I think it was PT Barnum who told us a sucker is born every minute. The Mercola site is a classic example of pseudo science.
Here's an example cut and pasted:
"I am so convinced of astaxanthin's benefits that I have been consuming Hawaiian astaxanthin every day since I first learned of it.* And since I found it so beneficial, I had to create my own formula--Mercola Astaxanthin with ALA.*"
Benefits? What benefits...Is this science?
Hardly.... The words are more what you expect from charlatans, Disallowed merchants or people using weasel words to avoid making specific claims that might contravene the law but lead a mostly gullible public to believe these chemicals and herbal extracts have proven efficacy when nothing could be further from the truth.
Mercola is nothing more than a slick marketing operation under the guise of science.
For the most part, the products sold may or may not be beneficial. There are few if any objective studies in recognized journals to support any beneficial claims. Not that those claims are necessarily made. Rather they are couched in those weasel words "may help with...." "X had great results with..."and so on.
I'm not defending the big drug companies. Lord knows they have many things to be ashamed of but at least they attempt to run proper clinical trials.
What gets me in all of this is the gradual denigration of proper science. I suppose it's part of the neoliberal agenda that has reached its culmination with its attempt to discredit climate research. By sowing the seeds of distrust in science, by promoting pseudo science in its stead, they seek to control the markets.
