Below is a routinely updated ranking of the Internet's most visited health sites, grouped into 1) natural health sites, and 2) all medical/health sites. That Mercola.com stands so high on these lists - and our visit patterns show only a continuing surge - is, at first glance, astounding. On deeper reflection, though, it also makes perfect sense. Why?

There are thousands, even tens of thousands, of Websites pertaining, in part or whole, to human health. Some raised directly or discreetly by mega-corporations, others by small to large medical and university organizations, and many more the project of health care practitioners or entrepreneurs. Sometimes their aims have been altruistic or at least forthright, but far too often, and reflecting trends in the traditional healthcare establishment at large, their goal has been to dazzle and deceive, to continue inventing medical agendas and need through glitzy and smooth-talking sites, toward their usual underlying motive: greed. Not profit. Greed.

Some may call the rise of Mercola.com astounding because it has been funded entirely by Dr. Mercola, and maintained by him and his very small team. No venture capital, no paid advertisements, no silent partners. No outside "interests," in other words, pounding on a board table and demanding we skew the facts to make a few extra bucks. Also astounding because, while we're escalating our efforts to make the site more efficient and intuitive, ours is not a carnival experience: no flashing lights, funhouse mirrors, or dancing clowns. Just Dr. Mercola's expert insight on human diet and health and his advice on how to improve yourself through optimal foods and life habits, presented in a straightforward, honest manner... and without those outside "interests" whose interests really have nothing to do with your well-being.

For those reasons, the rise of Mercola.com is astounding. But they're exactly why our success in these rankings also makes sense. You want knowledge that can improve your health - unadorned by excess bells and whistles and unafraid to offer advice that might offend the medical establishment, but also highly reputable and presented in a way that makes sense to the real world. That is Mercola.com. Numbers don't always tell the whole story, but our continued climb up these charts certainly suggests that the word is getting out - Mercola.com is about substance. It makes perfect sense.

IMPORTANT NOTE ON RANKING NUMBERS: The lower the Alexa ranking number below, the more popular the website. A website with an Alexa rank of 5000, for example, means of all the millions of websites that exist, that website is the 5000th most visited on the entire Internet. (If you are wondering what site ranks number one, that is Yahoo.com.)

These rankings are provided by Alexa.com, an independent Website that provides similar rankings for all sectors of the Internet. Websites such as CNN and MSNBC that offer health information among many other subject areas are not included in the rankings here, as traffic to these specific areas of their sites cannot be separated from traffic to their entire site. If you believe any medical or health Website has been overlooked, please check their name at www.alexa.com or contact us.

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See Mercola.com's Position in Previous Rankings