Dr. Mercola's Total Health Program: The Proven Plan to Prevent Disease & Premature Aging Optimize Weight and Live Longer

Both my wife and I have done the Metabolic Typing test and altered our diets to follow Dr. Mercola's health program. I have type 2 diabetes and have drastically decreased my blood sugar levels and increased my energy with this plan. In addition, I have been able to decrease most of my medications (under my physician's guidence) since following the program. All of this in just 6 weeks. I have felt satisfied with the meals and no longer experience cravings for sugars or grains and I've lost 10 pounds!

Dr. Mercola's Total Health Program was truly an amazing find. Not only has this book helped me learn the foods that are right for my specific body type (a concept known as metabolic typing, which has helped me sustain a positive energy level throughout the day, maintain a healthy, normal weight and fight and prevent disease) but it also highlighted the foods that contribute to a compromised lifestyle and poor overall health (i.e. artificial sweeteners and contaminated seafood). Before reading Dr. Mercola's book, I was consistently depending on drugs and medications--an Advil here, an ibuprofen there--to get me through the day. But now, after learning all you have to do is eat a healthy diet, follow an exercise plan and get the right amount of sleep...basically start making healthy lifestyle choices, I was able to eliminate my reliance on drugs all together. What's more, this book has helped improve the health of my family as well. Until recently, my brother struggled with an acne problem. He tried everything (lotions, face washes, over-the-counter drugs, prescribed medications) to clear up his skin. However, it wasn't until I turned him onto Dr. Mercola's Total Health Program that he started seeing a noticeable improvement. He followed Dr. Mercola's advice on cutting back--with hopes of eventually eliminating--sugars and grains and now faces each day confident and worry-free. So for anyone who is interested in improving their health and addressing health concerns, whether it be obesity, a weakened immune system, unhealthy eating habits, depression, stress, acne, a seditary lifestyle (the list goes on and on) then this book is for you. It's easy, educational and the results are phenomenal. It really was one of the best investments I've ever made!

This book outlines some of the fundamental eating habits that we all need to integrate into our lives. I have worked in the natural health industry for almost 20 years and have followed many different trends. In my opinion, this program offers a basic, comprehensive and logical approach to eating for today. We need to work together to support sustainable agriculture. Dr. Mercola is clearly aware of the issues surrounding the food industry. Instead of finding excuses, we need to go out of our way to find real food from real farmers.Although I would have appreciated seeing more resources in the appendix section, the book helps increase your awareness about obtaining the healthiest ingredients possible in order to increase one's own health. The recipes were clearly written to accommodate our fast-paced lives. Not only are the recipes easy to prepare and healthy, they taste great!Metabolic typing is an interesting method and merits consideration. It is a progressive approach that surpasses other popular programs currently available. This is a multi-dimensional book which emphasizes emotional, spiritual, environmental, agricultural and physical health. The authors have done a wonderful job conveying this information in such a concise, clearly written format. Overall, it is an excellent book.

This book has much information about healthy diet, lifestyle and medicine. Dr. Mercola pointed out in a recent talk we attended in Philadelphia that the third leading cause of death for Americans was --doctors. Sorry, doc, but iatrogenic (doctor-caused) complications are plentiful. Still, this statistic may be misleading as a lot of doctoring goes on in the expensive, last few months of life for terminally-ill and geriatric patients. So the number of complications due to procedures and drug interactions is possibly skewed here--if you read the medicare reports and read between the lines. STILL, I prefer prevention. Dr. Mercola is a sort of Dr. Weil for the millenium, similar advice, more detail and his own slant on diet and health. Essentially, he advises vegetables, low to no grains--reduces insulin fluctuations, and healthy meats. He insists most people find that they are not served well by a vegan (no milk, meat, egg) diet and actually it could harm them. Yes, some folks are more than well on a vegan diet; it depends on your metabolic type, according to Mercola. For many, meat or fish are important. This is the "Atkins" type diet with an emphasis on healthy choices.We liked a lot of the recipes in this book. Some were even delicious; "zucchini spaghetti" is a boon for the low-carb eater, thin strips of squash serve as a low-carb base for a tasty sauce. And a home-made sausage patty I liked, plus a spicy Jamaican rub for chicken or fish. The recipes in "Total Health" are for the most part, pretty easy. The ingredients are what's more difficult to come by--for example, free range poultry, bison (buffalo), raw milk and Alaskan salmon, tested free of detectible mercury. But even in our rural area, we can order bison and salmon to be shipped in, and the raw milk is available over the border in Amish country. So while not every area in the US can obtain organic veggies and meats by walking to the store, even remote areas can find ways to get these items. If you were to adhere to the Mercola diet, a chest freezer could be helpful to freeze sporadic purchases of organic perishables.How to get in those vegetables for brekkie really stumped us, until we tried the fearsome green shake, consisting of vegetable juice, whey powder, egg and greens powder, with coconut for flavor and its own benefits. This powerful smoothie is a quick pick-me-up for the morning rush and easily assimilated. We liked it, surprised how much so. This diet and lifestyle is not easy, and the guy at home frankly said "No WAY am I eating veggies for a snack, thank YOU very much!" but adding the additional greens and of course healthy choices is doing us good, we are sure. A provocative book, with a great number of resources.