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Dec. 5, 2023 - Dr. Oz Podcast
42:37
Zen Master's Guide to Relieving Stress | Dr. Oz | S6 | Ep 64 | Full Episode
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Today on Dr. Oz, stressed out?
Let the Zen Master in!
The foolproof guide to busting stress.
Five small things anyone can do to create calm in chaos.
Plus, mind-bending breaking news.
Anxiety and sleep aids linked to Alzheimer's.
There are multiple reasons why I think these drugs are of concern.
Dr. Oz has your wake-up call.
Coming up next on Dr. Oz...
I want everyone in the audience here and at home as well to close your eyes.
Do it right now.
Close your eyes.
Take a deep breath.
Inhale.
Hold it.
Exhale.
Today, the power of Zen.
Now, you've all heard the word.
You can open your eyes now.
But do you really know what Zen means?
Unlocking your secrets could transform your health and life as it did for the man you're about to meet.
Andy, put it home.
Andy Puticombe's quest for inner calm began at the age of 22, after grieving the loss of four friends in just one year.
That tragedy sent him on a spiritual quest that brought him to the foothills of the Himalayas to sit at the feet of the Dalai Lama.
He trained for more than a decade to be a celibate monk, learning the art of meditation, sitting for up to 18 hours a day.
But at the age of 32, Andy decided to hang up his robes and return to the West to pursue his true passion, bringing meditation to the masses.
It's only in learning to watch the mind in this way that we can start to let go.
He created an app that became a movement, Headspace.
A 10 minute time out that helps you achieve the calm you need to cope with the everyday stress of modern life.
Andy Podicombe is now a global guru.
His app is now reaching more than a million users in over 150 countries.
Today, one of the world's leading meditation masters shares his message to bust your stress and bring you zen-like calm.
Andy Pericole is here.
Let's start at the very, very beginning.
So, what is Zen?
Zen.
So, I would think about Zen as a way rather than something you actually go and do.
Like a way of life, a way of being.
So, normally we're very distracted in life, very caught up in our thoughts, often overwhelmed by our emotions.
Zen is the ability to be able to step out of that, out of that thinking process, and find a place of calm and perspective.
So, how do you...
At the same time, concentrate, focus, but also experience nothingness.
Yeah, so it's an interesting balance, right?
Because it is about focus, but it's also about relaxation.
So we need that kind of balance between the two.
So obviously I'm a big advocate of meditation with Headspace, but I'm also a big advocate of how we can kind of incorporate Zen into everyday life.
Finding kind of little moments.
And by focusing very specifically on an activity, whilst at the same time very deliberately stepping out of our thoughts, we can find that balance of emptiness, sort of nothingness on the one hand, and yet focus on the other.
Folks are stressed out.
You know that.
We all experience that in our lives.
A lot of people will raise their eyebrow at the concept that you can very simply offer a path to calm.
Yeah.
I mean, how easy is it to achieve that moment of calm, of zen?
Yeah, you know, I think if you'd have asked me before I went away to become a monk, I would have raised my eyebrows as well.
And ironically, I kind of had to go away to realize that you don't have to go away.
You can do it right now.
It's just that no one's ever shown us how.
We're going to change that today, everybody.
These are straightforward, simple tips to get you to Zen.
Andy has learned these secrets, things you can do every single day.
The first instant moment of Zen you're going to have is to Zen your morning.
I was so surprised that you picked on that as such an important part of the experience.
Yeah, I think so.
I'm not going to suggest that people get up at the same time as we did in the monastery.
It's early.
It's really early.
But I think most people wake up feeling a little bit groggy.
In fact, many people I speak to say they wake up feeling more tired than when they went to sleep at night.
So there's a narrative that carries on through the night.
First thing, if we can sit up, like just to remember, to even appreciate that we have woken up, like the alternative.
Yeah, not so good.
Not so good, right?
Yeah.
So even just to take that time, right, just 30 seconds, a minute to sit up in bed and to even appreciate we've woken up, to think about what it is we're kind of grateful for.
So we're kind of setting our mind in a state of kind of stillness and clarity right at the outset.
Let's put this at work with some viewers coming over.
Laura says that she starts her mornings very stressed.
Thanks for being part of this.
So why is your day so stressed out, especially in the morning?
Well, Doc, I'll tell you.
I have three boys.
I have to get ready, out the door.
Two separate trips, two different schools.
I come home.
My house looks like a bomb went off in it.
And on top of that, I have a stressful career as a police officer.
I need zen in my life.
Well, thank you for being an officer.
You could have stopped it.
I have three boys.
I would have gotten it.
Everyone deserves a couple daughters.
I have three daughters, thankfully, as well as a boy.
Deconstruct this for us.
How does Zen and the secrets you can offer help to stress the morning?
Okay, so super hectic morning for you.
Do you find time for a cup of tea or a morning cup of coffee or anything like that?
I would love to find time.
Okay, because we're talking about a tiny short period of time, just a few minutes a day.
So this is something called holy basil tea, so what we're calling today meditation, rather than meditation.
And I'm going to suggest that you take just three minutes to do this exercise.
Now, to make sure you're not stressing about it, along with all that other stuff in the morning, the night before, make sure you get it out so it's ready.
All you have to do is add the hot water.
Once you've poured the water, just sit in front of the tea.
Take a deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Just practice it here.
This is an interesting concept.
Have a go with it.
We're not making you do a whole tea ceremony here, but literally, just to point this out, you're making this the night before, if you need to.
In fact, lay your clothes out, do all the things the night before, so the morning is a calmer time, and then we're taking a deep breath in.
Take a deep breath, and as you breathe in, actually notice the smell.
Smells very good.
Smells good, right?
And this is great.
This is a particularly good tea, being shown to reduce cortisol levels as well, so likely to help with that process of de-stressing.
I'd recommend as well that you actually hold the cut, rather than holding on the handle, actually just to feel the warmth.
So the more we can be in the body and in our sensations, and less in our thinking kind of mind, the easier we find it to be more zen.
So you focus on sensations, the warmth, the smell, and then take a taste.
And taste it as though you've never tasted it before.
So again, normally when we do something every day, we just taste it.
This is another kind of thing.
Wow.
Notice where in the mouth you taste it, right?
Again, by focusing more on the sensations, we step out of the thinking mind.
This is a really beautiful ritual and a great way to start the day.
It's delicious.
It tastes delicious.
It does taste very good.
Again, the holy basil has independent benefits, but I love the fact that it's a ceremony of doing it the right way.
And for two minutes a day, it's worth the investment.
Exactly.
It's all about the ritual.
Same time, same place.
Thank you.
Yes, thank you very much.
I think it will be.
Alright, let's talk about the outer declutter, which also gives you a moment of zen.
If you can, define what an outer declutter means.
Yeah, so if you think, Dr. Oz, when you walk into a room and it's really clean and clear, like how relaxed the mind feels.
And now if you imagine walking into a room that's very cluttered, there's things everywhere, naturally the body and the mind don't feel so good, right?
Now, I don't know about you, but we all have things in our life, in our house, that we really don't need.
I'm in there, too.
Right?
We're all there.
And so I love the idea of this.
A little clutter box.
At the start of every week, you take just five objects from your house.
That you think you probably don't need.
You put them in there.
You leave them for the week.
If you haven't had to touch them, at the end of the week, you give them away.
You get rid of them.
So as a monk, or as a nun, people give away everything.
So when I became a monk, you had to give away every single last thing you own.
And there is a beautiful simplicity about that.
We tend to get really stressed with the stuff we own.
Either we're chasing after more things, or we're worried that we might lose the things that we do have.
By having less things, we have less stress in our lives.
You live a simple life by simplifying your life.
Exactly that.
So Shannon's here.
She actually took this advice from Andy.
How are you?
Thank you.
So what did you put in your week box?
Well, I took Andy's advice, and I took something every day, and I put it in the box.
So I had this hat from the 90s.
It used to be very stylish.
I thought I was going to wear it backwards.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think I put that in the week box.
Still just as stylish.
I never got around to wearing it, but you can see where it was going to look cool on me if I had.
And then I had scrunchies that I had every color to match my gym outfits, and my daughter said I could never wear these again.
Cassette tapes.
This is priceless.
I sell a box of them, and I don't have a cassette player, so I couldn't play it if I wanted to.
I don't even wear nail polish anymore.
Perfume you don't like anymore.
So, you take these things and you toss them at the end of the week.
Are you okay tossing these?
Yes.
I might want to keep the cassette, but the other things I'm good with.
I don't think you can play it anymore.
No, no, I can't.
But there's some sentimental value to some of the things, too.
Absolutely.
The great thing, the thing I love about this is that not only are we decluttering, though, but we also have the opportunity to practice kindness.
So rather than just chucking this stuff away, find someone to give it to, someone who would appreciate it.
I like this idea because it's simple, straightforward, and it's a simple step to Zen.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Alright, now the next step is actually to inner-declutter.
So we just auto-decluttered the home, which we always visually see and reinforces how we feel inside, but you do have to go inside a little bit.
Explain how they're different.
Yeah, so if you think about, even once you've cleared your home and everything's neat and tidy, you can sit there, but the mind is still quite busy, you know?
So we kind of have this rational, thinking, intellectual part of our mind, and then we have this kind of spacious, almost sort of poetic, sort of awareness-based part of our mind.
And we want to spend more time in this, because when we're here, the mind's calmer and it's clearer.
So we need something that's going to kind of cut through all the busyness of the mind.
So, a question I'd like you guys to ask yourself today is, what is the sound of emptiness?
And maybe it only gives you like a second or a two of silence, but trust me, that's a really valuable time in the day.
Alright, so then we're going to move on to a very practical tip.
The instant moment of Zen you get by being a Zen sweeper.
What's a Zen sweeper?
So listen, the idea of this is, so often I speak to people about meditation and Zen, and they say, I don't have the time to meditate.
I don't have the time to be Zen.
Again, it's about a way of being.
It's not something you have to go and do.
You don't have to take additional time out.
So, have this as a ritual.
As soon as you start any new kind of activity in the day, Be conscious that you're starting a new activity.
It's almost as though you're just putting everything else aside, and let's use sweeping as an example, and you're taking the brush, and you're actually present with the sensation just for that moment.
And the beautiful thing about it is that it turns it into an enjoyable activity rather than something, oh, I've got to do this.
It's actually a really pleasant thing because you're stepping out of all of your thoughts.
That's what I love the most about this.
I'm going to emphasize this.
A lot of people don't start because they don't think they have the time.
Housework is inevitable.
You're going to take the time doing it.
This is about changing your perspective on something you're already doing and in that way achieve that instant moment of Zen.
Okay, the last instant moment of Zen comes from eating mindfully.
This is something that a lot of us completely missed the boat on.
You touched on it a little bit with the tea, but this appeals really to all of us because we all have to eat.
Explain how we can eat mindfully.
Yeah, and this is my favorite one, mostly because it involves chocolate.
And I've used this because eating mindfully doesn't necessarily mean that we have to just eat kind of broccoli the whole time, okay?
Eating mindfully is about, again, giving our full attention.
So if you think about the last time maybe you ate a bag of chips or a bar of chocolate, very often we'll get it out and we'll turn on the TV show and we'll sit down.
Maybe we taste the first one, right?
Because it's different.
But then afterwards, Right.
Until, oh, they've all gone.
Right?
And we missed that whole bag.
So let's change that today.
We actually gave the first row of the audience here a little chocolate.
Do you have your chocolates ready?
Yeah.
You're all smiling because it's chocolate, but wait for a second.
Yeah.
You don't know what you're doing with it yet.
All right.
I want you to walk everybody.
If you're at home, please just grab something that you actually enjoy like chocolate.
Just do the same.
Yeah, it can be anything at all.
And it's a really easy three-step process.
It'll only take you a minute or two.
The first thing I'd like you to do is actually just to look at the chocolate.
So usually we just put the food straight in our mouth without even looking at it.
As you look at it, actually take the time to notice what it looks like.
The next thing I'd like you to do is just to bring it up to your nose and to smell it.
Now, no sneaky tasting of the chocolate as you bring it up to your nose.
I've seen people do that.
Just smelling it.
And again, we don't usually take time.
It's like foreplay, actually.
It's a little bit like that.
It's chocolate foreplay.
We can keep going.
I don't mind.
We should probably move on to the main event.
Put it in your mouth!
So if you just take it next, put it in your mouth, but don't chew it.
I don't want you to chew it.
Place it on your tongue.
Allow the chocolate to warm up to body temperature and it will start to melt and you will taste the chocolate in a way you've never tasted chocolate before.
Remember, don't chew it.
With this exercise, one piece of chocolate is enough.
Like there's something immensely satisfying about really tasting something, giving it your full attention and all of a sudden we don't need as much as we think we need.
I can't even chew it to get my words out.
That might take a little bit longer.
Thank you very much, Andy.
Wonderful advice.
For more instant moments of zen, check out our website, DrRoz.com.
You guys happy with the chocolate?
Go ahead and chew now.
We'll be right back.
Coming up, you may already have them in your medicine cabinet.
Common prescription drugs to treat anxiety and sleep that can lead to uncommon problems, including Alzheimer's.
Alarming news.
What you need to know before you pop that next pill.
Next.
Dr. Oz has outrageously funny health questions from Jimmy Kimmel and Joe McHale.
How big should a hemorrhoid be before you bite its own seat on an airplane?
All new Dr. Oz.
That's coming up tomorrow.
There's something surprising about certain medications you may find in your medicine cabinet because they're now being linked to Alzheimer's.
They're the prescription pills people use to ease anxiety, alleviate insomnia, and calm panic attacks.
In addition to deadly overdoses, benzodiazepines have already grabbed headlines for potentially dangerous side effects including addiction, dizziness, confusion, and memory loss.
Now a groundbreaking study reports a new reason for alarm.
A startling link between benzos and Alzheimer's.
Six years of data reveals people with Alzheimer's were 50% more likely to have taken benzodiazepines.
And the longer people took the drugs, the greater their risk.
With over 50% of older people currently using the medication and Alzheimer's rates skyrocketing worldwide, it may be time to ask what role America's most popular anxiety and sleep medication may be playing in our Alzheimer's epidemic.
So here are the facts as we know them about these anti-anxiety and steep medications.
There are over 100 million prescriptions a year that are written.
It's an unbelievably large number.
And you know what?
These prescriptions are growing at an estimated 12.5% every year on top of that.
And twice as many women as men take these pills.
So joining me now to break down the facts is Dr. Gayatri Devi, Director of the New York Memory Center at NYU Clinical Professor.
So Dr. Devi, what does this new study show?
This is a very important study because it shows that people who are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease were 50% more likely to have used benzodiazepines.
And these are drugs like Ativan, Valium, Xanax, Klonopin, drugs that we all know about.
It's stunning to me.
Does this surprise you?
You made your career studying Alzheimer's.
I'm amazed by this reality.
Well, we all, people in the field, all are aware that these drugs depress memory and they cause memory dysfunction.
And there have been other studies that have linked these drugs in the past to Alzheimer's disease.
This is the largest study that's shown a vital link between Alzheimer's disease and chronic use of benzodiazepines, which is using the drugs for more than three months.
You know, a lot of folks think of Alzheimer's as an older person's disease.
Is this problem with these benzodiazepines with all ages?
Yeah, you know, unfortunately younger people are more and more likely to use these types of drugs, and the more likely you are to use it when you're younger, the more likely you are to then develop dependence on it, and you're not able to sleep without it, so then you're more likely to use it as you get older.
And there's been at least one study that's shown a link between using these drugs when you're younger and memory loss.
At any age?
At any age, yes.
So explain to me, what is it exactly these medications do to the brain that might predispose the brain to memory problems and even Alzheimer's?
They basically depress the central nervous system.
So they cause your brain to function a little bit slower and this is why they cause the memory problems that they do.
And they're used often for treating anxiety and insomnia and things like that.
But really what they do is that they function as a band-aid and they don't actually treat the underlying problem.
They don't actually treat the anxiety, they just treat the symptoms of the anxiety.
Let me bring this to life if I can.
Dr. Debbie's point is incredibly important.
And notice, I mentioned earlier, women use this twice as much as men because women have a lot more stress that's perceived anyway in their lives and they have trouble dealing with it oftentimes.
Look at these two scans.
This is a scan of how your brain looks when you're on no medications, right?
You're just living your life, but, you know, you've got things going on.
The kids are late for school.
You're late for work.
You know, the people aren't treating you the right way.
But there's activity.
There's stuff going on.
You're processing it.
You're trying desperately to make sense of this.
Now look at a brain, same kind of brain, on these anxiety medications.
And notice what happened.
All that yellow and red area, it's all broken down to a little area here that's allowed to still function.
Because the rest of the brain has basically been numbed.
Dr. W used the word band-aid.
I love the fact that she's describing it that way because you're not better, you're just numbing the brain.
And in particular, you're numbing parts of the brain that are responsible for memory.
Which is the part of the brain damaged when you get Alzheimer's.
So, Dr. Debbie, you know, the study linked use of these medications to Alzheimer's, especially when they're taken for long periods of time.
If you're using them the right way, the way they're intended to be used, how does it work then?
You know, these drugs are generally meant to be used very short term.
So, you know, a week, a month at the most, and under close medical supervision.
So let's say you had a long flight and you needed a drug to sleep, then it makes sense to use it.
But if you're going to use it for a significant period of time, then there's a very high risk that you can become dependent on the drug to sleep, to function, and that's not okay.
So it's important to be careful about using these drugs in a proper way.
So, again, to highlight this point, you're saying that it should be used for a couple days or a week, not for a month or two months or three months.
Really, you want to avoid doing that.
And if you are going to need it for more than a month or so, really do it under good medical supervision.
I've got to say, I've always been concerned about these medications because they hinder you from experiencing life.
And you use them incorrectly, which many of us are doing, especially judging by the fact prescriptions are growing so much each year.
And especially because younger people are using it, we need to draw a line in the sand and begin appreciating how damaging they can be for us.
There's no free lunch here.
I'll be right back.
Coming up, faced with daily food dilemmas?
Put time back on your side with quick and easy everyday cooking solutions for meals that are fast, flavorful, and even deep-fried.
Mark Bittman shows you how to make it fast and make it healthy.
Stay tuned.
Today, I am putting time back on your side.
I asked for your most common everyday food dilemmas, and I brought in the master of simple.
Smart, healthy cooking to solve them all.
Mark Bittman is here.
And Mark has researched and tested thousands of recipes to find healthier ways to cook.
And equally importantly, you're able to lose 30 pounds following your own rules.
How'd you do that?
Well, the rules, I've tried to distill this to the simplest thing possible, and I know you're going to like this.
These are the rules.
You look at the world of food.
Two-thirds of it isn't really food at all.
It's processed junk.
You throw that out the window.
Now you've got another third left.
In that third, you eat more plants than you used to.
You eat more than you ate last year, and next year you eat more than you ate this year.
And if you do that, you get rid of junk, you eat more plants than animal products, you are going to be healthier and lose weight.
There's no question about it.
It could be us.
This could be us.
It could be us.
All right, the first food dilemma is one everyone on my Facebook griped about.
No time to get dinner on the table.
Come on over here.
What's the secret?
It's what everybody says, right?
I don't have time to cook.
I don't have time to cook.
But make something that's fast, but also that tastes good and good for you.
Tastes good and good for you.
So one thing you can do is take advantage of steam.
So what you have here is a bed of kale.
With some chicken stock, a little olive oil, and on top of that, you put some salmon.
The kale cooks.
The steam from the kale cooks the salmon.
It stays moist.
The whole thing takes 20 minutes.
You got a bonus tip, right?
Well, this is a little...
This is just...
If you want to...
Cook chopped greens faster than using a knife.
You just attack them with the scissors.
And you get them done fast.
As much as I love you, I wanted to audit what you're saying.
So we reached out to our Facebook commenters, and Amy is joining us.
She actually agreeably tried these strategies.
How are you, Amy?
I'm very good.
Thanks, Dr. Oz.
How do they work?
And be honest, he's right there, but pretend he's not.
Do they work or not?
They were unbelievable.
The smell I recognized as soon as I walked in.
My family ran from their rooms.
It was wonderful.
I did use the spinach and the kale from the bag.
I made it even a little easier.
But it was unbelievable.
We will do it again, for sure.
So steam work and using a bed of lettuce.
Absolutely.
What's your dilemma?
I need your help.
I'm here.
I need to reduce my sodium intake.
I cannot eat as much salt as before.
I've been diagnosed with my blood pressure.
However, I have children.
They no longer like my food.
They hide from me when it's time to eat.
So what are you using for yourself and for those poor children to make the food more savory?
I tried chicken broth, but chicken broth with no salt is just water, so I don't use anything.
So I actually asked for a little evidence, and this is a picture of Shanita's son.
This is his reaction to reduced salt meals.
All right.
Come join us.
I'm going to show you something.
Mark, share some super fast solutions.
So what's your son's name?
Jamar.
So Jamar doesn't have to suffer the way he is in that image.
Hi.
Hi.
So two things that can really substitute for salt.
One actually has salt miso, but it has not as much salt, obviously, as straight salt.
It's fermented soybean paste.
It has incredible flavor.
You can add it to any vegetable, rice dish.
This is mushrooms with catfish, a little bit of miso.
Really, really good.
Go ahead and taste it with me.
Okay.
So it's got a little salt, but less, you say?
It's got less salt than straight salt, obviously.
It is salty.
It's got fantastic flavor.
It's good, isn't it?
Yeah.
I think Jamar would like this, don't you think?
Yeah.
He might.
This might be more difficult for him.
These are chipotle chilies, which are smoked jalapenos.
And you can buy them in a can like this, which is called the Dodo.
I can taste that.
Don't give that to Jamar.
They are hot.
Or you can buy them dried, in which case they're somewhat less hot and they also have no salt whatsoever.
That stuff, can you handle that?
Anyway, a little goes a long way.
I didn't tell you to eat that.
That might be punishment.
Punishment, right.
That's punishment for tomorrow.
You mix that with something like black beans that needs a flavor boost, it's incredible.
Where do folks find these?
Well, both of these are now in every supermarket.
This is usually in the dairy case near the tofu, and this is in the Latino ingredient section.
Take that to Jamar.
Thank you, Doctor.
Use it all a little.
The next fast fix is for Sarah.
How are you, Sarah?
Hi, good.
How are you?
So what's your dilemma?
Well, my dilemma is I've recently lost a lot of weight.
That's not a dilemma.
That's great.
I know, right?
But I really miss my fried foods.
So I'm wondering if there's a healthy alternative I might be able to incorporate into my lifestyle that might satisfy that craving?
Yeah, you fry foods, but you do it a different way.
You do it in less oil, a couple inches of oil.
It's really fast.
You're okay with frying foods?
Frying foods, especially in olive oil, which is what they do all over Europe, and they always have.
There's a myth that you can't fry in olive oil, but of course you can.
The temperatures need to be a little bit lower, 325, 335, and you can use a Instant read thermometer, frying thermometer, or when the oil's hot enough, if you just put a pinch of flour in there, it'll sizzle.
Just go, and you know the oil's hot enough.
This is vegetable tempura.
The batter is just flour and water, and it's all vegetables, so you have your regular dinner.
This is an appetizer or a side dish, and these are really, really beautiful.
The book this is all from is How to Cook Everything Fast, and the details for this are in there, so you'll find them.
Thank you.
Enjoy.
Thank you.
Thank you.
The next food dilemma, which is very popular when online, is that the chicken takes just too long to cook.
And let's face it, it's boring.
These are all pictures I put up here of folks sending me images of their chicken.
I mean, one tedious image after another.
People are very depressed.
You have a super-fast solution.
You know, I'd like to show this, which is so beautiful compared to those.
And this is chicken breasts with a salsa of tomatoes, onions, avocado.
One thing that happens is the chicken breasts are big.
This is big.
And to cook this through without drying it out, Is a challenge.
So one thing that makes it both faster and allows it to cook more evenly is you cut them in half horizontally like that.
Maybe you pound them a little bit with your hand, flatten them a little bit with your hand.
They cook more evenly.
They cook more quickly, three or four minutes.
They brown beautifully.
You can You can rub the chicken breast with a little bit of garlic just to get some flavor right on there.
They're moist.
And then this beautiful salsa of avocado, tomatoes, onions.
Yeah, they cook quickly and they cook evenly and they stay moist.
You turn it into a bruschetta, basically.
You put stuff on top of it, right?
Sort of.
I love having you here.
Thank you very much.
Mark said a wonderful new book.
It's called How to Cook Everything Fast.
It is out now.
It is fantastic.
You can find all the recipes we just talked about on DrOz.com as well.
as well.
Be right back.
Next, it's the sweet treat that everyone craves most, chocolate.
And we're putting it to the test.
We have the recipes to bring you over to the dark side.
Your best dark chocolate dessert.
There's no sugar in this.
There's no sugar.
Indulge without the guilt.
Next.
Dr. Oz has outrageously funny health questions from Jimmy Kimmel and Joe McHale.
How big should a hemorrhoid be before you bite its own seat on an airplane?
All new Dr. Oz.
That's coming up tomorrow.
I'm having a contest.
I ask my viewers to send in their best recipes for one sweet treat I know you all crave the most.
Chocolate.
And not just any chocolate, dark chocolate.
The first recipe comes from Laura.
What's in your dark chocolate recipe?
This is my dark chocolate bark.
It's full of all kinds of high antioxidants.
I used to make it with milk chocolate, but I switched over to dark.
Well, thank you for being honorable and telling me.
And where did the inspiration come from?
Well, I have kids in school, and it turns out there are a lot of food allergies in my son's classroom.
So I needed to create something that he could bring in for his birthday that would be acceptable by the kids with allergies.
So there are milk allergies or nut allergies.
So this is what I came up with.
There are no nuts in here either, or you can add nuts?
No nuts.
In fact, you can add nuts, yeah.
But in this particular recipe, I use cocoa nibs instead of nuts.
Very nice.
Yeah.
Provides a nice crunch.
So I can tell you right now, I love this, and I'm about to taste it, but before I do, I want to acknowledge something.
Y'all are sort of being tricked by me, because I'm not the judge.
Here to judge which recipe is sweetest, Mr. Chocolate himself, Jacques Torres.
Good to see you.
Hello, nice to meet you.
Are you concerned about him being a judge of your chocolate?
I think my knees just got weak.
Yes.
So Jacques, teach me a little bit about dark chocolate.
I do love chocolate.
Let's see.
Oh, I like it.
He smells it first.
Yes.
We have some semi-sweet chocolates in here.
I love the nibs.
The nibs actually is the most pure, the purest form of chocolate that you can eat.
Come directly from the tree, of course.
Thoughts on this so far?
I know you're going to grade them all later on.
This is good.
This is very good.
Thank you.
A good is better than a bad.
A good is definitely better than bad.
And you know what you did really right?
You make it very thin.
So when you take it, break very easily, melt very easily, and we have good flavor of the sherry and the nibs and, of course, the coconut.
Keep your fingers crossed that good is good enough.
Thank you.
Next recipe comes from Ariana.
What is your favorite dark chocolate recipe, Ariana?
I make the most delicious dark chocolate banana crepes.
I like the way it crepes.
Now they're showing off.
I like this.
How did you come up with this recipe?
I was craving chocolate one night and I wanted to stay low on sugar and yet still get my sweet fix.
So I used what I had.
I had eggs, I had dark chocolate powder, cinnamon, and bananas.
And out came this really delicious and weird combination.
How do you add dark chocolate to eggs?
You use dark cocoa powder.
And so I cracked the eggs open into my food processor, added the cocoa powder, cinnamon, and half of the banana, blended it up, and then I poured it into the heated pan, let it sit for three minutes with a lid on top, and out come these very fluffy and delicious shapes.
So expert opinion, Jacques, what do you think?
I like to have, if I do something with chocolates, I love to have a little bit more chocolate flavor.
But you know what?
You put the whole eggs.
No, you don't put just egg white in there.
The whole egg?
Yes, and that's something I think you did right.
If you put only egg white, that will be very rubbery.
So the texture is actually excellent.
We can pour some chocolate sauce on top.
Next is Christine.
Now she combines two loves, deep loves she has in her life, the chocolate and the café.
Is that right?
Espresso.
Espresso in particular.
How'd you do that?
Well, I took my love of chocolate and espresso and mixed them together into a batter that I had some butter in, and I actually took some of the butter out and put in Greek yogurt instead to make a really healthy concoction.
I like that.
She's hitting all the right words here, Jacques.
Mm-hmm.
What did your family say when they first tasted these, Christina?
Well, they actually call them chocolate bombers.
And I love to wrap them up and put them by the pillow of loved ones as surprises, chocolate surprises.
Oh, very elegant.
So they are definitely a hit.
By the pillow?
By the pillow.
You eat that in bed?
Yeah.
Of course, the best place to have it.
What do you think?
Does this whisper to your sweet tooth?
You know what?
I like the texture.
The texture is actually soft.
They look like they're going to be pretty crispy, and it's actually soft.
Good flavor of chocolates.
I like it.
Yum.
Good job.
Yum.
We have a like and a good.
All right.
And finally, Gisha's here.
You have a little twist on a family favorite, a very common one.
Yes.
Walk me through it.
This is my dark chocolate mousse, which is very delicious.
I see.
And I decided to introduce my family to dark chocolate because not everyone likes dark chocolate.
They don't?
Well, not everyone in my family likes dark chocolate.
But the one little...
Duck's going to drink your chocolate in a second.
It's drinkable.
The one little trick is that it doesn't have any sugar.
There's no sugar in this?
There's no sugar.
Just chocolate, eggs...
It's really sweet.
Yeah, if you start with some chocolate, that's actually a little bit sweet to start with.
So that's why you didn't add any sugar, certainly.
How do you know that?
The flavor, it's sweet, so it has to be...
The sugar comes from somewhere.
Certainly from the chocolates at the beginning.
So that's why you don't add any.
If you start with a 70%, like over there, it will be a lot stronger and less sweet than that.
Would this be a hit in your house?
I find it a little bit sweet.
The flavors are excellent.
I find it a little bit sweet.
But the mousse is actually very light.
This is really well done.
Here's the deal.
Come on over here, Jacques.
We actually have a prize basket here.
One of these women is about to win the ultimate prize.
You've got to be brave about this.
You've made some...
I don't know!
I don't know!
Well, you made some biting comments and some, literally, and some loving comments.
Here it is.
I want you to walk down.
Drum roll, please, everybody.
Who's the winner?
The winner is...
And it is!
And it is!
Oh, the bark!
He wins the bark!
We have a winner here!
Congratulations.
That is a real tribute.
I got to say, you know what?
I loved every one of them.
You were all winners in my mind, so much so that everyone up here and everyone out there in the entire audience, you're all going home with the chocolate's compliment of Jacques Torres.
All of these recipes are on DrRoz.com.
Be right back.
Very well done.
I love you.
It was so good.
Tell us, what's your favorite chocolate recipe?
I absolutely love Daphne Oz's recipe for German chocolate cake.
I saw it on the show a couple years ago and tried it, and it has become a family favorite.
Share your recipe on Facebook.com slash Dr. Oz.
Coming up next, chest congestion, runny nose, cough, don't have the time to get healthy?
The 10-second solutions for your worst cold.
Natural at-home remedies that can work for everybody.
Coming up next on The Dr. Oz Show.
We are bringing healthy back this season and want you to bring it too.
Grab your prescription pad for fun and sign up for free tickets today.
You can go to DrOz.com slash tickets and sign up.
Did I get it right?
I got it.
Think you don't have time to get healthy?
Well, think again.
I've got the 10-second solutions for your worst cold.
I've challenged viewers to share their fastest natural remedies and chose the ones I believe can work for you.
Laura's up first.
She has the 10-second solution for chest congestion.
Are you all ready?
Laura, ready?
Help me with this.
Spin it around.
It is eucalyptus.
That's the stuff.
We have to steam with it.
How'd you come up with this idea?
Now, I don't get sick very often.
I'm a pretty healthy gal, Dr. Oz.
I watch your show a lot.
Thank you.
But when I was growing up, back in the 70s, me and my mom used to do this all the time.
There used to be a contraption, I don't know if it still exists, that you plug into the wall, and it was filled up with water, a few drops of eucalyptus in it, and you put your face on it, inhale a few times, and it just loosens up your whole nasal...
So what do you do now when you get sick?
So now, I mean, I do a pot of water works with really hot water, or I do it just over the stove.
So a couple drops, however strong you like it.
I don't think you can use too much, to tell you the truth.
And a towel over your head, just so you don't lose any of that valuable steam.
Yes, and you go down low.
You don't drink it.
No, no, no.
A few inhales, and it just clears you right up.
It's great.
You know why I like this?
This is true for all the remedies.
There's actually pretty good data behind this.
The heat and the moisture is obviously good because it sort of opens up stuff that dissolves some of the mucus deep in your lungs and your throat.
The other part is eucalyptus is very soothing, independent of whether you inhale it that deeply.
So it's a good idea.
Thank you very much.
Another tip is, you know, it clears out the pores, by the way.
Is that right?
We have a beauty segment going on.
Added benefit.
Oh, I love that.
All right.
Nicole's here, she's got a 10-second benefit for a stuffy nose.
It is, something with great trepidation I turn this, a spice shot.
Yes.
What is this, Nicole?
Well, you start off with a little bit of horseradish and a little bit of ketchup, and then you throw some lemon in there.
It's almost like a Bloody Mary mix, except with ketchup.
It's kind of how I originally came up with it, my mom.
I used to like really spicy Bloody Marys, so I used to drink the mix, and it used to just make everything run.
So, I mean, every time I get a stuffy nose, I put some of that on either a shrimp cocktail or even just by itself.
But you always have this stuff in the house, so it makes it really easy to kind of cut it, especially before the bed.
You ever cut it with alcohol?
Well, on Sunday mornings, maybe.
Sunday mornings.
Alright, I've never heard of this.
Is this too much to put on?
No, actually, that's pretty good.
Depending on how much spice you can handle.
No, I can't handle spice.
Can I finish this segment?
Can you do a segment for me if I take this?
I'll totally take it on.
Oh, it's very strong.
I thought, whoa.
I'm a huge fan of spice, but only some spices.
This one's so different.
Well, if my nose was clogged, this would have opened it up.
I've actually been studying again.
The mucus actually can't stay in place because nothing can stay in place with that kind of spice in your mouth.
It will clear up very effectively.
Thank you for the tip.
Oh, you're very welcome.
I will use vodka, by the way.
Okay, thank you.
Next up is Geeta.
She has a 10-second solution for a cough.
It is something very old.
Thyme, honey, and milk all together.
Tell me about this natural remedy.
So anytime my daughter gets a cold or a sore throat, I usually whip up this simple and easy recipe for her and it helps her sleep and it calms her down.
You're very calming with your voice.
So how do I do it?
So all you do is you take the honey.
Just pour it in there like that?
Yes, you can pour it in there.
And you put a little thyme.
Honey is, you should all remember this, honey is an absolute proven calsopressin.
It is as effective as just about anything you can buy in the drugstore.
So honey for that, that makes sense.
And then you just take about two to three drops, drop it in.
Of thyme?
Yes, of thyme.
Thyme relaxes your throat muscles.
It could work.
You use this a lot?
I do, actually.
Let's see what it tastes like.
See, some of these remedies would work, but you'd die if you took them, so...
That's much better than that.
This saucy thing I was doing.
This soothes my throat after that terrible spice shot.
Thank you very much.
I appreciate it.
All right, let's get one more real quick.
This is for a runny nose.
And it's one of the most annoying things about a cold.
10-second solution for it is presented by Erin.
And what is it, Erin?
It is garlic.
So it's something I always have in my house.
It's one of my favorite spices or herbs to cook with.
Very simple.
All you do, what I do, is I just mince the garlic.
Take a little spoonful of it, and then I swallow with water.
So it's really good if I feel a cold coming on, a little sore throat, runny nose, and it seems to prevent it.
I've been doing it for a few years, and I have very good luck.
I don't get cold very often at all.
Well, there's two benefits, as I can say.
One, it actually works preventively, and secondly, no one will get close to you with that much garlic in your breath.
They can't get you sick.
Thank you very much, Aaron.
We'll be right back.
I love all these ideas.
Woo!
It's great.
Now we want to hear from you.
What's your favorite 10-second solution?
Honey for acne.
All you have to do is dab a small amount of honey on your acne and put a bandage on it right before bed.
Works great.
Share your solution on Facebook.com slash Dr. Oz.
Dr. Oz goes late night.
Outrageous health questions from some of the funniest guys in showbiz.
Jimmy Kimmel and Joel McHale.
How big should a hemorrhoid be before you buy its own seat on an airplane?
I'm asking for a friend.
Plus, Dr. Oz takes over the internet.
See the fastest fixes for trending health topics.
And hashtag to healing.
All new Dr. Oz.
That's coming up tomorrow.
I recently came across a story that I found both creative and inspiring.
A man in Saudi Arabia who has chosen to remain anonymous had the idea to put a charity fridge outside his home.
Now, the fridge is open for donations and its contents are free to those in need.
And the idea has inspired many locals to donate food and has even led others to follow in his footsteps setting up a charity fridge of their own.
Now, why do I say this?
Because with the upcoming holiday season, he reminded me that big or small, there are many endless ways to give.
So think about these ideas.
That's time for in case you missed it.
Kurt, we looked at a possible link between benzodiazepines and Alzheimer's.
There are multiple reasons why I think these drugs are of concern.
I'm worried about benzos being used incorrectly with people often using them and taking them too long when they're just meant for short-term use.
The number of prescriptions continues to grow every year in this country and people are starting to use them at younger ages.
But here's the deal, and maybe most importantly, these drugs can be very addicting, and the use needs to be overseen by your doctor, especially if we're now linking them to things like Alzheimer's.
Lastly, and this is a real thrill, I had a dark chocolate recipe contest.
And the dark chocolate winner was, drum roll, All things in front of me, they're fantastic.
By the way, they were all fantastic.
But these little things, dark colored dried fruits and nuts, these barks are unbelievable.
And our expert today chose it as a winner for good reason.
Dark chocolate in general is good for you.
But in particular, if you make it tasty, everybody loves it.
For the full recipe, go to dros.com.
In fact, for all the chocolates, we'll put them up there.
Finally, let me close with a warning.
Please be careful about what you're buying online, especially weight loss pills.
Dubious people online make it seem like I'm endorsing their products, which I don't.
To see a full list of our trusted sponsorship partners, you can go to DrRoz.com.
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