Most popular articles of 2019

By | August 12, 2019

During the past 22 years of providing the latest research and information to help you make informed decisions regarding your health, it’s been interesting to see the trends and developments in medicine, science and technology.

It’s always a positive step to equip yourself with the most up-to-date information rather than relying on conventional medicine for your health decisions, and it’s our aim to provide it. In 2019, we offered articles and research on the following topics that were searched for the most often:

One of my missions is to expose the entities in government, the media, corporate medicine (pharmaceutical companies) and academia bent on diverting you away from natural health — which is often far less expensive or even free. When you examine the motivations of those who do so, it may be less of a surprise to find that censorship is alive and well across every media platform.

You may be aware that it’s becoming more of a challenge as the war for information escalates. We’ve encountered serious roadblocks in the way we function as a website. Sharing our information relies heavily on the internet, but in recent weeks, the only way to locate Mercola articles is by adding “Mercola.com” to the search word(s) in question.

This puts us at a significant disadvantage in carrying out our objective of helping people gain or regain optimal health. Mercola’s content has been at the top of health search results for more than 15 years. Google’s June 2019 broad core algorithm update, as well as its restructured quality rater guidelines have effectively removed Mercola.com from Google search results, outlined in my two-part series: Google Buries Mercola in Their Latest Search Engine Update Part 1 of 2, and Part 2.

One of the most encouraging aspects of sharing my knowledge, passion and experience is the number of you who’ve taken advantage of the chance to learn more ways to be proactive with your health.

As in the past, Mercola.com continues to be a reliable source of health articles and nutritional advice, and my free natural health newsletter is packed with tips to help you live your healthiest life. We also carry top-quality wellness products. We’re also grateful for the many organizations that partner with us.

Below, you’ll find highlights of the top five articles of 2019, those which generated the “most shares.” For more in-depth information and the research associated with each of the five articles, make sure to click on the titles of each of them, listed below:

5. Low Cholesterol May Raise Your Alzheimer’s Risk The topic of cholesterol has been somewhat controversial in recent years due to a misunderstanding of what it is, what causes unfavorable numbers and, more importantly, what doctors often tell their patients about the implications if someone’s numbers are high — if you have high cholesterol, you probably have heard it from your doctor already: that the risk of stroke and heart disease is higher, as well.

What many people don’t realize, though, is that cholesterol is not only necessary but existent in everyone’s bloodstream and cell membranes. Without it, you couldn’t survive. It’s significant that in one review, elderly people with no history of Alzheimer’s had high levels of both LDL — also known as low-density lipoprotein or “bad” cholesterol — and HDL, often referred to as the “good” kind.

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While your liver produces about 80% of what your body requires, the other 20% comes from the foods you eat. Between 20% to 60% of the cholesterol you consume is absorbed, but it varies from person to person; if you eat less, your body will make more.

In fact, LDL and HDL aren’t technically cholesterol at all. You could call LDL the “carriers” of cholesterol, as well as triglycerides (fat), proteins and phospholipids, while it’s more accurate to say HDL is the carrier of recycled cholesterol.

The fact that one-quarter of all your cholesterol resides in your brain is an indication that it’s an important aspect of neurological health, including your memories. Interestingly, studies indicate that low cholesterol levels increase your risk for depression and suicide, while higher levels are linked to better brain health.

You may find it helpful to know that ingesting healthy fats helps stave off neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s by 44%, while high carb diets increase your dementia risk by 89%. This is supported by experts who report that not having enough fat and cholesterol in your brain is a factor in dementia cases, and that one of the causes is attributed to a low-fat diet. In fact, a keto (high fat, low carb) diet is now an Alzheimer’s treatment.

4. Top 3 Dangers of LED Lights Controversy seems to be everywhere nowadays, and light bulbs again have become important to health discussions. In 2007, the rules for the types of light bulbs people could buy became a big issue due to a drive toward saving energy; phasing out incandescent bulbs in favor of light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs could save as much as 85%, according to The New York Times.1

Praised for fulfilling that goal, LEDs were singled out as the most energy efficient light bulb, lasting longer, radiating less heat than incandescents, and offering more durability. But in the push to save energy, factors like physical harm connected with LED usage have emerged.

The fact is, incandescent light bulbs are the closest to full spectrum analog natural sunlight. What apparently wasn’t known about LED lights when the government switchover was announced in 20072 is that they inflict damaging biological effects to people exposed to them. The top three dangers of LED lighting are:

Danger No. 1 — They deteriorate your vision as they emit excessive amounts of blue wavelengths and fail to counterbalance with regenerative frequencies. They have very little red in them and no infrared. When you’re exposed to higher blue light frequencies, they catalyze excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, which damages your eyes in several ways. It also affects your sleep.

Danger No. 2 — They increase oxidative stress and potentially introduce cellular damage while causing mitochondrial dysfunction, metabolic disorder and cancer via suppressed energy production.

A molecule called cytochrome c oxidase, involved in mitochondrial energy production, creates adenosine triphosphate (ATP) or cellular energy, and ATP is needed to fuel all your cells. In fact, it’s crucial for survival — you can’t live without it. But LED light exacerbates chronic disease by suppressing ATP production.

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Danger No. 3 — They inhibit your sleep. Electronic screens are a major culprit, but research shows that LEDs of all kinds suppress production of melatonin, and therefore sleep, which can damage your body in ways you may not be aware of. In fact, looking at an electronic device within an hour of going to bed can delay sleep for an hour or more, and TVs can’t filter out blue light. Installing a blue light filter on your TV screen can help.

3. Cell Tower Removed From Schoolyard Due to Cluster of Cancer Cases and Have You Seen the Safety Warning Hidden Inside Your Cellphone? School children in Ripon, California, being diagnosed with cancer sparked a new dialogue about whether electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation from Sprint cell towers was the culprit. Naysayers said the towers emitted less radiation than government standards prescribed, but the evidence remained.

If you’re familiar with EMFs, you know the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) guidelines are outdated, and worse, much of the research was bankrolled by the industries standing to make a profit from them. While denying any harm being done, Sprint agreed to move the towers, but that doesn’t negate the fact that wireless 5G towers are the next phase coming out, touted to make data speeds 100 times faster.

However, there are downsides, according to CBS News, which noted that “5G requires the installation of new equipment across the U.S. All of the companies that provide wireless service are building their own 5G networks.”3 In addition, the first 5G towers were slated for installation in several U.S. cities as of late 2018.

The industry plans to erect about 300,000 new antennas — about the number of cell towers put in place over three decades. Then they have to be not only closer to users, but while relatively smaller, much closer together, experts explain.

It gets worse: The FCC also announced that cities wouldn’t necessarily be able to choose the placement of the antennas. Lawsuits have ensued, including one involving the city of Los Angeles, and scientists worldwide are demanding a halt to the 5G rollout.

Proponents of ever-increasing wireless technology are thrilled with the prospect of the newest innovation, but health advocates are concerned about radiation. People whose lives are already disrupted by electromagnetic hypersensitivity and radiofrequency (RF) will suffer even more, and scores more will join them.

Tied to this is the problem that many people are unaware of the dangers cellphones pose: They should be kept at least 5 to 15 millimeters away from your head and body to avoid exceeding the safety limit for RF exposure, and the specific absorption rate (SAR) measurement of how much RF energy your body will absorb.

Numerous studies warn of potentially debilitating health problems, including heart arrhythmias, increased antibiotic resistance, suppressed immune function and pain.

2. Top Tips to Optimize Your Mitochondrial Health and Why Glucose and Glutamine Restrictions Are Essential in the Treatment of Cancer Most believe cancer is genetic, but it’s actually a metabolic disease. Genetic mutations in some cancers are due to defective energy metabolism in the mitochondria, known as the energy stations inside your cells. Keeping your mitochondria healthy significantly lowers your risk of developing cancer.

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But many scientists and doctors don’t understand the science, or rather, they can’t accept this as the truth because it would change how they approach treatment. Further, neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, as well as seizure disorders, diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure are offshoots of mitochondrial dysfunction. Most major diseases treated by drugs can potentially be solved by a healthy diet, one that fights fat with the proper fuel.

All cancer cells use fermentation energy for growth. They ferment lactic acid from glucose in the cytoplasm. Fermentation involves not only lactic acid fermentation, but also succinic acid fermentation using glutamine as a fermentable fuel. Glutamine is a main fuel for many different kinds of cancers. Without glucose and glutamine, the cancer cells will starve, as they cannot use ketones. The simplest approach to cancer is to bring patients into therapeutic ketosis.

To do that, it’s necessary to restrict net carbs (total carbs minus fiber) and limit your protein. A ketogenic diet calls for 50 grams of carbs per day and limited amounts of protein (I recommend 1 gram per kilogram of lean body mass), as well as keeping your fasting blood sugar below 70 milligrams per day (mg/dL).

1. Fatty Liver Disease Is Triggered by Choline Deficiency Choline is an essential nutrient required for numerous physiological processes, from those in your brain and nervous system to those involving your cardiovascular system. Found principally in egg yolks, it’s also essential for liver function, including the prevention of fatty liver disease, and more specifically nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the most common form of liver disease in the U.S.

This is significant because around 90 percent of the U.S. population is choline deficient, and it’s needed to move fat out of your liver. Without it, even healthy saturated fats can contribute to fatty liver. Choline minimizes liver fat regardless of the source. That said, for your liver to rid itself of excess fat, it has to have choline, and the more dietary fat you consume, the higher your requirement for choline.

The most significant culprit in NAFLD is too much fructose. Experts said 70 years ago that sucrose and ethanol could cause fatty liver and the inflammatory damage associated with it, and that increasing dietary protein, plus extra methionine and choline could mitigate and even prevent its effects.

The caveat is that carbs, unhealthy polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and even healthy saturated fats can build up fat in your liver. And as popular as it is, corn oil is arguably the worst because it contributes to inflammation. It also contributes to issues with the important balance between omega-6 fatty acids and omega-3s. Despite warnings about egg yolks, eating them is an easy way to ensure sufficient choline in your body.

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