In Never Be Sick Again, Raymond Francis refers to a healthy, 131-year-old man named Jose Maria Roa, living in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador. When asked if he’d ever been sick, Roa said well, yes, he’d had a few colds. A few colds in 131 years! Contrast Mr. Roa to the average person living today, who gets a few colds every year, and you begin to see how far we’ve come from healthy living. But some of us aren’t getting colds anymore. Nor do we fear Ebola. And we’re not poisoning ourselves with flu shots either. How do we do it? By keeping our immunity strong! The immune system is designed to recognize and clear pathogens from the body before they cause disease. If you give your body the nutrients it needs, protect it from toxins, get enough exercise and sleep, and minimize stress, you enable your immune system to work the way nature intended. One vitamin you must have in sufficient quantities for proper immune function is vitamin D. Vitamin D is critical to many immune func…

Feeling tired all the time? Cold intolerant? Depressed? Constipated? Losing your hair? Do you gain weight easily, or have muscle or joint pain, or are you forgetful and unable to concentrate? These are some of the major symptoms of hypothyroidism, a condition in which your thyroid gland is not producing enough thyroid hormone or not enough hormone is getting into your cells to do its job. If hypothyroidism is a problem for you, you may be surprised to learn that fluoride, which is dumped by the ton into much of our public water, was once used as a medication for deliberately suppressing thyroid function in cases of overactive thyroid. Why are we dumping a thyroid-suppressing drug into our public water?  Good question! Even the government’s National Research Council voiced concern about fluoride’s effects on the thyroid in a 2006 report. They found “clear evidence” that amounts of fluoride at or near levels added to US water present potential risks to the thyroid gland.…

When people get sick, their first concern is generally getting well so they can “get back to their lives.” But sometimes a serious illness catapults you into a whole new life you never could have imagined. Such was the case with our company founder and president, Raymond Francis. Three decades ago, Raymond had parlayed his MIT-education in engineering and chemistry into a career many would envy. As a corporate turnaround consultant and an expert in industrial quality and productivity, who was called in to make failing businesses profitable again, Raymond had established an impressive record of international success. He had even been called in to advise the governments of China and Fiji. However, a life-threatening illness changed all that. When doctors not only failed to help him, but only made things worse, he saw that getting well was going to be his greatest challenge yet. It would require digging deep into his reservoirs of strength and hope and working simultaneously on eve…

High-quality supplements are a pivotal part of Raymond Francis’s approach to getting well and staying well, and supplying them is a cornerstone of our business at Beyond Health. We believe that even if you eat an exceptionally healthy diet, high-quality supplements, especially a multivitamin, essential fatty acids extra vitamin C, and vitamin D if levels are tested and found to be low, are essential to maintaining optimal health. (For the many reasons why, see Raymond’s free report, The Roadmap to Supplements.) So we were pleased to read that Mark Hyman, MD, Director of the prestigious Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Functional Medicine, wholeheartedly agrees. The Cleveland Clinic is an academic medical center and a leader in research, education and health information in Cleveland, Ohio. It is rated the second best hospital in the country by US News & World Report, and #1 for heart care. Dr. Hyman himself is well-known for his best-selling books and many appearances on public te…

REPRINTED FROM BEYOND HEALTH® News by Raymond Francis ObamaCare has been passed and signed into law. While healthcare reform is desperately needed, is this the reform we need? The existing drugs-and-surgery approach to healthcare is a failure; it keeps people sick and costs high. ObamaCare traps us into this failed system and makes change even more difficult. This is not the reform we need, and it comes at a huge cost not only in dollars but in more government intrusion into our lives, loss of freedom and serious constitutional questions. ObamaCare is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, hoping it will keep us from sinking! Disease-care costs are out of control. Rapidly increasing and economically unsustainable, these costs threaten to bankrupt our governments and businesses. The unfunded liability for Medicare and Social Security alone is well over $100 trillion. There is no way this money can be paid without crippling taxation and confiscation of wealth (a…

. . . which is better? As you may know, we carry Kyolic AGE, so we’re often asked this question. The answer is that both forms of garlic are fantastic sources of health-promoting compounds; both are high in organosulfur compounds that do wonderful things in your body. Although the compounds are somewhat different in each, both AGE and raw garlic have abundant antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and help your body to detoxify and to prevent and possibly reverse the same wide range of health problems. In addition to the cardiovascular and neurological benefits described above, garlic, whether raw or aged, has immune boosting and antibiotic abilities and is active against worms, fungi (including candida albicans), bacteria (including helicobacter pylori), viruses, allergies and cancer. It helps build energy, endurance and the ability to withstand stress. Because it is anti-inflammatory, and because all chronic disease has an inflammatory component, it is useful in all chron…

. . . how peaches, plums and nectarines can keep us healthy Fresh, juicy, sweet and colorful . . . the “stone fruits”: peaches, plums and nectarines are one of my favorite things about summer. And scientists at Texas A&M have found that these delicious fruits possess certain compounds that work in different and synergistic ways to thwart heart disease, obesity and diabetes – together known as “metabolic syndrome.” A study presented at the American Chemical Society’s annual meeting last summer showed that four groups of phenolic compounds found in stone fruits – anthocyanins, chlorogenic acids, quercetin derivatives and catechins – have anti-obesity, anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic properties and may also reduce the oxidation of LDL (the “bad” cholesterol). (Cholesterol alone isn’t harmful; but when it is oxidized it leads to atherosclerosis and heart disease.) Each of the fruits has similar healthful compounds, but in differing proportions. The researchers recommended…

REPRINTED FROM BEYOND HEALTH® News By Raymond Francis Vitamin C is one of the most important molecules you can put into your body. Unfortunately, modern living has increased our need for vitamin C so that most of us are deficient and need to supplement. Tragically, most people are taking the wrong vitamin C. A number of manufacturers produce vitamin C with varying degrees of purity, and as you will see, purity is critical. Most of the vitamin C on the market is not what you should be taking. Most of us don’t think about the fact that supplement manufacturers can purchase vitamins in a range of different chemical forms and degrees of purity. The correct chemical forms, the forms that the body actually uses, coupled with the highest purity will give you the best results. Vitamins that are less pure and/or in incorrect forms may give you few or no results at all. Some vitamins are even known to have negative effects. The correct chemical forms cost more to manufacture and numerou…

by Raymond Francis Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) save energy and money. An Energy Star qualified CFL uses at least 2/3 less energy than a regular light bulb (called an incandescent) and lasts up to 10 times longer. It will save you about $30 in energy costs over its lifetime. And CFLs offer significant benefits for the environment. If every American home replaced just one incandescent with an Energy Star CFL, it would reduce greenhouse gases as much as taking nearly 800,000 cars off the road. It all sounds wonderful. You can benefit the environment and your own pocketbook at the same time, and what could be simpler than screwing in a light bulb! But using CFLs responsibly isn’t always so simple, and consumers aren’t getting the message that learning how to properly use and dispose of CFLs is crucial. Inside every CFL, there is an average of 4 mg of the deadly neurotoxin mercury. If the bulb is broken, either in your home, on its way to the garbage dump, or at the d…

. . . freshly squeezed morning orange juice? It’s so passe´! A new study from Harvard has confirmed what Raymond Francis has been saying for years – moderate consumption of whole fruit is good; fruit juice, on the other hand, floods your bloodstream with too much sugar, which has damaging effects. The Harvard researchers analyzed diet data from three mammoth studies that followed more than 180,000 nurses and other health professionals for about twenty years to look for correlations between fruit consumption and type 2 diabetes risk. It probably won’t surprise Newsclips readers to hear they found fruit consumption significantly associated with a lowered risk for developing type 2 diabetes, and fruit juice consumption associated with a higher risk. Interestingly, they found certain fruits a lot more beneficial than others in reducing diabetes risk, independent of their glycemic index. Of the ten fruits included in the study, blueberries were far and away the top performers, low…

by Raymond Francis Headlines are screaming, “Don’t Waste Your Money on Multivitamins.” The drug companies are at it again, and if you like propaganda and misinformation, you will love the latest nonsense coming out of the disease industry. Drug companies are waging a worldwide effort to discredit vitamins and to make them less available to the general public. In many places, including Europe, they are succeeding. Laws have been passed to limit access to vitamins. Their latest attack is a study, funded by Big Pharma, published in the December 2013 Annals of Internal Medicine. This study concluded that multivitamins are a waste of money and that they do nothing to prevent disease. Several recent studies have found that multivitamins do nothing to boost the average American’s health, offering few if any benefits. An estimated half of all Americans take vitamin and mineral supplements, and multivitamins amount to about half of all vitamin sales. The so-called experts behind this rese…

Question: What supplementation would you suggest for an athletic 11 year boy with asthma? — Internet Answer:You should pride yourself in recognizing that supplementation is needed for young athletes.I would recommend Beyond Health Multi-Vitamin, Cod Liver Oil, CoQ10, and vitamin C, D, and E. An active child should take additional Vitamin C to keep their immune system strong.I would recommend at least one tablet twice a day.To reverse inflammatory conditions (like asthma) we often recommend Vitamin C “to bowel tolerance.”Athletes also require extra antioxidants.CoQ10 is an antioxidant and would be beneficial to your son’s program.With his asthma, Beyond Health Vitamin E Formula and Cell Repair would also be excellent additions as they would bolster his immune system.As for Vitamin D, one multivitamin will give him 200 IU of Vitamin D and each teaspoon of Cod Liver Oil will give him additional 400 IU.A tablespoon plus the multivitamin would give him a substantial total of 1,400…

. . . a month of gluttony encourages weight gain years later in Swedish study Thanksgiving can be the start of one long holiday eating binge that doesn’t end until the New Year. There seems to be an instinctive tendency to become less active and eat more mid-winter. Yielding to this urge as well as to all the goodies that surround us, we say, “Oh well, I may put on a few pounds during the holidays, but I’ll lose them once the holidays are over.” But pounds gained during the holidays may be harder to lose than we anticipate. A 2010 Swedish study found apparent long-term metabolic changes from a month of over-eating combined with lack of exercise. A group of healthy twenty-somethings of normal weight were asked to limit their physical activity to 5,000 steps per day (monitored by a pedometer) and substantially overeat (they ate about 70% more than usual, with an emphasis on fast food) for 4 weeks while a similar group continued eating and exercising as they normally would. The o…

REPRINTED FROM BEYOND HEALTH® News By Raymond Francis Most people who think they’re healthy are actually slowly declining toward serious health problems that, when they finally arrive, will seem to have come without warning. Most of us consider it normal to get sick several times a year, to use up our sick leave at work, or to occasionally miss a favorite gathering or activity because we’re feeling “a little under the weather.” This may be normal, but it isn’t how it’s supposed to be. The body’s natural state is homeostasis, where all systems are balanced and running smoothly. When in homeostasis, you can’t get sick, not even a cold. When properly supported, the body knows exactly how to maintain this healthy state. Ignore its basic needs for too long, however, and your body will let you know that it is not amused! You might be tapped on the shoulder with a little sniffle, a headache, indigestion, a cough, or some aches and pains. (We have drugstore aisles full of pills to…

REPRINTED FROM BEYOND HEALTH® News by Raymond Francis Our children need our protection. As more people come to the realization that vaccinations are dangerous and ineffective, those who “look after our health” are becoming desperate and turning to the police power of the government to force vaccinations on the public. Most of you may be familiar with the recent TV images of people being forced, virtually at gunpoint, to vaccinate their children in New Jersey. In truth, under existing law, no one can force you to have a vaccination, but that may change if we are foolish enough to let it happen. New Jersey may be on the way to becoming the first state to make childhood vaccination a legal requirement. Parents who refuse to vaccinate their children would become criminals subject to arrest and imprisonment. Then there is the spectacle of the New York pediatrician, Dr. Mark Nesselson, who conspired with families to get their children into school without being vaccinated. Dr. Nes…

Question: I have celiac disease and I have been off of gluten for almost a year.  I have been very careful about avoiding gluten.  Unfortunately, I still have lots of symptoms and my doctor has no suggestions.  Do you have any suggestions? H. A. – Chapel Hill, NC Answer:   There exists today a pandemic of bowel disease that sometimes manifests as celiac disease (gluten intolerance).  As you are surely aware, celiac can be quite serious, but it is usually controlled by carefully avoiding the gluten found in grains such as wheat, rye, barley, and oats. There are many contributing factors to the development of celiac disease including our excessive consumption of wheat, our poor diets, and our consumption of chlorinated drinking water.  However, the most important cause of bowel diseases may be the irrational use of antibiotics by our physicians.  Antibiotics damage the natural balance of the bacteria in our digestive systems, causing overgrowth of abnormal flora, disrupting gut…

Question: I have cervical dysplasia.  Do you have any suggestions as to how I can help myself? B.T. – Tarrytown, NY Answer:   Cervical dysplasia is abnormal cells found in the cervix, usually leading to cervical cancer.  It can be caused by infection or physical trauma, but is usually the result of estrogen dominance.  As mentioned above, this can be caused by the excess estrogen you consume in meat and dairy products.  However, there is another reason for estrogen dominance – the consumption of environmental chemicals called xenoestrogens.  Xenoestrogens are chemicals that have a different chemical structure than estrogen, but they have the ability to attach to estrogen receptor sites on cells and provide an estrogen effect.  Xenoestrogens are everywhere in our environment, so you must make an effort to avoid them.  These include pesticides, phthalates and bisphenol-A. These xenoestrogens are fat-soluble molecules.  They build up in your body with time.  The best way to get r…

REPRINTED FROM BEYOND HEALTH® News by Raymond Francis A pandemic of chronic and degenerative disease is sweeping our country—diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, arthritis, Alzheimer’s are all out of control. Even our children are sick, so sick that they are not expected to live as long as their parents and average life expectancy is expected to decrease. The largest single cause of this human tragedy is—malnutrition. In the best-fed country in the world, malnutrition is our leading cause of disease. Given the reality of today’s nutritionally- depleted foods, one of our biggest fallacies is the myth that you can get all the nutrients you need by eating a so called “balanced diet.” Foods no longer contain what we need for good health. Depleted soils, resulting from intensive farming, the use of artificial fertilizers, and poor crop rotation practices plus premature harvesting, long transit times to market, processing and other factors, have dramatically re…