Joseph Mercola and the Mercola Optimal Wellness Center
1443 W Schaumburg Rd, Schaumburg, IL 60194Phone (847) 985-1777 |
Overview
Joseph Mercola is a man of many hats. According to a commentary in Business Week, he’s a “snake oil salesman.” He’s also an anti-sugar and anti-sweetener crusader, and a board member of the radical Weston A. Price Foundation.
The one thing he is not is a medical doctor.
His day job is shilling a host of natural health gizmos, cures, and potions that ultimately led the Food and Drug Administration to censure him, warning that his “products are not generally recognized as safe and effective for" treating the conditions he claimed to cure. The FDA sent Mercola a second warning letter after he continued to make wild claims about his products.
Regarding Mercole, Dr. Stephen Barrett wrote on QuackWatch.com: “Many of his articles make unsubstantiated claims and clash with those of leading medical and public health organizations.” Chief among Mercola’s unsubstantiated claims his insistence that “HFCS is metabolized to fat in your body far more rapidly than any other sugar.” In fact, high fructose corn syrup, cane sugar, and beet sugar are nearly identical in composition.
In a 2006 book called “Sweet Deception,” Mercola claimed that all sweeteners were inherently unhealthy, comparing the different varieties to being hit with a bat or a club. A showman who clearly knows the appeal of a good gimmick, Mercola also threw in a list of “76 ways sugar can destroy your health,” including outlandish claims that it can lead to alcoholism and multiple sclerosis.
On his website, Mercola warns about the supposed dangers of hair dryers, electric clocks, cell phones, electric razors, and microwaving food. And for every supposed problem, he sells a solution. Worried about radiation from your cell phone? Mercola will happily sell you his “blue tube” headset. Have herpes? Buy some of Mercola’s special coconut oil.
Mercola appears to be motivated more by making money than by giving sound medical advice. In fact, Mercola’s website is chock full of promotions for his books and other materials, along with a healthy dose of “slick promotion, clever use of information, and scare tactics,” according to David Gumpert’s commentary in Business Week. Gumpert concluded:
Unfortunately, Dr. Mercola isn't selling furniture or digital cameras. He is selling health-care products and services, and is calling upon an unfortunate tradition made famous by the old-time snake oil salesmen of the 1800s, who went from town to town around the U.S. promising miraculous cures for diseases and selling useless concoctions.
Mercola’s monetary motivation is no different when it comes to sweeteners. Despite trashing sugar and high fructose corn syrup, he’s more than happy to sell you his own blend of “Pure Gold Raw Honey,” which is basically the exact same chemical composition as both sugar and HFCS.
