Author: Joseph Mercola

By Dr. Mercola Iodine is essential to your health. Unfortunately, data collected by the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey has revealed a significant drop in median urine iodine values.1 The median iodine level measured in urine samples was 320 micrograms per liter (mcg/L) between 1971 and 1974. By 1988, it dropped to 145 mcg/L. Surveys taken in the years since show levels have stabilized, except in pregnant women whose median urine level dropped further to 125 mcg/L. Many people don’t know they need to consume a little iodine each day to maintain healthy levels of this essential micronutrient. Your … Continue reading →

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By Dr. Mercola Opioid-related statistics reveal the U.S. has an enormous problem on its hands. Americans use 80 percent of all the opioids sold worldwide.1 In Alabama, which has the highest opioid prescription rate in the U.S., 143 prescriptions are written for every 100 people.2 A result of this over-prescription trend is skyrocketing deaths from overdoses.3,4 As recently reported by CNN, the Manchester, New Hampshire, fire department responds to more calls for drug overdoses than fires these days.5 In 2015, 52,404 Americans died from drug overdoses; 33,091 of them involved an opioid and nearly one-third of them, 15,281, were by prescription.6,7,8 The following … Continue reading →

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By Dr. Mercola Broccoli, a close relative of Brussels sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower, is perhaps most well-known for its chemoprotective properties. It’s an excellent source of phytonutrient glucosinolates, flavonoids and other health-boosting antioxidant and anticancer compounds. One of the compounds in broccoli known to have anticancer activity is sulforaphane, a naturally occurring organic sulfur. Studies have shown sulforaphane supports normal cell function and division while causing apoptosis (programmed cell death) in colon,1prostate,2 breast3 and tobacco-induced lung cancer4 cells, and reducing the number of cancerous liver tumors in mice.5 Three servings of broccoli per week may reduce your risk of prostate cancer by more than 60 percent.6 Its beneficial effects … Continue reading →

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By Dr. Mercola Medical mistakes are made in the operating room, in the emergency room and in the doctor’s office. And, unfortunately, the mistakes made by doctors, nurses and pharmaceutical companies still are the third leading cause of death in the U.S. Statistics from a study originally published in 20001 have not changed in the 17 years since its publication. Authors in the Canadian Journal of Surgery believe medical errors represent a serious public health problem and a threat to patient safety.2 The definition of a medical error often rests on patient outcome, or rather if there was a negative outcome from … Continue reading →

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By Dr. Mercola Today, 74 percent of Americans on community water systems receive fluoridated water.1 Since 1945, it has been widely accepted in the U.S. that fluoride is “safe and effective” to prevent tooth decay. But is it really? The 2015 documentary, “Fluoride: Poison on Tap,” seeks to expose what may be one of the longest-running and most successful deceptions known to mankind — adding industrial waste, in the form of fluoride, to public drinking water. You may be shocked at the lengths to which corporations, industry and government have gone to make this industrial waste product appear beneficial to your … Continue reading →

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By Dr. Mercola Polyphenols1,2 (also known as phenolics) are phytochemicals, natural plant chemicals with powerful antioxidant properties. There are over 8,000 identified polyphenols found in foods such as tea, wine, chocolates, fruits and vegetables. Antioxidants3 — which in addition to polyphenols include carotenoids and allyl sulfides — help protect your cells from free radical damage, thereby controlling general aging and disease potential. If your body does not get adequate protection, free radicals can cause cellular damage and dysfunction, raising your risk for chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, just to name a few. Polyphenols can be broken down into four … Continue reading →

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By Dr. Mercola Up until 1972, when the Heimlich maneuver was developed, the sixth leading cause of accidental death was choking, usually on a bite of food, or for young children, a small toy or other object. At that time, around 3,000 people in the U.S. died every year from getting something lodged in their throat. The sobering thing is that it doesn’t take long for choking to become a fatality. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) explains: “Choking is the blockage or hindrance of respiration by a foreign-body obstruction in the internal airway, including the pharynx, hypopharynx, and trachea. … Continue reading →

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By Dr. Mercola Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin with potent antioxidant activity that helps combat damaging free radicals. It also plays a role in the making of red blood cells, helps your body use vitamin K (which is important for heart health1) and is involved in your immune function and cell signaling. As with many other nutrients, many do not get enough of this basic micronutrient from their diet. In the U.S. alone, 75 to 90 percent of the population fails to reach the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of vitamin E.2,3 The RDA for people over the age of 14 … Continue reading →

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By Dr. Mercola Water makes up at least two-thirds of the human body and plays an important role in your normal functions. Subsequently, dehydration can lead to a number of other ailments, from migraines1 and constipation to kidney stones. It can also take a toll on your brain health, affecting your mood and overall brain function. For example, when you’re dehydrated, you’re more prone to irritability, anxiety and fatigue. Dehydration happens when you’ve lost too much water in your body without replacing it, preventing your body from performing its normal functions. Mild dehydration can easily be treated but if it reaches extreme levels, it can be … Continue reading →

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By Dr. Mercola The recent lawsuit against Nestle Waters of North America alleges their bottled Poland Spring water is not spring water at all, but sourced from ordinary groundwater, much like the same stuff that comes directly out of your tap at home.1 The lengths to which Nestle has gone to protect their bottled water brand speaks to the love affair that Americans have developed for bottled water. Water sold in a bottle may be labeled distilled, spring, mineral, artesian or sparkling to name a few. More than 17 million barrels of oil are used in the manufacture of bottled water … Continue reading →

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By Dr. Mercola You may be mistakenly comforted by the perceived oversight by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over chemicals used in the manufacture of everyday products. For instance, the FDA prohibits the use of mercury, chloroform and nine other substances in your personal care products. However, once you know the European Union (EU) prohibits the use of more than 1,300 chemicals in their personal care products, you may not feel as protected — and you would be right. The number of chemicals restricted by the FDA is even more ridiculous when you consider there are over 84,000 different chemicals in … Continue reading →

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By Dr. Mercola While many health screens and lab tests are overrated or unnecessary, there are a few that are vitally important, such as vitamin D. I recommend checking your vitamin D level at least twice a year. Two other really important tests are serum ferritin (which measures stored iron) and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase or sometimes called gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT; a liver enzyme correlated with iron toxicity, disease risk and all-cause mortality). By monitoring your serum ferritin and GGT levels and taking steps to lower them if they’re too high, you can avoid serious health problems. For adults, I strongly recommend getting a … Continue reading →

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By Dr. Mercola Your body runs on bioelectricity, and having a deeper understanding of how it works can be quite helpful when it comes to optimizing your health. Natural health pioneer Dr. Jerry Tennant has written an excellent book on this topic called “Healing Is Voltage: The Handbook.” The Electric Brain Trained as an ophthalmologist, Tennant transitioned into natural health as a result of being forced to solve his own health challenges. After doing laser eye surgery on a patient with leukemia, Tennant ended up developing encephalitis. He believes the virus, which is not killed by laser, traveled from the patient’s cornea, … Continue reading →

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By Dr. Mercola Cholesterol is a waxy substance found in nearly every cell of your body and is essential to good health. Your body uses it to make hormones, protect your cell membranes, digest food and manufacture vitamin D after exposure to the sun. Your liver manufactures most of the cholesterol your body requires from nutrients extracted from your food. Animals use cholesterol in much the same way. This means the meats from beef, pork or chicken have similar levels of cholesterol. Even fat cells in animal meat have the same amount of cholesterol as other cells. All meat averages 25 milligrams … Continue reading →

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By Dr. Mercola Mitochondria — the tiny energy factories within your cells — generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy currency your body needs to run its systems. Your mitochondria are also responsible for apoptosis (programmed cell death), and serve as important signaling molecules that help regulate your genetic expression. Hence, the state of your mitochondria plays a key role in health and disease. Once your mitochondria become damaged and dysfunctional, your energy reserves decrease, leading to a wide variety of symptoms, some of the most common being headache and fatigue, and leaving you increasingly vulnerable to degenerative diseases such as … Continue reading →

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