. . .  another reason to choose raw foods. There are a number of problems with cooked foods; that's why I recommend eating at least 80% of your diet raw. One problem that hasn't gotten much press recently is acrylamide. I thought of it again when I ran across a 2008 study showing that curcumin greatly reduces the toxic effects of acrylamide. In 2002 Swedish researchers set off worldwide alarm bells when they reported that cooking starchy foods at temperatures over 120 degrees C (245 degrees F) -- temperatures reached in baking, roasting, frying and toasting -- creates a compound shown in animal studies to be highly carcinogenic and neurotoxic. That compound is acrylamide. It appears to be formed primarily when sugar reacts with an amino acid called asparagine. The higher the heat, and the longer the heating time, the more is formed. Boiling, steaming and stewing, which use lower temperatures, don't cause this reaction. According to a 2004 report by the FDA, the top 10 acrylami…

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…

Most people who call us at Beyond Health believe, as we do, that supplementation has become essential (see this report if you need convincing). What they want to know is how to get the most bang for their supplement buck. “What supplements do I really need?” is a common question. Well, the first thing to consider is this: The most expensive supplement you can buy is the one that doesn’t work AND does you harm! Unfortunately, that’s what you get with a lot of the cheaper brands. If money is tight, it’s always better to take fewer high-quality supplements from a company you trust than to buy cheap, low-quality brands. Next, what do you want to accomplish? What you purchase should always be related to your health goals. Our three wellness kits address different health goals. The Basic Wellness Kit For those who are healthy and want to stay that way, our Basic Wellness Kit includes our multi, EFA (Essential Fatty Acid) Formula, and vitamin C. It costs about $2.50 a day. Everyo…

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…

When you think about immune-building nutrients, vitamin E probably isn’t among the first that come to mind.  But it should be.  Vitamin E is one of the most effective nutrients known for supporting immune function—especially when it comes to fighting off viral infections, and even a marginal deficiency will throw a monkey wrench into your immune system’s response to a challenge. Laboratory, animal and human studies have shown that vitamin E has a variety of effects on immune cell production, differentiation, proliferation and activity; that vitamin E insufficiency diminishes these effects; and that supplementing with vitamin E at higher than government recommended levels enhances them. Yet as we confront the current viral pandemic, approximately 90% of the US population isn’t getting enough vitamin E from their diets to meet even minimal government standards. The average American diet supplies less than half the government’s Recommended Dietary Intake (RD…

It was an apocalyptic experience to wake up on the morning of September 9th in San Francisco, California, to a darkened sky with an eerie orange glow. And it became stranger still when by mid-afternoon the sky hadn’t changed, as if the day had never begun.  This was a San Franciscan’s eye view of the effects of the worst fire season the West Coast has experienced ever. The air was darkened for two days by a blanket of smoke that stretched all along the coast and more than 1,000 miles west over the Pacific Ocean as wildfires raged from Washington down to Southern California.  Even those who haven’t been in the direct path of the fires leading to loss of property and life have experienced some of the worst air pollution in the world, comparable, according to a study done in Berkeley, to smoking 25 cigarettes a day.  And it didn’t help to know that the consequent lung irritation and inflammation made us more prone to lung infections, like COVID-19. What c…

Vitamin E is an essential fat-soluble vitamin that we can’t do without. It’s known primarily as an antithrombic, preventing blood clots inside blood vessels, and as the body’s primary fat-soluble antioxidant, offering significant protection to the heart, brain, skin and immune system.But as crucial as vitamin E is to our health, well-known vitamin E researcher Magrit G. Traber has reported that an estimated 90% or more Americans don’t consume enough dietary vitamin E to meet the minimal government standard of 12 milligrams (mg) a day. Meanwhile, health experts recommend hundreds of mg daily for optimal health. Vitamin E is found in whole grains, nuts, seeds, and healthy fats and oils, such as pure, extra-virgin olive oil. If you included all these good foods regularly in your diet, you would likely meet minimum government standards, but for optimal health Beyond Health recommends 400 IU (268 mg) a day, an amount that can only be feasibly consumed by taking a nutritio…

Deficiency of vitamin E is more predictive of heart disease and cardiac death than any other single factorOne of the most important nutrients to protect the heart is vitamin E. Yet according to a study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, only 8% of adult men and 2.4% of adult women in the US met the Estimated Average Requirements (EARs) for alpha-tocopherol intake. Even worse, EARs are about 20% lower than the Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs).Although many factors are involved in creating heart disease low levels of vitamin E are more predictive of heart disease and cardiac death than any other single factor. Vitamin E inhibits the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, preventing atherosclerosis. When you prevent atherosclerotic plaque, you automatically help to lower blood pressure.In 1910, when heart disease was relatively rare, most people got at least 100 IU a day from freshly milled and baked stone ground whole wheat bread. Yet almost all Americans today…

The strongest and most hard-working muscle in your body, your heart is also associated with vulnerability . . . and for good reason.  Powerhouse though it may be, the heart is living tissue that requires proper nourishment. A nutrient called coenzyme Q10, or CoQ10, is essential for keeping your heart strong and healthy. Yet it’s quite possible your CoQ10 levels are suboptimal, leading to a condition that underlies many heart problems called “energy-starved heart.” Every cell in your body contains hundreds of little energy factories called mitochondria. CoQ10 facilitates various chemical reactions in the mitochondria’s energy-producing process. Simply put, when you lack CoQ10, you lack energy. Your muscles, including your heart, may be ready, willing and able, but there’s just not enough fuel in the tank. Even minor deficiencies in CoQ10 can impair heart function and eventually damage the heart itself. CoQ10 plays yet another crucial role in cardiovascular health: Keeping…

Fish and flax oil are our two best sources of omega 3 fatty acids. The omega 3s are absolutely necessary for good health, and most Americans are deficient in them - a significant factor in our epidemic of chronic disease. However, a recent study offers a good reminder that these fats must be handled with care, as they are readily oxidized both outside and inside of the body. Excessive oxidation causes cell damage and aging. . . . it CAN, if taken without antioxidant protection!In this study, mice fed a daily diet containing 5% fish oil (the equivalent of about 4 tablespoons of cod liver oil on a 2,000 calorie-a-day diet) demonstrated increased oxidative stress, which promoted aging and diminished their lifespan.Does this mean we should avoid fish oil? Absolutely not! It means that with high doses, it is very important to take the specific antioxidant vitamin E as well. One capsule for each 40 lbs. of body weight taken with breakfast is ample protection in most cases.Meanwhile, fla…

It is now considered normal to lose cognitive function as you age -- to experience diminished memory, reasoning and speed in processing information. This "normal" age-related cognitive decline is contrasted to dementias, like Alzheimer's, which are much more debilitating and include severe nerve cell damage and death of nerve cells. In fact, age-related cognitive decline and dementia are the same thing. What you call it is a matter of degree, and it is primarily a product of our unhealthy diets and lifestyles.Maintaining a youthful brain does, however, require superior nutrition from both diet and high-quality supplements. A brain support program would include the B vitamins and the antioxidant vitamins A, C, D and E. Fish or flax oil is a must, and the need for it increases with age.By middle age, it's best to be supplementing with CoQ10, acetyl-L-carnitine, and multiple B vitamins. (Deficiencies in vitamin B12 are common and often misdiagnosed as dementias or…

. . . it could double your risk for macular degeneration A European study on nearly 4,700 men and women over 65 found that daily aspirin users more than doubled their risk of late stage, "wet" macular degeneration. Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of legal blindness resulting in loss of independence among older Americans. The macula is a tiny, highly sensitive region in the center of the retina that allows you to see fine details and colors. Without it, you aren't totally blind, but all you see is shapes and movement in shades of black and white. With age, the macula can deteriorate in one of two ways. It can become thin and sprinkled with debris called drusen (the dry form), or blood vessels beneath the retina may push up into the macula and leak blood and fluids (the wet form). The wet form, which is considered the more serious, was the form associated with aspirin use in the above study. (Aspirin is known to cause small hemorrhages under the retina.) Other…