Why Sitting Is the New Smoking — and How “Exercise Snacks” Can Undo the Damage More people than ever are working from home and ordering what they need online, tethering us more closely to our computers. Americans were already sitting too much—but now it’s reached a new level. While sitting itself isn’t inherently bad, sitting in the same chair for hours at a time quietly alters body chemistry in harmful ways. Prolonged sitting increases: Insulin resistance Blood sugar Triglycerides These changes are linked to heart disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, obesity, dementia, cancer, and even earlier death. That’s why prolonged sitting has earned the nickname: “The new smoking.” Why One Workout a Day Isn’t Enough Many people try to counteract long sitting hours with a daily walk, run, or gym session. While these are beneficial—and we absolutely support them—they do not fully undo the damage caused by uninterru…

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…

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…

The major keys to supporting healthy blood sugar regulation are diet and exercise. Our primitive ancestors who were physically active and ate diets high in fiber and low in carbohydrates didn’t have to worry about blood-sugar problems. If we emulated them, neither would we. Refined sugar is the main dietary culprit. Many people think that they don’t eat much sugar because they don’t dip into the sugar bowl frequently. What they fail to appreciate is the enormous amount of sugar they get from desserts, baked goods and other treats, as well as from the 85 different forms of sugar found in processed foods, where sugar acts as a preservative, as well as to lure consumers with a sweet taste. Sugary soft drinks account for about 1/3 of sugar consumption in the US. Simply avoiding processed foods and soft drinks will go a long way towards eliminating added sugar in your diet and normalizing blood-sugar balance. If you must eat processed foods, check the label for the number of grams of…

It’s flu season again, but you don’t need to get caught by a cold or the flu. The truth is, healthy people don’t get colds. Many people in traditional healthy cultures live well past a hundred without getting a single cold. Here’s what you need to do: Build your immunity daily with the Beyond Health Wellness Kit appropriate for you (call our office at 800-250-3063 if you don’t know which one to take), 8-10 glasses of pure water, exercise that produces a sweat (and/or take regular saunas), and a good, sugar-free, alkalinizing diet. Get your vitamin D levels tested; if they aren’t in the high-normal range, include 1-2 capsules of Beyond Health vitamin D3 in your daily supplement program and retest every 3 months until they are. Minimize stress, avoid allergens (they tax the immune system), and try to get a good night’s sleep every night. This should keep your immunity in tip-top shape—ready to throw off any viruses that come its way. However, because life isn’t perfect, and neit…

You eat a good diet with no sugar, take your supplements and probiotics, get enough sleep, and avoid toxins, but you’re still getting colds. What gives? Well you may be neglecting a crucial factor: exercise. Exercise is critical to the proper functioning of part of your immune system, the lymphatic system. You probably haven’t given much thought to your lymphatic system. Most people don’t even know exactly what it is. The lymphatic system is a network of vessels similar to the network of veins and arteries that make up the circulatory system, however its vessels carry a fluid called lymph. Like blood, lymph delivers oxygen and nutrients to tissues and cells, but the lymph vessels function primarily as the body’s drainage system. Waste products from cells and tissues are drawn into the lymph, which the lymph vessels carry to various “lymph nodes.” Here, immune cells destroy foreign particles, including infectious organisms like bacteria and viruses as well as environmental toxi…

Whether it’s having friends over to watch the Super Bowl or making your sweetheart feel special on Valentine’s Day, there’s a tendency to equate good times and feeling good with unhealthy food choices. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Although we live in an imperfect world and our choices aren’t always going to be ideal, the truth is our health is the result of the sum total of all the choices we make every day. So why not plan healthier choices for these two events? Watching the Super Bowl can be a time when the excitement and aggressive energy of watching two teams compete translates into compulsively and mindlessly chomping through bowls of potato chips and other high-calorie/low-nutrient snacks. But although you may be identifying with the guys battling it out on the field, they’re the ones burning up the calories, not you! If you’re in charge of food for the group, limit the amount given to each guest and make it healthy. A good-sized bowl of cut up raw vegetables wi…

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…

It may seem like a simple mathematical equation:  One pound equals about 3,500 calories. If you want to lose one pound, you simply eat less and/or exercise more so that you consume 3,500 less calories than you’re burning. But the truth is more complex. Although if you eat less and exercise more, you can lose weight, most people who take this limited approach have a hard time and often wind up like our friend Debby who reported, “I exhausted myself losing five pounds, but they found me again!” As Raymond Francis says in Never Be Fat Again, overweight is a disease, a disease that can only be cured by normalizing body chemistry. This is done by permanently adopting a holistic lifestyle that supplies the body with all the nutrients it needs to be healthy, and eliminates toxins that interfere with good health. A body in optimal health sustains self-healing, self-regulating mechanisms that automatically shed excess pounds and then maintain a healthy weight. Regular exercise is…

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 result…

Sometimes the sensation creeps up on your or comes on suddenly: You have no energy to do anything. Work feels like a slog. You put off household chores like washing dishes or taking out the trash. In between, you settle for takeout because it requires minimal effort. Day after day, the sensation persists, and rather than attribute it to lifestyle habits, you conclude that you have a lack of willpower. According to psychologist Caterina Lino, "Overall, self-control appears to be a better predictor of academic achievement than intelligence. It is also a stronger determinant of effective leadership than charisma, and more important for marital satisfaction than empathy." Willpower and Your Brain Do you believe you lack willpower? The reality is, you probably have more than you know. The truth is, everyone has two parts in their brain that are often in conflict. There is an older, "primitive brain" governed by the pleasure principle; it wants what it wants right now. Another part…

Beyond Health’s approach to weight loss, presented in Raymond Francis’ Never Be Fat Again, (NBFA) is based on the theory of one disease and two causes. We say there is really only one disease—malfunctioning body cells, and two reasons why cells malfunction—they are deficient in needed nutrients and/or they are being poisoned by toxins. Overweight is a type of disease, and as better health is achieved, the body will naturally lose excess weight.Intuitive eating (IE) is an anti-diet approach to weight loss which seeks to help people regain a lost or weakened ability to “hear” and respond to body cues relating to hunger and satiation. Regaining this ability, it is hoped, will lead to losing excess weight. Both IE and NBFA agree that diets don’t work. Thought they can lead to short-term weight loss, most of this weight is regained over time. They also agree that diets are usually harmful and enforce the bad habit of overriding internal body cues. Following the strategies of IE that we…

The school year is back and we have some tips on how to cold and flu-proof your child.Children need special nutritional support as they head back to school each fall. Any gathering of kids creates a perfect opportunity for germs to spread, and no sooner has the school year gotten underway then flu season beginning.How can you strengthen your child’s immune system and avoid winter colds and flus?Number one, banish sugar from your child’s diet. Even a small amount of refined sugar can suppress your child’s immune system for hours. Immune cells need a lot of vitamin C to function normally, but sugar, which has a chemical structure similar to vitamin C, competes with the vitamin to enter the cells, creating an artificial vitamin C shortage. Avoid fruit juices (including orange juice), which are also too high in sugar. Whole fruits, however, are fine in moderation.Feed your child the right fats. Trans fats and excess omega 6 fats (found in supermarket vegetable oils) depress immunity,…

Prevention is always best, but if you should become injured, you don't need to resort to toxic drugs like NSAIDS that reduce pain short-term but lead to long-term damage and retard healing. To alleviate pain, repair damaged tissue and speed recovery, get on an anti-inflammatory, alkaline diet if you're not already, and a strong supplement program including vitamin C to bowel tolerance along with Cell Repair Formula. Supplements that help to reduce pain and inflammation and repair damaged tissue include Curcumin, MSM, Joint Support Formula and Endura Guard. Extra magnesium can help with muscle tightness, stiffness or spasm, as will an Epsom Salts (magnesium sulfate) bath. Call the Beyond Health office at 1-800-250-3063 for more information. Proteolytic enzymes are also helpful. Nothing brings a healthy exercise program to a halt like an injury that can incapacitate you for weeks, months, or even, if not treated properly, lead to a chronic problem. Be proactive about injuries in…

Is this the year you finally establish a regular exercise program? Exercise is the wonder drug par excellence. We can’t think of a single body system—whether it’s cardiovascular, digestive, neurological, musculoskeletal—you name it, that exercise doesn’t improve. It even makes the senses keener. Yet, only 20 percent of US adults meet the government’s exercise guidelines: 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity (or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise, or an equivalent combination) plus two sessions per week of muscle-strengthening activity. Want a free and easy way to find out how fit you are? Click here. The most convenient and efficient way we’ve found to exercise is rebounding. What's rebounding? Simply bouncing up and down on a specially constructed trampoline called a rebounder. There is no more efficient form of exercise, bar none, because it exercises every single cell in your body simultaneously. One or two 15-minute sessions a day will provide you with…