For most mothers, it’s all about family. You sacrifice daily to ensure loved ones are well cared for and healthy. If that’s you, we applaud you for the miracles you work to make your family stronger, safer, and healthier. The world is a better place because you take care of loved ones. Yet, who takes care of mom? So for all your selfless acts—and with Mother’s Day right around the corner—we wanted to give you some healthy ways to indulge on your big day. Whether it’s your first or fiftieth—or, if you’re a loved one looking to treat your mom—here are 11 ways all moms can feel better this Mother’s Day. Sleep in. Moms are notorious for trading sleep for other priorities. Unfortunately, the health effects of poor quality sleep is cumulative. So, treat yourself to a full night of sleep. Exercise detox. Today’s the perfect day to cleanse your body by working up a sweat. If you’re just starting out, take it slow…move to some music…then be sure to shower off to complete your detox.…

Ever feel like you’re aging faster than your years? For Baby Boomers, premature aging is cause for concern. According to a recent AARP survey, nearly 3 out of 4 adults age 48 to 66 fear they’ll need to work at least part-time into retirement to survive financially, while half anticipate never retiring at all. This highlights the importance of preventing chronic diseases in aging Boomers. Yet, if you’re like many Boomers, you regularly engage in unhealthy habits that produce dangerous free radicals and cause you to age faster than your years. As you probably already know, free radicals are highly reactive atoms or molecules that are produced in the body by natural biological processes or introduced from the outside. They can damage cells and tissues through a process called oxidation. Some free radical production is normal and your body is designed to handle it. Yet, excessive free-radicals damage your cell’s DNA, membranes, mitochondria and other structures, and over time, cau…

Big Pharma has been padding their profits by selling drugs for “disease prevention.” For example, the very successful campaign to get everyone on a daily “baby aspirin” to prevent having a heart attack or a stroke. Taking a daily baby aspirin, which is ¼ the dose of a regular aspirin, is known as “low-dose aspirin therapy.” Although there is evidence that low-dose aspirin therapy can help prevent a second heart attack or stroke, major studies have confirmed that it does NOT prevent first heart attacks or strokes in people who have no history of heart disease, even when they are at high risk due to family history and other factors like having diabetes. What low-dose aspirin therapy does do is increase the risk of bleeding events by about 30%! Internal bleeding is serious business; you can die from it and thousands do yearly. Despite its cozy relationship with industry, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has had to bow to the evidence and recently denied a reques…

A huge new study from Canada that followed about 90,000 women for almost 25 years has told us what we already knew: mammograms don’t save lives. Raymond Francis has been arguing for more than two decades that not only do mammograms not save lives, ionizing radiation, as found in mammograms, is one of the things that we know for certain causes cancer. Chest X-rays are known to increase the risk of cancer, and mammograms expose your body to 1,000 times more radiation than a chest X-ray. Before you get a mammogram, please read his article, Mammograms Are a Bust. In the new study, 15 different screening centers throughout Canada collaborated in providing 5 yearly mammograms to women ages 40-59. The women were then followed for up to 25 years and compared with similar aged women who had been given only physical breast exams. At the end of the study period 500 of the women who had received mammograms had died of breast cancer compared with 505 of the women who had had breast exams onl…

A growing body of exciting new research supports the old adage, “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper, especially the “dinner like a pauper” part. It seems that human physiology works best when we consume most of our calories early in the day and have a light meal at night. And if you’re trying to lose weight, two studies have shown that when the number of calories consumed, energy spent and sleeping times were kept constant, dieters who ate a big breakfast or lunch lost considerably more weight than those who saved their calories for a big dinner. A Spanish study recruited 420 overweight/obese men and women to follow a 1,400 calorie per day diet for 5 months. However half of the group ate their main meal before 3:00 p.m., while the other half ate theirs after 3:00 p.m.. Those eating early lost an average of 22 pounds; the late eaters lost an average of 17. In a second study, 93 overweight/obese women with metabolic syndrome (a constellation…

Most people aren’t. Most Americans get about 15 grams of fiber daily. In 2002, the US government recommended that the average adult get between 21 and 38 grams each day. These recommendations were based on several large studies that found people who consumed 14 grams of fiber for each 1,000 calories had significantly lower rates of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Many nutritional experts believe 35-45 grams would be even better. What is fiber? It’s the indigestible portion of plant foods. Most people think of fiber as bulk that helps move the bowels, but there’s much more to know about fiber. There are two kinds of fiber—soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber becomes gelatinous in the intestines. It’s soothing to intestinal walls and helps make bowel movements easier. Studies show it also decreases cholesterol. Insoluble fiber acts like an intestinal broom. Both kinds ease elimination by increasing fecal bulk and making stools softer. Both kinds of fiber absorb and remove toxins,…

It’s been 12 years since Raymond Francis published his groundbreaking book, Never Be Sick Again (NBSA). At this point hundreds of thousands of dog-eared copies of this best seller are being used as trusted references for getting well and staying well. To incorporate all the new information that’s come out in the past decade, it was time for a revised edition. But Raymond wanted to create a new book with a more practical emphasis. The Great American Health Hoax will be available early in 2015. Like NBSA, it indicts the American “disease-care” system that focuses on alleviating symptoms at the expense of supporting the body’s inherent self-healing capacities. And, like NBSA, the new book presents a solution to the problem: Raymond’s one disease-two causes-six pathways model. But The Great American Health Hoax adds the equivalent of an automobile’s maintenance manual. Several “maintenance items” are introduced—health parameters we need to monitor. If they deviate too far f…

Regular exercise is one of the best things you can do for your health. Writing in the Townsend Letter, sports medicine experts Jason E. Barker and Chris D. Meletis say that using the large muscle groups at about 40-50% of your exercise capacity six days a week, with resistance training at least two days a week, has been shown repeatedly to reduce the risk of getting heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, obesity, depression, anxiety and other chronic diseases. But, they warn, exercise itself can have some hazards, especially when it comes to wear and tear on your joints. They recommend glucosamine, as well as vitamin C to maintain healthy muscles and joints if you engage in regular strenuous exercise. Glucosamine is the precursor for glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), the building blocks of hyaluronic acid and synovial fluid. These lubricants protect the joints from friction. Glucosamine is also used to build cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. Glucosamine stimulates the producti…

Although maintaining strong immunity is important during the winter to avoid colds and flu, a healthy immune system is one of the foundations for optimal health all year round. While necessary to every cell in the body, the antioxidant mineral selenium is particularly valuable to the immune system. Selenium plays a key role in our antioxidant system, helping to make glutathione, and regenerating major antioxidants like vitamins C and E so that they can be reused again and again. One way immune cells kill pathogens is with oxidative poisons. Without the protection of selenium, these poisons can harm the immune cells themselves, weakening them and making them less effective—sometimes even killing them. Selenium has also been shown to keep viruses from mutating into forms that are many times more destructive. Cumulative oxidative damage to immune cells over time causes the immune system to weaken with age. However selenium and other antioxidants can prevent and even reverse age-rel…

Our first article discussed the importance of selenium to immunity. Yet there is still another way in which selenium is required for optimal immune function. Selenium is needed by the thyroid gland, and optimal immunity depends on having a healthy thyroid. Hypothyroidism (an under-performing thyroid) impairs immune cells’ ability to respond to a threat. Hypothyroidism has become epidemic. According to Isaac Eliaz, MD, nearly 60 million Americans, mostly women, have thyroid issues; most often hypothyroidism. Many of these people are unaware they are hypothyroid, and this includes lots of people who have been assured by doctors that test results indicate that their thyroid function is normal. The standard thyroid test measures thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). It is assumed that if not enough thyroid hormone is being produced, TSH will start going up in an attempt to force the thyroid to produce more. But that’s not always the case. If your TSH test is normal and you still hav…

Bruce Ames, PhD, is one of our nation’s most distinguished scientists. Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and director of the Nutrition and Metabolism Center at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Dr. Ames leads a group of researchers dedicated to the study of how poor nutrition leads to the degenerative diseases associated with aging, with their attendant astronomical costs to our nation. Ames has developed a theory, which he calls his Triage Theory, to explain much of the chronic disease common today in the modern industrialized countries. Whereas gross deficiencies in vitamins and minerals are rare in affluent nations, modest deficiencies are common. Ames reports that most of the world’s population, including in the US, is moderately deficient in one or more of the 30 or so essential vitamins and minerals. Because the damage done by moderate vitamin and mineral deficiencies is insidious, says Ames, it…

February is Heart Month, and an absolutely critical nutrient for the heart and cardiovascular system is vitamin E. When experimental animals are deprived of vitamin E, they die of heart disease. The two principle roles vitamin E plays in heart health are as an antithrombin, preventing clots inside blood vessels, and as an antioxidant, preventing lipid peroxidation, or oxidation of fats. While vitamin C is our body’s major water-soluble antioxidant, vitamin E is its major fat-soluble antioxidant. Maintaining healthy arteries, free of plaque, is key to maintaining a healthy heart. Plaque forms when cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein or LDL), which is a type of fat, becomes oxidized. Vitamin E plays an essential role in protecting LDL from such oxidation. Cell membranes are composed primarily of fats. As we age our cell membranes tend to become stiffer, primarily due to oxidation. The blood cells themselves become thicker, which increases blood viscosity and impedes circulation…

In honor of Heart Health Month, here are 10 fairly easy things you can do today to support your heart’s health. EAT A RIPE PEACH A study done at Texas A&M found that phenolic compounds in stone fruits (peaches, plums and nectarines) have anti-obesity, anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic properties (diabetes is a risk factor for heart disease) and may also reduce the oxidation of LDL (the “bad” cholesterol). These compounds are also antioxidants. Fruits with the deepest colors, at peak ripeness, have the most antioxidants. EAT AN OUNCE OR TWO OF NUTS An analysis of data from almost 120,000 men and women followed up to 30 years found that those who ate the most nuts had the least risk of dying from several diseases, including heart disease. DRIZZLE SOME BALSAMIC VINEGAR ON YOUR SALAD Acetic acid in vinegar has been shown to normalize blood pressure in rats and to inhibit oxidation of cholesterol in humans. EAT BREAKFAST In various studie…

A credible scientist is worried about the high oxalic acid (aka oxalate) content in green drinks and vegetarian diets.  Should you be concerned?  Maybe. Oxalic acid is found in plant foods. It’s also produced by the body in the course of normal metabolism.  Pretty nasty stuff, it’s the most corrosive acid in the body, a pro-oxidant, and it can combine with most minerals and heavy metals to form oxalate crystals. The most well-known of these crystals are kidney stones, but, according to chemist William Shaw, PhD, formerly of the Centers for Disease Control, high levels of oxalate can form crystals just about anywhere in the body, including glands, heart and brain. Like tiny pieces of glass, these crystals cause tissue damage and inflammation and have been implicated in arthritis, fibromyalgia, interstitial cystitis and a painful condition in and around the vagina called vulvodynia. Fortunately the human body is well-equipped to dispose of oxalate. If you’re in go…

Natural food stores and even major grocery chains are now offering bottled teas. While healthier than many beverage alternatives, bottled teas can be high in fluoride from pesticides and the use of fluoridated tap water for brewing. Even an organic, Fair Trade tea in glass bottles, like Honest Tea, is pricey and contains sugar. Also, since they don’t specifically say their tea is brewed with pure water, we can probably assume they use regular tap water, most of which is chock full of toxins and not fit for human consumption. And if you’re drinking green tea for its health benefits, according to Tod Cooperman, President and Founder of ConsumerLab.com, an independent testing laboratory that acts as a watchdog to the supplement and nutraceutical industries, bottled teas aren’t a good bargain. The most potent health benefits in green and white tea lie in their antioxidant polyphenols, primarily a type of polyphenol called catechins. Most research has been done on a particularly po…

Green tea has been praised for its health-giving properties for more than 4,000 years. Whether you want to support your mind, bones, heart, probiotics in your intestines, glucose metabolism, immunity, detoxification, a healthy weight—or all of the above, green tea can help. But sometimes green tea can be toxic! We’ve told you before about a woman whose fluoride levels skyrocketed after habitually drinking a pitcher of tea daily. She developed severe bone pain that was reversed by a fluoride-free diet, but all her teeth had become so brittle they had to be extracted. Tea leaves accumulate more of the toxin fluoride than any other edible plant, and the fluoride content in tea has increased dramatically over the last couple of decades due primarily to fluoride-containing pesticides. The problem is compounded when fluoridated water is used to brew the tea. To minimize fluoride, buy organically grown tea and brew it in purified water. Tea plants also absorb lead more readily than o…

You may think she’s already beautiful, but wouldn’t you like to give your mom the experience of a soothing, relaxing, aromatic facial with an exquisite restorative moisturizer that will make her look years younger? A facial serum made with exotic botanical ingredients from all over the world that will not only nourish and replenish her skin, making her look radiant, but create an aromatherapy experience to enhance her mood and emotions as well? We have such a moisturizer, and it’s on sale in time for Mother’s Day! It’s l’huile de grace. French for “oil of grace,” l’huile de grace provides a profound experience of nourishing the senses and emotions while it nurtures, heals, protects and beautifies the skin. Beyond Health is thrilled to be one of a very few outlets for this hand-crafted beauty product that is in every way the complete opposite of the kind of mass-produced cosmetic made from synthetic, often petroleum-based, ingredients that can damage both skin and health. The t…

An absolutely critical nutrient for the heart and cardiovascular system is vitamin E. When experimental animals are deprived of vitamin E, they die of heart disease. The two principle roles vitamin E plays in heart health are as an antithrombin, preventing clots inside blood vessels, and as an antioxidant, preventing lipid peroxidation, or oxidation of fats. While vitamin C is our body’s major water-soluble antioxidant, vitamin E is its major fat-soluble antioxidant. Maintaining healthy arteries, free of plaque, is key to maintaining a healthy heart. Plaque forms when cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein or LDL), which is a type of fat, becomes oxidized. Vitamin E plays an essential role in protecting LDL from such oxidation. Cell membranes are composed primarily of fats. As we age our cell membranes tend to become stiffer, primarily due to oxidation. The blood cells themselves become thicker, which increases blood viscosity and impedes circulation. Vitamin E helps blood cell…