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.…

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…

High blood pressure is known as a silent killer. You can have it for years without getting any symptoms until you experience a fatal heart attack. But there is another silent killer: kidney disease. Given the many priorities already on your plate, you probably haven’t given much thought to your kidneys. But since March 10 has been named World Kidney Day (and March, National Kidney Month), we’d like to draw your attention to kidney health if only for a couple of minutes. According to the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), more than 26 million Americans have kidney disease, and most of them don’t know it. By the time you experience clear symptoms, your kidneys may already be shot necessitating dialysis for the rest of your life . . . which may not be that long. Kidney disease is the 9th leading cause of death in the US. Even before symptoms of kidney disease are evident, the disease significantly raises your risk of heart attack, stroke, osteoporosis and anemia. A simple urine or…

It’s been called “the most effective, potent way that we can improve quality of life and duration of life.” If it were a drug, “it would likely be the most valuable pharmaceutical ever developed.” It isn’t a new supplement or super food, and best of all it’s free. It’s . . . exercise! In a recent issue of Time magazine, reporter Mandy Outlander explored the cutting edge of exercise research with various experts who have become increasingly excited about “exercise as medicine.” His own research prompted the rave reviews above from genetic metabolic neurologist Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky at McMaster University in Ontario. That exercise is good for us isn’t exactly news, but Dr. Tarnopolsky hopes that by pointing out all its wonderful rewards, he may motivate us enough to jump up out of our chairs and actually do it! Rewards being documented are both immediate and long-term. Right after a short exercise session, measurable results include improved mood, less arthritic and lower back pa…

As we all know, weight loss is a HUGE market. There are 1,001 products and programs out there that promise to help our increasingly obese nation shed excess pounds. But, as Raymond Francis pointed out in his breakthrough book, Never Be Fat Again, most of them miss the mark. The only truly effective way to lose weight and keep it off is by addressing excess weight as a health issue. By shifting your focus to becoming truly healthy, the pounds fall off by themselves or are lost with minimal effort. Our bodies were built to be self-regulating. When each one of our cells is operating as it should, our appetites are regulated to eat only what we need; our thyroid glands regulate metabolism so that we burn most of the calories we consume as energy to maintain body temperature and to use as fuel; and many other body systems that affect weight, such as blood sugar, hormone balance, and pH, are regulated as well. The result? An ideal weight. So the trick to losing weight and keeping it o…

This month our Beyond Health Journey to become stronger and healthier has been all about taking time and space to relax, regroup and renew yourself. Whether that’s the traditional two weeks of vacation or taking time out of your day to have a “mindful cup to tea,” a bike ride, or simply a few minutes to sit outside in the sun (preferably barefoot), it all counts as a deposit in your health bank account. One more way you can build up your health savings account is by pacing yourself at work. You’ll also improve your productivity.  Who wouldn’t want to get more work done in less time, and feel healthier and happier to boot! Many of you know that sitting for prolonged periods of time isn’t healthy, and, based on the science, at Beyond Health we’ve recommended getting up and moving around a bit every fifteen minutes or so. But the mind needs a break too also. Over time, the quality of our attention diminishes unless we take short rest breaks. A 1999 study by Cornell Univers…

Although hand sanitizers and other antiviral cleaning products are disappearing from supermarket shelves, you may already have all the products you need to combat COVID-19, and they’re non-toxic and cheaper. Much of the information here is taken from a recent article in Consumer Reports. COVID-19 is enveloped in a coating that allows it to merge with our body cells and infect them.  If you can disrupt this coating, you can deactivate the virus.  Fortunately, this is pretty easy to do. Soap and water do this job very well. The friction from scrubbing a surface with soap and water can break the virus’s protective coating. The operative word here is “scrub.”  Don’t just wipe the surface lightly; bear down as if you’re removing dirt or something sticky.  Leave the rag you’ve used in a bowl of soapy water for a while to destroy any remaining virus particles.  (A note of interest, if the virus makes its way inside your body, vitamin D…

The good news about COVID-19 is that we can defeat this virus!  We’re learning more all the time about how to avoid contact with it, but even if the virus should find its way into our bodies, we can fortify our immune systems with nutrients comprising a mighty internal armoring system. Combining vitamin C, vitamin D, quercetin and zinc with a good diet and a high-quality multivitamin-mineral offers powerful protection against any virus that comes our way.   Ignored, minimized and invalidated by major media, building and maintaining a strong immune system is our only real defense against COVID-19. Focusing only on avoidance and waiting like sitting ducks for a vaccine to save us is dis-empowering and strips us of potent tools that are at our disposal—nutrients that have been shown in numerous studies and clinical situations to ramp up immune defenses in an extremely effective way. It’s not that easy for a virus to take hold in the body. Should it gain entry, it must first att…

As we envision a healthy future for ourselves, our children, and our planet this month, let’s take a look at cell phones. Although more than 90% of the US population now owns one, cell phones have never been proven safe.  In fact, evidence for their ability to harm continues to accumulate. Although it’s too late to put the genie back in the bottle—we’ve become too dependent on our cell phones to give them up—both adults and especially children must limit cell phone use if we want a healthy future. Nutritionist Anne Louise Gittleman has pointed out that the kind of electromagnetic radiation cell phones emit causes subliminal stress that raises blood pressure and cortisol (a stress hormone) levels, alters blood sugar regulation, lowers thyroid hormone output and can interfere with getting a good night’s sleep. Cell phones also affect fertility and have been linked in children with behavioral disorders, learning difficulties and depression. Of particular concern have been…

This month, it’s all about toxins. According to our founder, Raymond Francis, there is only one disease, malfunctioning cells, and only two reasons cells malfunction: either they don’t have the right materials to work with (deficiency) or they’re being disrupted with the wrong materials (toxins) that interfere with normal cell function.The barrage of manmade toxic chemicals we encounter today is unprecedented, and it’s taking a huge toll on our health.Though it’s still possible to be healthy for life, it takes knowledge and effort—avoiding as many toxins as you can, and using strategies to detoxify your body from those you can’t avoid.We’ve talked about detoxifying your home with air and water filters and recommended detoxing with frequent infrared saunas.But with all the fuss about environmental toxins, you might be surprised to learn that the most potent source of toxins for almost everyone today is digesting and metabolizing food!In making energy from food, the body produces loads o…

Pneumonia is an infection in the air sacs of the lungs. For anyone with a weakened immune system, it can be life-threatening.  This would include very young children, people with compromised immunity, and those older than 65 whose immune systems are in decline. For the elderly, pneumonia is the leading cause of death due to infectious disease. But here’s some great news for those on the far side of middle age.  A 2015 study found supplementing with vitamin E may give you the same resistance to pneumonia enjoyed by youngsters! As we age, our immune systems not only become less responsive, they make more mistakes. This overall decline is called “immunosenescence,” and it occurs in older animals as well as in older humans. The study compared young with old mice infected with the most common cause of pneumonia, the bacteria S. pneumoniae.  In both, immune cells were rushed to the lungs to address the infection. But in the older mice, this response was “overly exube…

It comes in a small roll of litmus paper that you keep in your bathroom. Just tear off a piece and pass it through your first urine each morning before eating or drinking anything. Then compare the color of the wet litmus paper to the accompanying chart to find your magic number! This number measures the acidity/alkalinity (also called pH) of your urine, which is a good indicator of the acidity/alkalinity inside your cells. The number 7 indicates neutral (neither acid nor alkaline); the numbers less than 7 indicate increasing levels of acidity; the numbers above 7, increasing levels of alkalinity.  If you’re familiar with Beyond Health, you know that we believe that all the many diseases are really only one disease called MALFUNCTIONING CELLS.  If we can keep our cells healthy, it’s impossible to get sick! So knowing the condition of our cells is invaluable information, and this simple test allows you to get a glimpse inside your cells to s…

According to the National Institutes of Health the average American adult gains one pound every holiday season. Those who are already overweight tend to gain even more. Unfortunately that weight is usually there to stay; holiday weight gain is the primary reason weight creeps upwards with age. With so many reasons to overeat during the holidays, it’s surprising we don’t gain more. The holidays are traditionally a time for feasting and drinking. But historically, this occurred in the context of food scarcity; many pilgrims starved to death before food sources were established, and abundance was something to be celebrated. We hardly need to celebrate food abundance today, but that hasn’t stopped us from bringing out the cookies, cakes and pies for the holidays. We combine this with alcohol, which impairs inhibitions, stimulates appetite and intensifies the brain’s reward center in response to food! Then there’s stress. Our already challenging to-do lists expand during the holida…

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,…