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Dr. Mercola

AaronMic22

Critical Thinker
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Joined
Apr 10, 2010
Messages
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I started following his diet plan in January (no grains, raw dairy, fish oil instead of mercury-laiden fish, no soy, less fruits due to fructose and more vegetables)

It has really improved my life through better memory, less illness, a clearer mind, and a more positive attitude.

I had researched Mercola and found that the FDA had requested he remove some claims from his website. Aside from this, I'm struggling to understand why he's been labeled a complete nutcase. I understand the concerns regarding his beliefs on vaccines, naturopathy, the evils of big pharma, and some alternative pseudosciences.

My question is this: Can you label everything he says as woo and false? Could it be that his nutritional recommendations are more or less sound? I see a lot of hate towards Mercola on this forum, but perhaps some of what he says is credible?

What is your take? I give him credit for at least responding to the criticism (mercolaquack.com).
 
Go to http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/ and search the blog (down a little on the left side of the page, not the two search options on the top right) and search for mercola

Also, search at www.quackwatch.org One-stop shopping for quackery

His diet advice doesn't look all that good to me. Besides, if you cannot tell good from bad health advice, it's a bad idea to consult someone who's advice is an indiscriminate mix of mostly junk and a few possibly sound notions.
 
The Quackerwatch posting of his run in with the FDA doesn't seem to question his knowledge. It's simply stating that the FDA requested that Mercola comply with their standards in regards to proper advertising.

scienceblogs seems to have several more informative sources. I'll have a look.

Thanks!
 
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Skeptical Greg said:
About how much mercury-laiden fish were you consuming, before you made the switch ?
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I was eating salmon, squid, or shrimp several times a week.

@fsl: that's what I'm faced with, now. I'm not sure where to go for my nutritional info now.

It does seem that people only attack Mercola's stances on vaccines, naturopathy, and homeopathy. I haven't seen anyone criticizing his nutritional recommendations.
 
AaronMHatch said:
It does seem that people only attack Mercola's stances on vaccines, naturopathy, and homeopathy. I haven't seen anyone criticizing his nutritional recommendations.
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Why are "no grains, raw dairy, fish oil instead of mercury-laiden fish, no soy, less fruits due to fructose and more vegetables" good recommendations?
 
What makes you think that fish-oil (derived from fish, some of which are mercury-laden) results in your consuming less mercury than you would if you ate the fish?
 
Complexity said:
What makes you think that fish-oil (derived from fish, some of which are mercury-laden) results in your consuming less mercury than you would if you ate the fish?
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Not exactly a significant point. Fish-oil(Omega 3 Fatty acids) are purified to remove the mercury before sale.
 
Complexity said:
What makes you think that fish-oil (derived from fish, some of which are mercury-laden) results in your consuming less mercury than you would if you ate the fish?
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The oil comes from Krill, which are at the bottom of the food chain and thus have the least mercury content.
 
paximperium said:
Why are "no grains, raw dairy, fish oil instead of mercury-laiden fish, no soy, less fruits due to fructose and more vegetables" good recommendations?
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I can tell you why Mercola thinks they are good recommendations. I personally am no nutritionist and am frustratingly unsure of what to eat now. Part of me wants to go buy a pizza and be done with it.

I will say that within the first month on Mercola's diet, I lost 15 pounds. And I am not overweight. I did regain the weight after I began eating more raw protein.
 
Raw dairy exposes you to a number of known pathogens, some of which are particularly bad. It is precisely why Pasteur invented "pasteurisation" in the first place.

Questions: When you started this diet, did you also modify the overall volume you ate? And did you start on any exercise regime as well "for your health benefit"?
 
Mr.D said:
It's only been three months or so. How often were you ill before?
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Before, I would get sore throats, headaches, and suffer from signs of depression. Since taking on his diet, those symptoms have disappeared.

Zep, I eat less food now than I did before. I eat 3 small meals a day with no snacks and usually feel full for the most part.

As for exercise, I had been running and working out daily (well, most days) for many years. I have continued that plan to this day.
 
AaronMHatch said:
Before, I would get sore throats, headaches, and suffer from signs of depression. Since taking on his diet, those symptoms have disappeared.
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Are you aware that the placebo effect works precisely this way? And that you are probably counting the hits and ignoring the misses?

You started this diet fully expecting/hoping for it to have an effect. Therefore it did...at least in your mind.

AaronMHatch said:
Zep, I eat less food now than I did before. I eat 3 small meals a day with no snacks and usually feel full for the most part.

As for exercise, I had been running and working out daily (well, most days) for many years. I have continued that plan to this day.
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So you are eating less, while still exercising. Given that weight-loss occurs when calories out exceeds calories in...can you connect those dots? The diet per se has nothing to do with it, unless you have been skipping your vitamins and other healthy foods.

Also, rapid weight loss followed by rapid weight gain suggests it was more likely fluid loss/gain than fat. Your body can rapidly lose and regain water volume in hours to days - many pounds at a time. It's a condition exploited by those "fat-blaster!" 48-hour diets, etc (also, they "empty the bowels" - another "fake" rapid weight loss method). Fat has nothing to do with this; also, it's not a good thing to do repeatedly.

No human can lose pounds of fat in hours or days. It takes weeks to months. In extreme circumstances for fit people, it may also be muscle bulk loss, but that takes time too.

Good for you exercising - keep it up! That is the real way to keep your weight in trim. (I wish I had the time and opportunity myself, being a blimp!)
 
Zep said:
Are you aware that the placebo effect works precisely this way? And that you are probably counting the hits and ignoring the misses?

You started this diet fully expecting/hoping for it to have an effect. Therefore it did...at least in your mind.
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It's also possible that just by virtue of an extreme diet shift he cut out something he may have been allergic/ sensitive to, or just started getting something lacking by adding more vegetables.
 
Thanks, Zep. Surely, my shift to consuming more nutrient-dense carbohydrates which contain much less calories was, I presume, a big reason for my weight loss.

One benefit of removing grains is that they are nutrient-poor carbohydrates. Replacing them with the vegetables and other nutrient-dense foods helps in hopefully obvious ways. Another benefit, as argued by Mercola, is that the grains cause an increase in insulin, which forces the body to work harder and cause inflammation.

The placebo effect has definitely been a part of this process. I am fully confident, however, that my increased memory recall and clear mind were due in part to my diet change. Of course, as Cavemonster suggested, this may be due to the addition of a wide varieties of vegetables that I had never eaten before, along with eating raw eggs for the first time in my life.

I have been spending the past several hours researching Mercola. I truly think he means well and believes in his products and advice. It does seem, however, that his information does not always match up with science.
 
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jimtron said:
What's wrong with grains?
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It sounds overall like a low-carb diet. I sure know lots of folks who lost weight on low-carb.

Lessee, no wheat, rice, corn, or sweet fruits. Sure sounds like "Mercola's Low Carb Diet" to me. The mercury and dairy stuff is just window dressing, neither have anything to do with weight loss.
 
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AaronMHatch said:
I'm struggling to understand why he's been labeled a complete nutcase. I understand the concerns regarding his beliefs on vaccines, naturopathy, the evils of big pharma, and some alternative pseudosciences.

My question is this: Can you label everything he says as woo and false?
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No. Obviously that would be unfair. But since he espouses so much utter crap, unless you’re a doctor yourself, you would really have to take everything he says with a grain of salt. In which case, he isn’t really worth listening to in the first place.

Could it be that his nutritional recommendations are more or less sound? I see a lot of hate towards Mercola on this forum, but perhaps some of what he says is credible?
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It could be, but given all his misinformation, diversion, nonsense and lies, why bother trying to pick out the truth in what he says? Why not just find somebody more reliable to learn from?

ETA: And it’s not that we hate him. We just recognize him for the sleazebag he is.

What is your take? I give him credit for at least responding to the criticism (mercolaquack.com).
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The way I see it, that’s just a different array of misinformation, diversion, nonsense and lies put up to defend himself. I really don’t think he deserves any credit for that.…
 
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Thanks for the reply, Daver. Perhaps I should look for a nutritionist who has good nutritional information and has a credible background.

Does anyone have a good recommendation? What about Dr. Weil? Or, have any of you visited whfoods.com?
 
I haven’t bothered to read up on any specific people, but as I understand it, dieticians have better credibility than nutritionists.
 
Out of the frying pan... I haven't checked back on Dr. Weil for some time, but he was espousing plenty of silliness the last time I checked.

What, pray tell, is wrong with following well-recognized authorities like the FDA?

These "diet gurus" are a dime a dozen, and rarely have any credibility.
 
Zep said:
No human can lose pounds of fat in hours or days. It takes weeks to months. In extreme circumstances for fit people, it may also be muscle bulk loss, but that takes time too.
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I am not sure this is strictly true, people who do things like swim the English channel might lose some in hours. Now for people who are not going through tens of thousands of calories worth of exorcise, it is pretty much impossible.
 
AaronMHatch said:
Thanks, Zep. Surely, my shift to consuming more nutrient-dense carbohydrates which contain much less calories was, I presume, a big reason for my weight loss.

One benefit of removing grains is that they are nutrient-poor carbohydrates. Replacing them with the vegetables and other nutrient-dense foods helps in hopefully obvious ways. Another benefit, as argued by Mercola, is that the grains cause an increase in insulin, which forces the body to work harder and cause inflammation.
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Were you actually malnourished before? More vitamins and minerals are not uniformly better. They can become toxic or do odd things like turn you orange.
 
ponderingturtle said:
Were you actually malnourished before? More vitamins and minerals are not uniformly better. They can become toxic or do odd things like turn you orange.
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I wasn't eating very healthy before, no. I consumed very few vegetables, mostly cereals, fruit juices, and pasta.

Bikewer,

search.mercola.com/results.aspx?k=fda

Several of the articles reference news from sources such as USA Today, LA Times, New York Times, etc.

EDIT: I would link directly to the Mercola articles or even the news reports he's linking to, but I'm don't have enough posts to link you to them.
 
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AaronMHatch said:
I wasn't eaten very healthy before, no. I consumed very few vegetables, mostly cereals, fruit juices, and pasta.
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Then this might be more healthy than you were before, because you are eating vegetables. That doesn't mean that he is a good source of information on what a good diet is. There are good reasons to cook dairy for example, and he seems to have hard and fast rule were they are more relative.
 
ponderingturtle said:
Then this might be more healthy than you were before, because you are eating vegetables. That doesn't mean that he is a good source of information on what a good diet is. There are good reasons to cook dairy for example, and he seems to have hard and fast rule were they are more relative.
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I'm still up in the air regarding the pasteurized dairy. My farmer has told me that in the last 2 years, nobody has died from raw milk. He went on to explain that several people have died from spinach and peanut butter, yet there is no demand to ban those products.
 
AaronMHatch said:
I'm still up in the air regarding the pasteurized dairy. My farmer has told me that in the last 2 years, nobody has died from raw milk. He went on to explain that several people have died from spinach and peanut butter, yet there is no demand to ban those products.
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So? We have not until recently has measles outbreaks in the US, so like this doctor advocates we should go back to an unvaccinated state?

If you like it more, it is not an unacceptable risk to take, but why advocate more risky behavior with out any benefit on medical grounds?
 
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AaronMHatch said:
Thanks for the reply, Daver. Perhaps I should look for a nutritionist who has good nutritional information and has a credible background.

Does anyone have a good recommendation? What about Dr. Weil? Or, have any of you visited whfoods.com?
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What's wrong with just using a normal source?

Linda
 
AaronMHatch said:
I'm still up in the air regarding the pasteurized dairy. My farmer has told me that in the last 2 years, nobody has died from raw milk.
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How do you know that he is telling you the truth? And how would he know anyway?

Linda
 
AaronMHatch said:
I'm still up in the air regarding the pasteurized dairy. My farmer has told me that in the last 2 years, nobody has died from raw milk. He went on to explain that several people have died from spinach and peanut butter, yet there is no demand to ban those products.
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But if tens of millions of people drank raw milk (as do eat spinach and peanut butter), you would see a lot more than several people dying.

I would trust a farmer pretty well to show me how to farm, but sure as heck not to give me nutritional advice.
 
AaronMHatch said:
I'm still up in the air regarding the pasteurized dairy. My farmer has told me that in the last 2 years, nobody has died from raw milk. He went on to explain that several people have died from spinach and peanut butter, yet there is no demand to ban those products.
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Not sure where you're from, but even if what your farmer told you is true, it might simply be because it's illegal to sell raw milk in many places, so fewer people have access to it. I have to say, I drank some once and it was delicious. But I'll probably never get the chance again. Also, that's probably a good thing. Pasteurization is important for safety.

Since you've been to Mercola's site, you know he hawks all sorts of products. So he has a financial reason to get people to believe things, like only certain varieties of nutrition items--the ones he sells--are good for you, and the ones you buy at the grocery store spell certain death. Shop around. You'll find that even the most mundane items he sells are outrageously expensive. That's money right into his pocket. Why wouldn't he try to make you wary of other's stuff?

I believe he also has suggested that cancer is a fungus that can be naturally treated and cured with baking soda, although I'm just going by memory. If that is in fact one of his claims, I'm betting he sells a sooper-dooper baking soda much better than Walmart brand, or Arm and Hammer which no doubt contains some evil ingrediant that his doesn't.

He's a huckster, pure and simple.
 
AaronMHatch said:
. Aside from this, I'm struggling to understand why he's been labeled a complete nutcase. I understand the concerns regarding his beliefs on vaccines, naturopathy, the evils of big pharma, and some alternative pseudosciences.
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He thinks staring at the sun denotes good nutrition. End of thread. I win.
 
ponderingturtle said:
So? We have not until recently has measles outbreaks in the US, so like this doctor advocates we should go back to an unvaccinated state?

If you like it more, it is not an unacceptable risk to take, but why advocate more risky behavior with out any benefit on medical grounds?
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I can't say I have an answer for this one.

fls said:
What's wrong with just using a normal source?

Linda
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What do you mean by a normal source? A doctor? If that's what you mean, I don't have health insurance and thus can not ask them. Do you have an online suggestion? Would MayoClinic suffice?

fls said:
How do you know that he is telling you the truth? And how would he know anyway?

Linda
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I don't know for sure. I have met some of his children who he claims consume the raw dairy and grass-fed beef he sells. I figure he knows because he is currently in a battle with Whole Foods who have decided to stop selling raw milk (and thus his product). He's trying to build his case, and I would suppose from that he would be knowledgeable about the subject.

TheDaver said:
But if tens of millions of people drank raw milk (as do eat spinach and peanut butter), you would see a lot more than several people dying.
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It would certainly be helpful to see a general number of people who eat spinach and peanut butter as compared to raw milk drinkers.

I'm still interested in seeing what you think about the FDA articles posted by Mercola.
 
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