Life tends to feel like you're always on the go: You're reaching for a new goal at work, attempting to squeeze in more time for your family or hobbies, and then you address your health by going to the gym or another form of physical activity. Even if you do it all, the hectic pace catches up to you, and you notice how exhausted you feel over time. But why should it be either-or? Rather than pull back or surge forward while ignoring your health, understand how to effectively balance rest and activity. This year, Beyond Health is focusing on maximizing energy in order to do all the wonderful and amazing things you want to do with your life. But to maximize energy, you first need to balance activity with deep rest and relaxation, to give your body a chance to settle and become quieter, and to heal and regenerate.Understanding Balance in the BodyIn Chinese medicine, there are two principles that govern all life, yang and yin. Yang is dynamic, active, hard, brilliant, quick, courageous and…

Although Americans need to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, the food gurus these days aren't pushing fruits as much as they once were. That's because more information has come out about fructose, the sugar in fruit. While fine in moderation, in excessive amounts, fructose can be toxic. That's why at Beyond Health, we've always recommended not exceeding more than two pieces of fruit a day. But one fruit the experts still recommend is berries, including strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, cranberries and raspberries. Why? Because no fruit offers so much nutritional value for the calories and fructose it delivers. Berries for Disease Prevention Berries are chock-full of phytonutrients (translation: nutrients in plants) that are some of the world's most powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatories. Since oxidation and inflammation are fundamental processes in all disease, it's not surprising that scientists have been finding that berries help to preven…

Colorful, fresh fruits and vegetables do more than delight the eye and decorate our plates. They keep us feeling light and energized. Numerous studies have shown that they protect our bodies from all kinds of disease by maintaining systemic alkalinity, reducing inflammation, supporting detoxification, providing needed fiber and strengthening immunity.However, the main problem in our busy lives is finding ways to get enough of them. For good health, 1½ to 2 cups of fruit a day and 2 to 3 cups of vegetables are recommended. If you want maximum benefits, aim for two pieces of fruit and 5 cups of vegetables.Since including more fruit isn't as difficult as getting more vegetables, last week we gave you some ideas on how to include more vegetables in your life - like making them the centerpiece rather than a side-dish in your meals; becoming inspired by the superior taste of fresh and organic vegetables; becoming more imaginative in creating salads; and making your own vegetable snack chips.…

Have you been to a local farmer's market lately? By being outside in the fresh air, surrounded by nature's colorful bounty and the good people who spend their lives tending farms and growing nutritious produce, you already feel healthier and inspired to include more delicious fruits and vegetables in your diet. Using your recently purchased produce to make lunch when you get home is a reminder of how much tastier (and healthier) fresh fruits and vegetables are. Health exists along a continuum, from near-death all the way to bursting-with-energy optimal health. Including more fresh fruits and vegetables in our diets is a major way to keep moving along that continuum towards greater vitality, strength, endurance, mental clarity and optimistic mood. Still, getting in fresh produce each day and adhering to a plant-based diet can feel like a hurdle. Including more fruit isn't hard - just remember to buy it and keep it where it's visible and handy. Fruit is the original…

"Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food." - Hippocrates Do your meals leave you feeling light and full of vitality, or do they weigh you down, making you feel sleepy and dull? Although all food supplies calories, how well your body utilizes those calories to provide you with energy depends on the "life force" in the foods you eat. And foods vary widely along a continuum in this respect, from producing vitality, rejuvenation and healing to sapping your energy, adding unwanted weight and contributing to premature aging and disease.Food also influences mood and mental abilities, from raising your spirits, making you optimistic and heightening your awareness and mental function to bringing you down and dulling your brain.A number of factors determine a food's vibration or life force. Overall, foods are most energizing and health-promoting when they're consumed raw, or as close as possible to their natural state. This gives pride of place to the multicolored fruits and vegetable…

It never seems like you have enough time - or motivation. You think your dreams and aspirations are within your grasp, but no matter your efforts, they always feel just out of reach. Don't give up or think of your efforts as futile; instead, you might ask yourself, how do you get the energy to achieve your goals and manifest your dreams? What fuels you? To start, the goals and dreams themselves, if they speak to your heart and soul, energize your spirit. But you also need physical health to manifest them. To be a human dynamo, you need to go beyond "health" as simply the absence of a disease diagnosis. True health is a condition of vigor, stamina and exuberant energy that is rare in today's world. True health means every cell in your body is bursting with vitality! That is the vision for you that drives us at Beyond Health - to go beyond conventional definitions of health and beyond what you may have imagined for yourself. No matter where you are now, we know…

Neurodegenerative disease occurs when nerve cells in the brain or nervous system lose function over time and ultimately die. Alzheimer's disease, which affects as many as 6.2 million Americans, is the most common neurodegenerative disease, but there are hundreds of others, including other dementias, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, Huntington's disease and Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS). All have potential to affect an individual's quality of life in varying degrees - be it changes in personality, performing daily tasks, maintaining employment or remembering current and past information. Development of one of these conditions often requires significant modifications, medical treatment and, long term, extensive care from family members or professionals. Although conventional medical treatments help relieve some of the physical and mental symptoms associated with neurodegenerative diseases, there is currently no way to slow disease progression and no known cures.Light Therapy Interve…

Patients living with Parkinson's disease (PD) may be steered toward levodopa to manage symptoms. Presently, levodopa remains the most common PD drug. However, as with many medications, levodopa can create nutrient deficiencies with serious side effects when taken over time, with decreasing amounts of vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 being among the concerns. What Is Parkinson's Disease? PD is a progressive neurological disease in which brain cells that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine gradually die off. Low levels of dopamine cause various movement and non-movement related dysfunctions. The drugs that treat PD either replace or enhance dopamine, and central among these drugs is levodopa. What Is Levodopa? Considered the strongest medication available for managing PD and Parkinson's-like symptoms, levodopa was introduced in the 1960s and is currently classified as a central nervous system agent. Once taken, levodopa is converted into dopamine in your body. It is usually combin…

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological condition. Although it may start out with something as simple as a tremor in a single finger, it can progress over the years to complete disability. Its hallmark is the dying off of brain cells that make the neurotransmitter dopamine. Without sufficient dopamine, movement becomes increasingly difficult and finally almost impossible. PD's non-motor symptoms include anxiety, depression, fatigue, insomnia and other sleep disorders, hallucinations, cognitive impairment and dementia. Although dopamine replacement and enhancement drugs can control motor symptoms for a while, they don't reverse or stop the underlying disease process. When these medications lose their effectiveness, a surgery may be done to control symptoms. But again, because the surgery doesn't address the underlying disease process, it too becomes less effective with time.However, a novel therapy addresses both symptoms and the disease process. Using Thiamine (…

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disease in which brain cells that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine gradually die off. The result is an increasing loss of control of motor functions and other non-motor symptoms. Although it doesn't usually show up until after the age of 60, PD can afflict younger people, too. A case in point is the popular actor Michael J. Fox, who noticed the first signs of PD when he was only 30 years old.What Is Parkinson's Disease?PD is a progressive neurological condition often starting with tremors. With time, the body can experience a combination of uncontrollable shaking, stiffness and slower movement and difficulty with balance and coordination. Speech, meanwhile, may start to sound slurred or softer than usual. These physical developments may be accompanied by changes in mood, memory, sleep and energy. These symptoms occur due to decreased amounts of neurons transmitting dopamine to your brain and tend to first be noticed after the…

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disease second only to Alzheimer’s as a thief of brain cells and quality of life.Although everyone’s PD journey is different in terms of the appearance and intensity of symptoms, and how quickly the disease progresses, the central feature of PD is that brain cells responsible for producing the neurotransmitter dopamine begin to die off. The resulting dopamine deficiency produces PD’s characteristic symptoms, including tremors, rigidity, posture and balance problems, slowed movement and difficulty initiating movement, and non-motor symptoms such as depression, anxiety, fatigue, insomnia and other sleep disorders, cognitive impairment and dementia. Allopathic medicine manages PD motor symptoms by replacing or boosting dopamine production. Most PD patients will need these drugs because by the time PD can be diagnosed, 60-80% of dopamine-producing brain cells are already gone. There is also a surgery called Deep Brain Stimulation that…

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is our most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s and one of the world’s fastest growing neurological disorders. About a million people had PD in 2017, costing the nation more than $51 billion. It is expected that more than 1.6 million will be living with PD by 2037.Although symptoms and symptom severity vary among individuals, PD generally starts with a tremor in the hands or arms. Other early symptoms include:1) Bradykinesia—slowness of movement in which the patient feels like they’re glued to the ground or chair and it’s hard to get going; this progressively erases body language and facial expression.2) Rigidity—stiffness and jerkiness in movement.3) Posture and balance problems—instability, stooped stance, impaired gait.However PD is a relentlessly progressive disease of neurological deterioration. In its most advanced stage PD is totally disabling. It makes your legs so “frozen” and stiff that it’s impossible to walk or even stand. At this st…

Regular exercise usually increases vitality, but a lot of people just don’t have the energy or motivation to get started on an exercise program. Although different factors can be involved, such as low thyroid, inadequate nutrition, or trying to force yourself into a boring exercise routine, a 2013 study showed that genetics can encourage either a love of movement or for your favorite recliner. Fortunately, there are ways you can compensate for couch potato genes.Rats given running wheels usually put them to good use, but scientists observed that some rats choose to run more than others. They separated high voluntary exercising (HVE) rats from low voluntary exercisers (LVE), and bred them through ten generations to produce final generations of super-HVE and super-LVE rats. The primary differences found between the two groups had to do with genes that control the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain. The researchers believe that humans have similar genes that make them avid exercisers…

“Self care is really important in tough times, but I think we often get the self care wrong. We think it’s only about a nice bubble bath or a glass of wine alone, but the research shows that effective self care often looks a lot more like community care.” — Laurie Santos, PhDThe importance of friends and community is often omitted from discussions about self care, but apparently that’s changing. According to Well+Good, a website devoted to wellness, these troubled times of pandemic, hate-politics, and reckoning with our history of systemic racism have increased our need for reaching out to others for mutual support.Dr. Laurie Santos, PhD, a professor at Yale University, whose course, “The Science of Well-Being,” has been seen by nearly 3.5 million viewers since it went online in mid-March, cites research showing that relationships are a vital part of self-care, for example, buying gifts for others yields more happiness than buying things for oneself. The Well+Good a…

“When the going gets tough, the tough get going!”—a quote attributed to Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne—is great for those times when you want to pull out all the stops to meet a challenge and attain a worthwhile goal, but what about when every day is tough, and it keeps getting tougher?That’s life for a lot of us in the age of COVID. And when stress is unrelenting, it goes from being eustress—stress that’s challenging and beneficial, to distress—stress that wears you down and causes all kinds of disease.The challenge is to balance stress with relaxation; switching off the “fight or flight” mode, and switching on the recuperation mode.One problem is that our culture values and rewards the “fight or flight” mode far more, and most of us are even addicted to it. Our American culture teaches us that anyone can and should be “a winner” by trying harder and working smarter, so like caged rats on a running wheel we keep plugging away hoping to come out on top. Rarely are we encourage…

Years ago we heard an intriguing story. A frail, elderly gentleman in India, bent over with age, left his village to wander into the woods to die. Several years later he returned, vigorous, upright and tanned from the sun, claiming he had been rejuvenated by communing with the rocks, the trees, and the mountain streams.This story came out of Asia’s ancient tradition of nature therapy recently revived in Japan under the name of shinrin-yoku, or “forest bathing.” Forest bathing is immersing yourself in a forest environment. This means leaving your cell phone and daily concerns behind and spending several hours deep in the woods, walking on trails or sitting with no other purpose than to experience your surroundings through all five senses: smelling the woodsy air; feeling the ground beneath your feet or the bark of a tree or the texture of a leaf; tasting a blackberry or wild mint; listening to bird calls and the sound of the wind rustling through the trees; and taking in the varied si…

When I first found the second-floor flat in San Francisco that I’ve called home for the past 25 years, I was thrilled that it had a backyard and that I could see neighboring yards with trees and gardens as well as distant green hills from my back windows. I didn’t know then that scientists had begun investigating the benefits of nature and greenery to the human body and psyche. I just knew that looking out on or being in my backyard fed my soul.More recently, when a Chinese Massage (Chi Nei Tsang) therapist found my liver was tight and congested, she recommended a daily practice of looking at something living and green—as close as possible to the color of new grass—with my palm over my liver, and visualizing inhaling the color into my liver to soothe and heal it. Was it just my imagination or could I actually feel the color filling my liver, releasing and revitalizing it?As the world’s population has exploded, cramming more and more of us into crowded cities, we’re getting less and les…

Most of us spend a lot of energy avoiding uncomfortable feelings. Why on earth should we welcome them?Well, for one thing, suppressing anger, guilt, envy, fear, shame, grief and other painful feelings doesn’t really work; the more we try to numb them, the more demanding they become, draining our energy and creating tension, stress and dis-ease!Another reason for welcoming feelings is that they convey information that’s helpful to hear and digest.Finally, the strategies we devise for suppressing them—our various addictions to food, drink, exercise, overwork, shopping, TV-watching, internet surfing, or just getting into our heads and losing touch with our body and senses—create additional problems.So how can we welcome our various feeling “guests,” even the unpleasant ones?Psychologist Abby Seixas, who recommends “befriending feelings,” says: “Befriending a feeling means neither indulging nor repressing, nor trying to manipulate it in any way.” Rather she recommends the following step…