OverviewWhy Beyond Health Olive Oil? For those who have asked this question, the answer lies in Beyond Health’s mission: To improve the health of the American people by supplying cutting-edge health education and carefully researched, world class, health supporting products. Toward this end, Beyond Health searches for the highest-quality products and makes them available to the public—all in one place. This is a unique and valuable service, and selecting healthy olive oil is just one example of that service. The health benefits of olive oil are well established, which is why I recommend it. The challenge is to find real olive oil.The world is awash in phony food products. For example, new genetic tests indicate that 77 percent of the fish sold in the U.S. as red snapper consists of other illegally mislabeled species. The problems with olive oil are far worse. A 1996 study by the FDA found that 96 percent of the extra virgin oils they tested had been adulterated with cheap, infe…

A major reason we slow down as we age is that we’re carrying around a lifetime’s accumulation of toxins. When toxins coming in exceed our ability to detoxify and eliminate them, they get stored in our fat cells and in our liver. Toxins can remain for years—often a lifetime. These stored toxins constitute a “toxic load,” stealing our energy, compromising liver and immune functions, damaging DNA, and exerting other harmful effects. Lightening your toxic load will make you feel a lot younger, more energetic and just BETTER. In addition, toxicity is one of the two causes of disease (the other being nutritional deficiency). So the more you detoxify, not only the better you’ll feel today, the more disease you’ll prevent in your future! Of course, it’s best to avoid toxins as much as you can in the first place . Raymond Francis, Beyond Health’s founder, wrote at length in his books about how to avoid toxins in food, water, supplements, medications, h…

. . . a winning combinationGlucosamine sulfate is known for being as effective as NSAIDS in addressing the pain of arthritis, but without the negative side effects. A few years ago a German study found that adding fish oil led to an even greater pain reduction in moderate to severe hip and knee osteoarthritis over taking glucosamine sulfate alone.This result shouldn't surprise anyone who knows that inflammation causes pain, and that a deficiency in omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil is a primary cause of chronic inflammation. (And almost all of us are deficient in omega-3s.) Glucosamine sulfate also has anti-inflammatory properties, but it's best known for rebuilding joints, which heals the fundamental cause of the pain.It usually takes glucosamine 4-6 weeks to have its full effect on pain levels. This is because it works by rebuilding the joint rather than artificially suppressing pain. But give our Joint Support Formula (containing glucosamine sulfate) and Fish Oil Formula some ti…

Halloween can be a special holiday for families. Carving pumpkins…making costumes…going to parties…trick-or-treating—even playing an occasional prank.But like most holidays, it’s an unwelcome opportunity to turn healthy eating on its head. Whether it’s tempting your sugar cravings…eating more than your body needs…or caving in to unreasonable expectations of the season and an undisciplined American mainstream, Halloween will test your resolve for making wise food choices for both you and your kids.But if you want to stay the course on living disease-free, it’s important to take a proactive approach to nutrition during these—or any other—holiday festivities.By failing to plan, you’re planning to failThe old adage applies quite well in this case. To help you increase your family’s chances of thriving—instead of just surviving—through the Halloween treat temptations, we’d like to offer some simple healthy Halloween tips to help you and your kids stay on-track with your healthy-eating goals…

Introduction: Discover the intricate relationship between adrenal health and hypothyroidism, and why addressing adrenal insufficiency is paramount for restoring vitality and well-being.Insightful Analysis: Many symptoms attributed to hypothyroidism are actually indicative of low metabolic energy, often stemming from a combination of hypothyroidism and adrenal insufficiency. Dr. Bruce Rind emphasizes the significance of prioritizing adrenal health before administering supplementary thyroid hormone.Understanding the Dynamics: Visualize the thyroid as a generator of energy and the adrenals as regulators of this energy flow. Weak adrenals cannot effectively manage increased thyroid hormone levels, leading to further depletion and eventual resurgence of symptoms.Holistic Solutions: Explore holistic approaches to support adrenal function, starting with stress management and dietary adjustments. Discover the restorative power of adaptogenic herbs like Rhodiola rosea, Magno…

. . . five of the biggest drug industry lies debunkedRecent media accounts condemning the integrity of supplements are nothing new.The FDA, Big Pharma, and their cronies in the news media have spent years making sure you—the consumer—remain confused and frustrated about using supplements for preventing and reversing disease.So, we decided to expose five of the most blatant lies told by the drug industry. These cover-ups, half-truths, and untruths covertly inflate the benefits of prescription drugs and downplay the value of nutritional supplements. We hope you see through their big lies long enough to restore your faith in the integrity of supplements…and your health.BIG LIE #1. Drug industry claims ‘no conflict of interest’. The FDA and Big Pharma have repeatedly teamed up in clinical trials to condemn life-enhancing supplements. Yet, they push through approval of dangerous—but very profitable—prescription drugs. How? By appointing former drug industry executives to FDA advisory commit…

. . . fatigue and exercise intolerance found common with statinsAlthough most labels on statin drugs list fatigue as a possible side effect, they give the impression that it’s rare. However, a new double-blind, placebo-controlled study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine has found that both decreased energy and fatigue with exertion are significantly greater in those who take statins. The strength of this effect correlated with the degree of cholesterol reduction and was greater in women than in men. The effects also correlated with reduced physical activity and exercise intolerance.More than 1,000 adults (men over the age of twenty, and women past menopause) were given either 20 mg Zocor or 40 mg Pravachol daily or a placebo for 6 months. People with heart disease or diabetes were excluded, but all subjects had LDL levels from 115 to 190 mg/dL. They were asked to rate their “energy level” and “fatigue with exertion” on a 5-point scale at the beginning and at the end of the…

If you’re someone who thinks you don’t have to worry about getting a heart attack because your cholesterol levels are within the desired range, think again. Half of those who’ve had a heart attack had exemplary cholesterol levels at the time! A much more meaningful number to be aware of and to control is your level of oxidized LDL cholesterol, and a new test can tell you that all-important number.     LDL (low-density lipoprotein), sometimes referred to as the “bad” cholesterol, can’t cause heart attacks or strokes unless it becomes oxidized.  While doctors have been measuring LDL for a long time, it’s only been recently that a test that measures oxidized LDL has become widely available.  Chemically, oxidation occurs when an electron is stolen from a molecule by a “pro-oxidant.” Oxidation can become quite damaging in our bodies if it isn’t balanced by the presence of compounds called “antioxidants,” which supply missing electrons and protect molecules…

Bisphenol A (BPA) could be a poster child for the Precautionary Principle—the principle that synthetic chemicals should be proved safe before they are allowed to come into commercial use. Now that BPA is found just about everywhere and in everyone (see above article), it has been implicated in a host of dysfunctions and diseases.But there’s some good news. Scientists have been exploring various nutrients which may be able to limit BPA’s harmful biological effects and/or assist the body in breaking down and excreting this estrogenic compound. Fortunately these include many of the nutritional “good guys” Beyond Health has been recommending for years.Green and Black TeaOne way in which BPA harms body tissues is through oxidative stress—it reportedly has effects similar to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). However in two laboratory studies, extracts from both green tea and black tea were able to mitigate these effects and protect cells from oxidative damage. Green tea also stimulates glucuronidat…

IntroductionLet’s face it. Even when the stress of the holidays end, stress continues to be a major aspect of modern life at any time of the year, and those who learn to deal with stress effectively enjoy a huge advantage. Developing resilience and stress-resistance, although no small feat, is possible by taking a pro-active approach to cultivating physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.A program of regular exercise is central to such an approach. Unfortunately, committing to regular exercise is challenging, and only a minority sticks with it over time. Maybe looking at the ways that exercise promotes stress-resistance will strengthen your resolve to begin a program of regular exercise or stick with one you’ve already begun.According to Timothy Church, exercise researcher and professor of preventive medicine at Louisiana State University, when you exercise, your nervous system makes a shift from the sympathetic mode (the stressful mode) to the parasympathetic mode (the restf…

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 prevent and curb every…

. . . new research finds connection between a healthy gut and cruciferous greensA startling discovery has, in the words of one of the researchers involved, “thrown open a completely new way of looking at gut biology.” Certain immune cells that protect the digestive tract from bad bacteria may be controlled by green, cruciferous vegetables in the diet.Dr. Gabrielle Belz and her colleagues have found that a gene called T-bet is responsible for the production of these gut-protective immune cells, called innate lymphoid cells (ILCs). The T-bet gene, in turn, is influenced by both bacteria in our gut and by what we eat. Specifically, proteins in green, cruciferous vegetables (like broccoli, beet greens, chard, watercress, bok choy, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and kale) apparently switch the T-bet gene on and may also assist it in producing ILCs.ILCs can be found in the digestive tract lining, where they can certainly be very handy. ILCs help maintain a healthy gut by promoting the good gut m…

. . . new research explains how man’s best friend protects kids from allergies and asthmaDogs have the unique ability to enhance our well-being by providing companionship and security.While the emotional benefits of owning a pet—particularly dogs—is well-established, previous research shows early exposure to dogs reduces a child’s risk of developing asthma and allergies later on. Now, a new study reveals just why that may be.A team of scientists—led by Susan Lynch, PhD, associate professor at the University of California San Francisco—has demonstrated that living with a dog can improve the diversity of bacteria in house dust—and thus a stronger immune response to these allergens.In the study, researchers collected dust from homes that had a dog, and fed it to pre-adult mice. Then, they infected the mice with a common childhood infection called respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).Compared to mice not exposed to any dust, as well as those exposed to dust from homes without dogs, the mice w…

Inflammation is natural to your body - but only to a point. The presence of infection catalyzes this process, which helps your body fight off this intruder and encourages healing. However, your body can also develop chronic inflammation - also called "silent" inflammation due to its abnormal or lack of symptoms. This pattern puts your immune system into overdrive and causes your body's own inflammatory process to go after your organs and tissues. This combination can contribute to a range of inflammatory conditions, from arthritis and heart disease to cancer and Alzheimer's disease. If you've been battling inflammation, learn more about how it develops, and ways you can reduce it naturally.What Is Inflammation?Bacteria, viruses, toxic substances and injuries all instigate the inflammatory process. Your immune system becomes alert, deploying inflammatory cells and cytokines as its defenses. Your body, in response, may experience redness, pain and swelling. These sensations indicate that…

Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization, has a grim prognosis for our future: “Antimicrobial resistance is on the rise . . . [As antibiotics lose their effectiveness a] post-antibiotic era means, in effect, an end to modern medicine as we know it. Things as common as strep throat or a child’s scratched knee could once again kill. Some sophisticated interventions, like hip replacements, organ transplants, cancer chemotherapy, and care of preterm infants, would become far more difficult or even too dangerous to undertake.”Well, we aren’t as gloomy about a post-antibiotic era. For all the good they’ve done, antibiotics as we’ve known them have done a whole lot of damage to almost everyone’s intestinal probiotic population, harming immunity and paving the way for all kinds of disease. We need different kinds of antibiotics that don’t indiscriminately kill good and helpful microbes along with the bad, and that the bad bugs won’t build resistance to. Fortunately,…

Like bisphenol A (BPA), many endocrine disruptors are estrogen mimics, also known as xenoestrogens. These copycat estrogens add to your body’s estrogen load and lead to an increasingly common problem in women called “estrogen dominance.” Estrogen dominance is situation in which you have too much estrogen, particularly in relation to the hormone progesterone. Many women’s health issues, including fibrocystic breasts, uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts and hormone-related cancers are associated with estrogen dominance.Our main xenoestrogen exposure comes from pesticides (in produce, in the fat of conventionally raised animals, and in drinking water contaminated with pesticides) and plastics. A recent study found that almost all commercially available plastic products they sampled, including those advertised as BPA-free, leached chemicals having estrogenic activity.It is known that quercetin, a phytonutrient found in high amounts in onions (especially the outer layers) and cranberries; in le…

. . . 2 1/2 years later, the uncertainty about safer radiation levels continuesWhen we last reported, Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was still spewing radiation into the ground and water 16 months after the environmental catastrophe began. Now 30 months later, the situation appears to have gotten worse, instead of better.Fukushima is affecting the entire northern hemisphere, and its radioactive ocean plume is projected to reach US waters in 2014. Radioactive cesium has already been found in tuna caught off California in 2011, and seaweed in Southern California has measured 500 times more radioactive than seaweed elsewhere in the US. The US West Coast has borne the brunt of hot airborne particles with Seattle receiving radioactive fallout similar to Tokyo.The Fukushima nuclear disaster occurred on March 11, 2011, and was caused by a devastating tsunami triggered by an earthquake off the coast of Japan. Granted, it promised to be a challenge from the start. TEPCO of Japan—…

It seems like every day scientists discover more ways in which eating whole, unprocessed food prevents disease. For example, researchers at the University of Illinois recently found that when they fed the fiber pectin (found in whole fruit, especially apples, citrus and plums) to mice, it greatly increased the mice’s ability to respond to an immune challenge. In other studies, getting adequate dietary fiber has been shown to lower cholesterol as well as the risk of heart disease, diabetes, diverticulosis and obesity, and to protect against cancer through a variety of mechanisms, including providing food for beneficial bacteria in the gut. In one study, women who increased their fiber intake to 30-35 grams a day and maintained it for a year reported 60% less constipation and 30% less heartburn.Yet the modern diet minimizes whole foods that provide fiber – fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, beans and legumes. As a result, although the U.S. Institute of Medicine recommends 28-35 gra…