Lies My Doctor Told Me Second Edition: Medical Myths That Can Harm Your Health

Great info for anyone skeptical of nutritional and pharmaceutical advice from today’s doctors. I made the decision to change my diet and lifestyle about 6 months ago based on what I heard from a friend and I began doing a TON of research on the inconsistencies between what we’ve been taught for the last 5 decades and what really works. So for me, a lot of the information Dr. Berry includes in his book was not new, though I did learn some new things on topics I had not yet researched. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the book for what it is – a very well written, well-researched, easy-to-read tale of how we are being misled into believing that modern medicine (which is truly excellent when it comes to emergency care) has let us down when it comes to the most important factors in our overall health – diet and lifestyle. I have become a convert to the idea that modern “medicine” guidelines are less and less concerned with patients’ health and more and more promulgated by Big Food and Big Pharma, who are concerned solely with their bottom line and not at all with people’s health and well-being.That said, I do have two small quibbles with the book which made me give it 4 stars (I would have done 4.5 if possible) instead of 5. Number one, I do wish he would have included a few links to some of the research he quotes. I understand and agree with his recommendation that, as part of accepting that we must take most of the responsibility for our health into our own hands, we need to learn how to examine medical research with a thorough and skeptical eye. But including a few links (I only recall two), and perhaps a paragraph or two on useful places to search (and where to stay away from) and how to craft your searches would not have come amiss. He does list useful books and articles at the end of most chapters, though, and undoubtedly many of them have references to pursue so that could be helpful.Two, in many chapters he casts doubt upon some accepted medical practice guidelines by saying that the studies providing the “evidence” that went into setting many current standards of practice are flawed because they are epidemiological. This is absolutely true, but in Chapter 9 where he discusses the flawed idea that nuts, seeds, popcorn and corn cause flare-ups of diverticular disease, the “large, well-done research study” that he uses to refute this idea is itself largely an epidemiological study. This is one of the studies he does provide a direct link to (and if you want to read it and must type the link in, be sure to use the correct case for all the letters or the link will not work – the capital letters must be capitalized) so I read the study myself. It was indeed well-designed, and the researchers did examine medical records to ensure that those participants who reported incidents of diverticular disease were correctly diagnosed. But the dietary data was gathered from self-administrated food frequency questionnaires, and if Dr. Berry is going to cast doubt on the results of studies where the data is self-reported it’s a bit ironic to state that this study “showed, without doubt, that some foods do increase your risk of getting diverticulitis. However, seeds, nuts and popcorn are not on the list of problem foods.” I don’t doubt the results of the study, but you can’t really DO randomized controlled trials to track diet and nutrition since you can’t lock people up and monitor every bite they eat for long periods of time (except when studying small, controlled populations like the Inuit) so most studies on human diet and nutrition are going to have some self-reported components. In these cases, study design is critical and this one was definitely better than some of the so-called ‘studies’ used to prove how bad – or good – some component of diet or lifestyle is for humans. If you have an interest in learning how to tell a good study from a bad one, and how important it is to be skeptical about the latest medical headlines, I’d highly recommend “Doctoring Data: How to sort out medical advice from medical nonsense” by Malcolm Kendrick. It’s a fascinating and frightening read on how easily we are led astray by medical research and reporting trickery.All in all, this is a first-rate book. Dr. Berry also puts out excellent YouTube videos quite frequently and I’ve learned a great deal from those as well. You can tell that the man is dedicated to providing the most current, well-researched information possible – he is indeed the lifelong learner that he encourages us all to be.

An excellent book for the patient and doctor. I bought this book with a litte reservation. I had just finished several books on health and, in particular, the high fat low carb diet. I was and am convinced this diet works.The book is written in such a way that I found it both entertaining and relevant. Since I had issues regarding thyroid and cholesterol recently, I was looking forward to this doctors views on both. His views totally agreed with mine and the other books I had read. He recommends several of those books in his homework sections.I found it extraordinary that he went after the medical profession as he did. He is exactly right about doctors in general. When I spoke to my GP about my thyroid condition I had already read Janie Bowthorps book “Stop the Thyroid Madness”. It was excellent as well. Unfortunately my doctor knew nothing of what I attemting to explain to him. I think this was somewhat telling. It was obvious he did not keep up with this area of medicine, though he prescribed drugs for it. He failed to keep up with the science.I was having many side affects from my statin drug. I got off them and explained why to my GP. Constipation, foggy brain, memory loss, muscle aches, insomnia etc. I was told it was OK to stop using the statins “for now”. What? For now? How about forever! Again, a failure to follow the actual science.This book goes through many of the more common problems in medicine today. It does a great job of explaining how we have been led in the the wrong direction for so many years.Buy the book. You won’t be sorry. Get on a high fat, low carb diet and try intermittent fasting for an improved life through better health.This book is a must read for patients and doctors.Doug

Everyone should read this book. Dr. Berry writes in a way that is easy to understand. He not only covers the many myths we’ve been told over the years, but he explains why they are wrong. So many things make sense to me now. I will now ask why more often when told things related to my health. Love his honesty and hope others read his books and follow his podcasts.

Great book. Great book, author is right to the point.

A must read for everyone who wants to improve their health. I have always been a person to question the narrative because it wouldn’t make sense to me. Been a healthy eater most of my life and stay away from doctors because I don’t trust them. I’m 73 and in great health. A few years ago I learned about the Carnivore through a friend. His results and what he explained to me got me to thinking about my eating. Always being a believer and thinking if God put this real food here it’s what I should eat. It has served me well because of that belief. But I also recognized bowel issues with too many fruits and vegetables lately so decided to do more reading on Carnivore. I have done Keto but was not strict enough for results because of my love for salads, nuts, fruits etc…. I was always bloated and was getting very tired of that awful feeling. I’d had enough. Decided to try carnivore this year during Lenten season. But just before being strict about it I stopped eating salads and fruit. That in itself made my gut feel so much better. The decision to try Carnivore was even better. And now with all these books I’m reading and the way that I feel so much better I really don’t see me ever going back to my old ways. I’m actually trying to convince the people I love to at least try it. Most of my family is diabetic. I’m the only one that is not and that is mostly due to staying healthy my whole life. I’m so grateful for all these doctors coming forward and writing the many books I have been reading. I believe I probably will do more Keto-carnivore for variations but only for a break. I love intermittent fasting and the fact that I’m never hungry. Thank you for this incredible book and I look forward to all my others I have downloaded on my kindle.