Dr. Joseph Mercola - Take Control of Your Health

Chronic kidney disease affects 844 million people worldwide, yet women are less likely than men to be tested, diagnosed, referred to specialists, or receive treatments that have been adequately studied in female patients
Up to 30% to 50% of chronic kidney disease cases go undiagnosed in high-income countries, and women are up to twice as likely as white men to remain undiagnosed even when kidney damage is present
Women account for about 55% of the global chronic kidney disease population but represented only 45.4% of participants in kidney disease clinical trials, creating major gaps in knowledge about how treatments affect women
Social and economic factors, including caregiving responsibilities, financial barriers, and delayed access to specialist care, contribute to poorer kidney disease outcomes for many women as the condition progresses
Protecting kidney health includes addressing contributing factors, such as high blood pressure, poor mineral balance, vitamin D deficiency, physical inactivity, and ultraprocessed food consumption, while using routine blood and urine testing to detect problems before permanent damage occurs

August 16 through 22, 2026, we celebrate our 16th Mercury-Free Dentistry Week. Consumers for Dental Choice has engineered a tectonic shift in dentistry — modern dentists no longer place mercury-based dental fillings (amalgam) — and aware consumers shun them Unlike a decade ago, neither the U.S. Food and Drug Administration nor the World Health Organization defends amalgam, and major dental products companies have stopped making it
During the last 16 years, I have watched my friend Charlie Brown, executive director for Consumers for Dental Choice, build a powerhouse national and international force that is changing dentistry 180-degrees, from mercury-based to mercury-free
In early February 2026, the U.S. Indian Health Service announced it will "end the use of mercury-containing dental amalgam in its facilities by 2027, transitioning to mercury-free restorative materials across IHS and tribal dental program"
In July 2026, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sent a notification urging – but not requiring – all state Medicaid directors to phase out the use of mercury-containing dental fillings by restricting or ending their state's Medicaid coverage for amalgam
But the fight is far from over. Amalgam is still routinely used in government programs serving our military, the institutionalized, and low-income families. To end this morally unacceptable system of choice for the rich and mercury for the poor, once again I put my money where my mouth is. Until midnight on August 22, 2026, I will match your gift to Consumers for Dental Choice, dollar for dollar. I'm all in with this cause and ask you to join me!

Microplastics and nanoplastics are now found in food, water, and air, and research suggests they accumulate in organs such as the liver, pancreas, kidneys, and brain. Laboratory and animal studies indicate they may contribute to oxidative stress, inflammation, and insulin resistance in these areas
The same biological changes linked to microplastic exposure are also associated with Type 2 diabetes, including impaired blood sugar control, disrupted gut bacteria, and metabolic dysfunction that develops long before symptoms appear
In animal studies, nanoplastics, which are microscopic, crossed the blood-brain barrier, where they triggered inflammation, interfered with how brain cells use glucose for energy, and contributed to memory and learning problems associated with cognitive decline
Your body has a built-in defense system called Nrf2 that helps neutralize oxidative stress and repair cellular damage, and many nutrients found in colorful fruits, herbs, spices, and other plant foods help activate this protective pathway
While eliminating all microplastic exposure is no longer realistic, reducing everyday plastic use, supporting healthy metabolism, tracking HOMA-IR, and eating a wide variety of nutrient-rich whole foods help strengthen your body's resilience against plastic-related damage

The morning handful of capsules is a holdover from a slower era — nearly every other part of daily life has been simplified, but the pill routine never was
The sheer number of capsules required for some nutritional supplement regimens is itself a barrier to long-term adherence
Difficulty swallowing pills is far more common than most people assume, and larger pills are dramatically harder to get down — a common reason for why so many people fail to maintain their supplement routines
Multiple daily schedules and travel make a pill or capsule routine fragile; it's often the first thing to fall by the wayside on a busy or disrupted day
For suitable ingredients, reformulating capsules into a powder that can be mixed into food or beverages removes most of that friction, thereby giving you the best chance of staying consistent in the long term

In a small, eight-week trial, participants who drank 1 liter of hydrogen-rich water daily showed higher GLP-1 levels than those drinking plain water
Participants who consumed hydrogen-rich water experienced substantially larger reductions in food cravings than those who drank regular water, which may make it easier to resist unnecessary snacking
The strongest improvements occurred in physical hunger-related cravings, which may reflect an effect on the body's appetite signals rather than simple appetite suppression, though the study did not test this mechanism directly
Along with supporting appetite regulation, hydrogen-rich water improved subjective sleep quality and lowered both total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol without causing serious adverse effects
Combining hydrogen-rich water with better gut health, adequate protein, easy-to-digest carbohydrates and the removal of seed oils may help create an environment where your body's natural appetite-control system can work more effectively