Polyphenols are antioxidant compounds found in plant foods that have myriad benefits for human health.  As powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatories, they’re protective against just about every disease imaginable through a variety of mechanisms. We suggest supplementing with one of our quercetin formulas, Quercetin Pro or Cell Repair, to boost your polyphenol intake. Another way to get more polyphenols into your life is to make a habit of drinking green or white tea.  Both of these teas are made from the same Camellia sinensis leaves, but white tea has gone through less processing and retains more polyphenols.  It also has less caffeine and more soothing theanine.  Camellia sinensis leaves contain four kinds of polyphenols called catechins, the most potent of which, where health benefits are concerned, is epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG).  EGCG and quercetin possess many of the same abilities, including one that’s relevant to the COVID epidemi…

We all want to keep our immunity strong these days, and if you’ve been around Beyond Health for long, you know that means staying away from sugar. Sugar hammers your immunity in two ways. First, it competes with vitamin C to get into your cells. Immune cells cannot function without vitamin C, and they need lots of it—in an infection, your need for C can multiply by a factor of ten or more. But taking extra vitamin C isn’t going to help if you can’t get it into your immune cells. Too much sugar in the bloodstream blocks C’s entry into the cells, creating an artificial vitamin C deficiency. Second, sugar can create dramatic blood sugar spikes followed by deep dips. Your immune system also needs oxygen, and an erratic blood sugar level can weaken your immunity by preventing oxygen from getting into your cells. Wouldn’t it be nice, then, to have a sweetener that didn’t compete for with vitamin C or affect blood sugar levels? Well, there is such a s…

Since the publication of his best-selling book Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies about the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You’re Eating, Jeffrey M. Smith has become a leading advocate for calling a halt to this potentially dangerous technology.  His organization, the Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT), has collected anecdotal reports from people who recovered from various health problems after they removed genetically modified (GM) foods from their diets on the advice of their doctors.  Some people felt better almost immediately, while with others it took up to 6 weeks to get the full benefit. More than 3,000 people have now reported 28 conditions getting better, including digestive problems, fatigue, obesity, overweight, brain fog, anxiety, depression, food, sensitivities, allergies, chronic pain, Parkinson’s disease, autism, cancer, high blood pressure, and ADHD. Of course, it‘s likely that people who eliminate G…

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 raise…

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…

Have you ever stood before an open refrigerator feeling you need something but not knowing quite what? Then you zero in on that leftover chocolate cake and eat the whole thing only to still feel dissatisfied only now you feel guilty and sick to your stomach as well. Psychotherapist and mindfulness teacher, Sasha T. Loring, author of Eating with Fierce Kindness: A Mindful and Compassionate Guide to Losing Weight, gives this as an example of “the wanting mind,” a state of fundamental dissatisfaction that leads to cravings. Cravings can be caused by different things, such as allergies, lack of sleep, and nutritional deficiencies. But, as Loring observes, there is also something in our nature that leads to cravings. And once it gets a toehold a craving is difficult to tame. However, she gives three steps for gaining release craving’s grip: 1. Examine the Wanting Mind. If you can identify and name the “wanting mind”—that sense of being fundamentally…

More of us than ever are working from home and ordering what we need online, wedding us ever more closely to our computers. And while Americans were sitting too much before, it’s only gotten worse. While there’s nothing wrong with sitting per se, sitting in the same chair hour after hour actually changes body chemistry for the worse, increasing insulin resistance, blood sugar and triglycerides. Since these changes are linked with diseases like heart disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, obesity, dementia and cancer, and even to earlier death, sitting has been called “the new smoking.” Many people try to counteract the negative effects of too much sitting with a daily walk or run, or going to the gym after work, but although these forms of exercise are helpful in reducing the negative effects of sitting (and have their own additional benefits), they are much less effective than getting up out of your chair every 15 minutes or so and moving around a bit. Former N…

Preventing osteoporosis in old age should begin early. We build up our bone stores in childhood and as young adults, reaching peak bone mass in our thirties. From this peak, we begin gradually losing bone. Bones undergo a continual process called “remodeling” in which old bone is dismantled, and new bone is built to take its place. The adult human skeleton is renewed every 10 years by overhauling tiny patches of bone at a time. First, bone cells called osteoclasts chip away at old bone (often referred to as “bone resorption”); then bone cells called osteoblasts build fresh new bone. Somewhere in our thirties, we start losing more bone than we build, so the more bone we’ve amassed in our youth with good nutrition and weight-bearing exercise, the better our chances will be of maintaining strong bones for life. But, because bones are constantly being replaced, we can, in the words of President Joe Biden, “Build Back Better” at any time. Many facto…

Much has been written about the benefits of whey protein for athletes, bodybuilders and gym enthusiasts to help their muscles recover…BUT, what about its overall health-enhancing benefits for immunity and healthy aging? The most resistance to whey is from individuals allergic or sensitive to dairy because what is not universally understood is that whey is technically NOT dairy. Whey protein is a mixture of proteins isolated from whey – the liquid part of milk that separates during cheese production. Milk actually contains two main types of protein: casein (80%) and whey (20%). Whey is found in the watery portion of milk. When cheese is produced, the fatty parts of the milk coagulate and the whey is separated from it as a byproduct. An example is a yogurt container – usually liquid is floating on top — that’s whey. Cheese makers used to discard it before they discovered its health benefits and commercial value. After being separated during cheese productio…

When we think about what fuels our health, we focus on vitamins, minerals and fiber and the foods plus supplements that help us meet recommended daily amounts. Yet, particularly when it comes to children's health, we tend to bypass essential fatty acids. In writing recently about our newly formulated Kids Mega Multi, we said we believed all children should be on a good multi and also a source of essential fatty acids (EFAs). Both adults and children are apt to be low in EFAs, especially two EFAs commonly found in seafood, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), which are crucial to children's neurological and cognitive development. DHA, which makes up 30-60% of the retina, is also absolutely necessary for normal eye development. Shockingly, a 2021 government survey on the diets of U.S. children between the ages of 1 and 6 found that 98% were deficient in DHA. Although EPA was not measured directly in this survey, as a close relative to DHA, it can be presumed EPA wa…

Have you tried to establish a regular meditation practice, but found it difficult to sustain over time? Join the club! Or better yet, join a group! Support systems, from classes to a workout partner, have long been a strategy to help people stick with an exercise routine and ultimately begin a new habit. Incorporating meditation into your daily life isn't any different. New habits take practice, dedication and establishing a pattern, and encouragement in varying degrees helps get you there. In both scenarios, one thing that may be getting in your way is a lack of social support. Although you can read about all the great things meditation can do for your health, energy and emotional equilibrium, and even experience benefits when you try it, if the people around you are totally uninterested in meditation, it's easy to get discouraged and begin thinking it's not worth the effort. Most Buddhists belong to religious communities called sanghas. Like any other religious community, the sangha…

If you plan to live to a ripe old age, you’ll want your bones to be good for the long haul. Unfortunately, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, about half our population over the age of fifty is “cruisin’ for a bruisin’”—a bone fracture due to either osteoporosis, a disease in which bones become thin, weak and prone to fracture, or “low bone density,” a condition in which bones have become thin, weak and prone to fracture to a somewhat lesser degree. There are some risk factors for osteoporosis that you can’t do anything about—age, gender (a woman’s risk of developing osteoporosis is four times greater than a man’s), genetics, being thin and small boned, and either Asian or blond and fair-skinned—but you can still maintain healthy bones for a life with the right care. Last week we talked about bone health supplementation and getting the “complete team” of nutrients needed with Beyond…

Ever since it saved his life, Raymond Francis has considered vitamin C—if it’s the right kind—to be the most miraculous molecule you can put into your body. Years ago, before Beyond Health was a gleam in Raymond’s eye, he wasn’t thinking much about the future. The truth is, he wasn’t sure he even had a future. Near death, he called his brother Bernie, who flew across the country, fearing the worst, to be by his side. What Bernie found was shocking. Raymond looked like a skeleton and was in a semi-comatose state. However, the stars must have been aligned that day, because Bernie had brought with him a book he’d heard about: it was "Norman Cousin’s Anatomy of an Illness." Although Cousins is known primarily as the man who cured himself of a devastating “incurable” illness with laughter, the other therapy Cousins used for his miracle cure was megadoses of intravenous (injectable) vitamin C. Too weak and discouraged to do much lau…

Are you bothered by abdominal bloating, gas, flatulence, belching or an irritable bowel (constipation alternating with diarrhea, or maybe predominantly one or the other)? You may have a condition called “small intestine bacterial overgrowth,” or SIBO, a relatively newly recognized form of intestinal dysbiosis. You may already know about one kind of intestinal dysbiosis, where candida and/or other bad bugs get the upper hand over the good bugs in your intestines. SIBO is another kind of intestinal dysbiosis found only in the small intestine—that twenty-foot long convoluted tube curled up in your abdomen that leads from stomach to colon. When bacteria and other microorganisms that usually live in the small intestine, with beneficial or at least neutral effects, proliferate abnormally (“overgrow”), a pathological situation develops. This leads to the kind of symptoms mentioned above, as well as to nausea, leaky gut, malabsorption and deficiencies in certain n…

By age 80, about 90% of men have an enlarged prostate, also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH. It’s now considered inevitable in most men. While BPH can be asymptomatic, when symptoms occur, they range from bothersome to life-threatening. LUTS (lower urinary tract symptoms) are produced when the prostate, which encircles the urethra, begins squeezing it, interfering with urinary function. Symptoms can include a weak, interrupted urine stream; a sense of incomplete bladder emptying; dribbling; difficulty starting or stopping urination; frequent urination, especially at night; a painful, burning sensation during urination; and sudden urgent needs to urinate. Damage to the urethral lining encourages urinary tract infections. BPH sometimes gets progressively worse, causing bladder stones, incontinence, pain during intercourse, impotence and even life-threatening conditions such as complete blockage of urine flow or irreversible bladder or kidney damage…

Calcium, once lauded as a superstar for preventing and curing osteoporosis, now seems to be a nutrient-non-grata among both conventional and alternative “experts.” Vitamin C researcher, Thomas E. Levy, has even entitled a book Death by Calcium! How did an important nutrient, in which most Americans especially the elderly are deficient, come to such a sorry pass? The calcium saga goes back several years to a time when it was anointed a “magic bullet” to solve the problem of osteoporosis. Need more bone? Just take lots of calcium! When that didn’t work as well as hoped, the experts said well you should probably take your calcium with vitamin D. This worked a little better, but was still less than ideal. In fact, calcium needs a whole “team” of nutrients for its absorption and proper utilization. Vitamins D and K (especially K2) and the mineral magnesium are star players on the team, but check the label on Beyond Health’s Bone Mineral Formul…

This is a good news/bad news story. First the good news. As reported by investigative journalist Lynne McTaggart, in The Optimist, there is a doctor in England, originally from India, named Joseph Chandy, who has become renowned over the past forty years for miraculously curing hundreds of patients of their depression, as well as multiple sclerosis and chronic fatigue. In 2006, a BBC segment on him featured grateful patients whose lives had been turned around. Multiple sclerosis patients said they were able to get up out of the wheelchairs. Dr. Chandy’s miraculous treatment? Vitamin B12 injections. It seems that Dr. Chandy discovered early on one of the two causes of disease: nutrient deficiency. As Raymond Francis wrote back in 2003: Proper nutrition is the single most important factor in preventing and reversing depression. Consider that the inventor of the anti-anxiety drug Valium later discovered that B vitamins could produce exactly the same benefits as Valium, without side…

Although we recommend eating most of the diet raw, a number of studies have shown that steaming preserves more nutrients than other forms of cooking, and in certain instances can even increase or release nutrients over and above what you’d get from eating the vegetables in question raw. Glucosinolates are compounds found in cruciferous vegetables (like broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts) that protect against cancer. Scientists suggest that 3-5 servings a week of cruciferous vegetables provide a substantial cancer protective benefit. But to become properly activated, glucosinolates need to be mixed with the plant enzyme myrosinase. This mixing happens when you bite into your broccoli or Brussels sprout and crush the cellulose walls that otherwise keep the glucosinolates and myrosinase separated. But cooking can destroy myrosinase, and who wants to eat raw broccoli? Fortunately, according to a recent article in Tuft’s Health and Nutrition Letter, scientists at the Un…