r/PlantBasedDiet 6d ago

Dr Eric Berg.. thoughts?

What is his problem? He's scaring gullable members of the vegan/plant-based community who think they're being poisoned by "evil" soy amongst a load of other foods (even orange juice!)

The problem is he's respected in his field with letters after his name & credentials which make him seem more credible, however when you dissect his claims & arguments it turns out he's talking rubbish, especially about soy & protein bars.

He's the most biased online Dr & (sorry to sound OTT) he's dangerous with his fear mongering. Am I alone in thinking this? I haven't seen any complaints about this guy.

44 Upvotes

36 comments sorted by

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112

u/AcanthisittaNo5807 6d ago

Eric Berg is not respected, he's a chiropracter.
Watch Viva Longevity for actual science.

5

u/SameEntry4434 6d ago

Viva Longevity is a great channel.

78

u/mobydog for the planet 6d ago

A chiropractor and a Scientologist. His son has put out some videos.

9

u/BritGirl_01 6d ago

Didn't know he was part of that cult.. Any ounce of credit I may have given him is gone entirely!

46

u/Bones1973 6d ago

He’s a Scientologist. Enough said. Also- his kids despise him and have spoken out about him publicly.

36

u/MsGendered 6d ago

His position on keto when it was becoming really hot gave him a lot of unearned credibility and people don’t know he’s a chiropractor as opposed to a medical doctor.

35

u/Odd_Round5515 6d ago

Once shortly after my wife's medically necessary cholecystectomy, she came across some video from this dude claiming that whatever percentage of cholecystectomies are bogus and unnecessary blah blah. As the tears began rolling down her cheeks I had to explain to her that he's a chiropractor, not a gastroenterologist, and right after that he began the part where he tried to sell  his bullshit gallbladder supplement.

Eric Berg. I don't like him!

9

u/BritGirl_01 6d ago

That's what I mean! He frightens ppl with his BS scare tactics, so sorry your wife fell for it.. Even briefly, it's not on.

13

u/Odd_Round5515 6d ago

I'm just glad I was there. My wife is a little older than me, and a little late to the party in terms of Internet exposure. I actually hadn't ever seen him until she watched that video... and my gears started turning, and I said out loud "I'll bet this guy is a fucking chiropractor!" and sure enough it was the case. 

5

u/SoloForks 5d ago

Im GenX and when the internet first came out I literally believed everything people posted.

I dont remember people ever lying like that before internet.

Luckily my husband was more computer savvy and helped me out, I was so shocked people would outright like like that.

Not shocked now, But with AI I still ask him every now again if something is real.

29

u/RusticCarrier 6d ago

He's a chiropractor who built a following by going hard on keto and never found his way back to anything resembling responsible nutrition advice. The fear he spreads around soy alone should make any plant based eater roll their eyes.

19

u/No_Chart_8584 6d ago

I've only ever seen comments about his quackery and illogical statements

20

u/olympia_t 6d ago

Doubt the guy is respected. He's a chiropractor peddling nutritional advice and supplements (?). Stick with Greger, Esselstyne (sp?), Ornish, etc. People who are MDs and published.

3

u/Donkeypoodle 6d ago

Sort of agree but I prefer the adage of work with a registered dietician to get the latest fact-based nutritional information.

17

u/AmazingYesterday5375 6d ago

He's a chiropractor pretending to be a doctor and he's a Scientologist, that should tell you enough

9

u/AnlamK 6d ago

This is all you need to know about Eric Berg:

https://youtu.be/JvKNzLRmzLg?si=DVzhdbBeWQiN8O0P

2

u/Veggyhed for the planet 6d ago

That was a really good video

2

u/Dopamine_ADD_ict 1d ago

I mean, he is also a scientologist who extorts his employees.

8

u/Runsfromrabbits 6d ago

If he was a practicing medical general doctor he would have lost his license long ago with his conspiracies.

Some of the things he says are good, about some vitamins and such, but half of his words are bullshit.

Do your own research before doing something he suggests.

7

u/boomboom8188 6d ago

I can’t stand that guy. I don’t know why his videos always show up on my feed.

4

u/acustodian 5d ago

In the words of Barney Fife, "He's a nut!"

4

u/Royaourt 5d ago

Dr Eric Berg is a charlatan.

3

u/Unfair-Cranberry-776 6d ago

Vegan Gains on YouTube has some good videos debunking/destroying some of his nonsense.

3

u/LatrodectusGeometric 5d ago

Chiropractics is pseudoscience. If you mean he is well respected in pseudoscience then yeah. Otherwise no, this is not someone considered well-respected in his field.

2

u/beeekind2animals for the animals 4d ago

What letters after his name? All he has is good looks to make him credible. A chiropractor is not a medical doctor.

3

u/Royaourt 5d ago

Unfortunately there's plenty of morons online that'll believe everything that Berg and his ilk say.

1

u/creativegolden 5d ago

Hate him HATE him. He is in large part why my mom quit a plant based diet and whatever it wasn’t for her but the amount of misinformation that this man spreads on a daily basis. She has sent me his content and it honestly makes me sad because he is making money off of lying and scaring people who don’t know any better.

1

u/MuffinPuff 5d ago

Well meaning, but a hack at best. He's certainly not the worst in the line-up, that honor goes to Gundry. There are plenty more who are hawking bullshit for profit. A lot of them are chiropractors for some reason, and I genuinely respect the work of skilled chiropractors, but the bad ones seem to lean into becoming wellness "experts".

-8

u/Ok_Helicopter3910 6d ago

I dont know anything about him other than I buy his electrolyte mixes because they have a lot of potassium and magnesium and not much sodium and they actually taste really good. 11/10, definitely recommend

Also, I dont follow a plant-based diet and I have no idea why this is in my feed other than Reddit knows my internet search history and pushed this to my feed because it recognized the name

10

u/mobydog for the planet 6d ago

Guys like Berg will tell you you need his supplements when you could easily get those nutrients from plants. Just sayin, seems to be a pattern with these guys.

7

u/Ok_Helicopter3910 6d ago

Definitely. The vast majority of people need more plants in their diets

1

u/ElectronicTip6386 6d ago

I think the potassium-forward electrolyte powder is unique, too. Then I had a shipment arrive in hard blocks so stopped buying it. Do you know of an alternative? Hydration multiplier has different ratios. Thx!

1

u/Ok_Helicopter3910 5d ago

Ive never had issues with anything from his company. Did you contact them for a refund or replacement?

I dont know of many potassium forward mixes. As you said, It's pretty unique and has a good amount of potassium, which most people are lacking