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Oct. 3, 2023 - Dr. Oz Podcast
42:11
What's Up With Romaine? The Lettuce Dr. Oz Wants You to Eat | Dr. Oz | S11 | Ep 66 | Full Episode
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Breaking news.
The romaine lettuce.
Safety alert.
It's been taken out of salad bars, pulled from our sandwiches, and banished from our kitchens.
What am I going to use now?
We investigate all the romaine lettuce recalls and find out the new lettuce I want you to eat.
Plus, the cheese wars are on.
What to serve on your holiday plate.
Coming up next.
Are you ready for season 11?
Breaking news everybody.
It's been taken off supermarket shelves.
It's gone.
It's been taken out of salad bowls and restaurants, sandwiches as well.
Gone.
And it's been banished from salad bars all over the country.
Today we investigate what is up with romaine.
I love this leafy green, but the past two years have been a problem.
Hundreds of people have gotten sick.
It hurts my heart.
So I wanted to find out what is really going on with romaine.
And I got a confession that is hard to say as a Romaine lover.
There may be a new lettuce in my life.
That's right, a new lettuce.
Take a look at how these other die-hard Romaine lovers have been dealing.
Oh my gosh, I know you've heard about the romaine lettuce recall.
What in the world am I supposed to do?
Really people?
What is really going on?
With all the romaine recalls lately, I just don't know what to do.
My husband just bought three bags of romaine lettuce the day before we found out this horrendous information.
I literally went to my refrigerator and I threw away every bag of lettuce I had in there.
Now, I'm afraid to eat any type of lettuce.
I just got my kids to eat lettuce.
I have just started my new diet.
It seems like every time I try to do better, it's being recalled off the market.
My salad bar at work is so sad because all they have is spinach.
What is a diva like me supposed to do?
Please help.
Can we eat romaine again?
Food journalist Ali Rosen is here, along with Chef Tara Mangini, who's also known as the vegetable butcher.
What a great name.
Ali, it feels like it's recalled deja vu.
We've just been through this.
It comes up every year.
What do we know about the latest outbreak of romaine?
Yeah, so just a few days before Thanksgiving this year, we saw another outbreak.
Again, it does feel like deja vu.
Over 100 people got sick this time.
It's a similar strain as the last time.
It's called shiga toxin.
Guys, I love romaine.
For a lot of good reasons.
Rich in fiber, low calorie, that green, that rich green is so valuable for us.
But the CDC says nearly half of food-borne illnesses are caused by germs on produce.
That is staggering to me.
Ali, why is that?
And why is it that the way we're consuming these veggies is probably the biggest culprit?
Right, so the reason that you see E. coli coming onto romaine and other lettuces more frequently is because with most other vegetables, we're cooking them, we're peeling them, and that's kind of a way to eliminate it.
It's not totally foolproof, but if you're not in your fire, you are at risk.
All right, come on over, Kara.
Everyone's investigating what's going on with romaine.
So let's go through the main suspects of how it can get contaminated.
Let's head to the farm, which is our first culprit.
What factors of the farm, Chef Kara, could be important and lead to contamination risks?
So agricultural water is the prime suspect right now, but there could be really, there's a ton of other possibilities.
Farm workers can spread bacteria by not washing their hands or via farm equipment that may have manure on it.
And then what about the animals?
There are certainly animals near the farm.
Birds can be flying overhead and leave droppings on the plants.
Get that guy out of the way here.
Animals can get into the fields and come in contact with the produce and leave waste behind.
I'm just glad we didn't get dumped on by the birds.
But you can imagine, some of this is hard to control by farmers.
You don't have access to all the ideas, and we're going to get into that in a second.
But the most important thing for me is things we could change, like the shape of the romaine.
How important is that?
Well, this is a theory that's being looked into.
We can't say definitively if the shape of romaine is part of the problem here, but there are a lot of researchers looking into this.
So, romaine does grow in a funnel shape and it's open at the top, unlike head lettuces like iceberg or cabbage that's in a ball shape.
So, it's possible that contaminants could get inside and become trapped.
So, birds or water, or even if someone's touching it, you can't just take the outside leaf out, because the inside leaves are exposed as well.
Let's go from the farm to the factory, because there's a possibility that it's not the farmer at all.
It's something happening along the process of packaging it.
What are the risks you worry about, Ali?
What keeps you up?
Right.
Well, every time that the lettuce moves is another chance for cross-contamination.
So when they're in a packaging facility, there's more hands touching it.
There's also lettuces coming from different fields.
So any time it goes into packaging, there's just more of a chance of something going wrong.
So Shif Kara, what is the industry doing?
If I was a farmer growing romaine, I'd be in a panic.
Here I'm making a very valuable product.
We've been counting romaine on this show for 11 years.
And yet, for good reasons, people are pulling back.
Absolutely, and I can tell you the industry is actively and urgently working on this to try and ensure this doesn't happen again.
But I can tell you that water is a focus, as I had mentioned, and they are really trying to make sure that all water within 21 days of harvest, the surface water is sterilized before harvest.
This is the irrigation water that you got us wet with.
Exactly.
Within 21 days of harvest must be sterilized.
And then also there are over 160 checkpoints on the farm with regular audits to ensure compliance and food safety practices.
And then, of course, since 2018, there have been efforts to label location on each product.
That's probably the best because you don't have to recall every romaine made.
Absolutely.
You just take out this, you know, one place in Southern California or in Arizona or whatever, and that's seasonal.
Yes, they can focus on that location, put all their efforts there, pull the product from shelves very quickly, and then all the stakeholders can really focus on that area to try and share data and information and ultimately ensure this doesn't happen again.
And you can keep eating romaine from other areas.
Absolutely.
So we reached out to the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement for a statement.
Here's what they said, in part.
We have appointed industry experts to serve on a series of committees focused on examining different aspects of LGMA's current food safety practices.
The new committees will consider additional changes to agricultural water standards.
They go on to say that they're examining the soil, then the sanitation, even the facilities around the farms.
Other businesses might be at risk for this.
So, Al, you say with the romaine recall, there may still be romaine out there that can be consumed.
So what do we look for?
Yeah, so I actually have some good news for this segment.
When you're looking at romaine, the first thing to keep in mind is that the Salinas growing season is over.
So for the most part for this year, all of that lettuce is pretty much gone.
The second great news is that harvest labeling.
So 95% of lettuce in the U.S. is grown in California.
They're the places right there.
All California lettuces have labels.
So when you're looking at it, you want to look at Northern California.
You want to look at Southern California.
You also want to look to Arizona and Mexico and hydroponically grown lettuce, which also doesn't have these issues.
So there's a lot of romaine you can still eat.
All right.
Up next, the lettuce I want you to try.
Find out which green I've been adding to my salads and my sandwiches.
It's going to get romaine jealous.
Stay with us.
Thanks a lot.
It's a very terrifying story straight out of a movie.
How violent did he get?
He would actually mutilate the bodies.
Media focuses on the headlines, giving the name the Hollywood Ripper and, of course, the Ashton Kutcher connection.
Plus novelist John Grisham.
His latest mission, fighting to free a man in prison for over 30 years for a murder he says he didn't commit.
I can do something about this or I'll try.
All new Oz.
That's coming up tomorrow.
We've been investigating what the deal is with Romaine.
Even with recalls, I still haven't been able to enjoy salads and sandwiches, but with a new lettuce I haven't had in years.
It is iceberg lettuce.
Guys, remember this guy?
Remember him?
Once the salad standard, this leafy green is back, and it boasts the lowest calories of the bunch.
Food journalist Ali Rosen is back, along with vegetable butcher, Chef Cara Mangini.
First of all, how did iceberg lettuce lose its thunder?
What happened?
Yeah, so iceberg used to be the big thing.
You know, you'd go to a steakhouse, you'd get the wedge salad, it would have the creamy dressing.
Remember that?
It was everything.
Oh, yeah, what happened?
Yeah, well, we sort of got obsessed with our health, and we started wanting leafier designer greens, you know, kale and spinach, and we sort of lost our love for iceberg.
So iceberg used to be 70% of the lettuce consumed in this country, and now it's 37%.
So it's had quite, right?
Yeah, it's a huge drop-off.
Poor iceberg.
Chef Cara, you love, adore, are infatuated with iceberg lettuce.
Why?
I do.
I said it.
I love iceberg.
You know, it's all about the texture.
It has this refreshing crunch and a mild, really neutral taste.
So it's a blank canvas.
You can build flavor on it.
And, you know, for those low-carb and keto lovers, it serves as a wrap as well, holds up really well.
And as an added bonus, which I love this about it, it has a long shelf life.
So you can really hold it for up to 12, maybe 12 days, two weeks, whereas our more delicate greens really perish a lot more quickly.
So, Ali, let me go back to what you said earlier.
Iceberg lettuce is not associated with being healthy for a reason, right?
People like me and you have been saying, well, eat the dark leafy greens.
Why is it still okay?
Well, iceberg lettuce is 96% water, which is kind of crazy when you think about, like, this one thing is just mostly water, but that's actually what makes it good as a replacement.
So other greens have more flavor to them, which means you don't want to use it as a wrap, as, you know, like the bun for your burger.
And this actually makes it so that you can take out that burger bun, but still have something that doesn't affect the flavor.
All right, so what do you look for?
As a chef, here's an iceberg lettuce.
It looks fairly innocuous.
Yes.
You want to look for the freshest possible iceberg so that you have that long shelf life when you get it home.
So you want to look for a good size head of iceberg that's heavy for its size.
It should be firm and compact.
You know, you don't want wilted greens or it should not be shriveled at all.
But you'll see that all of these, no matter which one I pick, has a brown spot here.
And that's totally normal.
That just comes from harvesting.
What you do want to make sure though is that it's not cracked all over the leaves.
A little bit's okay, but if overall it's browning or cracking, you want to avoid those.
All right.
So with that iceberg lettuce, grab it.
I'm going to challenge you, right?
Okay.
To a low calorie, but delicious Caesar salad, which can only use iceberg lettuce.
No cheating here.
Let's do it.
So I created a salad with iceberg as the star.
And it's a classic Caesar salad, but I've swapped out the yogurt, putting yogurt in place of the mayonnaise.
So to start, we have our iceberg lettuce.
You want to cut off...
As a butcher, that's the knife you use?
Yes, this is an 8-inch knife that's really, it's good for, it's a good in-between.
Everybody can really manage this one.
You can defend yourself with that, too.
It should be comfortable in your hand, so this one's good.
You want to cut off the end here and then place it on the board.
You're going to cut it in half and then into quarters.
It's so much easier to work with than romaine, I've got to say.
Absolutely.
You know, what you're going to do is just peel the outer layers and then roll it and then make a few cuts here into thin ribbons.
Now, it's important to get these ribbons.
You can see I have a bunch of them here because that's going to add texture and, again, really highlight that crunch in the salad.
Now, we have this classic Caesar dressing.
I have lemon juice with some garlic sitting in it and that's going to...
You made it ahead of time.
Yeah, it's a little bit.
What you're going to do is just take your garlic and shave it on a microplane right into the lemon juice.
Huh.
Okay, and that is going to just mellow out the garlic flavor.
Sort of takes some of the punch off of it.
And then I'm going to add miso, white miso, tamari, which is a gluten-free option, or soy sauce.
I'll let you do that.
I'm going to give you the whisk.
You want to whisk it?
Thank you.
I didn't want to reach across you.
Okay, and then Dijon mustard.
Okay.
And then our yogurt here.
So this replaces the mayonnaise, makes it a lighter but still really flavorful dressing.
And then pepper.
And then I'm going to stream in the olive oil.
Ellie getting jealous?
Okay, you just want to keep quickly and constantly stirring that together.
And then we have, you can see, all together our finished dressing.
So really flavorful and delicious.
I'm going to pour this just about four or five tablespoons on here.
And then we're going to start tossing it together.
I'm going to add some Parmesan cheese.
Which is important for a Caesar.
And then I have these chickpeas.
So instead of the classic bread croutons, I've roasted chickpeas and then finished them with Parmesan cheese.
They're crispy and delicious.
I told you you'd be impressed.
Yes.
They're amazing.
So I'm going to go ahead and add this to the top.
We're going to toss this together.
And you can see over here, we have the finished salad.
And you know what?
I think you're going to love it.
There's nothing missing here.
And the iceberg really gets to be the star.
I was going to say, don't forget me.
And you want to just finish it.
I will never forget you, Ali.
You know, with as much Parmesan as you want on top, so depending on your food watching, I'll add a little.
I did a little math.
I compared your absolutely delicious, and I would probably agree, traditional, actually, your version of a Caesar salad with the traditional version, About 100 calories less per serving.
I think it's a pretty good deal.
Thank you.
And I think it tastes better, actually.
The ribbons are bright, garlic and lemon juice is smart.
But the best part is, this is naturally good for you.
Absolutely.
So, you're parting it up.
We're gonna put the recipe online.
Be sure to check out the great recipes in Chef Cara's book.
It's called The Vegetable Butcher.
I'll be right back.
Today, the cheese wars.
I'm talking about the ones happening right now in your local supermarket cheese aisle.
Americans, we love cheese.
In fact, more than 95% of households put it in their grocery carts.
But industry sales show that cheese consumers are becoming more discerning.
And even looking for healthier options, they're just as ooey, just as gooey, delicious as the originals.
So, the war is on.
All of the different cheeses are vying for your dollar.
So, which one should you choose?
Well, today, Chef Robles is here to tell us what's Gouda and what's not.
Ooh, I love that.
See what I was doing there?
Gouda, what's not?
That was pretty smooth.
All right.
Now, the cheese is 4,000 years old.
But it's got a bit of a bad rap these days.
It's got a lot of saturated fat in there.
What's the benefits of cheese?
There's also like all kinds of good stuff.
So you know, of course, it's a dairy product.
So you got calcium going on in there.
You got protein going on in there.
Vitamin A, we always need that.
That's good for your vision, right doc?
Yeah.
B12, zinc.
Alright, alright, you like the cheese.
You like the cheese.
I got it.
But I got it.
Riboflapy.
What a show off you are.
No one lets you show off.
I just wanted to say riboflapy.
All right.
Endless variety of cheese.
Each comes with its own nutritional benefits, information.
We're gonna walk folks through the main reasons they can pick cheese that's good for them.
You ready for this everybody?
Let's start off with low fat cheese.
Popping up everywhere.
Is it a good option or not?
Well, you're gonna sacrifice a lot of flavor there, and correct me if I'm wrong, but there are studies out there that say a full fat diet actually can prevent heart disease.
I'm not sure how that works.
Well, it prevents weight gain for sure.
Weight gain and obesity?
Yeah.
Okay.
That seems counterintuitive, right?
Yeah.
How can full fat, you're eating fat, Prevent you from gaining weight.
And I'm stunned by this, but every study shows the same thing.
I think it's because our body's hardwired to look for nutrients.
Full-fat products have nutrients in them, like you just showed us with cheese, so you don't gain weight.
But when you adulterate it, you've got to make up for it by adding other stuff.
Yeah, if they're taking the fat away, they're fixing it in some other way that's not cool.
All right, next up, low-sodium cheese.
Again, it sounds healthy.
Is it worth it?
I would just cut my salt somewhere else in the meal.
Some cheeses are saltier than others, but they're meant to be that way.
Like aged cheeses, it concentrates the flavor and it just gets a little saltier, but it's supposed to be that way.
Just less salt somewhere else.
I wouldn't mess around with it.
I'm so happy you said that.
Why mess up them to be good?
Exactly.
Cut the salt somewhere else, like the processed food you would have otherwise been eating.
Okay, new cherry, new cheese option in the dairy aisle is actually dairy-free cheese.
I'm seeing these everywhere.
It's confusing to me, because I think cheeses, cheese has got to have dairy in there.
What's in these cheeses that makes them taste like cheese, but there's no dairy in it?
Okay, I know they're using things like soy and like coconut fat and things like that.
It tastes pretty good.
It's got that tartness, that little bite to it.
It's not quite the same.
It's actually not bad.
Not bad?
It's not bad.
As a chef, as a chef.
All right, dollar for dollar, factoring in flavor and all the other thing, what is the go-to cheese that people should have in their home?
In the USA, I would say cheddar.
Cheddar?
The cheddar, I mean, it's the classic American cheese.
It goes with everything, you know?
It's the most versatile, you know?
The classic American cheddar.
Okay, we have a little test coming up.
Just think around back, get everyone ready.
This is an all-purpose cheese, right?
Cheddar, count on any day of the week.
There's so many choices.
Cheesemonger Adam Moskowitz is here to help us figure out which cheddar is better.
Now you teach us, and Chef Robles got a little examination coming up for folks in the audience.
Okay, great.
First of all, why do we all love it so much?
Well, I wrote a little rap for you.
Oh, you did?
I did, I did, I did.
So why do people love cheddar?
Cheddar's where most people get their cheese start.
Industrial cheddar is mild, medium, sharp.
Artisan cheddar is sweet, savory tart.
Young cheddar is great to melt.
Eight cheddar melts my heart.
Some of the starter cultures use foster umami flavor, and that's really smart.
Maybe the reason why people love cheddar is because it doesn't have a loud smell, but let's be honest, it's probably because they're priced really well.
All I know is that cheddar is the cheese of the people.
With the size-shaped rind, it really has no equal.
Oh, I love that!
That was so good!
Thanks.
How do you do that?
I can't memorize one of those stanzas.
That's impossibly difficult.
No, it's really hard, but it's the cheese.
I have a steady-dited cheese, and that's what helps with my memory.
All right, walk us through this.
So, first of all, there are different kinds of cheddar.
Help us understand what's good, what's not.
Let's first start off describing what the different kinds are.
And the flavors are the way to start.
So you have three options here, right?
You have a mild version, sharp, and extra sharp.
Differences?
The difference in terms of its flavor.
So mild is the most quiet flavor.
Sharp, there's more flavor.
Extra sharp is a lot of flavor.
Sharp is typically, you can think about it in terms of bitterness.
That's the word sharp.
How about the color issue?
This thing's always gotten me.
Everyone thinks that the cheese is going to have to be either the yellow or the white.
I thought it was because of what part of the country you live in.
Because I travel all over the place, people have a bias based on where they live.
Yeah, so the color thing has a lot of folklore to it.
Historically, back in the day, cows feed on pasture, which is grass.
Grass has beta-carotene.
Beta-carotene in the milk leads to a more orange hue.
Then what happened is that the cows started to be taken off the pasture and their diet changed.
And so what cheesemakers would do is they'd add things like annatto, which would hopefully get people to think that the actual cow was on the grass.
Does it change the flavor?
No.
It's flavorless, but it does in a weird sort of way because I think what you see affects perception and perception affects flavor.
So for me, it's about flavor.
So the way you could pick up flavor is you look at a few buzzwords on the packaging.
Age.
The more age, the more flavor.
Also other keywords like creamery, cooperative, artisan, farmstead.
So if you're looking for flavor, look for those words.
So we're gonna put it to the test.
Are you ready for this?
Yeah, let's do it.
Come on over here.
Chef Roble is waiting for us.
He's blindfolded poor Susie and Nikki, the Daphachette twins, for a blind cheese test.
They've been munching on both white and yellow cheddar, and we're gonna see if they can taste the difference.
What is with these masks?
I love it.
You're like little mice, aren't you?
Those are cute masks.
Yeah, and mice eat cheese are very cleverly done.
Very cleverly done.
All right, just tell me which one you think is the white cheese, the white cheddar.
Wait, this is hard.
This is white.
Okay, we got one white.
Oh, white as can be.
White as can be.
She knows it.
This is cheddar.
Yes, but what kind of cheddar?
White or...
You're not playing our game, Micey.
It's the yellow cheddar, the orange cheddar.
The orange cheddar.
Take your blindfolds off, face the audience, hold your shoes up.
You had the exact same thing.
We got it!
You were right, makes no difference.
We are twins.
Up next, up next.
All my cheese experts are weighing in on your holiday cheese plate.
Here's something you're not gonna wanna miss.
What is the low cost grocery store cheese that tastes as good as expensive stuff?
Stay with us.
It's a very terrifying story straight out of a movie.
How violent did he get?
He would actually mutilate the bodies.
Giving the name the Hollywood Ripper and of course the Ashton Kutcher connection.
All new Oz.
That's coming up tomorrow.
We're back talking cheeses.
In fact, there have been some epic cheese plates on Pinterest.
Look at these.
Chef Robles.
I mean, they're beautiful, but...
They're doing a good job out there.
Where do they go wrong?
You know, I feel some of them are nice.
It's not gonna be as nice as ours, though.
All right, we're gonna do it up there.
Pre-cut cheese, easier to grab and go.
But the question is, should you buy a pre-cut, pre-chopped, or just buy the whole piece of cheese?
Like this, and do it yourself.
There's several reasons not to buy this, except for time.
If you're in a pinch, you're in a rush, okay, go ahead and do it.
But A, you're just going to pay more money because it's already cut up for you.
B, it's not going to taste as fresh as if you did it yourself.
Who knows how long ago they cut that cheese?
Yeah, you're right.
Here, eat that.
Pass it along, just in case.
It's not bad.
It's just not as good as if you do it yourself.
All right, now, you say we don't have to spend a ton of money or invest a lot to make something super impressive.
You have a basic cheese formula.
The cheese plate formula is simple.
You start off with the cheese that you want, really tasty cheese, okay?
Then, this is important, you gotta have a little bit of that salty.
Oh.
And then, I'm gonna show you how to do this in a second, we've got the crunch, right?
And options here, a lot more than you think.
And of course, don't forget the sweet.
You dance down the sweet over here, all right?
So these are the four items you need for that cheese plate to really blow it out.
Now, let's start with the cheese.
Cheesemonger Adam Mouskiewicz is back.
So help us with flavor and texture.
All right, hold this.
All right.
All right, so flavor and texture.
First thing you want to play with when it comes to flavors, you want to think about types of milk.
Then texture, you want to play with the very textures.
So, and then for flavor, I'm going to start with this goat cheese.
Because this texture is like cream cheese, and everybody likes cream cheese.
My favorite is mountain cheese, so I'm going to go with Gruyere.
So this has got your flavor of, like, onion, garlic.
It's fantastic.
And then lastly, everybody loves blue cheese, or at least I hope everybody loves blue cheese, so we're going to go with a gorgonzola.
And this is super creamy, so that's like cream cheese.
This is like fudge in terms of texture, and this is, like, super creamy.
It looks fantastic.
Okay, so we got the cheese part.
Next up, we got a little salty going for us.
What's this about?
Okay, cool.
So basically, we have two different types of ham here.
This is, you know, the world-famous Italian prosciutto di parma.
It's good stuff, but it's a lot more expensive than what we have here, which is American country ham.
But let's make some room.
Okay, so yeah, we're saving money here.
And look, Doc, you already paid for the prosciutto.
Let's just throw it on there.
My kind of guy.
Yeah, come on.
All right, next up, we've got a little bit of crunch.
What are our crunch options?
Okay, like, any kind of nuts, you know?
I love pistachios.
It's just something about the pistachio.
Let's just get sexy with it over here, okay?
Now I'm making a little bit of a mess, but you're supposed to.
It's okay.
You got pickles there, too.
It's not just nuts.
Yeah, these are little gherkins or cornichons, if you want to be fancy.
Cornichons?
Cornichons.
Oh, what a beautiful French accent.
I would call them picklets, because they're like little pickles.
Picklets?
All right.
Adam likes that.
All right.
And then we got the sweet.
Let's tap it off.
Okay, yes.
Ooh, that honeycomb is so sexy.
I don't even want to touch it.
It's too pretty.
I don't want to mess it up.
You got a little apricot going.
Yeah, a little dried apricots.
Slices of apple are always great.
Ooh, you put that next to the blue.
Mm-hmm.
This is actually a piece of work of art here.
Go ahead.
Put that back there.
You're getting right in there, baby.
All right?
And hold on.
I mean, let's just go ahead and just be real.
You know what we're going to do?
We're going to give this to the audience as we go out.
You guys want this?
There you have it, everybody.
An Oz-approved cheese board for your next holiday party.
Audience, what are we missing?
What else do you need?
Yeah.
I got a couple of wines up there, but they know.
It's crackers we are really missing.
They know it.
Up next, what's the best box crackers?
To go with this.
Stay with us.
Today we've been getting a little cheesy.
Investigating the best cheeses for your holiday cheese.
Oh, look at that.
Ooey gooey.
And now it's time to talk about Cheese's Crunchy Partner.
Crackers.
Don't you love that?
So Chrissy's an audience member who says her family loves crackers so much, she goes through a dozen boxes a month.
She's here with her daughter, Tara.
So what's with the crackers?
They love crackers.
My entire family loves them.
All different kinds for all different reasons.
My stepdaughter in particular, Tara, loves them with cheese and loves to dip them.
But they go through so many, I'm worried that there's a lot of carbs and a lot of salt.
So you love the cheese, the crackers, that plate, does that sting to you?
Oh my god, I love it.
Like, there's nothing that compares with a crispy saltiness of a cracker and creamy smoothness of a cheese.
It's like the perfect combination.
All right, you stay put for a second.
I'll get a little test for you later in the segment.
Okay with this?
Stand by, because we're gonna go through some of the options that may help your family change the cracker choices.
So first, Nutritionist Brooke Alpert is here to help us crack the case of the healthiest packaged cracker.
First are the classic crackers.
You know what they look like.
Every store has them.
Put them through our deconstruction table, Brooke.
Right, so we have these crackers.
It could be these or any other box you'd see in grandma's cabinets or at home.
But let's take a look at what's really inside these crackers.
Start with, obviously, this is white flour, which means no fiber.
We have three different variations of sugar, high fructose corn syrup, regular corn syrup, and sugar.
And then we have everything from soybean oil, salt, and soy lecithin.
So, I don't know if you'd want to eat that.
So folks are avoiding this for good reason.
They were looking for alternatives.
For example, whole wheat crackers and multigrain crackers.
Which is a healthier option?
Walk us through the head fakes here.
Trick question.
So, multigrain crackers, they sound super healthy, but all that that means is that there's more than one type of grain that's used.
Could be good, could also just be white flour, right?
Whole grain crackers are what we're really looking for because what we want is that whole grain itself.
All right, so the newest cracker on the block is cauliflower cracker.
Tara and Chrissy have been here, so we now understand why you like those crackers so much.
Yes.
Tara, so what do you guys think about...
Actually, you taste, you explain, Brooke.
Tell us why we might think about these cauliflower crackers, and I want to have an honest opinion about the taste from you.
So looks can be deceiving.
Just because there's a cauliflower on the box does not make this a vegetable, right?
So at the end of the day, you're still eating a cracker.
It might have some cauliflower or some type of vegetable in it, but it doesn't make it a health food.
And as a nutritionist, it is not a free food.
So don't be fooled by the idea that there might be a little bit of a vegetable, because it doesn't make it that much healthier.
But it might be a little bit healthier.
So do you like the taste?
I love the taste.
The texture is actually really good.
They're nice and fluffy.
So on the cheese board, it could work?
I think it could work really well.
All right.
Well, if you like this, we're gonna blow you away.
Brooke, come on over.
We still are missing the Oz approved best cracker out there.
What should we all be looking for?
Brooke?
I'm so excited.
These are the new crackers on the block, everybody.
They are nut and seed crackers and they're all over the place.
So what do we know about these?
So nut and seed crackers are the winner here for good reason, because they are loaded with protein.
They are also loaded, they can be gluten free, which is great for a lot of people.
Some might even find keto friendly, but you need to really watch your portions.
Most importantly for me, it's that fiber.
Especially when combined with protein, protein and fiber help to keep you fuller, longer, keep your blood sugar levels stable, and help you not overeat, which makes these my number one pick.
I love these two.
Pick them up, check some out.
We'll be right back.
Thanks, Brooke.
It's a very terrifying story straight out of a movie.
How violent did he get?
He would actually mutilate the bodies, giving the name the Hollywood Ripper and, of course, the Ashton Kutcher connection.
All new Oz.
That's coming up tomorrow.
You know, from hit shows like Mike and Molly and the new sitcom Bob Hart's Abishola, But today, comedian and actor Billy Gardell is bringing a differing conversation to a national scale.
He's opening up about his type 2 diabetes diagnosis.
Here on behalf of my trusted partner, Novo Nordisk, please welcome Billy Gardell.
Oh my goodness.
What's up, Doc?
Finally!
Did I have to say that?
What's up, Doc?
I wanted you to say that.
Thank you for having me.
I watch you all the time, and I think, if I was next to him, how would he give me a hard time?
I wouldn't give you a hard time.
I'm easy.
You're the doctor.
I'm gonna listen to what you say.
Well, we'll see how it goes today.
So, on your shows, I always notice that characters have little themes about health issues, but in personal life, offstage, you've actually carried a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.
And I'm curious, when you first heard someone use those words, what did you think?
Well, it was a huge wake-up call.
You know, I've spent my whole life as a big guy, and luckily I've never had any chronic health issues until this diagnosis.
And we found it, like a lot of Americans or people anywhere around the world find it, by accident.
You look at your blood numbers and it changes.
So, I knew I was going to have to change my entire lifestyle to be able to manage this disease.
And so, I I went to my doctor, and then I was introduced to Novo Nordisk, who I partnered with, and I'm involved in this, my type 2 transformation for type 2 diabetes, and it's to teach you to manage your disease through exercise, diet, and medication, and it's made a huge change in my life, and that's what I'm trying to get some light on.
Come on over.
Let's reawaken everyone to the reality that you're not alone.
Sure.
So here are the basic statistics about diabetes if you live in the United States.
Are you ready for this?
Nearly 30 million Americans have type 2 diabetes.
I mean, that's a lot of people.
That's a little scary to me.
But more importantly, 7 million people in the U.S. are living with undiagnosed diabetes.
That's an even bigger issue.
So how has my type 2 diabetes transformation changed your life?
Well, the beauty of this program is, like I said, it works on three prongs.
Exercise, diet, and medication.
The DFIT part of the program has taught me how to stay active.
We've had a chef come in and teach us how to make diabetes-friendly meals that taste good.
Because, you know, when you're dieting, you eat chicken and broccoli and you snack So this is a good way to learn how to make food that you realize is good for your body and is not going to hurt you.
You know, one of the biggest things I've learned is don't beat yourself up.
Look, you're not going to do it perfect.
Nobody does.
So when you do slip and fall, you get right back in the race.
Look, as a heavy person, I can tell you, people that struggle with food especially, you know, you say you're going to have one day off and then you wake up and you're like, is it March?
How did that happen?
So it's about progress and not perfection.
It's about getting back in that game and doing the right thing as quick as you can.
All right, so part of any program's success is having the right support.
So I want to bring someone else out who's been getting Billy's team going because he's been on it from the get-go.
Please welcome my good friend and former Biggest Loser trainer, Dovet Quince.
Yes.
Go, go, go.
Now you do that.
I'm not joking.
I got a bad start here.
Joel, that's also here.
I'm going to jump.
It was not bad.
Very nice job.
Switch football.
Exactly.
Also here on behalf of my trusted sponsorship partner, Novor Nordisk.
Right.
You've helped Billy on his My Type 2 Transformation Program.
So give us a little bit of a taste.
How does this work?
Well, helping Billy was great.
It's great meeting Billy and creating a program for him, with him.
But one of the things I wanted to do was build his confidence.
I think anyone who's starting to work out or haven't worked out for a long time, there's an issue there, right?
That's why I partnered with Nova Nordisk and developed DFIT. It's a three-part exercise routine that encourages adults living with type 2 diabetes to get active.
And you can find it on mytype2transformation.com.
All right, so there's no time like the President to actually torture our mutual friend here.
Listen.
Give it to me, baby.
I see those.
These are yours.
Good luck.
This is yours.
All right.
So this, guys, is one of the things that I actually do on the DFIT workout, okay?
So do me a favor and step into...
The bands.
Can Billy do this for me, or do I have to actually do it?
You want to, yeah, I want you to do it too, Dr. S. He's gonna start, and then he's gonna quit doing it and just tell us to do it.
The trainers always do.
That's not true.
The trainers always just eatin' peanuts when I watch you work out.
Okay, maybe I will.
Palms forward, gentlemen.
Give me that squeeze.
Be proud.
Now, what's the hardest part about training Billy?
Does he crack on you once in a while?
The jokes never stop.
It's terrible, isn't it?
The jokes never stop.
But you know what?
Billy had to get to a point where he wanted to do this, and he wanted to move, and he's there now, and I'm so happy for him.
I really am.
Yeah, man.
It's that easy.
All right.
There you go.
I love you, man.
Love you, brother.
So good to see you.
All right, so exercise, as you pointed out, as much fun as it may be, isn't the only pillar.
Eating right is critical.
Yes.
But you did something else.
Because if you want to do this the right way, you've got to talk to all the opportunities out there.
One of them is talking to your doctor.
You're taking Ozempic.
And that's a decision.
Yes.
What was it about your discussion with your doctor that opened your mind to the possibility it was the right medication for you?
Well, everybody's goals and experience is going to be different.
You should talk to your health provider so you find out what your goals are.
When I was first diagnosed, my doctor prescribed metformin, and originally my A1C was 7.2, and that got it down a little bit.
And so my doctor wanted my A1C to be at 6.5 or lower, so he prescribed me Ozempic.
And the results have been very, very good.
All right, come on over here.
I've asked Novo Nordic certified diabetes educator Laleh Mohanadji.
How are you?
Thank you.
Mohajarani.
That's correct.
I practiced it to shed more light on Ozempic.
Tell us a bit about the medication.
Yes, Ozempic is a once-weekly, non-insulin, injectable prescription medicine that is used with diet and exercise for adults with type 2 diabetes to lower blood sugars.
Now Ozempic is not to be used as a first medicine for diabetes, is not to be used with patients with type 1 diabetes, diabetic ketoacidosis, or for children under the age of 18. Ozempic should also not be used if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, Multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2 or if you have any allergies to Ozempic.
If you do develop any kind of rash, itching, swelling in the neck or a lump in the neck or if you have difficulty breathing you should stop taking Ozempic immediately and seek medical help.
To get more information on Ozempic you can go to Ozempic.com where you can also see the prescribing information and the medication guide.
So tell us more about your experience.
How's it work for you?
It's been great.
Since my doctor prescribed Ozempic, the first thing we talked about was side effects, and I know you're a big proponent of honesty in your show about that.
And I will tell you, I experienced personally a little bit of queasiness, but that has since subsided and I've had no problems.
Like I said, everybody's experience is going to be different.
You have to find out for yourself.
But when I started Ozempic, my A1C was 6.9%.
And I started my type 2 transformation program, and after five months, my A1C was 5.9.
I've also made changes in my exercise plan and my diet.
I've lost 21 pounds, which is 6% of my body weight.
Whoa!
Now we're talking!
Molly, are these results typical?
So Ozempic is not for weight loss, but some people do lose some weight, which is why I am so, so pleased with Billy and all the progress he's made on the 0.5 milligram dose of Ozempic, and then all the lifestyle changes he's made.
Yeah, it all added up.
Yeah, the Dovet wants his credit too.
Yeah, well, yeah.
He tortures me, and she tortures me, and then I'm happy.
Exactly.
So let's learn more about the typical results in a one-year study with Ozempic.
In a one-year clinical study of adults with type 2 diabetes and an average starting A1c of 8.1%, the majority of adults taking Ozempic 0.5 milligrams lowered their blood sugar and reached an A1c of less than 7%.
In the same study of adults with an average starting weight of 197 pounds, adults taking Ozempic 0.5 milligrams lost an average of 9 pounds.
For 46% of these patients, this was at least 5% of their body weight.
I want to thank Laleh and Billy.
I appreciate you being here and I appreciate you sharing your story.
Thank you.
God bless you both.
Stay tuned for more important safety information about Ozempic and visit MyType2Transformation.com for expert resources on the pillars of type 2 diabetes management.
Thanks, Doc.
This segment was brought to you by Novo Nordisk, the makers of Ozempic.
It is that time of year.
You are rushing to the mall, the grocery store, you got a lot in your mind, and you forget where you park, right?
You all been there?
All right.
It happens to the best of us.
Even celebrities like Jennifer Garner.
Take a look at this relatable fail that she just posted on Instagram.
We've been walking for 10 minutes.
It's in Y. You know what's happening?
We're out of battery.
Where's your car?
Sweating.
It's 25 minutes of looking for a car on a one level parking garage.
I see it.
It has nothing to do with what I said it was.
Where did you say it was?
I said it was that way.
Why?
It's so rude to just move someone's car to F. How many of you have been there?
I know I have, right?
You lose it.
You have no idea.
You're not even close to where you thought you left it.
So I got a little brain trick so you never forget where you park again.
I hope Jennifer's watching.
Let's pretend you park in the A3 section of the garage.
Just play with me on this, okay?
We're all going to do it together.
Take these numbers, get them into a picture now.
That's how you remember it.
The A is, let's say, an apple, right?
A is a apple.
Makes sense.
The three, you got to use a rhyming trick.
So three rhymes with tree.
So apple tree.
But now you've got to get an emotional hook into that concept.
So everyone close their eyes, relax your head, right?
Take an apple tree and imagine it growing through the car.
Literally, right?
You've got the roots tangled through the tires, the trunk going through the roof, the apples are falling onto my windshield, making it all sticky.
It makes it emotional.
The more vivid, the better, right?
That vivid image is still in my brain.
So now when I open my eyes and I'm trying to remember where my car is, right?
I think apple tree.
You'll remember that because the apples were falling on my windshield, messing it up, right?
Or, you know, and then the apple tree becomes apple tree and you find your car.
Or just take a picture, which is probably easier.
That's what I would do.
All right.
Remember the power of change lies in the power of you.
One person with one voice, but it matters.
So speak the truth.
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