Nutrition For Mortals

This episode was originally released 9/3/2025
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Dr. Eric Berg has built one of the biggest nutrition empires on the internet. With millions of YouTube subscribers and billions of views, his videos on keto, fasting, “hidden toxins,” and miracle health hacks reach an audience larger than many major media outlets. To his fans, he’s the calm, trustworthy doctor explaining the “real truth” about health that mainstream medicine doesn’t want you to hear. But the deeper we dug into the world of Dr. Berg, the stranger the story became. What starts as nutrition advice quickly turns into an Alice in Wonderland-style rabbit hole filled with anti-establishment wellness messaging, controversial medical claims, and eventually… Scientology. So join us, two registered dietitians, as we unravel the bizarre overlap between influencer wellness culture, algorithm-driven health misinformation, and one of the most controversial organizations in modern history.
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Don’t want to miss any episodes in the future? Make sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts!
For feedback or to suggest a show topic email us at nutritionformortals@gmail.com
Feel free to contact our real, live nutrition counseling practice
**This podcast is for information purposes only, is not a substitute for individual medical or mental health advice, and does not constitute a patient-provider relationship**

Across headlines, documentaries, and social media posts, nitrate-cured processed meats are often talked about with the same language once used for cigarettes. Bacon, hot dogs, deli turkey, pepperoni—foods many people grew up eating—are now linked in people’s minds with colon cancer and claims that nitrates are “poisoning” us. Meanwhile, Americans consume billions and billions of dollars of processed meat each year. So what gives? How should we think about nitrates and processed meats? And are “uncured” meats really safer? Join us, two registered dietitians, as we explore what the research actually says about the connection between processed meats and cancer risk.
Want to support the show and get bonus episodes? Join our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/nutritionformortals
Leave us a voicemail that may be featured on a future episode! Call us at (562)-N4M-POD1 (562-646-7631).
We’ve got MERCH! Check it out HERE
Don’t want to miss any episodes in the future? Make sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts!
Things we talked about and additional reading: 
Trends in meat consumption in the United States
1980 NYT: U.S. Will Not Seek to Ban Nitrite From Foods as a Cause of Cancer
N-nitrosamines in processed meats: exposure, formation and mitigation
IARC Monographs Volume 114 
Agents classified by the IARC Monographs
IARC Q&As
Role of Nitrite Exposure from Processed Meat Consumption in the Development of CRC
Carcinogenicity of consumption of red and processed meat
CRC Facts & Figures 2023-2025
Geographic and age variations in mutational processes in colorectal cancer
Trends in Daily Cigarette Consumption Among Smokers: A Population Study in England, 2008–2023
Low-intensity smoking and increased risk of earlier death
For feedback or to suggest a show topic email us at nutritionformortals@gmail.com
Feel free to contact our real, live nutrition counseling practice
**This podcast is for information purposes only, is not a substitute for individual medical or mental health advice, and does not constitute a patient-provider relationship**

Hear the rest of this episode and access our full back-catalog of bonus episodes on Patreon for only $3!
Head to our Patreon to sign up: ⁠patreon.com/nutritionformortals⁠⁠