#401: Quack Asylum – Part 2: Greger, Berg & Saladino

In Podcasts by Danny Lennon3 Comments

We take a look at three more "quacks" who spread misinformation; Dr. Michael Greger, Eric Berg, and Dr. Paul Saladino. We give reference to some specific examples.

Quack 1: Dr. Michael Greger [01:21]

Video Clips Referenced:

  1. Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death

Related Links:

  1. Article - A Plant Based Diet Reverses Heart Disease: True or False?
  2. Podcast - Are Vegan Diets Superior for Health?
  3. Wright et al., 2017 - The BROAD study
  4. Akhondzadeh et al., 2010 - Saffron in the treatment of patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease
Quack 2: "Dr." Eric Berg [36:26]

Video Clips Referenced:

  1. The MOST Important Cancer Prevention
  2. WHY You Need Keto and Intermittent Fasting
Quack 3: Dr. Paul Saladino [55:18]

Video Clips Referenced:

  1. Paul Saladino - The Most Precious Human Food: Animal Fat
  2. Controversial thoughts: When High Cholesterol is GOOD!

Related Links:

  1. Dehghan et al., 2017 - The PURE Study
  2. O' Keefe et al., 2004 - Optimal low-density lipoprotein is 50 to 70 mg/dl: lower is better and physiologically normal
  3. Sigma Statement: Cholesterol, Lipoproteins & Lipids: Understanding CVD Risk
  4. Podcast: Prof. Chris Packard – LDL Cholesterol, ApoB & Atherosclerosis

Comments

  1. Hey
    Do you know any vegan doctors/personalities besides maybe Simon Hill that you think aren’t quacks?

    1. Author

      Hi Helena,

      I’m sure there are many. In terms of doctors/researchers that seem to promote plant-based diets (or who likely follow one themselves) that are active online/social media perhaps start with folks like Gil Carvahlo, Avi Bitterman, Anna Borek, etc. They are some who base what they are saying on a good understanding of the evidence.

      There are likely many others that put out great information, but I personally don’t know if they are vegan or not.

      Hope this helps as a start point.

  2. Hi,

    I have written a detailed page debunking some of Paul Saladino’s false claims at RationalWiki https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Paul_Saladino

    I am probably one of the few people to spend 2 days straight going through all Saladino’s old videos. I have found massive contradictions and inconsistencies with what Saladino claims to have been eating. Here is a brief breakdown.

    1. He was on the carnivore diet for one year or less. He claims in one interview to have been on it for one year and a half, and another interview he said 2 years. I find it likely it was less than a year from descriptions of what he has been eating.
    2. He added fruit and white rice into his diet in early 2020. By the time of the Joe Rogan podcast he was eating many carbs but he did not choose to mention it.
    3. He admitted to eating sweet potatoes for months in June 2020 and commented that sweet potato is “pretty good for me”. Yet by November 2020 he stated “some people might be able to tolerate sweet potatoes, I don’t tolerate them at all”. So which is it?!
    4. He did the same with dairy. He made videos saying he cannot consume dairy under any circumstance even if it is pasteurized or raw. Yet he was consuming it within a year later. He now consumes raw butter, raw milk, raw cream etc. If someone had a severe dairy intolerance like he claimed he wouldn’t have been able to suddenly just put all that in diet within a year.
    5. His 2023 “animal-based” grocery haul consists of about 40 bananas, 2 bags of apples, apricots and grapes with two beef steaks and pasteurized cream. How can this be called “animal-based”? He says he is eating up to 400g of carbs a day. He now makes mango smoothies! I find it doubtful he eats raw liver and organs anymore. When you look at his modern videos he is only eating steaks. I have no doubt he consumes a lot of red meat still but he is slowly replacing his diet with more plant foods.
    6. He claims to be anti-seed but he consumes the seeds in his grapes and other fruits.

    He said on Joe Rogan that his LDL was over 500 mg/dL as you pointed out in this podcast. He now says his LDL is way under that but he doesn’t give recent blood work. I believe this guy will change his views within a year again. He is very anti-vegetable right now but it wouldn’t surprise me if suddenly starts eating something like peas. His followers don’t seem to notice every few months he contradicts what he is saying.

    I appreciate the podcast, I listened to all of it.

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