The Vitamin C Problem Most People Don’t Know About In this short three-minute clip, Raymond Francis discusses a critical issue surrounding one of the most widely used supplements in the world: vitamin C. Vitamin C plays essential roles in: Immune system support Collagen production Antioxidant protection Cellular repair Because it is water-soluble and not stored efficiently in the body, regular intake is important. But here’s the problem: Not all vitamin C is created equal. The Quality Issue Much of the world’s vitamin C supply is mass-produced under conditions that may compromise purity, bioavailability, or sourcing standards. Common issues include: Inferior raw material sourcing Manufacturing shortcuts Contaminant concerns Low biological effectiveness As with many supplements, the label alone does not tell the full story. What to Look For In the clip, Raymond explains: Which forms of vitamin C may be less desirable Why sourcing and manufactu…

Organic Food: More Nutrition, Fewer Toxins An international team of researchers—including the renowned Charles Benbrook of Washington State University—reviewed 343 peer-reviewed studies comparing organically grown foods with conventionally grown produce. Their conclusions were clear and compelling. 1. Organic Food Is More Nutritious Organic crops contained significantly higher levels of antioxidant polyphenols, compounds strongly linked to reduced risk of chronic disease, including: Cardiovascular disease Neurodegenerative disorders Certain cancers Polyphenols play a critical role in reducing oxidative stress and chronic inflammation—two foundational drivers of modern disease. 2. Organic Produce Is Safer The analysis also found that conventionally grown crops were: 4 times more likely to contain pesticide residues Significantly higher in cadmium, a toxic heavy metal When interviewed, Benbrook noted that the quality and rigor of organic–conventional…

Vitamin C: The Molecule That Changed Everything Ever since it saved his life, Raymond Francis has regarded vitamin C—when it’s the right kind—as the most powerful and indispensable nutrient for human health. Long before Beyond Health existed, Raymond wasn’t planning for the future. In truth, he wasn’t sure he had one. He was gravely ill—near death—when he called his brother Bernie, who flew across the country expecting the worst. What Bernie found was alarming. Raymond was emaciated, barely conscious, and drifting in and out of awareness. What happened next would change everything. Bernie had brought a book he’d recently heard about: Anatomy of an Illness by Norman Cousins. Cousins is best known for using laughter to help reverse a supposedly incurable disease—but less well known is that high-dose vitamin C, administered intravenously, was a cornerstone of his recovery. Too weak and discouraged to laugh, Raymond was willing to try w…

Allergic reactions are very taxing to the body (see Raymond Francis’ article, “The Shocking Truth About Allergies”) and getting them under control by reducing inflammation and restoring systemic alkalinity as soon as you can will not only make you more comfortable, it will minimize the serious damage that each allergic reaction causes to your overall health. Although if you’re prone to having anaphylactic type allergic responses, you should have an EpiPen handy, for most allergy attacks—itchy, tearing eyes; sneezing; congestion and fatigue—natural substances can do the job. Vitamin C and quercetin (Cell Repair Quercetin or Cell Repair Formula) are a powerful combination for subduing inflammation. Take maximum doses to nip those allergic reactions in the bud. For taking vitamin C “to bowel tolerance” click here for instructions. Allergic reactions make the body acidic, exacerbating inflammation and damage to body tissues. Many biochemical…

Sugar, Immunity, and the Sweetener Trap If you’ve been around Beyond Health for any length of time, you know that strong immunity begins with staying away from sugar. That’s not ideology—it’s biochemistry. Sugar undermines immune function in two distinct and well-documented ways. How Sugar Weakens Immunity 1. Sugar Blocks Vitamin C Entry Into Immune Cells Glucose (blood sugar) and vitamin C use the same transport pathways to enter cells. Immune cells cannot function without vitamin C—and during an infection, their requirement for vitamin C can increase ten-fold or more. But if glucose levels are elevated, vitamin C is crowded out at the cellular level. The result?An artificial, functional vitamin C deficiency, even if you’re taking supplements. This is one of the primary reasons sugar intake is so damaging during periods of immune stress. 2. Sugar Disrupts Blood Sugar and Oxygen Delivery Large swings in blood sugar—sharp spikes followed by cr…

Vitamin C and Viral Illness: A History Worth Understanding For decades, physicians practicing orthomolecular and integrative medicine have explored the use of high-dose vitamin C in severe viral illnesses—particularly in situations where conventional therapies offered limited benefit. This work often involved much higher doses than those used in studies intended to evaluate vitamin C for everyday immune support. In some historical reports, clinicians administered very large intravenous (IV) doses, sometimes recording outcomes in medical journals. Despite this documentation, much of the work remained outside mainstream clinical practice and was largely dismissed by conventional medicine. Renewed Scientific Interest During COVID-19 During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, clinicians worldwide urgently sought supportive strategies to reduce complications associated with severe respiratory illness. In China, physicians explored intravenous vitamin C as supportive care in ho…

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…

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…

February was Heart Health month, and we honored it by writing about two nutrients that are critical for a healthy heart, vitamin E and CoQ10. However no discussion of nutrients that benefit the heart would be complete without talking about our favorite vitamin, vitamin C. We’ve told you before about a theory advanced by one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century, two-time Nobel laureate, chemist Linus Pauling. He hypothesized that heart disease may actually be a vitamin C deficiency disease. Pauling observed that animals don’t get heart attacks. Most animals (humans, apes, guinea pigs and fruit bats excepted) make their own vitamin C—out of blood sugar! According to Andrew W. Saul, PhD, most mammals make the human equivalent of more than 5,000 mg of vitamin C daily, and considerably more when under stress. Pauling also knew that one of vitamin C’s primary roles in the body is helping to build collagen, the basic material in connective tissue, including blood vessel wal…

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…

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…

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…

Flu Prevention: Building Immune Resilience the Smart Way Preventing seasonal flu isn’t about relying on a single strategy—it’s about supporting immune resilience consistently, especially during winter months when infections are more common. While vaccines remain one public-health tool, Beyond Health has always emphasized that strong immunity begins with nutritional sufficiency, metabolic health, and lifestyle foundations. A Note on Vaccine Safety Discussions Concerns about vaccine safety have historically emerged when unexpected adverse events appear after widespread use. For example, following the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccination campaigns, safety monitoring agencies in several countries—including Swedish Medical Products Agency and public-health authorities in Finland—investigated reports of narcolepsy occurring after vaccination with a specific adjuvanted vaccine. Key context: Investigations focused on specific formulations, not all flu vaccines The…

How Much Vitamin C Do You Really Need? There isn’t a single “correct” dose of vitamin C that works for everyone. An individual’s vitamin C needs vary based on: Genetics Environmental stressors (pollution, toxins, lifestyle) Current health status (stress, inflammation, illness) Because vitamin C is rapidly used and excreted, blood levels alone don’t always reflect functional need—especially during periods of increased demand. Why Needs Can Be Higher Than Minimum Recommendations Vitamin C is involved in hundreds of biological processes, including: Antioxidant protection Immune defense Collagen formation Adrenal and stress response Detoxification support During times of stress or illness, the body uses vitamin C much more quickly, which is why requirements may increase temporarily. The Concept of “Bowel Tolerance” (Used With Caution) One method sometimes used to estimate personal vitamin C needs is called bowel toleranc…

When to Take Your Supplements for Best Results The body performs different functions at different times of the day. Timing supplements thoughtfully can help improve digestion, absorption, and effectiveness. Below is a simple, practical guide to help you get the most from your Beyond Health supplements. Calcium (Beyond Health Bone Mineral Formula) Best taken in the evening or at bedtime Calcium is primarily utilized at night and may support relaxation and sleep Magnesium is required for calcium to function properly—our formula includes both, so no additional magnesium is usually needed Multivitamins & Fat-Soluble Vitamins Many vitamins are best absorbed with food. Fat-soluble vitamins require dietary fat for absorption: Vitamins A, D, E, and K Take your multivitamin with a meal that contains fat Vitamin C Vitamin C remains in the bloodstream only a few hours For best results: Divide your daily dose throughout the day (for example, with each meal), or…

Recently we’ve been writing about an antioxidant plant flavonoid called quercetin as an essential component of an immune defense arsenal.  But there are many other reasons to include quercetin, which has been used for centuries as a component of healing herbs like St. John’s Wort and Ginkgo Biloba, in your supplement program, whether you want to get well or just stay well. Quercetin is a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, and it stimulates the body to produce a wide range of additional antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and detoxifying chemicals. Quercetin has demonstrated anti-diabetic, antiviral, and antibacterial properties.  It supports cardiovascular, urinary, and nervous system health, and has been shown to protect against stress, cataracts, osteoporosis, and heavy metal toxicity.   Quercetin helps shed excess weight, it increases and sustains a high level of energy and endurance, maximizes physical and mental performance, and helps to redu…

Would you like to be smarter? Of course, you would! Who wouldn’t want to be able to bring laser-like attention to the task at hand, assess all the elements in a situation quickly, analyze how they interrelate, and remain wholeheartedly engaged and absorbed until any problem is solved creatively and effectively?Well, vitamin C supplementation can help with that, especially if you’re at all deficient — and most of us are!Recently, Korean scientists assembled a group of 241 healthy, young (ages 20-39) adults to see if their serum vitamin C levels correlated with their “mental vitality.” Indeed, it did. So the researchers went a step further. About half of these young Korean men and women had “inadequate” levels of the vitamin, which the researchers defined as being less than 0.88 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL). Fifty of these vitamin C-insufficient subjects were invited to participate in a four-week experiment. Half of them took 500 mg of vitamin C twice a day, fo…

How much vitamin C do you need?The government’s Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA)—90 milligrams (mg) of vitamin C per day for adult men and 75 mg per day for adult women—is enough to prevent scurvy, a potentially fatal disease in which the body literally falls apart due to vitamin C deficiency. (Vitamin C is needed for making collagen, an essential component of the connective tissue that holds the body together.)But vitamin C does a great many more things in our bodies than help us make collagen. In fact, it probably does more to keep you well and vital than any other molecule you can put into your body. Vitamin C is essential to: detoxificationrepair of injuryimmune functionour ability to handle stresshealthy hormone activityhealthy neurotransmitter functionenergy productioniron utilizationnitrous oxide functions (which help with energy and also with healthy blood pressure)healthy bone formation, andoptimal brain functionAnd to top it all off,…