Carnivore, herbivore or omnivore, it behooves us all to be locavores—people who buy food from local farms. Buying both local and organic is usually best the best option. This not only supports your health by consuming fresher food, it also supports your local economy and helps the environment. Buying locally is often a bargain for both consumer and farmer. The consumer may pay less by eliminating middlemen, and the farmer gets a fair return. According to the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), using conventional channels farmers get only an average of 20 cents for every dollar spent on food. They do much better selling direct. Local produce is fresher. Produce begins losing nutrient value within hours after it is harvested, and many vegetables and especially fruits are weeks and even months old before they reach outlets. Crops destined for shipping, especially fruit, are often picked before they’re ripe and never reach their maximum nutrient potential. According to one report,…

Is this the year you finally establish a regular exercise program? Exercise is the wonder drug par excellence. We can’t think of a single body system—whether it’s cardiovascular, digestive, neurological, musculoskeletal—you name it, that exercise doesn’t improve. It even makes the senses keener. Yet, only 20 percent of US adults meet the government’s exercise guidelines: 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity (or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise, or an equivalent combination) plus two sessions per week of muscle-strengthening activity. Want a free and easy way to find out how fit you are? Click here. The most convenient and efficient way we’ve found to exercise is rebounding. What's rebounding? Simply bouncing up and down on a specially constructed trampoline called a rebounder. There is no more efficient form of exercise, bar none, because it exercises every single cell in your body simultaneously. One or two 15-minute sessions a day will provide you with…

Slow Food, an anti-Fast Food movement that originated in Italy in the late 1980s, now has 1,500 Chapters in more than 150 countries and millions of members.Although Slow Food is about slowing down to enjoy good meals, it’s about a lot more. It asks of us to slow down from our fast-paced culture and take a good look at how crazy, unsustainable and inhumane our food system has become. And then to participate in changing it. Our relationship with food is being corrupted by the speed of modern life that forces many of us to grab “fast food” on the fly. It’s also being corrupted by agricultural, processing and distribution systems that devitalize, standardize and restrict our food options (for example, franchise restaurants that make one town look like every other) and are even changing the very nature of food.Conventional food today is much less nutritious (grown in nutrient-deficient soils) and more toxic (with pesticides and GMOs) than it was even decades ago. But more than that, vario…

Humans may have other species beat when it comes to doing higher mathematics, but where food choices are involved, wild geese proved to be significantly more intelligent.Consider this report from anti-GMO activist Jeffrey Smith’s important book, Seeds of Deception.An Illinois soybean farmer had been plagued by a neighboring flock of soybean-loving geese which habitually made a feast of his fields, reducing plant growth to almost a stubble.Unwittingly, genetic engineering helped him to solve this problem. One year, he planted part of one field with genetically modified soybeans. When the geese arrived for their usual feast, they completely ignored this portion of the field and ate only the conventional soybeans, leaving a distinct pattern of growth that showed where each type of soybean had been planted.This solved the problem of keeping the geese away, but it’s just like the refined flour that no bugs want to eat. What are these animals, who are obviously smarter than we are in certain…

Do you eat to live or live to eat? Neither could be called a healthy relationship with food. Eating to live—using food simply as fuel—takes the joy out of one of life’s great pleasures. On the other hand, giving food too much importance, either by living only for our next meal or obsessing lest we eat too much or eat the wrong things, isn’t a joyful or healthy relationship either.In a healthy relationship, we would look forward to our encounters with food. We would respond appropriately to our hunger cues by supplying ourselves with nourishing and tasty food (in the words of nutrition expert Mark Hyman, MD, “foods we love that love us back”), and we would eat until satisfied and no more. We would trust our body cues to maintain a weight that is perfect for us (although it might not conform to the latest fashion). But according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD), almost 10% of our population is struggling with one or more of the thre…

How do you get your family to adopt better health habits?  At Beyond Health we get this question a lot, especially from people who’ve read one of Raymond Francis’s books and have become convinced they want to make some major changes in their lifestyle.  Here are some ideas. First, make time to talk with your spouse or other adult members of the family about your family’s health and what you’ve been learning. They may be “ripe for the picking” and enthusiastic about your ideas. Or they may be ready to make some changes, and not others. You may be excited about going raw and vegan; they may want hot, cooked meals for dinner. You may want to refuse vaccinations for your children; they may want to do more research first before taking such an unpopular stance. Encourage them to empower themselves by reading Raymond Francis’s book The Great American Health Hoax, so it’s not just you who’s supplying information. The Maintenance List chapter alone is worth the price of the boo…

Is your liver taking a beating? Are you an artist, painter or printer, or do you work in a dry cleaning establishment or photocopy shop? If so, you’re exposed to liver-damaging volatile organic solvents daily. Other types of jobs involve different unavoidable and heavy toxic exposures. Bicycle commuting in traffic exposes you to an unhealthy dose of air pollutants. Or do you have a liver disease like hepatitis, cirrhosis, alcohol or drug-induced liver disease, or elevated liver enzymes? (a test your doctor can give you to see if your liver is breaking down) Liver damage/disease are no fun. Fatigue, digestive problems, allergies and frequent colds, flu and other infections; rashes; various aches, pains and other discomforts; mood swings and an inability to deal with stress are just some of the unpleasant consequences of liver overload and disease. Liver Care is a carefully formulated blend of synergistic nutrients in their purest, most bioavailable forms, and includes the liv…

As 2014 ends, we’re celebrating the three exceptional products in our Basic Wellness Kit: our Vitamin C (powder and tablets), Multi-Vitamin, and EFA (Essential Fatty Acids) Formula. All of these products are best-sellers with good reason. Each is critical to health, and each product stands head and shoulders above similar products in quality and results. Beyond Health Vitamin C We call vitamin C “the most miraculous molecule you can put into your body.” Of its more than 300 functions in the human body, perhaps most important is its role as a key antioxidant, able to interact with and regenerate most of the other antioxidants, including glutathione. C is critical for maintaining body tissues for younger looking skin, supple joints, healthy blood vessels, and strong bones. Our immune system cannot function without it, and vitamin C also supports the adrenal glands, especially during stress, and removes heavy metals and other toxins from the body. Yet most people get far less than…

A friend of ours recently took an over-the-counter medication for intestinal gas. The results were amazing, and not in a good way. Although she got minor relief, it was followed by a splitting headache, and that night she had horrible, violent nightmares. While we were still musing about the power of what we ingest to affect the body-mind, we noticed the cover of the new issue of The Intelligent Optimist. It announcedan article within on “Why taking supplements leads to enlightenment.” While we’ve noticed being happier and more clear-minded since cleaning up our diet and adopting a program of high-quality supplements, we were especially intrigued that this article’s author is a modern-day shaman. While he has academic credentials, Alberto Villoldo, PhD, reports spending thirty years in the high Andes and the Amazon, training with master shamans. Yet, as we read his article, we found him recommending a similar diet and many of the same supplements Beyond Health recommends. Alth…

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…

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…

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…

Gloria Swanson is known for playing the delusional Norma Desmond in the movie “Sunset Boulevard.” But in real life, she was a very sane and smart woman, and an early convert to the natural health movement. In the 1970s she toured the US helping her husband William Duffy to promote a book he authored that became a dietary classic, Sugar Blues. Sugar Blues is an indictment of refined sugar as a dangerous and addictive toxin with disastrous effects on the brain and mental health (both Linus Pauling and psychiatrist Thomas Szasz, who agreed with Duffy about sugar, are cited in the book). Although Duffy’s book has had a significant impact on a health-conscious minority, sugar consumption continues to ravage the mental health of millions of Americans in minor and major ways. It has been linked with all kinds of mental distress, from depression to schizophrenia, while sugar and a high-glycemic diet have been linked specifically with depression. As noted in a recent Newsclips article,…

Gut HealthOne good thing about getting older is that we generally become more self-accepting, warts and all.  And if we’re getting a little paunchier in our mid-sections, in the broad scheme of things it’s just not the big deal it would have been in our greener years. Besides, as my good friend Alice says, “everybody’s fat now.” But cosmetic issues aside, gaining fat is an indication that our cells are in trouble. The fact that we’re hardly alone in this predicament doesn’t mean it’s not something to be concerned about. A spreading middle means we’re headed in the wrong direction—the direction of premature aging and chronic disease. Fat cells produce inflammatory chemicals, and chronic inflammation is a common denominator of chronic disease. Being overweight increases your risk of high blood sugar and is the single best predictor of developing type 2 diabetes. High blood sugar causes glycation—a “sugar-coating” of proteins, and since our bodies are made of protein, gly…

You know that fresh fruits and vegetables are good for you, but when you feed yourself you’re also feeding trillions of guests. These “guests” are the bacteria (aka microbiota, or tummy bugs) that inhabit your intestines. And according to Justin Sonnenburg, PhD, Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford School of Medicine, diet is one of the most powerful impacts on gut microbiota, who feed on fiber-rich carbohydrates found in whole plant foods. Why would you want to treat your tummy bugs as honored guests? Because we have an age-old deal with these guys. We provide them with food and a warm place to live; they help us to digest and absorb food, to synthesize vitamins, to produce amino acids, to secrete mucus, to prevent constipation by increasing motility, to create food for intestinal cells, and, perhaps most importantly, to partner with our immune system (more than 2/3 of which is located in the intestines) by degrading toxins and competing with and killi…

You probably associate getting enough fiber—the non-digestible “roughage” we get from plant foods—with good elimination. You may also know that fiber helps maintain a healthy weight by filling you up so you eat fewer calories, or even that fiber helps to maintain good cholesterol levels. But how can eating fiber strengthen your immunity?The answer is that fiber nourishes the trillions of beneficial bacteria (probiotics) that live in our intestines, where they are a crucial part of our immune systems. Anywhere from 60-80% of immune system activity takes place in the intestines, where probiotics attack pathogens with powerful antimicrobial substances. These substances are often as powerful as the strongest antibiotic medications, but they don’t kill off good gut bacteria as is done by antibiotic drugs.According to Rachel Begun, MS, RDN, quoted in a recent issue of Environmental Nutrition, various aspects of modern life have altered gut microflora, damaging immunity and leading to signifi…

Now I’ve got to the point where I think we can get almost complete control of cardiovascular disease, heart attacks and strokes by the proper use of vitamin C and lysine. If you are at risk of heart disease or if there is a history of heart disease in your family . . . or if you have had a mild heart attack yourself, then you had better be taking vitamin C and lysine. – Linus PaulingIn the US, heart disease causes 700,000 deaths each year—more than all forms of cancer combined.  Atherosclerosis, or “hardening of the arteries” causes most heart attacks and strokes and is found to some degree in almost everyone today, even babies. It doesn’t have to be this way.Dr. Linus Pauling proposed a solution: vitamin C . . .Thirty years ago, chemist Linus Pauling, two-time Nobel Prize winner and one of the great scientific minds of the 20th century, proposed that vitamin C deficiency is the major cause of atherosclerosis.Among its more than 300 functions in the human body, vitamin C helps the…

The only thing that is constant is change ― Heraclitus We may not feel that different from day to day, but our bodies are constantly changing, breaking down old cells and tissues and replacing them with new cells and tissues.  Part of this constant change is self-repair. Have you ever marveled at how a cut or bruise heals, usually leaving no trace of injury, without your having to do a thing? But our bodies need two things from us to perform these miracles—good nutrition to supply the right raw materials, and protection from toxins. Lacking either, repairs can’t be made properly and instead of healing, the body begins to break down.   Inflammation is part of the repair process, and when repairs are complete, inflammation disappears.  But when repairs are incomplete, inflammation becomes chronic. It then causes chronic pain and further damage that elicits more inflammation in a vicious cycle. This is what happens in arthritic joints.  It isn’t “old a…