatedly warned that you can no longer get all the required nutrients your body needs from food, and we’re not alone. Researchers from four reputable institutions recently took issue with the latest claims that vitamin supplements are a waste of money.In a commentary published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers from the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, the Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Tufts University, and the Harvard School of Public Health asserted that while a proper diet is the preferred way to get nutrients required by your cells and necessary for optimal health, it’s no longer possible for most Americans. Current lifestyle and dietary choices create “nutritional gaps” that simply cannot be overcome by food alone.What are these nutritional gaps?Most Americans eat a typical diet of overly processed foods containing white flour, sugar, red meat, dairy, and processed vegetable oils. Yet, you may remember us mention…

. . . when it comes to bones, its quality, not density, that matters mostMany women are scared into taking toxic drugs when their Bone Mineral Density (BMD) tests show a thinning of bones after menopause. This bone-loss is a natural process caused by loss of estrogen. It's estimated to affect more than half of white, postmenopausal women in the US and generally plateaus in a few years as the body adjusts to lower estrogen levels. Yet it's been pathologized as "osteopenia," a supposedly pre-osteoporotic condition that increases risk of fractures.     In fact, the actual increased fracture risk associated with osteopenia is negligible. Even the conservative British Medical Journal has published articles questioning the validity of treating osteopenia as if it were a disease diagnosis. Although for avoiding fractures it's better to have thick bones than thin bones, quality of bone is much more important than quantity (density). Japanese women, for example, have thinner bo…

. . . many are contaminated and/or rancidMost fish and fish oil today are just too toxic to be beneficial. In addition, many fish oils on the market are rancid (oxidized). Omega 3 fats are extremely perishable, and great care and extra expense are needed to provide a fish oil product free of rancidity.Our seas and oceans are increasingly contaminated, and these contaminants find their way into many fish oil supplements. Several years ago, a report by the American Chemical Society found increasingly high levels of flame retardants, as well as pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in several brands of cod liver oil.It pays to be selective when choosing a fish oil supplement. You can trust Beyond Health to supply clean fish oil supplements. Our Fish Oil Formula is purified of contaminants and handled carefully so as to protect them from rancidity.Also, often overlooked, fish oil can also oxidize after it is ingested. Anyone taking fish oil should also be taking vitamin E to…

. . . a misleading new study from CanadaAmericans keep getting fatter. In the past 15 years adult obesity has approximately doubled in 17 states according to a survey sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Twenty years ago, not one state had an obesity rate of more than 15%. Now, only Colorado, with 19.8% obese, has an obesity rate of less than 20%. In twelve states, the obesity rate is above 30%.As obesity becomes more normal, it's become more socially acceptable and less cause for concern. In the same way that many people consider themselves healthy even though they're taking several different medications, the overweight and even the obese now tend to see themselves as fundamentally healthy. A new study from Canada feeds this misperception.Published last August in Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism, this study used a new rating system called the Edmonton Obesity Staging System (EOSS) to categorize the obese. It puts them into five categories according to the prese…

. . . understanding the science puts you in control!Most people attribute food cravings and binges to emotional eating. But although strong emotions can certainly be a factor in uncontrolled or compulsive eating, cravings have a biochemical basis. The more you know about what's happening to your biochemistry when you experience an "uncontrollable" craving, the more freedom you have to get back into the driver's seat. This week, we'll look at the connection between food allergies and food addiction.Is there a particular food you eat just about every day, and, when it comes right down to it, you wouldn't give up without a fight? Sorry, but you're probably addicted to it.You may wake up in the morning with a headache or feeling grouchy "until you've had a good breakfast" of cereal with milk and sugar, or bagel or croissant and coffee, or eggs, toast and orange juice. What are the most common food allergens? Wheat (and especially the gluten in wheat, also found in barley and rye), oats, co…

In our polarized country, anger is common.  Not that there aren’t legitimate reasons why many people are angry or ways that anger can be used constructively to make positive change. But often you can sense in people a kind of aimless anger, an angry mood just looking for a target. What if a lot of this anger had to do with diet?  It probably does.  Just like depression (which is described as anger turned towards the self), anger can be a mood disorder, and the Standard American Diet (SAD) fosters mood disorders. Omega-3 fatty acids—lacking in the SAD—are key to mental health and a feeling of well-being. One of the brain’s major components is docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 fat, and the association between low DHA brain levels and depression, suicide and violence is well established.  Receptors in the brain for the “reward” and “feel-good” neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin are made from DHA. If DHA isn’t available, the body will use inferio…

. . . plus, how skin is your body’s early warning system for recognizing diseaseBy now, you know skin is your body’s largest organ.And as you might expect, its size is a telling indicator of the important role it plays in our overall health. Because skin—all 22 square feet and 8 pounds of it—is made up of a complex system of cell layers, nerves, and glands that protects us, nourishes us, and helps us interact with the outside world.How your skin is a window to your overall healthScientists generally agree that the health of your skin is a reflection of your overall health. In other words, if you look healthy on the outside, you are likely healthy on the inside.In fact, there are many ways your skin provides clues that something is wrong internally. Inflammation, discoloration, swelling, numbness, wrinkles—to name a few—are “early warning signs” that can be used to identify hidden health risks, or the onset of serious disease conditions.Not surprisingly, such indicators of your body’s e…

Millions of Americans, especially older Americans, are on drugs called blood-thinners, usually the drug Coumadin (warfarin). Many more take a daily aspirin to thin their blood.Although these drugs are called blood thinners, what they actually do is make blood platelets less sticky and apt to form clots. Since sticky blood platelets and clots are a major factor in increasing blood viscosity, these drugs have the effect of thinning the blood.What’s wrong with thick, sticky blood? Is your blood too sticky? And if so, are drugs the answer, or are there more natural alternatives?Problems with Sticky BloodClotting is crucial to survival. Without good clotting ability, a small cut could lead to massive blood loss, and even death. However blood that clots too easily or fails to break down clots that are no longer useful is equally life-threatening: an undesirable clot that blocks an artery can cause a fatal heart attack or stroke. While some people suffer from genetic clotting defects that mak…

Do you eat to live or live to eat? Neither could be called a healthy relationship with food. Eating to live—using food simply as fuel—takes the joy out of one of life’s great pleasures. On the other hand, giving food too much importance, either by living only for our next meal or obsessing lest we eat too much or eat the wrong things, isn’t a joyful or healthy relationship either.In a healthy relationship, we would look forward to our encounters with food. We would respond appropriately to our hunger cues by supplying ourselves with nourishing and tasty food (in the words of nutrition expert Mark Hyman, MD, “foods we love that love us back”), and we would eat until satisfied and no more. We would trust our body cues to maintain a weight that is perfect for us (although it might not conform to the latest fashion). But according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD), almost 10% of our population is struggling with one or more of the thre…

Can supplementary calcium cause a heart attack? At one time the main question we got about calcium was from women who weren’t sure they were getting enough to prevent osteoporosis. Today, both men and women wonder if taking supplementary calcium is going to give them a heart attack or get into their brains or other soft tissues.Taking calcium in Beyond Health’s Bone Support will NOT do these things, and here’s why.First, although calcium supplements have been called into question, calcium in food has never been shown to be a problem. The calcium in our supplements is identical to the calcium found in food.This is not true of most calcium supplements!We use only organic calcium, while calcium found in most supplements is usually inorganic. Our calcium is reacted with organic acids in such a way that the resulting molecules are identical to calcium found in food – organic calcium. The body doesn’t know how to handle the inorganic form, and it can easily be deposited where it shouldn…

How do you get your family to adopt better health habits?  At Beyond Health we get this question a lot, especially from people who’ve read one of Raymond Francis’s books and have become convinced they want to make some major changes in their lifestyle.  Here are some ideas. First, make time to talk with your spouse or other adult members of the family about your family’s health and what you’ve been learning. They may be “ripe for the picking” and enthusiastic about your ideas. Or they may be ready to make some changes, and not others. You may be excited about going raw and vegan; they may want hot, cooked meals for dinner. You may want to refuse vaccinations for your children; they may want to do more research first before taking such an unpopular stance. Encourage them to empower themselves by reading Raymond Francis’s book The Great American Health Hoax, so it’s not just you who’s supplying information. The Maintenance List chapter alone is worth the price of the boo…

. . . 96% of extra virgin olive oils tested were adulterated with cheap, inferior oilsWhen I’m invited out for the holidays, one of my favorite gifts for my host or hostess is a bottle of Beyond Health Olive Oil. I’m extremely proud of our olive oil. Not only has it won taste tests, but our olive oil is uniquely healthy. You see, unlike most olive oils on the market, it’s the real deal. That's why a study at the University of California found our olive oil to have the highest antioxidant content of any oil tested. The same study ranked Whole Food's olive oil near the bottom.How it's madeMade the traditional way with care on a family-owned estate, Beyond Health olive oil is unrefined and unadulterated with inferior oils. It’s what you might expect any high-quality olive oil to be. But here is what the consumer is up against. A 1996 study by the FDA found that 96% of the extra virgin olive oils tested had been adulterated with cheap, inferior oils. This means that 96% of the “qualit…

. . . don't underestimate the importance of stress-reduction strategiesHere's an interesting study that bears witness to the role stress can play in making us more vulnerable to the bad effects of environmental pollution.Traffic pollutants like nitrogen oxides can damage lung tissue and make asthma worse. Researchers at the University of Southern California wanted to know how stress combined with higher nitrogen oxide levels would affect lung function in a group of almost 1,400 children. They assessed how stressful the children's living environments were, then measured nitrogen oxide levels in the air where the children lived as well as several indicators of lung function in the children. When nitrogen oxide levels went up by 22 parts per billion, lung function in the kids from high-stress homes got 5% worse. However, the same increase in air pollution had no affect at all on the kids living in low-stress homes!An earlier study by some of the same researchers found that when exposed to…

. . . the mind is far more powerful than most of us appreciateCan thoughts prolong life? Absolutely! In a 2002 study that followed more than 600 people for 23 years, researchers at Yale University found that having a positive attitude toward aging extended average lifespan for more than 7 years. This makes thoughts and expectations more powerful in extending life than other factors such as low blood pressure, low cholesterol, maintaining a healthy weight and regular exercise!It’s not that other factors aren’t important, but the mind is far more powerful than most of us appreciate. Every thought and every feeling has biochemical repercussions, some good and some bad. Not surprisingly, positive thoughts and emotions like joy, compassion, optimism, love, gratitude and a sense of purpose bolster both immunity and general health, while negative thoughts and feelings, like anger, envy, apathy, gloom and resentment do the opposite.But how can you maintain a positive and hopeful expectati…