What is Dr Mercola up to nowadays?

[Oldvatr]

When I was DX'ed some 30 years ago, I came across the work of Dr. Joseph Mercola, D.O. who was supporting an alternative view to diabetes care than the establishment. It echoed with my desire to find ways I could assist my body to control the beast and slow down the inevitable(?) progression to insulin and complications. At first, his advice seemed to make sense, but as time went on I learnt more about my body, and his remedies lost their impact.

In the end, I decided he was a Quack and snake oil salesman par excellence. Seems I was not alone in this decision, but apparently he is still going strong with his anti-establishment views.

He is apparently an anti-vax superspreader.
https://edition.cnn.com/videos/heal...a-covid-misinformation-kaye-pkg-ac360-vpx.cnn

His cure for Covid-19 is oral dosing with hydrogen peroxide, and it is well known that this is hair bleach and a major major strong one at that. I always wondered where Trump got his 'drink bleach idea' from - seems it was from Dr Mercola.

Mercola is also spreading the myths about hydroxychloroquine medicine and other unknown chemical compounds. His subscription to his newsletter is measured in the millions. His corporation is selling well both on his books and his supplements.

So I no longer advocate for him (which sadly I did in earlier posts on this site) and advise everyone to give him a miss. I tried some of his remedies in the early days, and still ended up at the Insulin Users Only door, so save your money.

Edit I thought he was an MD but he is only a chiropractor certified as DO.

 

[Mbaker]

He has definitely been "de-googled". I have no problem with alternative views as they can be debunked. Some on the ground Doctors who used a cocktail of existing drugs to treat ....19 patients have also had posts removed even though they are not anti vax, but begin to treat those with infections, before they get to the point of depletion of oxygen levels. In the spirit of what has happened to Mercola this is worth a listen....madness:

I have a problem with silencing due to the "science being settled". Rob Wolfe for example is in my view a well balanced exponent of Paleo / Ketogenic lifestyles, he has also lost all Google rankings, when at worst he used to promote real foods with some restrictions and exercise.

Comments on this site I would say are on the danger list.

 

[AloeSvea]

When I was first diagnosed in the mid 2010s, I too read a lot of Dr Mercola, and a lot of what he said about diet and health resonated. When it comes to type two I think subsequent 'super doctors' have surpassed him (I am thinking of the diet doctor Dr Eenfeldt, Dr Fung of course, Dr Mosley, Dr Hyman...). Mercola basically has a alternative medicine, real food (vegetarian/vegan I believe), and supplementation pov. He has his own line of supplements. I never bought them.

I too have been disquieted by his extrapolations of Big Food, Big Pharma and Big Ag to the corona virus and pandemic. Seeing this thread I went back into my dox to see what I saved of his health stance, and still, get a lot from it, and think a lot of it makes a lot of sense.

So from there I went onto his Mercola.com and read up on his latest writings, principally the kindle book sample online of 'The Truth about Covid-19: Exposing the Great Reset, Lockdowns, Vaccine passports and the New Normal: Why we must unite in a global movement for health and freedom" by Joseph Mercola and Ronnie Cummins, foreword by Robert F Kennedy Jr.

An excerpt: "Junk foods and sodas are manufactured to be tasty and addictive, cheap and plentiful, but they are ultimately poisonous. They certainly can quickly and conveniently fill your belly, especially if you’re operating on a limited budget, but they can make you fat, clog your arteries, and lead to cancer, heart disease, and dementia. Junk foods destroy your health and damage your gut biome and immune system, setting you up for chronic disease and viral triggers such a COVID 19 that can aggravate and magnify existing disease."

Again I was thrown between his stance and disease/immunity-logic I find very reasonable, and a strong resistance to taking on the idea that the virus was lab-leaked (how to live with that? Many of us living in extended lockdowns are screaming already). And yes - those non-vaccine, non-masked treatments are more than worrying and even Trumpian - strange bedfellows indeed.

My own pov is to take on what he does well - the real food focus. And, even supplementation as in using nutritional theory as a way to bolster good or at least better health, in my case with a malfunctioning blood glucose system. And set aside the rest to look at far more coolly - which is essentially a big 'elites culling the world's population to better deal with huge economic change - postulated at around 2028' theory. I can't actually live happily believing that! So even if it is true (and as a non-elite ordinary person with a chronic disease who is on the 'to be culled' list for sure!) - I'm going with that version of reality where the coronavirus jumped over into humans in that openair market in Wuhan and this pandemic has been on the cards, and wearing masks and getting jabbed is all part of the way to move forward/live with this virus. Absolutely whilst bolstering ones holistic health and immune system with real food (my real food includes grass fed animals and sea food).

I have always thought and said Dr Mercola is someone I would love to sit next to at a dinner party - as even when his opinions differ wildly from mine - I think he is a people person, and has some sound ideas, and is intensely interesting. No less so now, even more so, in this global-pandemic time. He has always been about providing - let me say it - food for thought.

 

[Oldvatr]

When I was first diagnosed in the mid 2010s, I too read a lot of Dr Mercola, and a lot of what he said about diet and health resonated. When it comes to type two I think subsequent 'super doctors' have surpassed him (I am thinking of the diet doctor Dr Eenfeldt, Dr Fung of course, Dr Mosley, Dr Hyman...). Mercola basically has a alternative medicine, real food (vegetarian/vegan I believe), and supplementation pov. He has his own line of supplements. I never bought them.

I too have been disquieted by his extrapolations of Big Food, Big Pharma and Big Ag to the corona virus and pandemic. Seeing this thread I went back into my dox to see what I saved of his health stance, and still, get a lot from it, and think a lot of it makes a lot of sense.

So from there I went onto his Mercola.com and read up on his latest writings, principally the kindle book sample online of 'The Truth about Covid-19: Exposing the Great Reset, Lockdowns, Vaccine passports and the New Normal: Why we must unite in a global movement for health and freedom" by Joseph Mercola and Ronnie Cummins, foreword by Robert F Kennedy Jr.

An excerpt: "Junk foods and sodas are manufactured to be tasty and addictive, cheap and plentiful, but they are ultimately poisonous. They certainly can quickly and conveniently fill your belly, especially if you’re operating on a limited budget, but they can make you fat, clog your arteries, and lead to cancer, heart disease, and dementia. Junk foods destroy your health and damage your gut biome and immune system, setting you up for chronic disease and viral triggers such a COVID 19 that can aggravate and magnify existing disease."

Again I was thrown between his stance and disease/immunity-logic I find very reasonable, and a strong resistance to taking on the idea that the virus was lab-leaked (how to live with that? Many of us living in extended lockdowns are screaming already). And yes - those non-vaccine, non-masked treatments are more than worrying and even Trumpian - strange bedfellows indeed.

My own pov is to take on what he does well - the real food focus. And, even supplementation as in using nutritional theory as a way to bolster good or at least better health, in my case with a malfunctioning blood glucose system. And set aside the rest to look at far more coolly - which is essentially a big 'elites culling the world's population to better deal with huge economic change - postulated at around 2028' theory. I can't actually live happily believing that! So even if it is true (and as a non-elite ordinary person with a chronic disease who is on the 'to be culled' list for sure!) - I'm going with that version of reality where the coronavirus jumped over into humans in that openair market in Wuhan and this pandemic has been on the cards, and wearing masks and getting jabbed is all part of the way to move forward/live with this virus. Absolutely whilst bolstering ones holistic health and immune system with real food (my real food includes grass fed animals and sea food).

I have always thought and said Dr Mercola is someone I would love to sit next to at a dinner party - as even when his opinions differ wildly from mine - I think he is a people person, and has some sound ideas, and is intensely interesting. No less so now, even more so, in this global-pandemic time. He has always been about providing - let me say it - food for thought.

I have no problem with him holding the view that the Covid 19 outbreak started in the laboratory in Wuhan, There is substanial and very logical pathways for that to happen. We have experienced this in the UK on several occasions
https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front...entists-are-breeding-in-our-labs-6603737.html There is also evidence of a group of Wuhan scientists being admitted to emergency hospital units with an unspecified breathing disorder. I believe that the number admitted was about 11 in the weeks prior to the public announcement of COV SARS2 (Covid). The Lab itself was actively researching coronaviruses in different forms (MERS, SARS1, Avian Flu, and general monkey borne variants) Within a couple of weeks of the public announcement, the scientists published the entire genome (DNA and RNA) of the Covid 19 variant and without that work on a vaccine would not have progressed as quickly as it did. So the scientists provided the face to the name. The speed shows that their research was indeed far advanced in this particular strain since mapping a complete genome takes a considerable amount of time effort and money. So COV SARS2 was alive and well inside the lab before the outbreak started.

But no one to date has found a bat or other animal in nature that carries this particular strain. For a virus to jump species, the virus needs to become well established in an animal host before making the transition. No such colony has been found either in the market or in the wild.

Back to the Dear Doctor. I did try out his earlier remedies and found some minor benefit from some (mainly mineral supplements) but my disease carried on progressing and the effects of the remedies were too small to make any significant difference, so I tried different diets (again with limited success). It was only when I went low carb that it began to bring my levels back into control. I went from max dose meds to almost zero meds in a short timescale which did impress me,

But it is his stance on covid treatment and effects that I find unpalatable. I am not alone in this
https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/91487

He has donated and supported active anti-vaxx organizations and has published books on the topic too. I do not wish to promote his works, nor quote from his public statements, since I do not wish to spread his messages. But he is definitely promoting an unhealthy advice service IMHO. He is not a doctor, he is an osteopath and a naturopath but even so, he is not following the Hippocratic Oath. Instead, he is following the money. It is a shame that his million or so followers on twitter are being duped for his gain. So sad that his legacy will quack like a duck.

 

[AloeSvea]

I hear you @Oldvatr. (I'll just hold my hands to my eyes and ears ang go 'lalalalalalalalala' re the covid out of a lab thing . I can't deal with that AND lockdown blues . I'd have to go over there, once international travel has opened up to and from my home country, and k*** somebody...)

I do believe he is anti-vaxx out of genuine belief/pov though, not about making money. I think he makes his money from his supplements and monetising his site, and seeing clients/patients? But promoting the range of strange/dangerous treatments instead of the vaxx's - yes - quite. Awful stuff! I don't get that at all.

Just a p.s. - Because I did that reading yesterday, re engaging in the q "What is the ol Mercola up to at the mo'?" thing, I had read his 'About Dr Mercola' on his website link, and know he is also a licensed physician and surgeon in the state of Illinois. He really is a family physician as well as being an osteopath, apparently.

 

[Larissima]

His cure for Covid-19 is oral dosing with hydrogen peroxide, and it is well known that this is hair bleach and a major major strong one at that. I always wondered where Trump got his 'drink bleach idea' from - seems it was from Dr Mercola.

I also used to rate Mercola for his alternative health advice (keto and fitness), but am turned off by his anti-vax rhetoric. However, I don't think that shutting down people with alternative views is the right way. People want agency in health and an availability of options.

Regarding the above quote, actually Mercola doesn't suggest oral intake but nebulising with diluted H2O2, which is in effect a combination of inhaling and spraying the nose and throat. Hydrogen peroxide is a known antiseptic, due to being a strong oxidiser. I use it on occasion as a mouthwash (again, diluted), especially if I'm coming down with a cold. I can see nothing wrong in using it in a nebuliser to help with any virus, including Covid-19.

Reading the critics instead of the original work of a person is not the right way to get accurate information. Only when combining both are we able to form less biased, more balanced opinions.

EDIT: I never bought any of his books or supplements.

 

[Larissima]

Mercola is also spreading the myths about hydroxychloroquine medicine and other unknown chemical compounds.

Again, is this myths, or anecdotal evidence? He is certainly not the only one to promote hydroxychloroquine in the media (apparently, Joe Rogan used it when he had Covid). And anecdotal evidence is surely what a lot of people take into consideration even on this forum.

In addition, some people would say that the MRNA vaccines are untested, unproven chemical compounds... (not me, I'm double jabbed with Pfizer.) This whole field is still too inexact, and forcefully shutting down alternative opinions is unwise (and likely to make the promoters of genuinely false claims "victims" and "heroes" instead of allowing their opinion to fizzle out)

 

[NicoleC1971]

Whether we agree with Mercola or not I do not think that his public platform should be taken away by Google etc.
Science is far from settled on the questions of origins of the virus (I doubt we will be able to find the definitive truth there unless the missing evolutionary link is found in nature), the efficacy of the vaccine (see Israel) let alone how best to deal with it. We certainly could do with more counter narratives around our ill health in the West which makes us so much more susceptible versus the narrative around controlling transmission and vaccinating all as being the solution!
I've bought a book of his and found nothing controversial in it. Lots of medical celbs have used their platforms to talk about covid even if it is not their field of expertise e.g. Tim Spectre of Zoe app fame, but its only those that have a non mainstream view that get castigated. Many more celebs take the government's shilling to promote narratives they aren't qualified to speak on.
I am much more disturbed by the shutting down of people with the label 'anti vax' with all its connotations of mad , conspiracy theorists e.g. Ivor Cummins.

 

[Oldvatr]

I also used to rate Mercola for his alternative health advice (keto and fitness), but am turned off by his anti-vax rhetoric. However, I don't think that shutting down people with alternative views is the right way. People want agency in health and an availability of options.

Regarding the above quote, actually Mercola doesn't suggest oral intake but nebulising with diluted H2O2, which is in effect a combination of inhaling and spraying the nose and throat. Hydrogen peroxide is a known antiseptic, due to being a strong oxidiser. I use it on occasion as a mouthwash (again, diluted), especially if I'm coming down with a cold. I can see nothing wrong in using it in a nebuliser to help with any virus, including Covid-19.

Reading the critics instead of the original work of a person is not the right way to get accurate information. Only when combining both are we able to form less biased, more balanced opinions.

EDIT: I never bought any of his books or supplements.

Why would he advocate using an antibacterial bleach to treat a viral infection?

There are reports of interstitial lung failure being caused by patients using a nebuliser to infuse hydrogen peroxide, and it is often fatal. This is not a recommended treatment for Covid or even bronchitis or COPD.
https://community.aafa.org/blog/dan...reathe-it-to-try-to-treat-or-prevent-covid-19

 

[Larissima]

Why would he advocate using an antibacterial bleach to treat a viral infection?

You know what - I don't know, and I don't care. Certainly, Mercola is not the hill I want to die on. As I already said, I don't agree with some (many) of his current views.

Yet...

Hydrogen peroxide apparently has "bactericidal, virucidal, sporicidal, and fungicidal properties" https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontro...n/disinfection-methods/chemical.html#Hydrogen

Drugs, including poisons, are dose dependent. Yes, undiluted domestic H2O2 can irritate, even damage respiratory pathways (even though the page and linked report reference 10% and 35% concentrations, which are not available for general purchase) - but guess what, so can flour dust: https://www.hse.gov.uk/coshh/industry/baking.htm Let's cancel Paul Hollywood and the Great British Bake-Off immediately!

Taking things out of context, without trying to understand details, is one of the main ways (social) media battles are fought these days, and I for one am fed up with it. I will continue to examine both sides of the debate and try to draw out things that could be useful for me. I don't need to convince anybody else.

 

[Ann Kay]

Our family has been taking the Zinc, Quercetin, Selenium, Copper, Vitamin D suggestions from Dr. Mercola almost from the beginning of Covid and have never, ever gotten a cold or any kind of flue, sore throat, since. His vitamins are too expensive. And there is a lot of evidence, just examining the virus itself, that it was produced in a lab. Hydroxychloroquine has to be taken with zinc, couldn't get that, quercetin is a good substitute. The vitamins harm nobody but the vaccines have harmed many.