HoldsUp

Dr. Eric Berg DC · 2026-07-17 · Eric Berg (host), Steve, Tahira, Manuel, Piba, Canal

The Dr. Berg Show LIVE - July 17, 2026

38 research-tied claims examined: 3 contradicted 1 contradicted online 4 overstated 7 context 19 supported 4 unverified

19

Supported by research

0:05:33Eric Berg (host)supportedmoderate

In certain autoimmune disease protocols, monitored vitamin D blood levels are pushed up to 200 ng/mL.

"there is data even if you have certain types of autoimmune problems where they'll push it up to 200, you know, but but here's the thing, they're monitoring it, right?" (said at 0:05:33)

High-dose vitamin D protocols investigated or utilized in autoimmune disorders (such as multiple sclerosis), including dose-escalation trials and clinical protocols like the Coimbra Protocol, administer daily doses ranging from 30,000 to over 40,000 IU/day (or up to 1,000 IU/kg). In dose-escalation research in multiple sclerosis (Kimball et al., 2010), serum 25(OH)D reached a mean peak of 413 nmol/L (~165 ng/mL, with individual levels exceeding 200 ng/mL / 500 nmol/L). These regimens require rigorous clinical and biochemical monitoring—including serum and urinary calcium, renal function (creatinine, cystatin C), hydration, and parathyroid hormone (PTH) suppression—to mitigate the risks of hypercalcemia and renal dysfunction.

0:07:37Eric Berg (host)supportedmoderate

Menopause accelerates muscle loss, leading to sarcopenia and anabolic resistance.

"one of the problems with menopause is that you start losing um muscle mass pretty quick. And so, uh, sometimes there's this condition that develops, um, that's you're you're eating right, you're exercising, and there's just like there's resistance, and so then you into the muscle. So, then you get atrophy and, uh, it's called sarcopenia where you're losing muscle mass." (said at 0:07:37)

Published observational studies and physiological reviews demonstrate that the menopausal transition is associated with accelerated loss of lean muscle mass and increased prevalence of sarcopenia. Furthermore, postmenopausal status is associated with blunted muscle protein synthesis responses to anabolic stimuli such as dietary protein and resistance exercise, a phenomenon known as anabolic resistance.

0:09:42Eric Berg (host)supportedmoderate

Following discontinuation of GLP-1 medications, the majority of patients regain most of the lost weight without regaining lost muscle mass.

"So when you come off of it, uh the data is like the majority of people will gain back most of the weight. um but not the muscle that they lost. So there's significant muscle loss." (said at 0:09:42)

Evidence from randomized trial extensions and clinical reviews confirms both aspects of the claim. In the 1-year off-treatment extension of the STEP 1 trial (Wilding et al., 2022), participants who discontinued once-weekly subcutaneous semaglutide regained approximately two-thirds (11.6 of the 17.3 percentage points lost) of their prior weight loss, along with a reversion of cardiometabolic improvements toward baseline. Furthermore, clinical reviews highlight that while roughly 25% to 40% of initial weight lost on GLP-1 receptor agonists is lean mass, subsequent weight regain consists predominantly of adipose (fat) tissue rather than skeletal muscle unless paired with structured resistance exercise, compounding lean tissue deficits and worsening overall body composition.

0:12:19Eric Berg (host)supportedmoderate

Zinc carnosine promotes the healing of the gastrointestinal gut lining.

"There's some data that shows that zinc carnosine can help help a gut heal." (said at 0:12:19)

Zinc-L-carnosine (also known as polaprezinc) is an approved pharmaceutical agent in Japan and a widely used dietary supplement with documented mucosal cytoprotective, anti-inflammatory, and healing-promoting properties in the gastrointestinal tract. Clinical trials and systematic reviews demonstrate that zinc carnosine promotes gastric and intestinal mucosal healing, accelerates the resolution of gastric ulcers, protects against NSAID-induced small intestinal injury, and helps restore gut epithelial barrier integrity.

0:13:40Eric Berg (host)supportedmoderate

Berberine is more effective than metformin at reducing blood triglycerides and LDL cholesterol.

"berberine actually is even stronger in reducing triglycerides and LDL." (said at 0:13:40)

Head-to-head randomized clinical trials comparing berberine to metformin (such as in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome or type 2 diabetes) have found that while both agents exert comparable effects on glucose regulation, berberine produces statistically greater reductions in total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides than metformin.

0:16:54Eric Berg (host)supportedmoderate

Pork contains higher concentrations of vitamin B1 (thiamine) than other meats.

"pork, believe it or not, high quality pork has more B1 than other meats." (said at 0:16:54)

Nutritional analyses and dietary intake studies show that pork is an exceptionally rich source of vitamin B1 (thiamine) compared to other common meats such as beef and poultry. Population-level dietary analyses indicate that pork consumption contributes substantially to daily thiamine intake and nutritional adequacy.

0:18:29Eric Berg (host)supportedhigh

Humans are born with roughly one million nephrons per kidney and destroyed nephrons cannot regenerate.

"you are um born with a million um kidney cells, you know, per um kidney and nephrons and once they go, they're gone. You can't can't get them back." (said at 0:18:29)

Human nephrogenesis is complete by approximately 36 weeks of gestation, when the nephron progenitor cell pool is exhausted. Humans are born with an average nephron endowment of approximately 900,000 to 1,000,000 per kidney (with substantial individual variation ranging from roughly 200,000 to over 2 million). Because developmental nephrogenesis ceases before or around birth, no new nephrons can be formed postnatally, meaning lost or destroyed nephrons cannot regenerate.

0:25:44Eric Berg (host)supportedmoderate

The primary fuel of nephrons in the renal cortex is fatty acids and ketones rather than glucose.

"The outer part where all the nephrons are, its primary fuel is fat. It doesn't use glucose. Fat and ketones." (said at 0:25:44)

The host's statement is largely supported by established renal physiology, though slightly overstated in claiming that the renal cortex "doesn't use glucose" at all. In the healthy kidney, the cortex (composed largely of proximal tubules, which carry out massive active transport) relies predominantly on mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation and ketone bodies rather than glycolysis/glucose oxidation to meet its high ATP demands. Proximal tubular epithelial cells have low glycolytic capacity and primarily metabolize lipids and ketones under normal physiological conditions, although other cortical nephron segments and specific pathological states (such as acute kidney injury) can engage glucose metabolism.

0:25:44Eric Berg (host)supportedhigh

Kidney nephrons perform gluconeogenesis to synthesize glucose for the body.

"Your nephron makes glucose just like the liver, but it doesn't use it as fuel, but it makes it to help the liver." (said at 0:25:44)

Renal proximal tubule cells in the nephron are well-established sites of gluconeogenesis. The kidney possesses the necessary gluconeogenic enzymes and synthesizes glucose from precursors such as lactate, glutamine, and glycerol, releasing it into the systemic circulation to contribute significantly to whole-body glucose homeostasis alongside hepatic glucose production.

0:27:15Eric Berg (host)supportedhigh

A substantial portion of active vitamin D is synthesized by the kidneys.

"tremendous amount of your vitamin D is activated by the kidney." (said at 0:27:15)

The kidneys are the primary physiological site for activating vitamin D into its circulating endocrine form, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (calcitriol). In the standard metabolic pathway, vitamin D precursors are first 25-hydroxylated in the liver to form 25-hydroxyvitamin D, and the final rate-limiting 1-alpha-hydroxylation step occurs in the renal proximal tubules via the enzyme CYP27B1 (1-alpha-hydroxylase), which is tightly regulated by parathyroid hormone, fibroblast growth factor 23, and calcitriol itself to maintain systemic calcium and phosphate homeostasis.

0:31:11Eric Berg (host)supportedhigh

Zinc helps reduce yeast and fungus, and copper is an antifungal agent also used in agriculture.

"Now, it is true that zinc does help reduce yeast and fungus, but also when you're taking zinc without copper—copper is a known antifungal that you even use in agriculture." (said at 0:31:11)

Both components of the claim are well supported by scientific literature. Copper compounds (such as copper sulfate and Bordeaux mixture) have a long-established history as broad-spectrum antifungal agents and fungicides widely used in agriculture to protect crops and vineyards against fungal pathogens. Zinc and zinc-based formulations also possess well-documented antifungal properties against yeasts and pathogenic fungi, operating through both direct biochemical toxicity and host nutritional immunity pathways.

0:35:10Eric Berg (host)supportedmoderate

Cinnamon decreases and improves insulin resistance.

"But cinnamon has been shown to decrease and help insulin resistance." (said at 0:35:10)

Multiple systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials demonstrate that cinnamon supplementation significantly reduces homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), fasting blood glucose, and related glycemic indices in individuals with type 2 diabetes, pre-diabetes, and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

0:35:15Eric Berg (host)supportedhigh

Berberine drops blood sugar and HbA1c in human randomized controlled trials and is similar in function to metformin.

"But berberine is very similar to metformin, the drug, which is actually modeled after a natural remedy too, but it can definitely drop your blood sugars and A1C and help a lot of different things. I was amazed at the amount of research berberine has—credible human randomized control trials." (said at 0:35:15)

Multiple systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) confirm that berberine supplementation significantly lowers fasting blood glucose, postprandial glucose, and HbA1c levels in adults with metabolic disorders and type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, research comparing berberine and metformin indicates that both compounds share similar metabolic mechanisms (such as AMPK pathway activation and gut microbiome regulation) and yield comparable therapeutic benefits in metabolic health.

0:37:42Eric Berg (host)supportedhigh

Vitamin D deficiency increases susceptibility to developing autoimmune disease.

"So, vitamin D supports those mechanisms. So, vitamin D is really important, and when you don't have enough vitamin D, you're more susceptible to developing autoimmune, which is self-attack." (said at 0:37:42)

Large-scale randomized trial evidence, systematic reviews of observational studies, and Mendelian randomization analyses support the claim that low vitamin D levels increase the risk of autoimmune disease. In the nationwide VITAL randomized controlled trial of 25,871 older adults followed for a median of 5.3 years, vitamin D supplementation (2000 IU/day) reduced the incidence of confirmed autoimmune diseases by 22% compared with placebo (HR 0.78, 95% CI 0.61 to 0.99). Furthermore, meta-analyses consistently show that vitamin D deficiency is associated with a significantly elevated risk of autoimmune conditions such as multiple sclerosis.

0:54:30Eric Berg (host)supportedhigh

Cattle and other ruminants obtain their protein by fermenting fiber into microbes, which serve as the actual protein source for the animal.

"What happens is they're not they're not feeding their body with grass. They're feeding their microbes fiber from the grass. The microbe is protein. That microbe in their gut, they have a huge vat of fermentation. This microbe feeds the the protein to the animal. So these big muscular cows are getting their protein from the microbes." (said at 0:54:30)

The speaker's description accurately reflects the established physiology of ruminant digestion. In cattle and other ruminants, the rumen acts as a large fermentation chamber where symbiotic microorganisms (bacteria, protozoa, and fungi) ferment dietary fiber and carbohydrates, utilizing nitrogen sources to multiply and synthesize microbial crude protein (MCP). When these microbes pass into the abomasum and small intestine, they are digested and absorbed as amino acids, constituting the primary source of metabolizable protein for the animal's maintenance, tissue growth, and milk production.

0:55:00Eric Berg (host)supportedmoderate

Human stomach pH is between 1.5 and 3, which matches the acidic stomach pH of carnivores like wolves.

"Your pH in your stomach is between 1.5 and 3, which matches um like a wolf's pH in their stomach that they need to add more meat." (said at 0:55:00)

Human basal gastric pH is typically between 1.5 and 3.5. Systematic comparative analysis of gastric acidity across vertebrate trophic levels shows that humans possess high stomach acidity (pH ~1.5) that is comparable to or more acidic than many carnivores and scavengers, serving primarily as an antimicrobial filter.

0:58:34Eric Berg (host)supportedmoderate

Thiazide diuretics cause hypokalemia, and potassium depletion is the mechanism that raises the risk of developing diabetes.

"One thing about that drug is it it does deplete you of potassium. Now you say well okay if you look uh look up low potassium that's called hypokalemia and then look at that in relationship to diabetes you'll see a very high correlated connection. So potassium is a very interesting regulator of the cells that make insulin. So you need enough potassium for it to work. They've also given compared other people they've given other people a blood pressure medication that did not deplete potassium and it didn't lead to diabetes. So in other words um it's really the potassium factor um that um can actually you know throw you into diabetes." (said at 0:58:34)

Published clinical and meta-analytic evidence supports the claim that thiazide diuretic-induced hypokalemia (potassium depletion) is a primary mechanism contributing to thiazide-associated glucose intolerance and new-onset diabetes. In a quantitative meta-analysis of 59 clinical trials comprising 83 thiazide diuretic study arms, decreases in serum potassium were significantly correlated with increases in blood glucose (weighted r = -0.54, p < 0.01). Furthermore, preventing or correcting hypokalemia with potassium supplementation, potassium-sparing diuretics, or renin-angiotensin system inhibitors attenuates or reverses diuretic-induced glucose dysregulation.

0:30:50Eric Berg (host)supportedmoderate

Acetic acid in pickle juice activates sensory receptors in the mouth and throat to trigger a reflex in the brain that calms sensory and motor nerve activity.

"if you ever drink the pickle juice, you get this concentrated acetic acid in there. It triggers the sensory nerves. It actually goes into the receptors in your mouth and your throat, goes up to the brain, and your brain's like, "What the heck is this?" And it actually throws the brakes out, and it starts to calm down the nervous system, the sensory nerves and some of the motor nerves. So, that's really how it works. It'll stop that restlessness or irritation of the nerve." (said at 0:30:50)

The host's description reflects the leading scientific hypothesis for how pickle juice rapidly relieves muscle cramps. In human trials of electrically induced muscle cramps, pickle juice reduced cramp duration significantly faster than water (within ~35 to 85 seconds) without altering systemic electrolyte concentrations or plasma volume rapidly enough to explain the effect via metabolic absorption. Researchers demonstrated that this rapid inhibition is consistent with a neurally mediated reflex triggered by acetic acid stimulating sensory receptors in the oropharyngeal/mouth region, which subsequently inhibits alpha motor neuron firing.

1:01:25Eric Berg (host)supportedhigh

Leucine is required to stimulate muscle protein synthesis, while trace minerals are necessary for hair synthesis and growth.

"Specifically um if we're trying to build at least muscle leucine, but if you're trying to build hair you need the trace minerals too." (said at 1:01:25)

The speaker's statement accurately reflects established nutritional and physiological principles. Leucine is well recognized as the primary essential amino acid trigger that activates the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway to initiate skeletal muscle protein synthesis. Concurrently, essential trace elements (notably zinc, iron, copper, and selenium) serve as vital cofactors for cellular metabolism, enzymatic reactions, and keratinization within hair follicles, and their deficiencies are clinically established causes of impaired hair growth and alopecia.

Unverified means no publication matching the claim was located; it does not prove the claim false. Spotted an error? See the corrections policy - disputes from the people quoted are prioritized.