A new study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation found that Vitamin D may be able to prevent and even treat allergies to common molds. Mold allergies are a nuisance to people who have them, but they can be dangerous for those with asthma or cystic fibrosis. The study discovered that people who developed these allergies had lower levels of vitamin compared to healthy people. Vitamin D not only helped lower the levels of allergy-driving proteins, but it also boosted the production of proteins that increased the body’s resistance to this type of allergy. This means that maintaining adequate vitamin D levels can not only help to prevent but also help those who already have such allergies.…

To prevent the flu, the one thing you don’t want to do is get a flu shot. There is no scientific proof that flu shots prevent the flu. In fact, they are known to cause the flu; we know they are dangerous, so why get them? Remember that people who get a flu shot five years in a row increase their risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by 1000 percent. Sweden’s Medical Products Agency has opened an inquiry into the problem of swine flu vaccinations causing narcolepsy, a chronic sleeping disorder. This action was provoked by reports concerning children aged between 12-16 years who developed symptoms compatible with narcolepsy that occurred one to two months after swine flu vaccinations. Finland is also looking into the possible link between narcolepsy and the swine flu vaccination. Instead of dangerous vaccinations, there are a number of things you can do to prevent yourself from getting the flu. Vitamin D supplementation is a far better, safer and more effective option…

Recent research out of the Mayo Clinic has found that rheumatoid arthritis is on the increase among Caucasian women and that vitamin D deficiency is a factor. While there are many factors that influence arthritis, the researchers concluded that the most likely cause of the increase we are seeing is vitamin D deficiency, which has been rising, especially among women. Smoking is also commonly associatedwith causing rheumatoid arthritis. Another factor may be that the composition of female oral contraceptives has changed over the years. Oral contraceptives used to have more estrogen in them than they do today, which provides a protective benefit against rheumatoid arthritis. With less estrogen, there is less protective benefit. The best way to get vitamin D is through regular exposure to sunlight. Vitamin D3 supplements such as Beyond Health’s Vitamin D3 Formula are also a good option.…

A few years back, Spanish researchers followed more than 12,000 European university graduates and their diets for 6-1/2 years.  The researchers found that diets rich in trans fats increased the risk of depression by 50%. On the other hand, those whose diets were high in fish oil had a low risk of depression. Fish oil is a rich source of fatty acids called Omega-3s, specifically EPA and DHA (eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid). Omega-3 deficiency has been linked with a diminished ability to cope with stress and with increases in anxiety, depression, hostility and aggression. In a study on medical students, EPA/DHA lowered anxiety 20%.  In the US, we consume much more trans fat than Europeans do, and it’s been estimated that up to 90% of us are deficient in Omega-3s.  Could that explain why so many Americans are in a bad mood? A recent paper by eminent nutrition researcher Bruce Ames, PhD , Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Molecular Biol…

Q:  I have a child who suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).  I would like to know what supplements Beyond Health would recommend for ADD.  A:  Here are the supplements that we recommend for ADD sufferers.  I do not know how young your child is, therefore, some of this will have to be modified. But, it’s a start.   The Basic Wellness Kit (multi, vitamin C, and EFA).  In addition to: Acetyl L-Carnitine   It helps to improve eyesight and brain function including mood, learning, short-term memory, blood sugar, chronic fatigue, and sleep.  ALCAR is an occurring form of L-Carnitine that specifically benefits the brain. ALCAR helps supply the brain with energy by improving energetics in the mitochondrion, the cell's energy generator. ALCAR promotes biosynthesis of acetylcholine, a key neurotransmitter for brain and nerve function. Vitamin D3 - Works to prevent osteoporosis, cancer, MS, infections, Alzheimer’s and auto imm…

Beyond Health's Vitamin D Recent reviews of the medical literature indicate that vitamin D deficiency is linked to asthma. A 2010 study in the Allergy, Asthma & Immunology that vitamin D deficiency may be linked to airway inflammation, decreased lung function and poor asthma control. It appears that vitamin D helps improve asthma symptoms by preventing the release of inflammatory cytokines and increasing the secretion of anti-inflammatory proteins. Vitamin D is found in foods, such as eggs and fish. It is also produced in the body after sun exposure. Most Americans are deficient in vitamin D, especially at the end of the winter. Supplementing daily with Beyond Health’s Vitamin D3 Formula is recommended.…

. . . it boosts your insulin-producing cells  Almost 10% of our population today is diabetic, and if some big changes aren't made, up to one-third of the population is projected to be diabetic by the year 2050. Medical expenses among people with diagnosed diabetes are 2.3 times higher than they would have been without this illness, and diabetes costs the US almost $200 billion a year. But preventing diabetes is really quite easy. A good diet, managing your weight, and exercise are the basics. And one more thing: adequate vitamin D. A recent study found that vitamin D boosts the beta cells -- cells that make insulin, which helps to prevent diabetes. In another study, the same researchers found that those with a vitamin D status of 25ng/ml had a 43% lower risk of developing type II diabetes than those with less than 14ng/ml. Other studies have linked vitamin D deficiency with impaired insulin production and increased insulin resistance.  Vitamin D is one of those molecules th…

. . . almost all disease can be prevented and reversed. Because I maintain that almost all disease can be prevented and reversed, I'm sometimes asked if type 1 diabetes can be reversed. Most type 1 diabetes results from an autoimmune illness in which the body destroys insulin-producing cells (beta cells) in the pancreas. Once these cells are gone, I don't know anyone who has grown new ones. However, if caught early, it may be possible to reverse or at least mitigate the autoimmune process causing the damage. To do this, you would need to give strong support to your immune system with good diet (get rid of The Big Four!), minimize toxins in your life, identify and address food sensitivities and allergies, and get onto a comprehensive, high-quality supplement program. Vitamin D is particularly helpful with autoimmune issues. Even when irreversible damage has been done to the beta cells, there is much you can do to optimize your health. Many studies, for example, have found th…

. . .  drugs just aren't cutting it. The poor drug industry has been hard put to come up with a drug for hypertension that doesn't significantly reduce quality of life with side effects like dizziness, nausea, arrhythmias and sexual problems, and in addition contribute over time to chronic disease. The new angiotensin receptor blockers were recently linked in The Lancet Oncology with developing prostate, breast and lung cancers. It's also been hard for them to come up with drugs that do the job. In a 2008 Canadian Family Physician, Richard Nahas, MD, CCFP, says only about 1/3 of those taking hypertension meds achieve optimal blood pressure control. Therefore it's not surprising, although refreshing, to see some serious attention being paid in medical journals to non-drug therapies. Recently, in The Journal of Clinical Hypertension, two MDs discussed the value of the low-sodium DASH diet (see my article on the DASH diet for a description), exercise, weight reduction, moderate a…

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…

. . .  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…

. . . flu shots are ineffective and dangerous I’m not a doctor and can’t advise you not to get a flu shot, but I am a scientist, and after studying this subject in depth, I’ve concluded that flu shots are a fraud. They’re not effective and can do serious harm. A hundred and forty-nine different kinds of adverse reactions to vaccines have been reported to the government Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). These include seizures, anaphylaxis, onset of autoimmune illness, and death. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Vaccines cause permanent damage to everyone who is subjected to them. Vaccines over stimulate the immune system, causing excessive inflammation and, paradoxically, overall immune suppression. They also trigger brain inflammation, leading to short term and long term brain damage. Renowned immunologist, Dr. H. Hugh Fudenberg found that adults who took flu shots five years in a row increased their risk of Alzheimer’s Disease by 1,000%. M…

There isn’t a vitamin more important to your health than vitamin D. You need it to build and maintain strong bones. Your immune system is crippled without it. Vitamin D deficiency appears to raise the risk of almost every chronic disease, from cancer to diabetes to cardiovascular disease to age-related cognitive decline to auto-immune disease. Yet professor and nutrition researcher Peter Horvath at the University of Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions in Buffalo, New York, reports that during Buffalo’s winter months, nearly 50% of the population in Buffalo has insufficient levels of vitamin D, while 25% are outright deficient. “Every cell in your body,” he says, “is responsive to vitamin D. If you’re deficient, you won’t see the health effects for years and it could take months to get your levels back up.” Dr. Horvath is probably using the standard definition of vitamin D deficiency—a blood level of less than30 ng/mL (or 75 nmol/L). However other vitamin D e…

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…

Berkeley, California nutrition writer Clara Felix was one of the early trailblazers in using nutrition to fight disease. In the late 1990s, when vitamin D researchers discovered we needed much more vitamin D than had previously been thought, Clara upped her intake to 4,000 IU per day. After three months, an arthritic knee that had failed to improve with exemplary lifestyle, good supplements and avoidance of allergens alone became completely normal again! She was delighted to report being able to squat and do deep knee bends for the first time in eight years. It's not surprising.  Vitamin D is anti-inflammatory and also plays a role in the synthesis of synovial fluid, which lubricates the joints and prevents their wear and tear.   Studies have shown that having higher levels retards the deterioration of arthritic knee and hip joints. Clara also related this story about two chimps suffering from a "mysterious illness" who were…

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…

Humans evolved to spend our days hunting and gathering in the great outdoors, getting plenty of exercise, excitement, camaraderie, fresh air and sun. Those were the good old days when the best things in life were free, including a flood of summer sunlight that created as much vitamin D as it penetrated our bare skin as we would need all year round.  But we moved further and further from the equator, where sunlight is most abundant, and began spending more and more of our lives indoors. We adopted a less healthy diet with fewer and fewer fresh fruits and vegetables with their antioxidants that protected us from potential damage by the sun, and medical authorities began recommending sun avoidance and sunscreens, the weakest of which (PF8) block 95% of the sun’s vitamin-D producing UVB rays. (See here on using the sun intelligently to still get free vitamin D.) Vitamin D deficiency is now so widespread that alternative doctors say virtually every new pa…

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…