It’s a new year! Whatever your age or health status, here’s to making 2019 healthier than 2018! We know it’s possible to keep getting healthier each year because we’ve been privileged to work with thousands of people who’ve recovered from serious health concerns and continue to get healthier and healthier as they learn more and integrate more healthy practices into their lives. And others who started out in reasonably good health, who keep reaching higher and higher levels of wellness.  A common factor in these success stories is the right supplement program.  While good diet, exercise, stress release, healthy relationships, detoxification, and avoiding toxins are all necessary for optimal health, if your body doesn’t have all the raw materials it needs for building healthy new cells, you simply cannot prevent or reverse disease.  In fact, if you’re chronically deficient in even one vitamin or mineral, you will get sick; that&…

. . . enough to get the job done Often customers say to us, "I don't have enough money to take all the supplements in your kits -- just tell me the ones I really need to have." Well, the answer to this question is "You need enough to get the job done."  For most people in fairly good health who want to prevent disease, that would be the Ultimate Wellness Kit, plus Vitamin D if testing shows it's needed. If you have a diagnosed disease, you would need this kit plus one or more of our Support Kits. For example, if you're recovering from food allergies, rebuilding digestive, immune and adrenal health requires quite a few different supplements. (Call our office for details.) However, when health has been restored, you can stop taking most of them. (Maintaining digestive health usually requires ongoing probiotic supplementation, and may require ongoing hydrochloric acid and enzyme support.)   Our kits were designed based on my clinical experience. Apart from the work I did to…

Nutraceuticals World sits down with Raymond Francis to discuss various topics including supplements, anti-cancer diets and microwave ovens. Click here below to read about Raymond’s greatest achievements and find out the truth about microwave ovens.…

. . .  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure Several years ago I found myself consulting with quite a number of professional ballet dancers and athletes. Word had gotten out that those who followed my advice weren't getting the injuries or infections that are so common among people who push their physical limits daily. Dancers and athletes need the same nutrition most of us do, just more of it. Heavy exercise depletes the body of antioxidants and the amino acid glutamine; minerals get depleted in sweat. So I explained the one disease, two causes, six pathways (as described in my books) to them, and put them on a healthy, anti-inflammatory, plant-based diet and a high-quality supplement program including our multi, EFA Formula, Vitamin C, Bone Mineral Formula, Cell Repair Formula, and others. They considered me a miracle worker! Despite grueling workouts, they simply didn't get infections or injuries anymore! Their tissues became strong and resilient, and resistant to…

Question: Hi! Can one take too many supplements?  I take quite a large number, but only the minimum dosages -- I just take all of them once daily.  The only prescription med I take is one 50 mg Toprol daily.  Again, thanks so much -- JC, Internet Answer:  Supplements are qualitatively different from drugs in that drugs are far more dangerous.  For example, drugs properly prescribed are the third leading cause of deaths yearly, whereas no one has ever died from taking supplements.  If what you mean by "minimum dosages" is the RDA, you're probably not getting enough!  The RDA is meant to prevent overt deficiency diseases, but not to prevent chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's, etc. Check the "Wellness Kits" on our website to see the amounts of specific nutrients we recommend to supplement a good, nutritious diet.  In addition, we recommend at least 3-6 grams of vitamin C daily (more for anyone with a diagnosed disease) and getting tested for your vitamin D l…

. . . this silly article will scare some people into injuring their health Every so often the otherwise commendable Consumer Reports (CR) goes on an uncharacteristic rant about vitamins that is marked by ignorance, extreme bias, distortion of the facts and downright mean-spiritedness. In the new “Vitamins and Supplements, 10 Dangers That May Surprise You,” they’re at it again. The first “surprising danger” they cite is that “supplements are not risk-free.”  Well, no surprise there. Few things are completely risk free. The supplement industry has more than its share of charlatans and amateurs. But CR lumps everyone together, blaming all supplements it seems for the 6,300 supplement-related reports to the government’s Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) in the last 4 years, including 115 deaths. Now, although half the US population takes supplements, there hasn’t been a single death from vitamins in the last 27 years. Many of these adverse events and deaths have had to do with…

. . . but it’s just one more cost of doing business When GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) paid the government a record $3 billion last July in settlement of numerous violations of the False Claims Act (FCA), including concealing data on fatal cardiovascular side effects of their diabetes drug Avandia, it was just business as usual. In fact, Sidney M. Wolfe, MD, of Public Citizen, reports that on the heels of the huge pay-out’s announcement, GSK’s stock price rose to a near 52-week high. Investors knew that even billion-dollar fines are a drop in the bucket compared to the multi billion-dollar profits enjoyed by the drug industry. According to the US Department of Justice, the pharmaceutical industry is the biggest defrauder of the federal government under the FCA, as measured by the size of civil and criminal settlements reached yearly. Consumer advocate organization Public Citizen, which has been tracking fines paid by Big Pharma, found that the amounts of these fines have been escalating…

How you take your supplements and what you take them with can make a big difference in how your body absorbs and uses the nutrients they provide. At Beyond Health, our formulas are designed to combine nutrients in the most synergistic way so that they support rather than compete with each other. If you take too much of one nutrient it can suppress absorption of another—this is the case with zinc and copper. To prevent this, the two nutrients must be present in a balanced ratio. B vitamins work together, so they should almost always be taken together as a “team.” Also, most supplements should be taken with food. You can trust Beyond Health to provide balanced formulas, so, for the most part, all you have to do is follow the directions on the label. However, fat-soluble vitamins should always be taken with a good amount of fat in a meal for best absorption. The fat-soluble vitamins are A, D, E and K. Customers who’ve been trying to get their vitamin D levels up have sometimes re…

Not all food cravings lead to overeating. Your body can give you legitimate cues that certain nutrients are needed, or even that a certain food will fulfill an emotional need.  If you find that a reasonable amount of a desired food satisfies you, wonderful.  Eating one cookie may satisfy a sweet tooth. But if one cookie leads to another, and another, and then, “I can’t believe I ate the whole box,” that’s a problem. Although scientists look for characteristics that separate bingers from non-bingers, given enough stress, just about anyone is likely to turn to Haagen-Dazs.  However, though stress is unavoidable and unpredictable, here are ways you can strengthen your capacity to become “binge-resistant.” Get adequate nutrition. According to food addiction expert Julia Ross, MA, MFCC, dieting, which she calls “a euphemism for starvation,” is the major cause of food cravings and eating disorders. In Never Be Sick Again, Raymond Francis agrees.  He says anyone who…

There are some taxes you have to pay, or risk going to jail! But others you can avoid, like the tax on your health every time you take an impure, poorly formulated supplement contaminated with solvent residues, artificial colors, and flavors, allergens and/or other potentially harmful chemicals. When shopping for supplements, people often don’t take this tax into account. If they did, they’d realize that the cheapest brands are usually the worst bargains. Not only do these brands provide little or no benefit, they tax your body with toxins that interfere with healthy body chemistry, often doing more harm than good. You may pay good money for something that detracts from rather than adding to your health. Supplement ingredients come in a wide range of purities. The purer the ingredient, the safer and more effective it will be. Although purer ingredients are almost always considerably more expensive, at Beyond Health we use only the purest ingredients available so you get maximum…

Thousands of studies on vitamin supplements have demonstrated their value in preventing and reversing disease. Yet, with half the adult population now taking supplements, supplement-bashing has never been more popular, and multivitamins have been taking a direct hit. Liz Szabo’s “Older Americans are ‘Hooked’ on Vitamins ,” in the New York Times, is a case in point. Ms.Szabo states that scientists have proved multivitamin supplements are useless and even dangerous. She notes with dismay that although there is a trend in other segments of the population away from taking multis, older folk remain stubbornly loyal to them, despite this overwhelming evidence. Readers’ comments in response to this article reveal a conversation as polarized and vitriolic as our current political discourse, with the same sense that those on opposing sides live in two different realities. In one reality, supplements (as part of a healthy lifestyle) are helping people recover from se…

While many factors determine whether or not you will get a coronavirus infection, how bad the infection will be, and how long it will take to recover, there is one all-important factor—the state of your immunity.  Beyond Health’s protocol for building and maintaining a strong immune system includes having your vitamin D blood levels tested with a 25(OH)D test, and getting them up to 40-60 ng/mL (100-150 nmol/L) or more depending on your medical situation. Your immune system requires adequate amounts of vitamin D to function the way it’s supposed to. If you’re low on D, it’s like fighting the coronavirus with one hand tied behind your back. You can raise your vitamin D levels with sun, food and supplements. SUN Sunlight is an inexhaustible source of free vitamin D! The sun’s UVB rays convert cholesterol in the skin into vitamin D. However, since these same UVB rays cause sunburn, light-skinned people need to build up a protective tan gradually. The best approach is…

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disease second only to Alzheimer’s as a thief of brain cells and quality of life.Although everyone’s PD journey is different in terms of the appearance and intensity of symptoms, and how quickly the disease progresses, the central feature of PD is that brain cells responsible for producing the neurotransmitter dopamine begin to die off. The resulting dopamine deficiency produces PD’s characteristic symptoms, including tremors, rigidity, posture and balance problems, slowed movement and difficulty initiating movement, and non-motor symptoms such as depression, anxiety, fatigue, insomnia and other sleep disorders, cognitive impairment and dementia. Allopathic medicine manages PD motor symptoms by replacing or boosting dopamine production. Most PD patients will need these drugs because by the time PD can be diagnosed, 60-80% of dopamine-producing brain cells are already gone. There is also a surgery called Deep Brain Stimulation that…

Use it or lose it. No where is this more true than with our joints. Joint stiffness, joint pain, and a loss of range of motion has less to do with age than it has to do with lack of use.Our lives often lead us to a lot of sitting, which means our joints are not moving. How often do we allow our ankles, our knees, our hips to go through a full range of motion? Probably not often enough.When we have joint stiffness, joint aches, and joint pain it takes much more effort to do the simplest of activities, discouraging us from doing the very thing that will make us feel better.How do we break this cycle and make our joints be the levers that spring us into the joys of a more active life? Here are 8 simple tips to reduce joint pain and joint stiffness and fuel a more active life with less pain and more excitement. With each of these suggestions, make little improvements at a time. Gradual improvements allow our muscles, tendons, ligaments and bones to strengthen as they t…

If you struggle to get a good night's sleep, you're not alone. About one-third of American adults don't get enough sleep each night, and as many as 70 million people throughout the country have disruptive sleep disorders. For those who have difficulty sleeping, it's a good idea to explore what options may lend a hand. There are several different nutritional supplements that you can take in the evening to aid in a sound, restful sleep.Why You Should Avoid Other MethodsSome people rely on various methods that have numerous drawbacks. Prescription sleeping medication may indeed help you sleep, but these medications can be habit-forming. Other individuals turn to alcohol because it relaxes them in the evening, but these beverages can interfere with your quality of sleep during the night. Nutritional supplements are a good option for improving your sleep quality because they generally don't have side effects, making them safe to take.MagnesiumA lot of people take magnesium supple…

Why should you consider adding fish oil supplements to your daily nutrition routine? This popular pick has benefits galore. But if you're not sure why to include fish oil, how to use it, or if you really need it, take a look at the top questions about this supplement.What Are Fish Oil Supplements?This type of dietary supplement is filled with omega-3 fatty acids. The two primary fatty acids fish oil contains are eicosapentaenoic acid (also known as EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (also known as DHA). Both of these omega-3s are naturally in some of the fish you may eat, such as oysters, mackerel, trout, salmon, mussels, crab, and trout.Why Do You Need To Add a Supplement?If omega-3 fatty acids are naturally in some types of fish, why would you need supplements? Some people may not need extra omega-3s. But it isn't always easy or possible to get a consistent dose of these fatty acids from food sources. If you don't like the taste of fish, don't have access to fish as a food sour…

Supplements And Vitamins To Boost Athletic PerformanceThe average person can get sufficient energy from enough sleep, a healthy lifestyle, and a balanced diet. However, most athletes require peak body performance that needs regular energy boosts. The energy boost can come from various types of supplements and vitamins. Therefore, here are supplements and vitamins that can help athletes perform better.B-VitaminsB vitamins help with the digestion, absorption, and metabolism of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. These vitamins help with providing more energy to the body. If you have insufficient amounts of B vitamins in your body, you won't exercise properly. Instead, you will feel tired and weak, especially if you lack B-12 vitamins.Common B vitamins that may improve athletic performance include vitamins B-12, B-6, and niacin. You can get these vitamins from various animal products or in multi-vitamin capsule form.Beta-Hydroxy Beta Methyl Butyrate (HMB)HMB boosts muscle synthe…

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…