Mercola - Natural Health Products & Articles

The fall is fast approaching and before you know it, it’ll be winter. Have you ever wondered why you get the blues in the colder months?

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression resulting from decreased sun exposure. Those affected by SAD tend to oversleep and overeat during the fall and winter, tire easily, and find it difficult to maintain a regular schedule.

They may become depressed, irritable, and lose interest in social interactions. These symptoms begin in the fall as the hours of daylight become shorter.

According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, watching what you eat is a simple and natural way to help deal with depression. Certain foods contain substances that act as natural mood enhancers. Here are 10 foods that can help brighten your day at any time of the year:

1. Bananas
Bananas contain potassium, which may help regulate blood pressure and fight depression. They contain tryptophan, an essential amino acid that acts as a precursor to serotonin, the mood regulating brain chemical. Low serotonin is associated with aggression, depression, and impulsiveness.

2. Eggs
Egg yolks are the best source of dietary lecithin, which is essential for brain function. Lecithin influences concentration, memory, and mood.

3. Fish
Oily fish like salmon, tuna, and sardines contain high levels of omega-3 fats, which have been shown to fight depression, impulsiveness, and moodiness. However, Dr. Mercola warns that fish is often contaminated with high levels of mercury and other toxins. Wild red salmon is one of the few remaining safe fish to consume. You can also take Antarctic krill oil, a high-quality omega-3 supplement.

4. Garlic
Garlic is rich in selenium, an essential trace mineral. Low levels of selenium are associated with poor mood.

5. Lean red meats
Red meat like grass-fed beef and grass-fed bison are excellent sources of iron. Symptoms of iron deficiency include depression, fatigue, irritability, and memory problems.

6. Oysters and other shellfish
Shell fish yield a lot of zinc, an essential mineral that helps regulate your mood. Additionally, zinc is a key ingredient needed to produce libido-increasing testosterone.

7. Pumpkin and sunflower seeds
Aside from being good snacks, these seeds also contain tryptophan.

8. Salt
Natural unprocessed salt, such as pure Himalayan crystal salt, plays an essential role in several important bodily processes like blood pressure and fluid regulation. Studies show that sodium deficiency can induce fatigue and behavioral changes such as depression and reduced motivation.

9. Spinach
Green, leafy spinach is an excellent source of folic acid or vitamin B9. This nutrient helps reduce the high levels of homocysteine associated with depression.

10. Water
Water can affect your disposition since about 85 percent of brain tissue is composed of water. Studies have associated dehydration with depression so make sure you are consuming enough pure water daily.

If you’re one of millions of Americans dealing with weight loss issues, then you must have tried diet after diet. Have you had any success?

It’s hard enough figuring out what to eat. But can you deal with the hunger? Most diets fail because you get hungry and quit. If you do achieve weight loss after starving yourself, it’s likely that you’ll get the weight back shortly after you quit the diet.

There’s no such thing as a “one-size-fits-all” diet, says natural health expert Dr. Joseph Mercola. That’s why a diet that may have worked for a friend or family member may not give you the same results.

We all have a unique biochemical composition, which means we all need different amounts of macronutrients – carbohydrates, fat, and protein – for our bodies to function well, Dr. Mercola explains. The key to eating right is discovering your Nutritional Type, which allows you to choose foods that your body can use and digest properly. 

Dr. Mercola’s Nutritional Typing program will determine your Nutritional Type and provide you with the appropriate macronutrient ratio so you can start eating right. It will also teach you how to "listen to your body" and how to subtly adjust your food group ratios so you can feel your best.

Here are the top 10 reasons why you should try Nutritional Typing:  

1. Healthy weight  management
Eating according to your Nutritional Type will help you naturally lose or gain weight, depending on your need.

2. Improve your emotional wellbeing
Eating right not only fuels your body, it also feeds your mind, leaving you feeling stronger, more energetic, in control, and emotionally balanced.

3. Boost your energy
Your body is designed to consume a certain ratio of macronutrients in the same way that a car is designed to run on a certain type of fuel. Knowing the right ratio of carbs, fats, and protein for your meals will significantly increase your energy levels.

4. Avoid disease
Eating right will go a long, long way when it comes to disease prevention. It will fortify your body with the nutrients that it needs to protect itself from disease.

5. Look and feel younger
Age-related diseases are occurring at younger ages and poor dietary choices are largely to blame, Dr. Mercola points out. Making the right food choices for your body will reflect on the way you'll look and feel.

6. Boost your immune system
Colds and the flu will be a thing of the past and if you ever catch them, they will be less severe and shorter.

7. Mental clarity
A sharper focus and clearer head is a welcome benefit of Nutritional Typing.

8. Fight existing diseases and health challenges
Many conditions stem from poor nutrition. This is where knowing your Nutritional Type can help you address your health issues.

9. Slow down aging
Nutritional Typing will help keep your insulin levels – one of the main factors that hastens aging – under control, helping you to maintain your energy, stamina, and cognitive function as you get older.

10. Feel satisfied and conquer your cravings
You feel hungry after eating a meal because you were unable to get certain nutrients. Eating the proper ratio of carbs, fats, and protein will leave you feeling full longer and help you avoid snacking.

What do Diet Coke, breakfast cereal, yogurt, gelatin, chewable vitamins, pudding, chewing gum, sugar-free cough drops, and frozen desserts have in common?

These foods and beverages are among over 6,000 food products that use the controversial artificial sweetener aspartame.

The decision to approve aspartame for consumption was the “most contested in FDA history,” according to longtime 60 Minutes correspondent Mike Wallace, and for good reason.

When policymakers first approved the popular artificial sweetener in the early 80s, they turned a blind eye to the earliest studies on the dangers of aspartame, ignoring:

•    A two-year study conducted by GD Searle (the manufacturer of aspartame) wherein rats fed with the artificial sweetener developed brain tumors.
•    Another study showing that aspartic acid, one of the main ingredients in aspartame, causes damage to the brains of infant mice.

In fact, an FDA statistician stated that the brain tumor data was so "worrisome" that he could not recommend approval. A late FDA toxicologist also testified before Congress that aspartame can cause brain tumors.

The late Senator Howard Metzenbaum stated that, “according to the FDA themselves, Searle, when making their presentation to the FDA, had willfully misrepresented the facts, and withheld some of the facts that they knew would possibly jeopardize the approval."

But in the end, political will, financial pressure, and dirty tactics prevailed over science. Millions of people are now eating and drinking food and beverages containing aspartame and have been doing so for almost three decades.

Aspartame now accounts for about 85 percent of all adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA. This amounts to over 10,000 complaints. But by the FDA’s own admission, less than 1 percent of those who experience a reaction to a product ever report it. Meaning, it’s possible that roughly a million people have experienced aspartame side effects, Dr. Joseph Mercola points out.


Reported aspartame side effects usually fall under three categories: neurological, behavioral, and gastrointestinal. Dr. Mercola warns that long term exposure may lead to:

•    Behavioral problems
•    Brain lesions
•    Epilepsy
•    Headaches, ear buzzing and dizziness
•    Hormonal problems
•    Memory lapses and hearing loss
•    Multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease
•    Nausea and gastrointestinal disturbances
•    Neuroendocrine disorders
•    Weakness, numbness and shooting pains in your extremities

How to Find Out if Aspartame is Making You Sick

If you consume a lot of artificial sweeteners, you might not make the connection that your health issues are due to aspartame side effects.

To find out if your body is reacting adversely to aspartame consumption, take these four simple steps recommended by Dr. Mercola:

1.    Stop consuming foods and beverages containing all types of artificial sweeteners for two weeks. (Note: If you typically consume aspartame in caffeinated drinks, you'll want to gradually reduce your intake in order to avoid caffeine withdrawal symptoms.)

2.    After the two week “artificial sweetener cleansing diet,” reintroduce aspartame in a significant quantity – about three servings daily – and avoid other artificial sweeteners during this period.

3.    Do this for one to three days and notice how you feel, especially as compared to when you were consuming no artificial sweeteners.

4.    If you don't notice a difference in how you feel after re-introducing aspartame, it's likely that you're able to tolerate aspartame and that your body doesn't have an immediate, adverse response, Dr. Mercola explains. However, this doesn't mean that you’re out of the woods because aspartame side effects will still negatively affect your health in the long run.

For more detailed information about aspartame dangers and artificial sweetener risks, read Dr. Mercola’s book Sweet Deception or visit http://aspartame.mercola.com/.