25 Questions With Dr. Mercola

1. What time did you wake up this morning?

4:10 a.m. — I had planned to get up at 4:30 but I woke up a bit earlier. I like to get at least seven to eight hours of sleep each night. On a typical day, I wake up at about 4:30 a.m., though sometimes it’s as late as 5:00 a.m. or 5:30 a.m., especially if I’ve done a particularly challenging workout the day before.

2. How would you describe yourself?

I describe myself as perpetually curious and a lifelong student.

3. What does your typical breakfast look like?

I love breakfast. It’s my first meal of the day, usually after I work out. I typically practice time restricted eating (TRE) and eat in a six hour window, but sometimes the window shrinks to four hours. TRE is one of the most important strategies you can use to become metabolically fit. 

Generally I eat breakfast at 8 a.m. or 9 a.m., but it may be as late as 10:30 a.m. if I’ve worked out with my trainer, as we start at 9 a.m. Lately, I’ve been eating the following recipe; it’s delicious:

4. Where is the coolest place you’ve ever been?

One of my favorite places is in Colorado, where we held an executive meeting one year. The area had Class IV rapids, which are considered to be very difficult, with long rapids and powerful currents. It was a harrowing experience. There was definitely risk there, but it was an exercise in teamwork, and I was so proud of our team because we were the only group that didn’t capsize our raft. We even ended up rescuing some of the other teams that did capsize.

5. Name a place that you would love to visit.

I would love to visit some of the national parks that I haven’t been to. I’ve been to Yellowstone and Yosemite, but there are several others I’d love to connect with, including Denali National Park in Alaska and Glacier National Park in Montana to see the wildlife in the summer.

6. What are some of the best books or studies you’ve ever read?

One of the most life-changing is a trilogy put together by Gary Renard, including the book, “The Disappearance of the Universe.” It’s mind-boggling, with radical concepts that can change your entire perspective on life. It is actually the first book in a trilogy and he has written one book after that.

7. What is the health habit that you’re most proud of?

The fact that I’ve been a consistent exerciser for over five decades. I started in 1968, so I’ve been exercising for 54 years now. Unfortunately, I focused on less than optimal exercise for the first 43 years and mostly did cardiovascular while virtually ignoring any resistance exercises. As I’ve grown, I’ve come to appreciate the importance of resistance exercise, especially as you get older.

Both of my parents died from frailty, so I’m committed to exercising lifelong and never developing the sarcopenia that took them prematurely. I’m very proud that, even approaching 70, I’ve been able to regularly set personal records with some of the lifts that I’m doing.

8. What is your favorite Mercola product of all time?

My favorite Mercola product is molecular hydrogen because it’s a selective antioxidant — it causes your body to make its own antioxidants and doesn’t suppress beneficial free radicals that are important biological signaling molecules.

And here’s the key reason why it’s selective — it makes it when it needs it. So if your body doesn’t need it, you’re not going to get unnecessary antioxidants, which could actually be counterproductive, because we do need some free radicals to optimize our biology.

9. Tell me something that makes you smile.

My good friends.

10. What’s your favorite quality in a person?

Integrity and keeping their commitments.

11. If you had a superpower, what would it be?

I think it would be really cool to fly, but if you want to go beyond that, I’ve always been intrigued by comic books like the Green Lantern and, more recently, the Marvel character Dr. Strange, who can literally control reality with his mind.

12. Name three things you can’t live without.

Healthy relationships, great food and exercise.

13. What’s your favorite TV show that you used to watch?

That would have to be ER, which is short for emergency room. I was fond of that because of the primary physician, Dr. Mark Greene. He wound up dying of a brain tumor after eight years on the show. It was a fictional show, of course, but it was based in Chicago, where I did my own personal medical training and the ER was based on Cook County Hospital where I trained for six months.

Because of that I developed a strong bond with his character. Adding to the similarity, Mark was balding like me and spent much of his time in Hawaii.

He eventually wound up dying there unnecessarily as he unsurprisingly chose conventional medicine. At the time I spent most of my winters in Maui so the bond only deepened. I must have cried for hours as they were playing one of my absolute favorite songs, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” by Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwo’ole.

14. What did you want to be when you were younger?

I wanted to be a priest initially, then an astronaut, until I shifted out of that phase into picking medicine during the middle of my college years as I was beyond passionate about health.

15. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

When I used to run, I would listen to audio tapes all the time. Nightingale-Conant is one of the producers that I purchased many audio programs from, one of them being “Getting Things Done,” by David Allen. It really helped inspire me to become hyper-efficient and organized in my life.

More recently, the book, “The Gap and the Gain,” by Dan Sullivan, who’s a strategic coach for many entrepreneurs, is one of my favorites. It teaches not only about setting goals, but that it’s the timing of the goals that’s important. There are two major components. The first is to list your wins for the day right before you go to bed, so you can remember them.

The second is to set three goals for the following day, also at bedtime. By focusing on these goals before you go to sleep, you subconsciously focus on them while you’re sleeping. So it’s a really efficient way to get things done.

16. Do you like surprises?

I love surprises.

17. Name a movie that made you cry.

That’s easy — “The Fault in Our Stars.” If you haven’t seen this movie, I’d definitely recommend watching it with a at least one box of Kleenex, because it’s that powerful. The movie highlights some of the major flaws with conventional medicine and how many people needlessly die because of their commitment to “scientific medicine.”

This is especially true for children. The movie and the book it’s based on were written years ago, and mostly based on true stories, but the problems that they outline have only gotten worse since then.

Even though the movie really moved me emotionally it now almost pales in comparison to what the global cabal is doing with the COVID jabs that are killing far more people than cancer does. The video I posted last week is a 90-minute documentary of injuries and deaths as a result of the COVID jabs.

18. What’s your favorite type of music?

As a genre, probably female vocals, but I really enjoy listening to music from the ’60s. Sometimes I’ll listen to the Grateful Dead — but it varies depending on my mood.

19. How do you like to spend your down time?

I like to spend my down time learning, reading and relaxing. I’m not the type of person to lie down on the beach all day drinking margaritas. I also really enjoy going to events and speaking, and meeting new people while learning new things. It really keeps you going.

20. What’s something you’re afraid of?

The two most common fears people have are fear of death and fear of public speaking. I don’t have a problem with either of those. What I’ve learned is that there’s a universal antidote for fear, which is the basis of many people’s problems, and that is love. So if you can substitute love for fear, and integrate forgiveness into the whole process, it all works out best.

21. Tell me about the best traits you got from your parents.

That’s easy. My dad was a super disciplinarian. He didn’t know how to express love very well, which is unfortunate. I struggled with this when I was growing up, but I learned to forgive him for that after he passed. He definitely gave me the discipline that I’ve had my whole life. It really is quite extraordinary, because it’s a hard skill to acquire unless it’s instilled in you growing up.

From my mom, I gained unconditional love. I couldn’t do anything wrong in her eyes — she was completely supportive. Whatever I wanted, she was just great. She was a classic example of unconditional love.

22. Do you have a pet peeve?

An annoyance that I struggle with forgiving is people who are insensitive, inconsiderate or rude. I also don’t like to waste time, so when I’m driving and I see people driving really slow, it’s a challenge for me. Fortunately, I don’t drive too much. I literally drive less than 1,000 miles a year, maybe 500 miles a year.

23. What are some things you’re most grateful for?

I’m grateful for a lot of things. Gratitude is one of the most powerful principles to integrate into your life. I’m really grateful I got into medical school; it took me two years of not being accepted, but I finally made it in.

Persistence and discipline were key, and that was one of the highlights of my life. I’m grateful to be able to pursue health, because I’m absolutely passionate about it, and after I started my medical practice, I’m so grateful for my patients, who educated me and helped me learn from my mistakes and eventually pushed me in the direction of using natural resources to heal people.

Since I stopped seeing patients about 15 years ago, I’m grateful for the team that I put together that helped provide Mercola.com as a resource that has literally affected hundreds of millions of people. It’s mind-boggling to understand and realize the impact we’ve had on the world. I would have never thought that would be possible when I got accepted to medical school, that I would eventually impact, positively, hundreds of millions of people.

24. What’s one thing you had to learn the hard way?

There are so many things you’ve got to learn; it’s basically life. Every day you’re making mistakes and life can hit you hard. You’ve simply got to learn to course correct in real time and though the scenario frequently looks bad it is important to recognize it almost always works out for the better in the long run.

25. If not running a natural health company, what would you be doing?

First of all, I don’t run the company. I have tremendously talented people who do that for me; it’s not my passion at all.

My passion is what I’m doing now, which is anywhere from two to three hours a day of exercise and lifestyle changes that improve my health, reading, listening to podcasts, interviewing people and just continuing this lifelong journey — traveling, getting to lecture at so many great places and meeting people who have an opportunity to listen to the story.

We’ve been doing this for 25 years, and I’m drawn to tears, many times, when I travel and I get this feedback that people give me — how their lives have changed. I was so impressed with health leaders growing up and how they impacted so many. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine I would have a similar impact on far more people.

I feel like I’m in the harvest phase of my life right now when I’m harvesting the joy of having taught people over all these years and being a personal witness and hearing how the information I have been sharing radically changed their lives. Hearing their stores and looking at the tears of joy in their faces is one of the most amazing experiences I have in my life.

It really is the fundamental reason why people apply to medical school. They want to help people. Well, connecting with these people show me that I’ve been successful in spades in achieving this goal and I am beyond grateful for that.