The Dr. Berg Show LIVE - January 16, 2026
In a Nutshell
Dr. Berg's Q&A emphasizes low-carb/keto diets, intermittent fasting, and key supplements like vitamin D (high doses pre-surgery or for autoimmunity), potassium/magnesium for blood pressure balance, selenium/zinc for Hashimoto's, and NAC for mucus/phlegm to address root causes of issues like dandruff, psoriasis, PCOS, and insulin resistance. Morning lack of appetite signals healthy ketosis/fat-burning; avoid carb-loading before surgery, prioritize raw probiotics (sauerkraut), and build mental willpower for dietary consistency to prevent mood crashes from carbs. Aging doesn't cause fatigue or slowed metabolism—mitochondrial health via fitness and ketones does; insulin injections don't reverse diabetes, but reducing carbs does.
These notes were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Welcome back everyone. We're here with another Q&A. Anything that I say is not meant to diagnose or replace your medical care. Check with your doc before implementing all the suggestions that we're going to talk about. With that being said, let's dive in and answer as many questions as we can. We're going to set a record. Welcome world to Friday.
Should I take sea salt if I have high blood pressure? Check with your doc. One strategy is to increase your potassium because potassium and sodium are in a ratio. You could be low on potassium and then you could also be salt sensitive. Just by adding more potassium, you can balance that out versus cutting down excessive amounts of sodium because as soon as you do, you start creating problems with muscle fatigue, weakness, adrenal stress. We need sodium. Increase your potassium and maybe even magnesium and see what happens.
What's the best way to resolve heavy flaking dandruff? That's usually a problem in your gut. Skin issues are related to your gut. You probably need more microbiome. You need to change the diet. You might be consuming too many carbohydrates. That will affect the gut, feed more pathogens, and actually make the sebaceous gland, not just in your skin, but in the scalp, be oily and flaky and create all sorts of issues. Go for that versus just doing something topically.
Is it okay to take DIM and take active hexos correlated compounds together? Hexos is a supplement that does many different things, but it actually works similar to phytate, which is a very powerful antioxidant with certain things and also as a chelator. You can take DIM together with it. DIM is a natural estrogen balancer, so it would be fine. I wouldn't worry about it.
Why do some people have no appetite in the morning yet others are super hungry in the morning? What's the big difference between those two people?
What can we do for seborrheic dermatitis? That usually is a problem with the sebaceous gland, the oil gland. You could have inflammation of that gland because your insulin is too high. Reduce that by going on a low carb diet. Zinc helps that condition. Vitamin D and also getting sun as well.
My daughter who just turned 12 was diagnosed with Hashimoto's at the age of five and she's been taking Levothyroxine since then. Any advice for children with thyroid issues? They told me she's going to be on meds for her life, but there has to be other things we can do. The same protocols for adults would work for a younger person. Hashimoto's is really an autoimmune problem with the thyroid, it's not as much a thyroid as an immune problem. One of the biggest heavy lifters is to get her on selenium. Selenium is a trace mineral. You don't need a lot but you need sufficient amounts because that will actually lower the antibodies to various parts of the thyroid mechanism and in addition it'll help the conversion from T4 to T3. You're going to see a huge improvement. Another key mineral is zinc. Work on that diet. Make sure she has sufficient protein like animal meat with each meal and then go low carb. I think you'll see huge changes just from that.
What's the best way to solve morning phlegm? A little bit of that is normal but if you have chronic phlegm it's usually from post-nasal drip or it could come up from the lungs. NAC is a wonderful anti-mucus remedy that you could take. With your foods, go lower on dairy products like especially milk that can create more mucus. Beef up your immune system with more vitamin D especially through the winter and zinc. Those are two things that a lot of people neglect. If you go to Amazon and type Dr. Berg supplements, you'll find some things that might be helpful.
How often and how much should I take apple cider vinegar? Dilute it one tablespoon with a glass of water and then with a straw so it doesn't get in your teeth. Some people do a whole shot and it's a lot of acid. You could do it pretty frequently with each meal. Even on an empty stomach apple cider vinegar with water is not just good for your blood sugars and making insulin more sensitive but it also can act as a fuel. It can give you energy. It helps digestion. Even though it's not the same as hydrochloric acid, it can help with digestion. It has a lot of benefits and it's underappreciated.
Quiz question number one: Why do some people have no appetite in the morning while others are super hungry for breakfast? 57% say it's because of insulin resistance. 23% say it's because of poor sleep quality. 10% say it's because of high cortisol levels. 10% say it's because of a late meal the night before. Everyone's correct but the biggest think about this. You just slept all night and you haven't eaten since the day before. You fasted. You didn't eat anything. So where does that fuel come from? It's coming from your liver and there's something called glycogen and it could be coming from ketones. Why would you be tired in the morning? It's because you haven't fully adapted to ketones fully yet. Cortisol mobilizes glucose because that's a stress hormone. That will mobilize glucose. It's like eating carbs. Could be stressed, could be you grazed the night before, or your carbs are too high. That will always keep you hungry in the morning. A really good clue to know that you're in ketosis or burning fat is if you don't have any appetite in the morning. There is a spike of cortisol at 8:00 in the morning which will create a temporary hunger wave, but it goes away if you ignore it. Most people just eat out of habit. If you're not hungry in the morning, do not eat and wait until you are hungry because your body is eating your own fat in the morning and you'll feel better. It'll give you a chance to fast longer. The benefits of fasting are amazing because it's a paradox that you actually survive better when you don't eat, at least for a period of time. You don't survive well if you eat too frequently. That's been our modern problem is food is too available and we eat too frequently and it doesn't match what our biology was designed to live in with.
My surgeons want me to load up on carbs the night before my knee surgery this month by drinking bottles of Gatorade or Ensure. What are your thoughts? This could be the complete misunderstanding of blood sugars. You're basically going to wake up with low blood sugar and you're going to feel like crap. This is what happens when I was in the hospital with my surgery. There was nothing to eat. No protein. It was mainly all these carbs, Jell-O, orange juice. I was literally starving because of the blood sugar up and down. The best thing is to fast before a surgery, but don't forget to add a good amount of vitamin D. I wouldn't go any lower than 50,000 IUs before that like 3 days before the surgery. That way going into the surgery, your outcomes will be so much better. Always load up with vitamin D before any surgery and keep your body in ketosis. Your outcomes will be better. You'll heal better and it'll be more comfortable to your body.
What are the best foods and supplements that would reverse psoriasis? This is a gut problem. Autoimmune diseases like psoriasis can occur in the gut most of the time, but you want to heal the gut. Take large amounts of vitamin D3 with magnesium because that is the go-to for any autoimmune. Avoid especially any type of grains, all grains. Do intermittent fasting and periodic prolonged fasting. Start consuming foods that are probiotic foods, sauerkraut, sauerkraut juice. I like the Bubbies brand, but you can do other brands too. I will drink the juice out of that sauerkraut and the sauerkraut as well and also those pickles that they have. Just make sure you get the one that doesn't have the added sugar on a regular basis. Focus on feeding your gut because that's where the big problem is.
Good day to all our viewers from the UK, Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Romania, Brazil, the Philippines, Palestine, Poland, Ghana, Sweden, Japan, Sri Lanka, Venezuela, Italy, Turkey, Curacao, Vietnam, Australia, Cambodia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Singapore, Sudan, Austria, the Netherlands, South Africa, Slovakia, Costa Rica, South Korea, Malta, Pakistan, Lebanon, Nepal, Germany, Uzbekistan, Finland, Greece, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, France, Israel, Crete, Scotland, Panama, Ukraine, Denmark, Armenia, Moldova, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Switzerland, Ireland, Honduras, Egypt, and all across these United States.
What are your thoughts on the benefits of red yeast rice? That's a really potent way to help with clotting, excess clotting. It's similar to something called nattokinase, which is another natural remedy. It's good for people that had a stroke or clot easily. When you have a stroke or heart attacks, what do they put you on? A blood thinner. These are natural blood thinners. They also greatly help reduce cholesterol issues. It's kind of a natural version of a statin. The medical profession doesn't like to recommend it because it competes with statins.
If keto is about low carb, will adding more fat prevent weight loss?
If gluten is the base of a lot of Italian foods like pizza and pasta, do Italians suffer more from gut inflammation because of that? They definitely have a lot of issues. It could be heavy smokers as well, and all that gelato. But the wheat and the gluten is definitely different in Italy. Completely different. It still has gluten in there and it's going to create an issue for a large percent of the population. Maybe there's some type of genetic strength to tolerate it more.
Shout outs from Sierra Leone, Tunisia, Malaysia, Guyana, Jamaica, Algeria, Lithuania, and Suriname.
I'm three years into healthy keto, but my problem is consistency. How can we consistently eat a clean low carb diet these days? You have to get to this point where you make this shift mentally. I'm tempted all over the place all the time and I try to make my environment so I'm not tempted but I can finally just say no when other people are doing it just because I've built my willpower up like a muscle and just because I've said no no no I'm not doing it. Put yourself in the future if I ate that what would I feel like? The way that I feel from eating high carbs is not worth it to me. When you eat junk foods or things you crave versus real food, you're going to feel great initially for both of those. You're going to feel wonderful. 90 minutes later, you will notice a huge shift when eating junk. When you're tempted, you're not looking into the future. The consequences are not there. You really have to keep living in the future and go is it worth it? Because 90 minutes later, the first thing that you're going to notice is not your body, but your brain. You're going to be moody, you're going to be grouchy, you're going to be lower on the emotional scale. People who consume carbs get cranky, irritable, and critical. In practice, when people would consume carbs, they would come in and be critical about pictures, wall colors, ties. I would ask if there's anything that you're eating that maybe you shouldn't be eating? They would deny at first but then admit to potato chips, donuts. After they came clean, they would say you can read my mind. People become highly critical and even mean sometimes when they eat carbs. Stay off of it if you want to preserve your mood and be a little bit more pleasant around other people.
I have two girls here in Mexico, 10 and five, and they take a multivitamin daily, but I've added vitamin D and K2 to their diet. They've been doing a lot better with their health from the colds that you get in schools. Do I have the dose combinations right for magnesium and zinc as well as K2? There's been an error for decades about vitamin D. They said you need 600 IUs but the study showed that it wasn't 600 IUs, you need almost just under 9,000 IUs as a maintenance dose to keep your vitamin D levels you know 20 nanograms per milliliter. An average person, an adult needs as a maintenance 10,000 IUs. A teenager, that would be fine. Younger child maybe 5,000, toddler maybe 2,000. For every 10,000 IUs of D3, you need 100 micrograms of K2. As far as magnesium for per person, for an average maintenance, it's like 400 mg a day, but you're eating food, you're probably getting some of that from food, too. If you're trying to correct something, you might need double that. Zinc you need maybe 10 or 12 mg but that's way too low. 40 mg would be a good amount. Even when you're trying to take it for some type of sickness, you'd take over like 100, 150 mg. If you take it for a long period of time, you just have to make sure you take the other trace minerals because you can deplete like copper. Recommend the trace minerals in a blend and that way you get the zinc and other things a little bit higher, but you have all the blend so you're not going to create a deficiency.
10 days ago, I had to have a root canal crown mercury removed. Now I have pain in the front right elbow on the ulna and also swelling above my right knee. Is there a connection? Go to a biological dentist that really understands about these root canals because there's a lot of problem with them. When they do a root canal, they drill down and they're killing the root and then they're filling it with something but you actually destroy the immune system in that tooth. It makes it so there's a potential for an infection underneath the tooth and sometimes that can form an abscess and sometimes it can actually be a problem with microbes that float around through the body that can create other problems outside the mouth. There was some interesting data with plaqueing in your arteries and even in your joints having dental microbes in those locations. I had a root canal and an abscess and I went to a biological dentist and they pulled the tooth and all my stiffness went away. Inflammation is happening because of a hidden infection that you can't really see. I'm not excited about root canals. I'd rather even take the tooth out than do a root canal.
Will cooking sauerkraut kill the prebiotics or probiotics? Probiotics. Yes. Pasteurization kills microbes. Heat kills microbes. You want it raw. There's this whole push that raw milk is so bad. If you have clean milk that is raw, think about all the additional things that are alive and beneficial. Do we have to sterilize everything we eat and pasteurize everything? I consume raw milk cheese all the time. I have no problem with raw milk and definitely when you have raw fermented vegetables you should do the fermented that it's unheated.
The audience has spoken with quiz question number two
Poll: 90% say yes, adding fat will aid in fat loss; 10% say it depends on the person.
When going low carb, naturally replace with protein or fat, leading to more fat intake. If metabolism resists weight loss, adding more fat even on low carb causes tapping into dietary fat to make ketones instead of stored fat, resulting in no significant weight loss despite feeling great from brain ketones. Start keto for weight loss with more fat to adapt to ketosis easily, then pull back on extra fat—don't go low fat. This may break plateaus.
Fasting is especially important for polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), a high insulin problem leading to more androgens. Intermittent fasting and low carb lower insulin and androgens, solving PCOS. Additionally, take inositol.
For cancer survivor without gallbladder: Liver still makes bile, but it's not concentrated—it trickles down, potentially causing bile deficiency. Stool floating or clay-colored indicates bile deficiency, impairing breakdown of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, K. Constipation can also signal need for more bile. Sometimes excess bile causes diarrhea, requiring medication. Assess factors to determine need for bile supplementation.
True or false: Aging is one of the primary causes of fatigue. 99% say false, 1% say true. Correct: False. Aging does not cause fatigue; dysfunctional, fewer mitochondria do. Counteract with fitness to suspend sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss). At 60, workouts are better than 10 years ago—running hills, tire work—to keep mitochondria as powerhouses. Health equals mitochondrial health; many diseases stem from mitochondrial decline. Energy levels exceed many younger people; lives on mountain, goes up/down without breathing hard. Goal: Become more fit with age.
Has dessert daily: 88-90% chocolate (not very sweet) with kefir or Bulgarian yogurt. Dislikes typical desserts—cause bloating after meals. Hasn't had traditional desserts for years.
Likely gallbladder issue. Use gallbladder formula with bile salts. Watch videos on healthy ketosis.
For reverse shoulder replacement: Take 50,000 IUs vitamin D (used to give 600,000 IUs pre-surgery spike). Also magnesium. Hanging on bar therapeutic for shoulder if possible. Weights resolved past shoulder problems. Stretches and flexibility training before/after, but avoid if tear present.
Safe. Best: Combination types from clean sources. Take with vitamin C, copper. Adds to morning coffee—does not spike blood sugar (tested; certain amino acids don't affect it, unlike whey protein). Benefits: Nails, hair grow rapidly. 30% of protein is collagen; steak has only ~3% unless tough. Add skin-on chicken, fish, pork rinds, nose-to-tail eating—but hard to get enough.
Roy from Doncaster, UK (near Pilgrim Fathers origin), does intermittent fasting 5 years; added porridge with flax seeds fixed cholesterol. Recommend steel-cut, slow-cook organic oats (avoid glyphosate-sprayed); very small portion to minimize blood sugar impact. Flax seeds provide omega-3 precursor. If working, continue.
May be fine, but sometimes insufficient. Estrogen in women comes from testosterone; support with cholesterol raw material—butter, shellfish, shrimp. Watch videos on hormones.
True or false: As we age, metabolism slows and that's why we gain weight. 65% true, 35% false. Correct: False. Metabolism becomes more efficient, running longer on less food. Wrong macros cause weight gain. Repeated low-calorie diets (especially high-carb, low-calorie, 6 meals/day grazing) make metabolism too efficient, harder to lose weight. High-carb prevents ketosis/fat burning, causes constant cravings. Low-carb fasting-mimicking diet (500-1000 calories) beneficial, e.g., for cancer.
Vitamin D usually means D3; D2 synthetic, less efficient/potent (used in prescriptions). Choose D3 from sheep's wool (natural process). Hard to get from sun in winter.
Vitamin D3 raises blood calcium; K2 directs it to bones/teeth, keeps out of soft tissues. Magnesium required for D3 to work (many deficient). Prevents D3 side effects like excess calcium, kidney stones. Magnesium: Master calcium controller, natural calcium channel blocker (like BP meds), beta blocker (blocks adrenaline), reduces clotting. Most deficient.
Magnesium glycinate: 80% absorption vs. 3% for oxide (cheap but causes diarrhea at high doses). Take evening for sleep, cortisol reduction.
What is the preferred source of fuel for your brain? 78% ketones, 12% omega-3s, 10% cholesterol. Correct: Ketones (not glucose as in old textbooks). Ancestors survived without 3 meals/day. Body makes sufficient glucose if needed, but majority of brain thrives on ketones. Experience via low-carb ketosis: Feels great, lifts depression, improves health.
Magnesium and sea salt. Up to 2100 mg magnesium, spread every 4 hours (limited single-dose absorption). Works for menstrual cramps too—load before period.
Possible but hard due to carbs. Examples: Walnuts, tofu, spirulina worked for some patients.
High-dose vitamin D worth trying. Autoimmune; use Coimbra Protocol (4 US doctors, more worldwide): Monitor levels, push through resistant receptors (common in Lyme, genetics). Activates inside cells, corrects immunity, reduces inflammation—eliminates autoimmune damage.
Diabetes is excess sugar disease; keto is low sugar. Connect dots.
Insulin anabolic, but increases fat. Minimum 50g carbs/day for ketosis to leverage insulin. Better: Testosterone via zinc, weights, rest (growth hormone). Don't rely only on insulin.
Address root causes, not symptoms: History changes? Eating frequency? Bile salts? B1 for peristalsis? Probiotics (post-antibiotics)?
No, bypasses natural production. Process: Normal sugars + high carbs → rising insulin compensates (normal glucose despite high insulin). Develops insulin resistance.
You develop insulin resistance in this process, but you still have normal blood sugars. This is a normal compensation. Diabetes occurs when that compensation fails. The pancreas cannot keep up anymore, so insulin levels drop and blood sugars rise.
Reversing Diabetes
Taking insulin does not reverse diabetes. You must fix the pancreas and the deeper issue. It's not about taking insulin; you want to reduce the need for insulin. Even with type 1 diabetes, patients take insulin due to high carb intake. Lowering carbs reduces the required insulin amount. Type 1 diabetics do very well with fewer carbs.
These symptoms usually start with a trigger, such as stress. Isolate the stress that occurred right before symptoms and eliminate it completely. Remedies work better without stress, as you cannot fix the immune system in a stressed state.
- Take a good amount of vitamin D, zinc, and vitamin C (natural form, not synthetic ascorbic acid from China, which is made from cornstarch and sulfuric acid).
- Get more rest.
- For mucus, take NAC.
- Other remedies depend on whether it's viral or bacterial.
Watch videos on sore throat remedies, including a manual technique that reduces hoarseness and soreness within minutes. Comments confirm it works despite skepticism.
Thank you to guests and audience. Have a wonderful weekend. See you next week.
Keep Dr. Eric Berg DC in your library
Save the videos and channels worth coming back to, and find them again in one place.
