Dr Eric Berg?


(Joey) #1

From time to time I see references to Dr Eric Berg based in Virginia (posting keto youtubes and other related web content). Today I came across this…

https://www.casewatch.net/board/chiro/berg.shtml

… which is the full text of a 2007 disciplinary action and consent decree lodged against him by the Virginia Medical Board. He was found to have used four different “bogus” tests on patients in order to sell dietary supplements. In the consent decree, he agreed to pay a fine along with a number of other remedial measures and to cease and desist from offering these “tests.”

The four tests were: Body Response Technique; Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Technique;Contact Reflex Analysis, and; Acoustic Cardiograph. The conclusion reached was that Dr. Berg “made many therapeutic claims that were not supportable by reasonable scientfic or medical evidence.”

Since he’s a keto-oriented practitioner I searched for some mention of these sanctions on this forum - but came up dry.

Anyone familiar with the background involved and/or implications for relying on his scientific guidance in other matters?


#2

Never realized he was here, I’m not a big fan myself, seems to me he was just slightly late to the party and made a ton of pretty bad keto advise and mostly youtube vids telling most people what they already knew. Never heard of any of those tests, BUT mainstream medicine see’s no point in ANYTHING that’s not a mainstream practice and say pretty much all of it is useless so those tests MAY be helpful to people… probably not but who knows.


#3

Oh, Dr Berg and his history have indeed been mentioned in these forums. Many people are wary of him, justifiably in my opinion. His deep connection with the Church of Scientology doesn’t exactly work in his favour either. (And … IDK, he just gives me the creeps.)


(Joey) #4

That’s a fair point. (A pox on both their houses?) :wink:

As a relative newcomer, I must have missed the forum history. A simple forum search yielded no mention of the particular matter of his being cited by Virginia, hence my question.

Frankly, I can’t say I’ve been wow’ed by his online content either - but now the Scientology connection explains a good bit. Show Me The Scientology? Thanks for that tidbit.


(Full Metal KETO AF) #5

He’s already dissed for so much around here there’s no need! :joy::joy::joy::grin::cowboy_hat_face:


(Joey) #6

Thanks - clearly I need to devote time toward improving my forum search skills.


(Full Metal KETO AF) #7

@SomeGuy Nobody hardly ever starts a thread featuring him, usually someone posts a link and a dozen people post how they don’t like him at all. :cowboy_hat_face:


(Joey) #8

And so, now we have one. Glad to be of service :smirk:


(Bunny) #9

We have to remember that the ketogenic diet itself is not a solid science, it is still an experimental model and nobody knows what the long-term consequences could be if something is not done right?

Every Medical Professional, Nutritionist, Self Experimenter or Lay person alike is still experimenting with this stuff!

Everyone has valuable information to contribute, including Berg, you will find no one person, book or group that has all the answers.

Berg has the advantage because he has real patients to work with and can figure what works and what does not work in the real world without relying on theories and hypothesis or research on mice and rats?

The only way anything will ever be a solid science is by conducting multi-disciplinary symposiums to weed out the placebos and paradoxes?

The only ones that have anything near solid is Virta Health!


(KetoQ) #10

When I first began researching keto, I initially got a lot of my info from Dr. Berg’s videos. In my opinion, the quality of his info is very good and is in line with a lot of the thinking and discussions on this forum. If he didn’t advise eating 10 cups of green vegetables per day, there wouldn’t be much controversy at all in his approach to keto.

That said, he appears to rub some people the wrong way. Partly because of the Scientology, disciplinary action and the fact that he sells supplements.


(Joey) #11

I respect the broader sentiment (i.e., that science is an ever-evolving project and there’s room for numerous hypotheses to be tested) but I’m not able to agree with the assertion that ketogenic eating is not based on solid science.

There’s plenty of solid science (RCTrials) in support of eating saturated fats in conjunction with sharply reducing carbs to produce improved human health, including the reversal of chronic illnesses. There’s also plenty of evidence that the long-standing ADA recommendations have been dangerous to the health (and lifespan) of diabetics.

Having said this, if Dr Berg’s treatment of patients truly enabled him to figure out what works and what doesn’t, one might have expected him to react to Virginia’s accusations with convincing scientific rebuttal and to present his case studies taken from his own practice - much as Tim Noakes and others have done to successfully overcome accusations of malpractice.

Instead, Dr Berg agreed to cease and desist, having consented with the VA Medical Board’s written charges that he employed “bogus” tests to sell his supplements. It doesn’t sound like his patients’ outcomes were terribly convincing.

Again, I support the big tent approach to move good science forward. However, at least based on what I’d read in the VA Medical Board’s complaint to which he agreed, it remains unclear whether Dr Berg acted in good faith to produce real science.


(Joey) #12

Yes, I fully agree that his youtube posts are nicely produced and can be informative. It seems that, since entering into the consent agreement, he has shifted gears and now some of his content is genuinely helpful.

Whether anyone can comfortably chow down 10 cups of anything daily remains an interesting question. :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

In any case, inasmuch as the credibility of salespeople is always suspect, I put supplement salespeople high on that list.

[But hey, notice how I dodged making any comment on Scientology?] :wink:


(Bunny) #13

I have no idea whether or not Dr. Berg did anything wrong as Dr. Berg is not here to defend the accusation?

As “bogus” as anything may seem, anyone can also bring “bogus” accusations that later get interpreted by people like yourself that some how invalidates anything that person says which is a far reach from reality because they may not be an all meat only advocate, not the kind of game you would want to be involved in if you are the target?


(Joey) #14

Please understand that I’m not accusing Dr Berg of anything. At the risk of putting too fine a point on it: It was the Virginia Medical Board that made the accusations. And Dr Berg opted not to defend himself but instead to agree in writing with the accusations - and to pay a fine, cease and desist, open his practice up to subsequent audits, etc.

FWIW, “bogus” was not my word choice… it was taken directly from the text of the Virginia Medical Board’s complaint in describing Dr Berg’s tests performed on his patients.

Also, to clarify, I do not support the idea of invalidating everything Dr Berg says. On the contrary, as noted above, I believe he has produced content that has helped others (as @Q66 shared).

The challenge arises whenever one suspects a particular source of not being 100% reliable… it becomes difficult to know how to parse the wheat from the chaff. [Pardon the gratuitous carb reference :wink: ]


(Karen) #15

:joy::rofl::joy::rofl:
I really enjoyed that.

Dr. Berg seems earnest. And I certainly came to Keto through his videos. And for that I am grateful. I think he does have a broad reach, and says many of the same things Keto experts also say.
He’s not a medical doctor, he’s a chiropractor, but some of our keto experts also have other careers. Anyway interesting conversation …


(Full Metal KETO AF) #16

In defense of Dr. Berg I would point out that chiropractors spend hundreds of times the hours studying nutrition compared to what an MD gets in medical school. He does have some interesting info, I don’t agree that you need 7-10 cups of vegetables everyday myself. I don’t think that’s literal anyways. 4 cups of cabbage will cook down to a cup or so as will about 6 cups of spinach. You don’t have to eat them all raw. And I never make fun of someone’s spiritual choices even if I think it’s “bogus”! :cowboy_hat_face:


(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #17

That’s all I would have ever had to have heard. IMPO, that whole cult is absolutely rediculous.


#18

I watched quite a lot of Dr.Berg’s videos in the beginning, they are short, informative and definitely very user-friendly, he had a solution or options on how to solve/get rid of/etc basically anything. I lost all interest and respect for him with that one video where he was against vaccination - my opinion is different.
I also feel like we come across ketoers on our journey that we later on grow out of: they are great for beginners, informative, you can listen to different opinions and mold your personal path, and later you continue on with other “role models.”


#19

PFFT! You’re clearly insane! If you don’t think it’s a good idea to needlessly infect other innocent people with diseases that would be extinct otherwise I don’t know what to say! :rofl:

What’s even more stupid is that the whole anti-vax thing only hit the level it did because people decided to connect it to autism with no proof whatsoever. Hmmmmm, where else has that been done???


#21

@daddyoh I believe @lfod14 comment was sarcastic? :slight_smile:

Yup, that doctor lost his license, but the numbers of unvaccinated babies are still rising.
We, as a society, are regressing, we are stupider and stupider…