Dr. Joseph Mercola - Take Control of Your Health

Available Episodes

5 of 1053

The Mind-Body Skills That Help You Stay Active Through Chronic Pain
Chronic pain affects over 50 million U.S. adults, but research shows that pain resilience — your ability to adapt and stay active despite discomfort — matters more than pain severity itself Pain resilience acts as a mental shock absorber, helping people maintain physical activity even with significant pain, while fear of movement has weaker influence when resilience is present Five components define pain resilience. These are emotional self-regulation, psychological flexibility, self-care behaviors, religion and spirituality, and internal strengths like optimism, persistence, and problem-solving skills Building resilience requires practical daily habits, including consuming healthy carbohydrates for energy, training your brain toward optimism through reframing challenges, and learning new skills or hobbies Physical activity and quality sleep strengthen resilience. Walking around 8,000 steps daily improves metabolic health and pain management, while good sleep helps you handle stress
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7:35
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7:35
California Moves to Eliminate Ultraprocessed Foods from School Lunches — by 2035
California became the first state in the U.S. to ban ultraprocessed foods from public school lunches under the "Real Food, Healthy Kids Act," but the full phase-out won't take effect until 2035 Ultraprocessed foods — packed with vegetable oils, additives, and refined sugars — are engineered to trigger cravings and disrupt metabolism, contributing to childhood obesity, insulin resistance, and fatty liver disease A study in JAMA Network Open found that preschoolers who ate the most ultraprocessed foods had higher body fat, larger waistlines, elevated blood sugar, and lower levels of protective HDL cholesterol The delayed timeline leaves millions of children unprotected for nearly a decade, underscoring the urgent need for parents to remove ultraprocessed foods and vegetable oils from their homes now You can protect your child's long-term health by replacing processed snacks with real foods, eliminating vegetable oils, cooking at home, reducing exposure to junk food ads, and teaching kids how to spot marketing tricks
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6:34
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6:34
The Surprising Role of Cortisol in Alzheimer's
New research shows that people with Alzheimer's have higher cortisol levels and a skewed cortisol-to-DHEA-S ratio, revealing that chronic stress drives early brain degeneration long before memory loss appears Cortisol, your body's main stress hormone, damages neurons and disrupts energy metabolism when it stays elevated, while DHEA-S acts as a protective neurosteroid that helps your brain resist inflammation and oxidative stress Bioenergetic researcher Georgi Dinkov connected these findings to thyroid and metabolic health, showing that when your cells don't produce enough energy, cortisol rises and accelerates cognitive decline Tracking your cortisol-to-DHEA-S ratio offers a powerful early warning sign for chronic stress and neurodegeneration, allowing you to take preventive action years before symptoms develop You can rebalance these hormones naturally by fueling your metabolism with adequate healthy carbohydrates, improving sleep and light exposure, reducing overtraining, practicing calming breathwork, and using natural progesterone to help quiet cortisol
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7:27
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7:27
Common Dry-Cleaning Chemical Linked to Liver Damage
A widely used grease remover and dry-cleaning chemical called tetrachloroethylene (PCE) has been linked to liver fibrosis, a condition that causes scarring and loss of liver function even in people who don't drink alcohol or have obesity Researchers found that people with measurable levels of PCE in their blood were three times more likely to have liver fibrosis, and for every tiny one-nanogram-per-milliliter increase in PCE, the risk increased fivefold PCE exposure often occurs through inhaling fumes from dry-cleaned clothes, contaminated air, or drinking water, and the chemical can also enter through the skin, affecting the liver, kidneys, heart, and nervous system Long-term exposure to PCE has been linked not only to liver disease but also to nerve damage, reproductive issues, and several cancers, including those of the bladder and liver, prompting the EPA to begin phasing it out Lower your risk of liver damage by switching to solvent-free wet cleaning, letting dry-cleaned clothes air out before use, replacing household products that contain PCE, and supporting liver repair through clean nutrition, hydration, and sun exposure
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8:00
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8:00
Pickleball Boom Brings Unexpected Surge in Eye Trauma
Pickleball's explosive growth has led to a surge in serious eye injuries, with emergency room cases increasing by 405 each year between 2021 and 2024 Most eye injuries occur in players over 50, whose slower reflexes and vision changes make them more vulnerable to high-speed impacts and falls The sport's modern paddles can launch balls over 60 miles per hour at the kitchen line — just 14 feet apart — leaving players less than half a second to react Despite the sharp rise in injuries, there are still no universal safety rules requiring protective eyewear in recreational or professional play Wearing shatterproof glasses, warming up, and improving balance are simple steps that protect your eyesight and keep pickleball fun, safe, and injury-free
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7:11
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7:11