Allergy season is upon us, and New York Times reporter Tara Parker-Pope, who’s been covering the pandemic for the Times, wrote an article to help her readers distinguish between garden variety respiratory allergies and COVID. We thought our readers might also like some added clarity on the differences between the two. Here’s what she said:1. If you generally have allergies in the spring, are your symptoms the same as always? If they’re different, especially if you’re getting sicker or have had a potential COVID exposure, get tested. 2. Although typical allergy symptoms—sneezing, a runny nose and itchy eyes—can occur with COVID, that’s generally not how it starts. COVID can start in different ways, but dry cough, fever, fatigue and loss of sense of smell are four common symptoms. Unlike flu, which typically comes on fast, COVID symptoms may emerge over several days. It often starts with fatigue or a minor cough.3. COVID symptoms that aren’t common allergy symptoms include chest tig…

PFAS (per- and profluoroalkyls) are a group of toxic man-made chemical compounds used in a variety of non-stick, water-repellent, and grease and stain-resistant applications. Detrimental to just about every body organ, they’ve been associated with a host of diseases including weakened immune function, cancer, and developmental problems in children.Unfortunately, PFOA, the best known of the PFAS, is found in just about all Americans, and has a half-life in humans of about four years. After a lot of bad press, PFOA and its close cousin, PFOS, were banned by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), so their levels in our bodies are going down. But they’re being rapidly replaced by new PFAS that, according to environmental advocacy organization, the Environmental Working Group (EWG), are just as bad. No level of PFAS is desirable in the human body. And since there doesn’t seem to be any way to facilitate their removal (even sweating in an infrared sauna didn’t help to…

Disease has two basic causes: nutritional deficiency and toxicity. We’ve talked a lot about strengthening immunity with nutrients like vitamins A, C and D; minerals like zinc and selenium; and fats like the omega-3 fatty acids. But protecting your cellular machinery from toxins that gum up the works is just as important.A case in point is a group of toxic, man-made chemicals called PFAS (per- and profluoroalkyls), the best-known of which, PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid), is the key ingredient in Teflon-coated pots and pans. But PFAS have many other applications and are used in a variety of non-stick, stain-resistant and water-repellent coatings in everything from rugs and upholstery to pizza cartons and dental floss. PFAS are harmful to nearly every human organ and cause or contribute to all kinds of disease. Arthritis, cancer, asthma, allergies, hormone abnormalities—particularly reproductive and thyroid issues, obesity, high blood pressure, increased cholesterol, heart disease, liver…

Heavy metals, like lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic, are one of our biggest health problems. Used to manufacture many common products, they’re now found throughout our air, water and food. Virtually all of us harbor toxic heavy metals in our bodies.Heavy metals bioaccumulate, so even small exposures add up over time, triggering problems like heart disease, thyroid disease, dementia, neurological disease and birth defects. Tiny amounts of mercury have been shown to damage the brain of a developing fetus or child.Heavy metals cause problems by displacing other minerals needed for essential body functions. For example, cadmium can replace zinc in key enzymes, causing those enzymes to malfunction so critical biological functions can’t be performed.Many physicians use chelation to remove heavy metals—a “chelating agent” is ingested that binds with heavy metals and carries them out of the body through urine and/or feces. Chelation therapy is especially recommended, and has often been a “m…

A primary concern that prompted Beyond Health's mission to improve the health of the American people was that he feared our epidemic of chronic disease would bankrupt our economy.Nowhere is this concern more justified than in the case of Alzheimer’s disease. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, in 2021, 6 million Americans have Alzheimer’s, one out of every three seniors dies with the disease or another dementia, and dementias will cost the nation $355 billion, including $239 billion in Medicare and Medicaid payments combined. Without a major scientific breakthrough, by 2050 the Association projects there will be 13 million Alzheimer's patients, costing more than $1.1 trillion (in 2021 dollars) annually.Yet, as we have described previously, Dr. Dale E. Bredesen at UCLA, who was influenced by Raymond and his two causes-six pathways theory of disease, has shown that Alzheimer’s is preventable and reversible if treated early enough and addressing multiple factors that may be involved…

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to soaring rates of depression in the US. A study in JAMA Network Open found that the number of people reporting depressive symptoms has tripled compared with pre-pandemic levels, with more than 25% of our population now affected. Indeed depression has become a second pandemic.Depression is more than being unhappy. Its symptoms include a hopeless outlook and thoughts of suicide; feelings of worthlessness and guilt; a loss of interest in life and in things that used to provide pleasure and comfort; trouble concentrating, deciding and remembering; increased fatigue and sleep problems; anxiety and irritability; unwanted gain or loss of weight; uncontrollable, roller-coaster emotions; and sometimes unexplained physical pain. It often leads to substance abuse, which, although a temporary escape, makes the depression worse. Although the researchers in the above study found increased stress leading to depression at all income levels and in all demograph…

“I believe that inflammation is at the basis of virtually every disease process.” – Nicholas Perricone, MDTake a deep breath. Fill your lungs with one of Mother Nature’s most precious gifts: oxygen! There is no life without oxygen. But oxygen can also be dangerous. Every chemical process that involves oxygen—and there are many in the human body, including extracting energy from food and attacking and killing pathogenic viruses and bacteria, and many outside the human body, including fire and rust—creates oxidative byproducts. Like the embers of a fire, these byproducts need to be quenched by antioxidants. It’s a matter of balance. In terms of Chinese medicine, oxygen is Yang—the active, heating, energizing force, while antioxidants are Yin—the restful, cooling, restorative force. We need both, but in the modern world we are getting too much Yang, not enough Yin. The body is not repairing itself from oxidative damage as it should, and this produces inflammation…

With COVID, its variants, and in light of future viral epidemics or even pandemics down the road, air purification has taken on new importance. For many years, Beyond Health sold Austin Air Purifiers, and we still recommend them as our choice among the air purifiers available today.Recently we received some news from Austin about a new German study by a team of researchers from Goethe University in Frankfurt on using HEPA air filtration in classrooms as a way to keep students and teachers safe from the COVID virus. This study has relevance for anyone concerned about the spread of viruses in enclosed spaces. It has become increasingly clear that the main method of transmission for COVID-19 is airborne. Tiny particles of the virus are aerosolized when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or even talks. These aerosolized droplets have the ability to travel significant distances and can remain suspended in the air, even after the infected person has left the room.A person with COVID-19 is…

There’s been an explosion of research in the past couple of decades on the relationship between gut microbiota (the 3½-4 pounds of microscopic critters that live inside our intestines, especially the bacteria in our colons) and health. One surprising finding is that these colonic microbes have a considerable influence on our ability to deal with stress and anxiety.New challenges posed by the COVID pandemic have made it all the more important to maintain stress resiliency—the ability to roll with the punches and deal with stress and anxiety in a healthy way. Like most health resources, at Beyond Health we’ve often recommended “stress reduction” practices, like meditation, exercise, and simple things like enjoying music or nature to reduce the impact of stress. But an equally powerful way to increase stress resilience is by making sure you have good bacteria in your colon!There is a complex bi-directional communication system between gut microbiota and the brain called the “gut-brain ax…

Uterine fibroids (UFs) are non-cancerous tumors that grow in the uterus. About 70% of the female population will get one or more during their reproductive years. Sometimes, but not always, they shrink after menopause. Many women don’t even realize they have them, but about a third of women with UFs seek medical help for problems they cause.If UFs grow too big, and/or are in the wrong place, they can interfere with urinary or gastrointestinal systems, putting pressure on the bladder or rectum and causing frequent urination, constipation and/or rectal pain. They can also cause reproductive problems: infertility, miscarriage, difficult deliveries, irregular periods, mild tosevere menstrual cramping and pain, heavy bleeding sometimes leading to anemia and pain during sex. UFs can cause lower back or abdominal pain. Finally, a large fibroid can just be uncomfortable and make you look pregnant.It isn’t known exactly why UFs develop and grow—estrogen, progesterone, stress, diet and toxins se…

Our gut microbiomes—those 3-5 pound communities of bacteria and other bugs that live in our intestines—have recently been under siege by modern diets high in sugar and low in fiber, antibiotics and other drugs, and environmental toxins. But even when diets were much healthier and environments far cleaner, traditional cuisines included probiotic foods that bolstered gut health.Sauerkrauts, pickles, yogurt, kefir, miso, and many other fermented/cultured foods supplied our ancestors with healthy microflora (probiotics) at 10-20 billion live and healthy organisms daily. Indeed, our bodies evolved to live in a healthy, symbiotic relationship with microbes. These helpful bugs that we call probiotics have been with us since time immemorial, protecting and enhancing our resilience and resistance by competing for space inside our bodies with any harmful pathogens to which we might become exposed, thus preventing them from becoming established and proliferating. Revered physicians throughout hi…

Excessive amounts of salt in the diet damages healthy bacteria living in our intestines and leads to high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, and fatigue.But we need some salt. If you perspire, whether it's from exercising, using a sauna, or living in a hot climate, you can lose too much sodium and other minerals in your sweat causing serious consequences, even death. People with weak adrenals often don’t retain enough salt leading to excessively low blood pressure, so they need extra salt.According to Mark Kurlansky, author of Salt: A World History, humans began to include salt in their diets once crops were cultivated and grains introduced. Salt mobilizes enzymes that help to digest grains and balance their acidity with alkalinizing minerals. (Unless it’s conventional salt, stripped of its natural minerals, in which case it will only increase the acidifying effect of eating grains. More about that later.)The problem is most people are getting too much salt, and it’s…

As scientists study the trillions of bugs, most of them bacteria, living in our intestines—known as the “gut microbiome,” they’re finding that this 3-5 pound community of microbiota has important roles in just about everything that goes on in our bodies. Some scientists are even saying our microbiota may be more important than our genes in determining our health or lack thereof.Recently, they’ve discovered that gut microbiota are intimately involved in determining blood pressure.It’s well-known that excessive salt intake isn’t good for the heart and has been associated with elevated blood pressure. Studies done in the last few years indicate that it’s how salt influences the microbiome that ultimately affects blood pressure. A 2017 study found that when either mice or humans ate too much salt, good bacteria in the gut started disappearing while pro-inflammatory immune cells called TH-17 cells started to rise; and as they did, they raised blood pressure. But when probiotics were give…

One of the best ways to support your immunity during the COVID pandemic is to make sure you’re getting enough vitamin D. Experts maintain that 30ng/ml on the blood test for measuring vitamin D is the minimum required for health, while 50-60 ng/ml is often considered optimal.More than 200 leading authorities on vitamin D and other health professionals recently signed an open letter on the internet addressed to “all governments, public health officials, doctors, and healthcare workers,” that called for greater use of vitamin D in the fight against COVID-19.Noting that “Research shows low vitamin D levels almost certainly promote COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths” the letter calls for immediate widespread increased vitamin D intakes to achieve at least 30 ng/mL (75 nmol/L) including hospitalized COVID-19 patients.The letter cites vitamin D’s particular relevance to COVID:“Vitamin D modulates thousands of genes and many aspects of immune function, both innate and adaptive.…

It only makes sense to do whatever we can to strengthen our immune systems during the continuing COVID pandemic, and one of the best ways to do that is by supporting a thriving and varied population of beneficial bacteria in our intestines.More than 2/3 of immune cells are located in the gut, where they work synergistically with up to trillions of beneficial bacteria to support immunity.Beneficial gut bacteria activate and support almost every aspect of both innate and adaptive immunity. They increase production of and activate macrophages (the first responder immune cells that literally have pathogens for breakfast—they engulf and devour them) natural killer cells, messenger cells (cytokines), B-cells and T-cells; and they strengthen the gut lining; modify the immune system so it doesn’t overreact and cause too much inflammation; improve absorption of many nutrients; and produce their own natural antimicrobial substances. One of these, acidophilin, is more powerful than pharmaceutica…

What’s the difference between people who contract the COVID virus and have either a mild respiratory illness or no symptoms at all and those who need to be hospitalized and develop multiple organ failures? One Korean researcher has recently reviewed accumulating evidence pointing to poor gut health as a possible explanation.Professor Heenam Stanley Kim of Korea University cites recent studies showing that those patients who go on to develop severe COVID—the elderly and those with certain chronic health conditions—have one thing in common: they are both likely to have altered gut bacteria (a lack of bacterial diversity and an unfavorable ratio of harmful to beneficial bacteria—a situation called “gut dysbiosis”) and a “leaky gut.”A healthy gut has a lining composed of cells tightly packed together (called “tight junctures”) and a thick layer of mucous. Such a lining allows only beneficial substances to pass through the gut wall into the bloodstream. The rest gets excreted. But certa…

A large proportion of our society (36.9% at last estimate) now suffers from “metabolic syndrome.” Metabolic syndrome, which greatly increases the risk of developing heart disease, diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), is defined as having at least three of the five following conditions:abdominal obesity (waist circumference greater than 102 cm in men or 88 cm in women)high blood pressure (systolic blood pressure at least 130 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure at least 85 mm Hg or taking hypertension medications)high blood sugar(fasting plasma glucose level at least 100 mg/dL or taking diabetes medications)high triglycerides (greater than 150 mg/dL)low levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL), the “good” cholesterol (less than 40 mg/dL in men or less than 50 mg/dL in women)Epidemiological studies link fructose found in table sugar (a combination of fructose and glucose) and high fructose corn syrup with metabolic syndrome, but it’s been hard to prove causality. Obesity…

Uncontrolled diabetes increases risk for severe illness with COVID-19. If you are diabetic, or pre-diabetic, your doctor may have recommended taking metformin to lower your blood sugar.There is almost always a better natural alternative to pharmaceutical medications, and metformin is no exception. According to renowned alternative doctor Jonathan W. Wright, MD, berberine, a botanical found in plants like goldenseal, barberry and Oregon grape, can do everything metformin can do with far fewer side effects.Like many pharmaceuticals, metformin has its origins in botanical medicine; it is derived from goat’s rue, also known as French lilac. Like berberine, metformin activates AMPk (5' adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase), an extremely powerful enzyme in every cell in the body that’s been called the “youthinizing enzyme.” AMPk is a “master regulating switch” for energy metabolism. Want more energy? Boost your AMPk! Want to reduce body fat, especially belly fat? Boost your AMPk…