our recent fact check of Dr. Berg's video has generated a lot of controversy, a lot of interesting comments and reactions, and going through those, paying attention to what people are really saying has made me see things in a different light. So, I just wanted to come on and address that real quick. The two most common comments we got on the video were, I'll trust an MD over a chiropractor any day, and I don't trust any MDs, so I'll trust the chiropractor over you. And while these may seem at first glance like polar opposites, I think they're really the same mindset, and that's basing scientific views on trust, which I think is very tricky and can be outright dangerous. Trust is for friends and family; it's not for strangers on the internet. Science is about the evidence that you show; it's not about who's showing it. So, relying on credentials to decide who's right and wrong, although I totally understand in life

oftentimes we need to do that. If I need surgery, I want it to be a credentialed, experienced surgeon. I don't want it to be a guy who read a blog about it. But the reality is online, this heuristic, this shortcut, often falls short, because there are a ton of MDs and PhDs and all kinds of people with fancy titles repeating inaccurate scientific information on nutrition, on cardiovascular research, on COVID, you name it. Some MDs are incredibly knowledgeable, and some are not, and the same is true of chiropractors and every other professional class. So we have to focus on the evidence. It's more work, yeah, but it's the only way. And I mean that whether you trust me for my credentials or whether you mistrust me for my credentials. Either way, I don't advise it. Now, a lot of people said, I don't like your video because Dr. Berg helped me a lot. Dr. Berg helped me lose weight, helped me overcome this.

health issue, that health issue. If you've found some useful principles that help you maintain a healthy body weight or improve your health overall, that's great news. All our video did was look specifically at the claims regarding cholesterol and particle size in the original video by Dr. Berg. That's what that video covered, and that's the video that our viewers requested we comment on. The views turned out not to match the evidence; that doesn't contradict anything about your weight loss or your health improvement. If eating a low-carb diet helps you maintain a healthy body weight, I think that's what most people said they got from Dr. Berg. Then maybe that's the right approach for you. I don't think our video even mentioned low-carb diets once, so there's no disconnect. That has nothing to do with believing that high ApoB is not a risk factor for cardiovascular disease; that's not supported by the evidence.

and I think people are entitled to know that. That's not a personal attack on anybody. Another big source of controversy was my tone towards Dr. Berg. Some people thought I was too polite and should come down harder on him, and others thought I came across dismissive or even arrogant towards him. Now, I've been making videos long enough to know that you can never please everybody, and I'm okay with that, but after reading the comments carefully and really thinking about what people are trying to say without taking things personally, which I never do, I understand what people mean when they say that I came across a bit dismissive. In the beginning of the video, there was a moment where he conflated two concepts, and my reaction of surprise and almost like incredulity came across to a lot of people almost like I was mocking him. Whether that's what I meant in the moment or not is less important. What

matters is that that's how it was perceived, and that's not good because it distracts people away from the evidence and the facts and towards the protagonists. It becomes this guy versus that guy, which is just counterproductive. So, I think I need to be more conscientious of those in-the-moment reactions because we could have easily edited out those initial scenes. We watch these videos over and over before we release them, but that reaction never stuck out to us because it seemed commensurate with the error that had been made. But what I've realized by reading these comments and really paying attention is that something that seems obvious to us who do this for a living or to a viewer who's very familiar with these topics may not be obvious at all to viewers who are just starting to be exposed to this information and who are trying to get a sense of the basics. And those are precisely the people

who need this information the most, and those are probably the people we should be the most mindful of, less so someone who already knows everything about cholesterol and lipids and heart disease. Those people don't need us. So, that's something we will be course-correcting in future content. We will try to be more sensitive to all that. Now, some commenters went even further, and they were of the opinion that it's just not okay to make a video commenting on someone else or fact-checking someone else's content, period. And I gotta say I find that very difficult to understand. We make videos on scientific topics. We make claims based on the evidence. Does that mean that our content is off-limits? Nobody can comment on it? Our videos must stand unchallenged in perpetuity? Why would that be? It's completely fair for someone to address what I've said before or to fact-check

me, whether they're going to agree or disagree. It's not just fair, that's how science works. I mean, why would that be off-limits? We didn't say one word about his credentials in a 25-minute video, we didn't attack physical appearance or motives or intentions, nothing. We judged the video 100% on the scientific merit and we showed the evidence to compare to the claims made. That's not a personal attack, that's scientific discussion, that's the only way to move forward. Nobody is right all the time, just this week we took down several of our old videos because we didn't agree with them anymore, there's nothing wrong with that, you just keep improving, nobody's born knowing everything, which is precisely why it's important to fact-check stuff. Now, many viewers asked if we tried to get in touch with Dr. Berg or his team to talk it out, and we did, we messaged several times,

different email addresses and his official page. We haven't heard back yet, which doesn't mean anything. They're under no obligation to respond to us, to engage with us, but if they do respond, we will keep you updated. Another common question was whether I get some kickbacks, some payments, from big pharma, from the pharmaceutical industry, and is that why I say what I say. Totally fair question. Zero payments from big pharma, from small pharma. In fact, I've never made a dime from prescribing medication my entire life. I've worked full-time in scientific research for the last 20 years, my entire adult life, essentially. And I've worked for universities for over 10 years now. I don't hate big pharma, I don't love big pharma. There's no direct interaction. I say what I say because that's what I see in the evidence. I don't really care who makes money off of it. We also decline

every single offer of sponsorships and affiliate deals and marketing deals on this channel, we always have, and we get them on a regular basis, but you can tell there's no affiliate links, there's no coupon codes, there's no click this link to go buy the supplement at the store, we've never had that, I don't think we ever will. Would it be easier and more profitable for me to take some of those opportunities? Sure, but you know what, if I wanted to make money, there's like 10 or 20 things I could go do that would make me a lot more money a lot easier than making YouTube videos. The reason I started making these videos and the reason I keep doing them is because I think there is a desperate need for clarity around health, cardiovascular research, nutrition, you name it, and if I accept a deal with a company, it's going to introduce doubt in the minds of some viewers.

who are going to wonder, is he saying that to get the kickbacks, or does the evidence truly show it? So, we've turned down all of those opportunities, and I don't see that changing anytime soon, alright? Don't feel sorry for us, we're doing fine, it's a conscious choice, and that's how we're going to proceed. And probably the thing that impacted me the most out of all the comments I read, many, many people shared just tragic stories of terrible experiences with the healthcare system, of not getting help from the medical establishment, of terrible side effects of medication, of just bad experiences with doctors in general, to the point where they get so burnt that they just give up on the whole thing, and they just conclude, they just adopt this worldview that every single doctor is a crook and his only purpose is to keep you sick so they can profit off of prescribing you more medication. Now, some of you will never see me as impartial on this because I'm an MD myself.

and that's okay. There's nothing I can do to change that, but what I can tell you is that I have met doctors who are greedy and selfish and lazy and have no compassion, and it makes me angry because it's an abuse of power and an abuse of an enormous responsibility, and it shouldn't be allowed to happen. But I've also met many doctors who are just exceptional human beings, generous, hard-working, compassionate, willing to sacrifice themselves for their patients every single day. And I've been on both sides of the table with some of my close family members, and in fact, I've published videos sharing some of the difficult health issues that my mother has gone through and how difficult it was to get proper care, how many of the doctors we saw just were not able to help her. They just did not have the knowledge to solve her specific issues, and it took us years to find the answers. Fortunately, we eventually did find them, and we were able to turn

her health around, which is exactly why I think it's crucial that people have direct access to scientific knowledge. Knowledge is power, right? That's precisely why we make these videos. The clash we have in our society nowadays is not MDs versus chiropractors; it's accurate information versus confusion. And confusion can come from many sources: MDs, chiropractors, and everybody else. We learned that the hard way with this pandemic. And so can accurate information; it can come from myriad sources, which is precisely why it's so important that we develop the basic skills to tease apart reliable, accurate scientific information from confusion, regardless of the source it comes from, right? Crucial life skill nowadays, and that's the entire purpose of this channel. Now, if you've convinced yourself a hundred percent that every single chiropractor is ignorant and that every last MD is a crook who just wants to keep you sick to make money.

I'm probably not going to change your mind. But that is not being a skeptic. If you go from blind trust in the medical establishment and every word they say to a blanket belief that they're all a pack of liars and thieves, every last one of them, that's not being an independent thinker, that's escaping from one narrative to go fall for another. Being an independent thinker is about asking to see the evidence for every claim, regardless of source. It's about fact-checking everything and everyone, fact-checking Dr. Berg and fact-checking me, not blindly trusting anybody. Fact-checking people is not an insult, it's how science works, and that's what our videos are all about. So if you're new to the channel, welcome. Criticism and intelligent disagreement are not just accepted here, they're appreciated. So let me know your thoughts below. Thanks for listening, take care, see you next time, bye.

Dr. Berg Fact-check | Addressing The Controversy

Dr. Berg Fact-check | Addressing The Controversy