It should surprise no one when I say Dr. Eric Berg is a scam, a quack and an awful human being. A chiropractor moonlighting as an expert on all things health, come on. How does this even happen? There are an infinite number of better, more qualified sources available online and yet people put their faith in this jerk.
Let’s start by focusing on the obvious, a chiropractor has no business handing out diet advice let alone calling themselves a doctor. This is akin to a person with a Ph.D. in art history offering up pediatric tips. Even if they were correct, you’d probably be uncomfortable following them without first speaking to someone qualified.
Yet, legions of people blindly take his dodgy advice as gospel despite the fact he’s woefully unqualified. That’s not really surprising, all things considered. People are fucking stupid in this day and age. I assume the same folks buying Berg’s nonsense are also the ones keeping Bell + Howell in business and sending campaign donations to a clueless dope who is the same height as Woodrow Wilson’s second wife. That’s a real thing, by the way.
Anyway, Dr. Eric Berg is a scam, a quack and an awful human being. Here’s why.
The Big Question: Why Are People Who Follow Dr. Berg So Dumb?
Dr. Eric Berg is a quack
There are several good videos about Dr. Eric Berg being a quack on YouTube, some of which you can find here and here. Long story short, most of the information he presents in his videos can best be described as pseudoscience. My personal favorite remains his insistence that oregano can cure herpes.
This logic is mainly based on a 2007 study that concluded while oregano oil has properties to combat herpes, it wasn’t a viable cure for a number of different reasons. But really, that is the tip of the iceberg. This guy has made numerous claims over the years that are an amalgamation of dubious logic, shady practices, a misunderstanding of the topics he’s speaking about and a desire to sell you crap. Speaking of the latter…
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Dr. Eric Berg is a scam
I feel like saying Dr. Eric Berg is a scam does not convey just how awful this dude is. He would make those old-timey snake oil salesmen blush. This video would be days long if I tried to cover every way in which this shyster was bilking people out of their money, so I will instead just focus on his crappy products and advice.
Now, I know what some of you are saying, “How can Dr. Berg be bad when so many people say he’s helped them?”
For starters, in every clinical trial, there are people who report placebos working. This doesn’t mean they have any healing powers. It simply means people fool themselves into believing whatever they are taking or doing works. This is the same principle that allows hypnotists to find employment.
As mentioned in the oregano oil example, his advice is not grounded in proven medicine and is simply a manipulation of facts. What makes this worse is that much of what he claims either directly or indirectly leads to products he just happens to be selling. So, about those goods.
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Anyone can make his goods
I first learned about OEM supplements from legendary dating fraud Dan Bacon, a man who once sent us a fake cease and desist letter. But let’s not get sidetracked by that. For those who don’t know, OEM is short for original equipment manufacturer. These companies essentially make whatever products a person wants and then let you slap your brand on them and charge horribly inflated prices.
Basically, all Eric does is order online or tell the OEM supplier what he wants, sends them some artwork to slap on the packaging and then has someone else ship it. Or maybe he ships it from his apartment. I’m not sure because I’m not stupid enough to buy this crap. But he’s not making it, nor is it manufactured by the mysterious Dr. Berg Nutritionals.
The guy pimps a keto electrolytes powder in raspberry lemon flavor for a comical amount of money on his website and Amazon. Here is the OEM version on Alibaba with a slightly changed raspberry lemonade flavor. And you know how Dr. Berg brags about his goods being GMP Certified, well this facility happens to have that certification. And you find this for just about all of his products.
Things don’t get much better when you look at his product’s dodgy labeling. While every other supplement will clearly state the company behind it, Berg just puts his name with an opaque “developed and distributed” claim with the company name and address totally unconnected. Suspicious much?
By the way, that developed statement could mean anything, including he just ordered some stuff online and is reselling it to marks under different packaging. But hey, at least he’s in charge of mailing it to you.
You do hair too?
Let’s say I’m willing to cede to you the fact a chiropractor can somehow be a nutritional expert. Hypothetically, of course, because I refuse to surrender any such point. Anyway, Dr. Berg also shills for a bunch of other goods way beyond back cracking and vitamin powders.
Here are a bunch of hair and beauty products he is also somehow qualified to recommend. No pills or other junk, mind you, but oils and stuff you apply to the skin. No one should buy hair serum from the same person selling them vitamin powder.
Like, that should go without saying. Could you imagine going to a nutritionist and asking them if they have any shampoo recommendations? No, because that is freaking stupid. The reason you listen to a specialist is because they have expertise in a specific field. Your hair guy shouldn’t be your supplements guy, let alone your chiropractor.
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Dr. Eric Berg is a terrible person
Eric is a sucky human being. Please don’t take my word for it. There are numerous stories floating around basically confirming it. For starters, this quack is a Scientologist, because of course he is, and has been known to force his religion onto employees.
He would go on to fire an employee a few years back after demoting her and reducing her pay several times. This was all because she didn’t attend Church of Scientology classes. Dr. Berg staunchly fought the lawsuit until his estranged son came forward to confirm all the claims being made against him. At that point, he quietly settled wanting to avoid even more attention. There is a pretty good article detailing this which you can read here.
But wait there’s more.
But wait, there’s more.
He’s been caught using bait and switch advertising tactics to lure people into his Virginia clinic only to hard sell them on stuff they didn’t want or need. Not only that, but he also refused to give refunds under any circumstance with one guy having to go to the BBB in order to get his money partially back.
Sorry if we sound like a broken record but wait, there is somehow more.
Eric put out this video once upon a time. It turns out he borrowed the idea from an article published by an acupuncturist who, for some reason, is also handing out food advice. It’s not quite Rick Debunks reading one of our articles word for word in a YouTube video, but it’s something an English teacher would probably fail him under plagiarism rules.
There is a pattern of behavior here that cannot be ignored. Dr. Eric Berg is a terrible person.
How can Dr. Eric Berg get away with being a scam, a quack and an awful human being?
The answer to this is actually quite simple. When you peddle items that fall under the scope of the Food and Drug Administration, all you have to do after any statement is say, “This claim has not undergone evaluation and/or testing by the FDA.” Then you follow that up with something along the lines of, “All claims are not intended to cure, treat or prevent any medical conditions.”
That’s it. And some form of those two sentences is plastered all over anything Eric pumps out. But my personal favorite is this gem on the terms and conditions of his website:
Dr. Berg Nutritionals attempts to be as accurate as possible. However, Dr. Berg Nutritionals does not claim that any content of this Website is accurate, complete, reliable, current, or error-free.
Come on. Really? You aren’t even willing to say the content on your website is reliable. Why even bother publishing it in the first place? Oh, that’s right, you’re a scammer trying to bilk people out of money and it doesn’t matter what you write or say as long as uneducated folks keep filling your bank account.
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