Dr. Berg is amzing!!

[Eren Eeager]

So there is this doctor who is like a stage yellow thinker of human health and wellbeing. He has a lot of videos and explain them very well. 

The most important topics he talks about are: 

keto diet 

intermittent fasting

how to treat cancers by fasting

the problem with carbs and insulin resistance

GMO and glyphosate 

and much more 
 

this is one of his recent videos 

 

 

[Tarzan]

Most of what I've heard of him say isn't backed up by studies. Unless he cites specific studies that support the claims he makes, then the information, however well presented and logical it might sound, it might not be right.

He focuses only on presentation on that video, no studies cited in the description.

My advice is to focus on channels and nutrition advice that is backed by studies. Understand what they present and review the studies they cite. What you can do to make sure that study represents the consensus is to search for contradicting studies and see how the data holds up. If say one yt channel presents information that keto diets are healthy and good for weight loss, then review the study that backs up that claim - how big was the effect? How was the study structured (according to the evidence hieararchy meta analyses and placebo-controlled randomized control trials are the most trustworthy and reliable forms of studies). Then find more studies that deal with the same topic (it's easier I suppose to search for channels that present contradicting information and then review the studies that they cite).

As far as keto is concerned I think a good place to start is nutritionfacts.org, of course look for keto diet advocates and review their cited studies. I'd be critical of anyone who believes in magic bullets and magic diets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_Dv7b0TON8&list=PL5TLzNi5fYd8H9nNYTHuxVBTCNP0hZDu3

Look for different sources and compare their claims and studies

[Eren Eeager]

he cites studies under every video he makes. Also, he explain the physiological background for every claim he makes. for example, keto is good for weight loss, why? because insulin prevents fat from being burnt so low levels of insulin as in keto diet will promote fat burning. 

[Value]

Hell yes he's amazing!

[Osaid]

Sounds like he knows his stuff

ketosis is a superpower

[Tarzan]

On 8/12/2020 at 5:16 PM, Eren Eeager said:

he cites studies under every video he makes. Also, he explain the physiological background for every claim he makes. for example, keto is good for weight loss, why? because insulin prevents fat from being burnt so low levels of insulin as in keto diet will promote fat burning. 

The video you posted, where are the studies he cites? Which studies support his claim? All I found was some links directing to his shop and his website, and a disclaimer

Disclaimer: Dr. Eric Berg received his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1988. His use of “doctor” or “Dr.” in relation to himself solely refers to that degree. Dr. Berg is a licensed chiropractor in Virginia, California, and Louisiana, but he no longer practices chiropractic in any state and does not see patients so he can focus on educating people as a full time activity, yet he maintains an active license. This video is for general informational purposes only. It should not be used to self-diagnose and it is not a substitute for a medical exam, cure, treatment, diagnosis, and prescription or recommendation. It does not create a doctor-patient relationship between Dr. Berg and you. You should not make any change in your health regimen or diet before first consulting a physician and obtaining a medical exam, diagnosis, and recommendation. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. The Health & Wellness, Dr. Berg Nutritionals and Dr. Eric Berg, D.C. are not liable or responsible for any advice, course of treatment, diagnosis or any other information, services or product you obtain through this video or site.

???

[Tarzan]

I don't want to ruin your day. You can eat however you want or cheerlead whoever you want. Its just that I'm not buying it and who knows maybe a I induce some doubt.

[Eren Eeager]

@Tarzan Yeah looks like he doesn't put links under all videos but still his understanding is pretty good.

[Opo]

Is he still just repeating how keto is good or did he start doing new stuff? 

[Michael569]

Eric Berg is a very orange guy in a green coat whose main concern is pretty much his own bank account. He has been called up by medical doctors and PHDs on youtube for spewing nonsense and pseudoscience. If you open his website, it resembles that of Josh Axe or Ben Greenfield with thousands of links, adds, supplements and self-promotion. I am surprised this guy has such a gigantic follow behind him. 

He sometimes adds studies but they are well-cherry picked. 

Also what @Tarzan said, the guy calls himself a doctor and deliberately misleads people making them think he is an actual MD or PHD. Most people don't read description so he is unlikely to be disputed. This is not new on youtube but it creates corruption and deliberate misinformation

[Eren Eeager]

@Michael569  But still he helped me a lot understand many keto related topics. He is not a bad guy if he promotes himself. I know he is not green, he is just an orange guy that understand some nice misunderstood topics. Self-promotion is not a crime. If he is for money, I don't care. 

[Michael569]

14 minutes ago, Eren Eeager said:

But still he helped me a lot understand many keto related topics. He is not a bad guy if he promotes himself. I know he is not green, he is just an orange guy that understand some nice misunderstood topics. Self-promotion is not a crime. If he is for money, I don't care. 

There is a difference between self-promotion and spreading misinformation. For example, Eric Berg frequently disputes the unhealthy effects of saturated fats. He frequently talks about how LDL cholesterol is a misleading marker of cardiovascular disease and he promotes beefs and meat as a healthy beneficial food. Global death statistics clearly show that things like LDL (regardless of particle size) and blood pressure are directly correlated with heart disease and that correlates with the most deaths in the world. There is a clear and indisputable evidence around this yet people like him think they are the mavericks when they challenge these ideas. A lot of people following Dr Berg will end up doing extremely unhealthy keto diets that include shitload of fried meats and fats with zero fibre, fruit and vegetable. 

I had a colleague who ate at Mcdonalds every day. He would remove the bread from burgers and eat 5-6 meats patties at a time. He was convincing everybody that his Keto is the best health diet. In time, other guys around the office got influenced and started doing the same. This is the DANGER of people like Berg. He may be promoting the "healthy" keto but most people cannot tell difference and have zero nutrition knowledge so they end up shortening their lifespans. 

As such, anyone promoting such diet is basically promoting lack of wellness, lack of health and early death. If a supplement or drug was found to do that it would be taken off the market

[Eren Eeager]

@Michael569 what you call misinformation  is actually and ironically the truth. keto diet works on a very simple basis. Fat is not bad, carbs are. we have been eating fat since ever but we have been eating excessive amounts of carbs recently which correlates with a surge in obesity and cardiovascular disease and diabetes. carbs turn into fats eventually which causes all the problems. 

He also advocates eating a lot of green leaves and vegetables.  

about the LDL thing. He says that there is a study that found out that there is no correlation between eating fatty foods and LDL levels in the body. Which is clearly right according to keto because again Carbs are the enemy, those are responsible for hih levels of LDL in the body 

[Michael569]

5 minutes ago, Eren Eeager said:

Fat is not bad, carbs are.

Carbohydrates have been the essential part of human diet for thousands of years. What you probably mean by "bad carbs" are things like sweets, white bread, white rice and white potatoes. I am going to agree that those are not beneficial for human consumption and they contribute to obesity and diabetes indeed. On the other hand, whole grain low GL sources of carbohydrates are beneficial and extremely health-promoting. They are associated with a reduction of cardiovascular incidence and obesity. These would be foods like legumes, sweet potatoes and wholegrain products that Berg bashes on as well. These contain oligosaccharides such as fibre that basically reduce overall risk of cancer, diebates and heart disease, the deadly triangle of 90% of human deaths in the world. Most people cannot tell the difference between different sources of carbohydrates so they label all of them as "bad" and stop eating them which is ridiculous since glucose is the only possible source of energy for the brain. Even ketones have to be changed to glucose before feeding cerebral cells. Saying that all carbs are bad shows ignorance and lack of systemic understanding (no offence directed to you personally) as this is based on something you were told by a person who does not know what they are talking about. 

12 minutes ago, Eren Eeager said:

about the LDL thing. He says that there is a study that found out that there is no correlation between eating fatty foods and LDL levels in the body. Which is clearly right according to keto because again Carbs are the enemy, those are responsible for hih levels of LDL in the body 

A study? There are hundreds and hundreds of studies looking at the association between cholesterol levels and heart disease. You cannot quote "A study" you have to conduct a systematic overview of everything especially of the meta analyses that include hundreds of thousands of people. I doubt he has ever done that. This would be a task for a team of people which is why there is so much confusion about this topic. 

Carbohydrates do not cause high LDL in the body. high LDL levels are caused by arterial damage caused by free radicals, AGEs, white sugar (from bad carbs), alcohol, tobacco, toxins and stress. Wholegrain carbs are protective from this. High LDL fats like meat cause LDL particles to hang around the bloodsttream for up to 6 hours which increases the chance of them get turned into either glycated LDL (if colliding with sugar) or oxidised LDL (if colliding with superoxide or peroxynitrite) both extremely harmful. Chargrilled and fried animal products bring extremely high amount of free radicals in the body and these contribute to arterial damage. 

So no, it is not the LDL that is harmful per see but it is the bigger picture. Humans need to consume both carbs and fats but we should be picking the right sources rather than blindly follow experts who clearly have an agenda. 

[Eren Eeager]

3 minutes ago, Michael569 said:

. These contain oligosaccharides such as fibre that basically reduce overall risk of cancer, diebates and heart disease, the deadly triangle of 90% of human deaths in the world.

what's your source?

you can take fiber by other means, vegetables and greenly leaves.

5 minutes ago, Michael569 said:

ridiculous since glucose is the only possible source of energy for the brain. Even ketones have to be changed to glucose before feeding cerebral cells

brain actually can use ketone bodies.

the body is capable of producing its own glucose from proteins and fat in a process known as neoglucogenesis 

6 minutes ago, Michael569 said:

There are hundreds and hundreds of studies looking at the association between cholesterol levels and heart disease. You cannot quote

I said there is no correlation between eating fatty foods and cholesterol levels.  But here's the thing I searched the web and what I meant is there is no study that found any correlation between high cholesterol diet and cholesterol level in the blood.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6024687/

[Michael569]

1 minute ago, Eren Eeager said:

what's your source?

you can take fiber by other means, vegetables and greenly leaves.

Green leafy are great but they have tiny bit of fibre. For example a cup of spinach (typical daily portion for most people) only has about 0.7g of fibre. 

Vegetables are good source, I agree but to get at least 30g per day you have to eat 4-5 cups which most people don't do. And that's just 30g, the absolutely bare minimum. In a health promoting diet you'd want 50+ g per day which is hard to achieve without legumes and wholegrains. 

4 minutes ago, Eren Eeager said:

brain actually can use ketone bodies.

the body is capable of producing its own glucose from proteins and fat in a process known as neoglucogenesis 

My bad, brain CAN use ketones. You are correct. But if only does so in an emergency when there is nothing else. The only time this is advised is if a person is suffering from epilepsy. 

Turning protein into glucose is one of the dirtiest biochemical processes in the body. It is nutrient heavy and creates a lot of urea, a toxic metabolite as well as creatinine and uric acid from purines (from nucleus of organic cells). All of this puts unnecessary strain on the elimination system especially of people who are already sick. Also your body starts turning protein in glucose only as a last resort. It is basically when your body mass starts to atrophy because you have been in an extremely prolonged period of starvation. This process also reduces bone mass density. 

We can also turn fat into glucose that's true but it creates starvation and raises stress hormones because the process is cortisol and adrenaline-dependant. One of the reasons why people feel awesome in ketosis is because their adrenaline is through the roof. 

8 minutes ago, Eren Eeager said:

I said there is no correlation between eating fatty foods and cholesterol levels.  But here's the thing I searched the web and what I meant is there is no study that found any correlation between high cholesterol diet and cholesterol level in the blo

No direct correlation true because the development of atherosclerosis (hallmark of raised LDL cholesterol) is multifactorial so it is impossible to trace a single element. If you go to pubmed, tick "systemic trials " and "meta analyses" and search out your keywords you'll find hundreds of results on this topic which is why I said that it takes a team of people to review all of this. In a hierarchy of evidence, systemic trials and meta-analyses have the biggest weight Everything else is inferior. https://canberra.libguides.com/c.php?g=599346&p=4149721 so any study quoting randomized trials, case controls and cohort studies is not the best depiction of the real situation. 

Anyways, I think I'll leave it here because I got too sucked into this debate and it's not serving anyone really. I also allowed my lower self to get triggered. Thanks for being willing to exchange opinions and I appreciate you sharing your insights!! This is a gigantic topic and well worth exploring further. 

[Eren Eeager]

3 minutes ago, Michael569 said:

I also allowed my lower self to get triggered

That's the challenge body, to debate calmly and nicely without getting triggered, damn sneaky ego.

6 minutes ago, Michael569 said:

We can also turn fat into glucose that's true but it creates starvation and raises stress hormones because the process is cortisol and adrenaline-dependant. One of the reasons why people feel awesome in ketosis is because their adrenaline is through the roof. 

I need to research this statement.

 

[Rajneeshpuram]

1 hour ago, Michael569 said:

Green leafy are great but they have tiny bit of fibre. For example a cup of spinach (typical daily portion for most people) only has about 0.7g of fibre. 

Vegetables are good source, I agree but to get at least 30g per day you have to eat 4-5 cups which most people don't do. And that's just 30g, the absolutely bare minimum. In a health promoting diet you'd want 50+ g per day which is hard to achieve without legumes and wholegrains. 

My bad, brain CAN use ketones. You are correct. But if only does so in an emergency when there is nothing else. The only time this is advised is if a person is suffering from epilepsy. 

Turning protein into glucose is one of the dirtiest biochemical processes in the body. It is nutrient heavy and creates a lot of urea, a toxic metabolite as well as creatinine and uric acid from purines (from nucleus of organic cells). All of this puts unnecessary strain on the elimination system especially of people who are already sick. Also your body starts turning protein in glucose only as a last resort. It is basically when your body mass starts to atrophy because you have been in an extremely prolonged period of starvation. This process also reduces bone mass density. 

We can also turn fat into glucose that's true but it creates starvation and raises stress hormones because the process is cortisol and adrenaline-dependant. One of the reasons why people feel awesome in ketosis is because their adrenaline is through the roof. 

No direct correlation true because the development of atherosclerosis (hallmark of raised LDL cholesterol) is multifactorial so it is impossible to trace a single element. If you go to pubmed, tick "systemic trials " and "meta analyses" and search out your keywords you'll find hundreds of results on this topic which is why I said that it takes a team of people to review all of this. In a hierarchy of evidence, systemic trials and meta-analyses have the biggest weight Everything else is inferior. https://canberra.libguides.com/c.php?g=599346&p=4149721 so any study quoting randomized trials, case controls and cohort studies is not the best depiction of the real situation. 

Anyways, I think I'll leave it here because I got too sucked into this debate and it's not serving anyone really. I also allowed my lower self to get triggered. Thanks for being willing to exchange opinions and I appreciate you sharing your insights!! This is a gigantic topic and well worth exploring further. 

2 hours ago, Michael569 said:

There is a difference between self-promotion and spreading misinformation. For example, Eric Berg frequently disputes the unhealthy effects of saturated fats. He frequently talks about how LDL cholesterol is a misleading marker of cardiovascular disease and he promotes beefs and meat as a healthy beneficial food. Global death statistics clearly show that things like LDL (regardless of particle size) and blood pressure are directly correlated with heart disease and that correlates with the most deaths in the world. There is a clear and indisputable evidence around this yet people like him think they are the mavericks when they challenge these ideas. A lot of people following Dr Berg will end up doing extremely unhealthy keto diets that include shitload of fried meats and fats with zero fibre, fruit and vegetable. 

I had a colleague who ate at Mcdonalds every day. He would remove the bread from burgers and eat 5-6 meats patties at a time. He was convincing everybody that his Keto is the best health diet. In time, other guys around the office got influenced and started doing the same. This is the DANGER of people like Berg. He may be promoting the "healthy" keto but most people cannot tell difference and have zero nutrition knowledge so they end up shortening their lifespans. 

As such, anyone promoting such diet is basically promoting lack of wellness, lack of health and early death. If a supplement or drug was found to do that it would be taken off the market

Why we need fibre exactly, to be healthy? Is it a macronutrient?

[Eren Eeager]

Just now, Rajneeshpuram said:

Why we need fibre exactly, to be healthy? Is it a macronutrient?

fiber feeds bacteria Gut which affects your body in many ways

[LSD-Rumi]

@Michael569 Thanks Michael for enlightening me back then. I was influenced by dr berg to disregard carbs from the equation but then you came and gave me a more holistic approach