November 26, 2020
My guest on today's podcast is a multi-time, incredibly popular, repeat guest who hosts one of the most popular alternative health websites on the internet. He is my brilliant and occasionally controversial friend, Dr. Joseph Mercola.
Dr. Mercola has been a guest on many previous podcast episodes, including:
- The Shocking Truth About You Getting “EMF*D”: 5G, Wi-Fi & Cell Phones – Hidden Harms & How To Protect Yourself
- How To Reverse The Damage From Cell Phone Radiation, Hidden Sources Of EMF, The Best Way To Measure Your EMF Exposure & Much More With Dr. Joseph Mercola!
- High-Fat Fudge Balls, The Best Fruits For Blood Sugar, Egg Allergies & More With “Fat For Fuel” Author Dr. Mercola
- Killing Fat Cells, Fixing Mitochondria, Growing Superfoods & More: The Official, Much-Anticipated, Mind-Blowing, Geeked-Out Podcast With Dr. Mercola.
- KetoFasting: The Dark Side of Fasting & Ketosis (+How To Use Cyclic Ketosis To Fix The Issues)
Dr. Mercola just released a special report at StopCovidCold.com, and he has some very interesting ideas in that free report that we explore and unpack in today's podcast.
During this discussion, you'll discover:
-Beginning the day with vitamin D…5:15
- US Wellness Meats beef liver (use code BEN to save 15%)
- Organ meats are a great source of Vitamin A
-The physiological benefits of vitamin D…7:15
- Until recently, the only known benefit was bone health
- Over 6,000 articles published in the 21st century highlighting the diverse metabolic benefits
- Upregulates/epigenetically modulates over 2,500 genes
- Improves oxidative stress
- Improves mitochondrial function
- Decreases risk for heart disease, diabetes, MS, IBS, etc.
- Medical malpractice to not implement vitamin D supplementation
- Vitamin D was part of the protocol to treat President Trump's COVID-19 case
-Vitamin D as a steroid hormone…10:40
- Vitamin D is actually a steroid hormone (secosteroid hormone)
- Metabolized from cholesterol
- Vitamin D2 is a vegan hormone generated from plants
- Ergocalciferol
- Sources like fortified foods bread, UVB mushrooms, etc.
- Vitamin D3 is the way to go
- Cholecalciferol
- Sources like oily fish, egg yolk, liver, etc.
- Sunshine is the best delivery mechanism of Vitamin D
- Sperti vitamin D sunlamp needs long time exposure to get desired result
-Why vitamin D deficiency is a growing problem…14:35
- 87% of adults, 95% of children are deficient in the U.S.; far more in African nations
- Optimal range 100~150nmols/Li (40~60ng/ml)
- Beyond 23&Me: A Deep Dive Into Ben Greenfield’s Personal DNA Results (& How To Get Your Own Genes Interpreted) with Dr. Mansoor Mohammed.
- talking about Ben and his boys not able to derive Vitamin D from sunlight
- Co-factors such as magnesium contribute to an inability to derive vitamin D from sunlight (responsible for activating vitamin D)
- Genetic component has more to do with vitamin D receptors (VDR gene)
- Vitamin D production declines with age
- Ability to generate Vitamin D from UVB deteriorates with age
- Vitamin D supplements are inexpensive and plentiful
- Healthy lifestyle will offset a great deal of deficiency of vitamins
-The impact of vitamin D on the immune system…23:30
- Cytokines are small proteins with diverse modulated impacts on the immune response
- SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) triggers an immune response; results in a secondary inflammation, generates a cytokine storm
- Innate immune system- Immediate: The first immune response; activated within hours after exposure
- Adaptive immune system – Specific response: Activated at least 12 hours after exposure
- Vitamin D deficiency increases the risk for cytokine storm
- Vitamin D is a preventive measure, not an acute treatment to a cytokine storm
- Very little risk of overdosing on vitamin D
- Vitamin D is a selective antioxidant; optimizes immune response
-How vitamin D regulates the innate immune system…30:10
- Repairs a leaky gut
- Improves “junctions” in the intestine and skin, micro-barriers
- Improves gut permeability
-The connection between vitamin D and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs)…34:15
- Vitamin D causes your body to make AMPs
- Inactivates the flu
- LL37 made in the human body with sufficient Vitamin D
- Nobel Prize in medicine awarded for treating TB patients with AMPs
- LL37 peptide
-How a vitamin D deficiency increases the risk for acquiring COVID-19…36:25
- A study of 212 COVID-19 patients revealed a vitamin D deficiency in 96% of the most severe cases
- 96% of patients with mild symptoms had normal-to-high vitamin D levels
- Correlation does not equate to causation
- Vitamin D has a positive effect on surfactants
- ACE – angiotensin-converting enzyme
- COVID-19 down-regulates ACE2
- Vitamin D suppresses renin; results in less lung/blood vessel restriction
- Vitamin D is a preventative measure
- Why Viruses Are Crucial To Life On This Planet, The Link Between Air Pollution, Glyphosate & Pandemics, Loss Of Biodiversity (& What We Can Do About It) & More With Dr. Zach Bush.
-Proper dosing of vitamin D to avoid toxicity…44:10
- It's easier to overdose on calcium than Vitamin D
- Vitamin K2 deficiency affects calcium levels in the bones
- Grassroots Health vitamin D calculator
- Most people need ~8,000 units of vitamin D per day
- Look at the blood levels for an accurate assessment of the efficacy of vitamin D
- A blood test is more expensive than a year's supply of vitamin D
- Magnesium and avoiding calcium supplements (use code GREENFIELD10 to save 10%)
-Dr. Mercola's recommendations to stop COVID cold…51:50
-New, interesting and novel things currently captivating Dr. Mercola's interest…56:15
Click here for the full written transcript of this podcast episode.
Resources from this episode:
- StopCovidCold.com
- The Shocking Truth About You Getting “EMF*D”: 5G, Wi-Fi & Cell Phones – Hidden Harms & How To Protect Yourself
- How To Reverse The Damage From Cell Phone Radiation, Hidden Sources Of EMF, The Best Way To Measure Your EMF Exposure & Much More With Dr. Joseph Mercola!
- High-Fat Fudge Balls, The Best Fruits For Blood Sugar, Egg Allergies & More With “Fat For Fuel” Author Dr. Mercola
- Killing Fat Cells, Fixing Mitochondria, Growing Superfoods & More: The Official, Much-Anticipated, Mind-Blowing, Geeked-Out Podcast With Dr. Mercola.
- KetoFasting: The Dark Side of Fasting & Ketosis (+How To Use Cyclic Ketosis To Fix The Issues)
Podcasts: and articles:
- Beyond 23&Me: A Deep Dive Into Ben Greenfield’s Personal DNA Results (& How To Get Your Own Genes Interpreted) with Dr. Mansoor Mohammed.
- Why Viruses Are Crucial To Life On This Planet, The Link Between Air Pollution, Glyphosate & Pandemics, Loss Of Biodiversity (& What We Can Do About It) & More With Dr. Zach Bush.
– Articles:
- Vitamin D in Vascular Calcification: A Double-Edged Sword?
- High-Dose Intramuscular Vitamin D Provides Long-Lasting Moderate Increases in Serum 25-Hydroxvitamin D Levels and Shorter-Term Changes in Plasma Calcium
- Might hydrogen peroxide reduce the hospitalization rate and complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection?
- Role Of Antimicrobial Peptides In Tuberculosis And Respiratory Tract Iinfections: Clinical And Mechanistic Studies
– Other resources:
- US Wellness Meats Beef Liver (use code BEN to save 15%)
- Sea Salt
- Dijon Mustard
- Vitamin D3
- Vitamin K2
- Vitamin D/K2
- Magnesium (use code GREENFIELD10 to save 10%)
- Grassroots Health vitamin D calculator
- Sperti Vitamin D UVB Lamp
Episode sponsors:
–Kion: My personal playground for new supplement formulations, Kion blends ancestral wisdom with modern science. Ben Greenfield Fitness listeners, save 10% off your first order with code BEN10.
–Organifi Gold Chocolate: This superfood hot chocolate is loaded with herbs, medicinal mushrooms & healing ingredients to help the body fight disease during sleep. Receive a 20% discount on your entire order when you use discount code BENG20.
–Joovv: After using the Joovv for close to 2 years, it's the only light therapy device I'd ever recommend. Give it a try: you won't be disappointed. For a limited time, Joovv wants to hook you up with an exclusive discount on your first order. Just apply code BEN to your qualifying order.
–Paleo Valley Beef Sticks: 100% grass-fed AND grass-finished. Keto friendly and higher levels of Omega 3 Fatty Acids. Receive a 15% discount off your order when you go to paleovalley.com/ben
Conspiracy theories are bad ever since the CIA started paying media outlets to use that term as a pejorative label to silence dissent regarding the 1960s assassinations of JFK, RFK, and King — each of which was (OF COURSE) perpetrated by a nut acting by himself (because otherwise it would be conspiratorial). I only say all that to say that everyone should watch James Corbett’s documentary “Who Is Bill Gates?” so you know what kinds of false facts are out there which you should never believe because to do so would be conspiratorial and, while you’re at it, you might want to listen to Tim Storey’s interview of RFK Jr. from this summer which of course is totally conspiratorial too (and hence should be dismissed as false). After that, you may as well grab a copy of the CDC’s vaccine schedule and rush of to the pediatrician to make sure Jr. is all up-to-date.
I only came on here looking for info on vitamin K2. Does anyone have an opinion on MK-4 vs MK-7? I noticed all the forms linked in the show notes are MK-4 but I have read elsewhere that MK-7 has more bioavailability so wanted to ask what others’ thoughts might be (but please NO vitamin K2 conspiracies).
this info link may help answer your question on Mk7 vs Mk-4 absorption and bioavailability . MK7 once a day dosing vs twice a day MK4. Eating Japanese Natto will give you a good source of K2
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3502319/
Great Podcast. It would be helpful if you had talked about the Vitamin D dosage for children or young teens as well. I’m always curious on these types of shows what the supplementation would be for kids. I do hide desiccated liver in various foods for my daughter and have her taking Green Pasture Fermented Cod liver oil at least three times a week. Vitamin D would be great to add in.
Thanks
Great podcast. I know you weren’t going to try and sell anything but I would like to know the model of nebulizer you have as there are many out there and am not sure what to purchase.
Great podcast! One super simple question that I don’t think came up in the podcast.
What is the ideal dosage of K2 to be taken with Vit D?
Thanks to you both!
Ben,
Dr. Mercola,
1.
https://therootcauseprotocol.com/mitoliferadio-matt-blackburn-08072020/
2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otiPh6zPufI
Sincerely,
jon
You’re the man Dr. Mercola!! Most brilliant doctor out there!! My family and I have followed you on your health advice, and bought your products for at least 20 years. Following your advice has made tremendous differences in all of our lives. I wish you still saw patients or did health coaching. I’d be the first to sign up! Question, I have had tendencies to get upper respiratory illnesses from low IGG levels in the past. I take liposomal colostrum, your miracle whey, beta glucans, medicinal mushrooms, liposomal melatonin, and Vit. D, things like that to help out, but do you think it is a good idea for somebody like me to keep some of the injectable LL-37 or even Thymosin Alpha peptide around just in case? Thank you for all you do, you are truly a blessing in the world of health!! God bless. Thank you as well Ben for all you do in the natural health space. You’re the man too!
Thanks for the great podcast with Dr. Mercola. It’s just a shame that Big Tech is allowed to censor him and his valuable information routinely along with many other natural articles from other natural/holistic docs
Ben, I’ve seen multiple people recommend that you get Morley Robbins on your podcast, and this Vitamin D podcast is screaming out for his alternative perspective on this issue. He’s very much of the view that you should not take any exogenous Vitamin D but instead should use cod liver oil and sunlight. His views are based on years of research. So I think it’s worth hearing what he has to say.
I agree with Alex. You need to get with Morley, if you are able to do so.
Looking forward to Ben and Morley have a conversation!
How can I print out the podcast without overlapping text?
There is good and bad about Dr. Mercola.
The good is that Dr. Mercola publishes a lot of correct information ahead of its time. He was banging the drum about D3 and K2 seemingly years ahead everyone else. With respect to COVID, he was a couple of weeks or months ahead of other media outlets in reporting possible protective benefits of melatonin and selenium.
The bad about his website is:
(1) It is highly conspiratorial, alleging global conspiracies by Bill Gates among others with respect to covide.
(2) it downplays the risk of covid and encourages people to seek herd immunity, which is downright dangerous, given hospital capacities are filling up
(3) It buys into, or has previously bought into, carnivore theory, but the website sells mostly plant based supplements. You can’t have it both ways, by saying plants are dangerous as part of a regular diet, but indicate it’s okay to regularly buy and take my supplements. (No long lived culture has ever lived on a predominantly meat based diet. Dr. Mercola fails to mention this in any Dr. Saladino article on his website)
4. It denies commonly recognized science that animal agriculture contributes to global warming. Even Burger King recognizes that bovine agriculture contributes to global warming. Dr. Mercola talks about the benefits of regenerative grazing, but he fails to inform his readers of the potential pitfalls of such practices. Even the authors of the lead study of carbon trapping grazing practices acknowledge that , the soil using these practices will eventually reach equilibrium (meaning it will reach its carbon limit). Even if these practices work (and that’s highly disputed with the scientific community), you’re ultimately not going to be able to mass produce beef using them
5. It heavily censors comments. Dr. Mercola complains about Google and Twitter censoring information that he puts out. Well, try refuting a Dr. Mercola article on his website in the comment section. You will likely be unsuccessful even if your comment is polite, well reasoned, and supported by peer reviewed journal articles, The website administrators delete comments that take contrary positions to the posted articles. I know this from experience. I also know from experience that Ben Greenfield never deletes contrary positions on this website and that Ben supports an open dialogue. Dr. Mercola could learn a thing or two from Ben.
https://cspinet.org/news/fda-and-ftc-urged-bring-enforcement-proceedings-against-joseph-mercola-false-covid-19-health
He and his likes (MDs, DOs, PhDs, etc.) will always have that problem, regardless how passionate and truthful (or not) you are, as soon as you start selling products people will begin to question your integrity and motive.
I was listening to another podcast and the guest was Dr. Louis Ignarro (I’ve never heard of him — sue me). I was impressed and believe the power of NO. However, he kept bragging about “Nobel this, Nobel that” which lead Google him, which lead me seeing Herbalife – Ignarro connection. Now, I’ve heard of Herbalife, never bought anything from them either, just heard that they sell stuff. I think you know where I’m going with this.
I’m a big fan of both Drs Mercola and Ignarro’s works but I wish there were not commercialized.
It would be great in a perfect world if people could get paid for spending years of their lives learning and providing a platform for others to learn. However, that is not how the world works. So I say god bless Ben Greenfield and Joe Mercola for spending their lives on such worthwhile endeavors and selling products they stand behind.
1-2) Yes, lots of conspiracies. But there’s usually a grain of truth in every conspiracy. The risk among the truly healthy is minimal. SARS-COV-2 isn’t going away. What alternative do you propose?
3) You can 100% have it both ways. It’s called biochemical individuality. Look up Roger Williams’ work. Ie: If I’m lacking the enzymes necessary to metabolize oxalates, it can be dangerous for me. Hence why both diets work.
4) Of course it will. But it’s so far from carbon equilibrium that it’s a moot point. White Oak pastures put out a paper showing a net carbon sink. And Dr Zach Bush has recorded plenty of podcasts explaining how converting just a small amount of farmland to regen would virtually solve climate change.
5) Agree with you.
Hi Nic
Your statement that covid risk to healthy people is minimal does not seem to me to be correct. There are several accounts of young athletes with no previous known health issues facing long term issues.
See some examples below
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamacardiology/fullarticle/2772399
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/29/sports/coronavirus-survivors-athletes.html
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/covid-19-can-wreck-your-heart-even-if-you-havent-had-any-symptoms/
Some personal stories
https://people.com/health/er-doctor-hospitalized-covid-after-treating-virus/
https://www.registerguard.com/story/news/2020/09/06/college-track-runner-fighting-long-term-effects-covid-19/5710365002/
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/30/health/coronavirus-athlete-covid-19-ahmad-ayyad-john-hopkins-trnd/index.html
https://www.wtoc.com/2020/09/10/statesboro-high-school-football-player-hospitalized-with-covid-complications/
Hey Brad,
Fair point. However, athletes are notorious for being nutrient depleted and ignoring recovery (under sleeping, over training, chronically stressed ‘physically’ from high training volume). It’s also very well known that overtraining suppresses the immune system. Furthermore they’re notorious for eating crap food (“screw it I’m just going to burn it off!). So I’m not sure we can say these individuals were uniquely healthy. I think back to when I was in my early 20’s and doing all of this, and even the frequency of common cold would be 3-4x/year for me.
However, still very important to point these examples out because they do present a very good counter argument! Thanks for sharing!
On 4, the scientific community does not agree. It would seem to me that feeing cows seaweed would be a better approach from a climate perspective. I am vegetarian, but I eat some cheese.
https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-eating-seaweed-can-help-cows-to-belch-less-methane
On 3, I understand you point. Some people have sensitivities to certain plant chemicals. I get that and agree with you.
Regarding regenerative Ag: Check out the book Sacred Cow (by Diana Rogers & Robb Wolfe). Eye opener