. . . fish oils outperform statins and reduce the risk of a first-time heart attack by 35% The connection between fish oil and heart health has been studied for the past 40 years, and its many benefits for the cardiovascular system are well-documented. Our bodies need a whole host of nutrients every day to maintain health. If even one of these is absent or deficient long-term, disease is inevitable. For reasons discussed at length in The Roadmap to Choosing Supplements, both a very good diet AND high-quality supplements are necessary today to get all the nutrients we need. The reason fish oil has helped to correct heart disease is because it contains omega 3 fatty acids, and about 90% of our population is deficient in these essential fatty acids. The omega 3 fatty acids in fish oil protect our hearts in many different ways. First they are anti-arrhythmic. That means they counteract and prevent cardiac arrhythmias. Next they are antithrombotic, which means they “thin the blood” an…

. . . rutin in apples is a better blood-thinner than any medication We have always maintained that food is our best medicine. There’s one catch, however: it has to be real food, not the phony “food-like substances” that pass for food in today’s supermarkets. A couple of weeks ago, we reported that an Ohio State University study found eating an apple a day reduced LDL oxidation by 40% in just four weeks. Now here’s another benefit from eating apples: they’re high in rutin. What’s rutin? It’s a polyphenol, a close cousin of quercetin (like the quercetin in Cell Repair Formula), with some of quercetin’s properties. Like quercetin, rutin is an antioxidant with anti-inflammatory and anti-allergy ability, and it increases intracellular levels of vitamin C. And now a new study published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation has found that rutin works better than any of the anti-clotting drugs (like Coumadin) at blood thinning. Unlike any known medication, it prevents clots in both ar…

. . .  the most complete and potent antioxidant formula on the planet Oxidative damage is a primary cause of aging, premature aging and disease.  Our inflammatory diets, toxic environment and less-than-perfect health require high levels of antioxidants to maintain optimal health and prevent disease. Even more antioxidant protection is needed to reverse disease. Because there are different kinds of free radicals and other pro-oxidant compounds, an array of different kinds of antioxidants are needed for complete protection. Until now, antioxidant formulas have provided only lop-sided approaches, offering protection against one or more but not all sources of oxidation. Well, we’re very pleased and excited to introduce Age Defense Formula, the most complete and potent antioxidant product on the planet! Age Defense Formula is a balanced and synergistic formula that concentrates more than 30 different plant extracts — all organic and non-GMO, and all superior sources of antioxidants…

Forget diets. Forget New Year's resolutions.  You are building a new you, from the ground up, one healthy habit at a time. You endured the election.  You made it through Thanksgiving.  And, for the sake of argument, let's assume that the world doesn't end on December 21. Now what? What do you want your life to look like in 2013?  What do you want to accomplish?  What new habits do you want to develop?  What old habits do you want to let go of? About 40% of us make New Year's resolutions, and often they're a long list of radical changes that are very hard to make and even harder to sustain.  That's why after one week 25% of people making resolutions have already abandoned them, and by July 54% have given up. HERE'S A SUGGESTION: Instead of making a huge list of New Year's resolutions and demanding of yourself that keep them all from day one, why not take a gradual approach?  The Beyond Health Lifestyle is not like a diet or exercise program; it is a way of life.  And cha…

. . . tap water is a major source of toxicity today Spina bifida. Asperger’s syndrome. Tourette’s. Bipolar disorder. Organic brain dysfunction. Stillbirths. Miscarriages. Cancer. . . . could all these be caused by the water you use and drink every day? Alarmingly, the answer is yes! Most public drinking water is less toxic than it was at the marine corps base at Camp Lejeune, in Jacksonville, North Carolina, when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) declared it a Superfund clean-up site in 1989. But Lejeune’s problems may not be as atypical as you’d think. This past August, the Veterans Administration was required by law to reimburse members of the military and their dependents that lived so much as a month at Camp Lejeune from 1957-1987 and suffered problems like those above as a result of using and drinking Lejeune’s polluted tap water. Total costs are anticipated to be almost $4 billion over the next ten years. Civilian workers may be entitled to additional benefits un…

. . . But most of us can't get raw almonds anymore! Most food-calorie charts list an ounce of almonds as 165-170 calories. But a new, and more accurate, way of measuring calories has found that almonds provide only 129 calories per ounce, about 24% less. Published last August in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, this study used a way of measuring calories that takes into account the rigid structure of cell membranes in almonds that apparently locks in some fats and keep them from being digested. This same factor may mean that other nuts and plant foods are lower in effective calories than we’ve assumed. Last year, the same lab found that pistachios provide 6% fewer calories than had been thought. The problem with almonds, however, is that it’s far healthier to eat them raw, since heat damages their essential fatty acids. But it’s become impossible for most of us to get raw almonds. Most US almonds are grown in California. In 2007, the Almond Board of California (ABC)…

. . . or getting the most benefit from that vitamin D you're taking You may have heard that vitamin D is important and checked your multi to make sure it includes vitamin D. If it’s our multi, and you’re taking 2 tablets a day, you’re getting 800 IU of the highest quality vitamin D3 available. Noting that this is more than the Recommended Daily Allowance for most people, you may assume you’re getting enough. Or maybe you spend a lot of time in the sun during the summer months soaking up those vitamin-D producing UV rays. Again, you may assume your vitamin D blood levels are more than adequate. In both cases you may be wrong. Vitamin D experts recommend that you maintain a blood level of vitamin D in the upper-normal range, which would be 50 ng/mL or more on the 25(OH)D test. But in a 2006 study, Bischoff-Ferrari and colleagues found that 700-1,000 IU of vitamin D taken for eight weeks resulted in less than half of average healthy adults achieving 30 ng/mL. This is the low e…

. . . but have Monsanto et al. gone too far this time? A rider to a resolution that will fund the federal government through September 30 – critics call it the “Monsanto Protection Act” – is too much for even mainstream media like the New York Times and Bloomberg to stomach. This rider prevents federal courts from putting a stop to the sale and planting of genetically engineered (GE) food crops that the courts themselves have deemed possibly dangerous to public health while the USDA performs an environmental impact report. How could such a thing happen despite an avalanche of letters and emails from a public that opposed this rider? Well, as the Alliance for Natural Health points out, it has something to do with the nearly $90 million Monsanto and the agricultural industry contributed to political campaigns between 2011 and 2012. Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO), who introduced the rider, alone received $243,000 from agribiz PACs in 2010. Food Democracy Now! reports that the rider is…

. . . and are needed by every cell in your body for good health A recent study in the Journal of Bone Mineral Research done on postmenopausal women found being low in omega 3 fatty acids, as well as having an imbalanced ratio of omega 3s to omega 6 fatty acids, were predictive of hip fractures. When we talk about essential fatty acids, we are talking about two kinds of fat that the body can’t make on its own, so they must be consumed. They are essential because it’s impossible to live without them. These are the omega 3 fatty acids (normally associated with fish and flax oils) and the omega 6 fatty acids (normally associated with nuts, seeds, vegetable oils and animal fats). For optimal health, we need to consume enough of both, in roughly equal amounts. Unfortunately most people don’t get enough omega 3s – in fact research indicates that 20% of the US population has so little omega-3s in their blood that it can’t even be measured by standard tests. Instead of a healthy ratio of…

. . . 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 depos…

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…

. . . weak adrenals must be treated first Many of the symptoms of hypothyroidism are actually symptoms of low metabolic energy. According to Bruce Rind, MD, low metabolic energy is usually caused by hypothyroidism, adrenal insufficiency, or – most commonly – both. He criticizes most doctors for being quick to treat hypothyroidism but failing to address the adrenals. However, weak adrenals need to be treated first, before supplementary thyroid hormone is given. Rind asks us to think of the thyroid as generating energy while the adrenals need to be able to handle this energy. If the adrenals are weak, any increase in thyroid hormone will further deplete them. Whereas taking supplementary thyroid hormone (T4 and/or T3) may produce a temporary surge in energy and reduction in symptoms, it will sooner or later exhaust any reserves the adrenals may have, and in days, weeks or months, symptoms and low energy will return. On the other hand, it’s also possible that what seems to be hyp…

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…

. . . many are contaminated and/or rancid Most 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 and cod liver oil are 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 shoul…

Question: Although I have struggled with the extra 10 pounds for most of my life, now that I’m 42 years old and perimenopausal, I seem to be losing the battle. I’m now almost 20 pounds over my ideal weight.  I have dieted to lose weight in the past, but it has become more and more difficult to diet as I become older.  Please help! — Internet Answer:  As women enter middle-age, hormones are changing.  Hormonal issues and imbalances, involving adrenal and thyroid hormones as well as estrogen, progesterone and testosterone, that have existed for a long time can become more pronounced.  Sometimes new issues or imbalances begin. Whether longstanding or new, these problems can cause weight gain and interfere with attempts to lose weight. Fully implementing the lifestyle described in my book Never Be Fat Again is often enough to resolve hormonal issues and imbalances, however if you are implementing the lifestyle to the best of your ability and still feeling that weight loss is a str…

. . . and most Americans are extremely deficient in these fats There’s a lot more to optimal thyroid function than having enough thyroid hormone, and a recent study demonstrates this point. Rats supplemented with fish oil over about 3 months were compared with rats fed the same number of calories without fish oil. The fish oil-fed rats were leaner. They also had lower triglycerides and cholesterol. Although thyroid hormone levels were similar in the two groups, the activity of an enzyme involved in thermogenesis stimulated by thyroid hormone was higher in the fish oil group. Thus, fish oil optimizes the way thyroid hormone burns fat. In commenting on this study, Byron Richards, CCN, said it confirmed his clinical experience that fish oil, especially the DHA in fish oil, improves metabolism. He noted, however, that many times individuals need to get quite a lot before weight loss kicks in – sometimes as much as 2,000–3,000 milligrams of DHA a day. This is probably because most peo…

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…

. . . for a longer, higher-quality of life A double-blind, placebo-controlled study has found that ALCAR has a significant impact on improving and prolonging life for those with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. ALS destroys motor neurons. While patients continue to see, hear, feel, touch and taste, they gradually lose control of their movements leading to paralysis and eventually death, usually due to respiratory failure. Average survival time after diagnosis is 2-5 years, although 5% will live 20 years, and there are some who have managed to halt and even reverse the process. The only medication shown to have some effect on ALS, riluzole, may increase survival time, but only by a matter of 3-5 months. While ALS is a serious illness, remember that all disease is caused by deficiency and toxicity; therefore there is much you can do to remedy and possibly even reverse the situation by taking control of your health. ALCAR is called a “br…