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, and 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 that 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 of 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 health care 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 world view 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 no compassion and it makes
me angry because it's an abuse of power and it's 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