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Dec. 8, 2023 - Dr. Oz Podcast
42:37
Jennifer Aniston Talks About Her Role in "Cake" | Dr. Oz | S6 | Ep 72 | Full Episode
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She's raw, poignant, unexpected.
Golden Globe nominee Jennifer Aniston on the breakout role women everywhere struggle with.
A woman suffering with chronic pain, battling addiction to painkillers.
It's the stuff no one talks about until now.
A sobering look at painkiller addiction that almost took a toll on her health.
Coming up next on Dr. Oz.
Today, a very special guest to talk about an unexpected but very important health issue.
Jennifer Aniston is here.
It's estimated that as many as 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain.
That's 100 million people dealing with both the physical and emotional scars of this often crippling disability.
In her new movie, and it's fabulous, it's called Cake, Hollywood's golden girl, Jennifer Aniston, literally disappears into the role of a drug-addicted woman suffering from pain that just won't go away.
I am in a lot of pain.
I know.
You may know, but sometimes I suspect that you think I'm this uncooperative...
Old bitch who's just making all of this up.
Chronic pain sufferers know all too well the ordeal Claire Simmons is going through.
The character Jennifer Aniston portrays in Cake is a physical and emotional wreck after an accident leaves her scarred and hurting.
Combative and depressed, Claire pops powerful painkillers to cope and goes to great lengths to satisfy her addiction.
What do you need?
I made a list.
And then I checked on the internet to see if they were different in Mexico.
This is a lot.
Trying to sedate the small city?
With Oscar buzz building for the role of her career, today Jennifer Aniston shares her own very personal connection to chronic pain.
Jennifer Aniston, please join us.
Oh, I'm so happy to meet you.
I'm so happy to meet you.
Hi.
Wow.
That's so exciting.
Isn't it good?
I am so excited to be here.
I'm such a huge fan of yours.
You're a DVR. You're on my DVR. It's not a VCR anymore.
And we, even Justin, as I was coming here, he texted again saying, make sure you tell Dr. Ross how much we love him.
I love you too.
I love the way you bring life to all the roles you're in.
But I gotta say, cake, It takes it to a whole new level.
I was a doctor, I deal with chronic pain a lot.
You've obviously touched it a little bit in this role.
But you see people, when they're in chronic pain, fall to such levels of despair.
What captivated you?
What wouldn't you have pushed you to want to play such a complex role?
I mean, it's dark, but it's funny.
I mean, you're laughing part of the time, and you're really teary at other parts.
Well, it was one of those stories that was so beautifully written by Patrick Tobin.
This character was so layered, so complex, living in such physical and emotional pain.
And I just felt this need to get into the room with that director and say, please, I feel like I know I can do this.
I really do.
I'm willing to challenge myself.
I want to understand it because it was something What she walks through, what she goes through is unimaginable trauma and loss.
And then to be living in that physical constant reminder every single day, it was just something I was very intrigued by.
Let me tease into how you actually were able to learn so much about this.
You called doctors, you called patients.
What was that like talking to people who are in chronic pain?
There's so much I didn't quite understand.
You know, you...
One of the most amazing things is how many people are suffering quietly, not wanting to discuss it, feeling that there's shame around it, weakness, get over it, come on, it can't be that bad.
I don't think people really understand it.
And I think because it's not really openly discussed, I don't know if people are as aware that this is a true problem.
And how many women between 30 and 60 are addicts due to pain medication?
So chronic pain is actually defined as pain that lasts longer than six months.
And at this point, the physical and the emotional pain actually merge.
They become one.
To help her research chronic pain and addiction, Jen turned to her longtime friend Stacy.
Stacy is not only Jennifer's good friend, she's also her stunt double and an accident survivor who suffered through years of chronic pain.
While scuba diving in Hawaii, a boat propeller shredded Stacy's leg, leaving her in constant pain and feeling broken and depressed.
Like Jennifer's character in Cake, Stacy also developed an addiction to the medication that eased her pain.
So who better to help Jennifer research and develop her role than someone she knows and loves who lived it?
Stacey joins us.
Thanks for being here.
Could you help everyone understand a little bit about how your life changed when you had that accident, when you had the chronic pain?
And especially if you could talk a little bit about the addiction that you were suffering with.
Yes, it was devastating.
And it was life-changing.
And for four years, it was a difficult journey.
I had no idea that I couldn't just stop taking the meds.
How are you doing now?
I'm doing great.
She was a stunt coordinator on Cake.
She's back.
She's full on back.
She's a powerful, extraordinary human.
So how did Stacey, her determination, her willingness to get past this difficult time inspire you?
Oh my God, it inspired all of...
I mean, the truth is when I met Stacey, when our girls met Stacey, she was already...
had risen above it.
And so...
The time then when we actually went into the deep discussion with her and we were sort of telling, I'm sure we were in a goddess circle of some sort and we were telling our stories.
And then, you know, this horrible accident came out.
She drops her trousers and there's this scar that is, you know, our hearts and jaws just fell on the floor.
You look so different in this movie than we usually see.
You move slowly, you breathe differently.
The life, if you look at Jen's eyes now, you're always alive, but they were dying in the movie.
How'd you do that?
For me, it was really starting with the physical of the accident.
What was broken?
What part of my body was broken?
How would that feel that every single movement that you made just is just agonizing?
And so it was about living in that and then also realizing that that injury, that pain is a daily reminder of what you survived that's That she felt she really shouldn't have survived, you know?
The guilt that goes with that.
Yeah, yeah.
You ate differently, I understand.
I stopped exercising.
I stopped exercising.
I ate...
Well, what's interesting, when you stop exercising, it really was interesting how you just...
My serotonin levels went down.
I didn't have any...
My stamina was shot.
I was cranky.
I was irritable.
I'm usually really not any of those things, and I'm...
I just found myself short.
I was hungry, like crazy.
And then you realize, God, exercise is just so important to just our soul.
Not just having a nice, you know, being able to fit into skinny jeans, but just your state of mind, your soul, all of that.
I surrendered into it.
I actually didn't fight it.
I didn't think, oh God, this is horrible.
It was such a part of what I enjoyed about mining this character, and I worked with an incredible woman who is my guide and sort of partner in the excavation of who she was, Claire, and how to navigate such emotional territory, you know?
How does it feel to have everyone talking about Oscar possibilities for you?
I mean, what can I say?
I just feel it's something you never expect.
You know, I never expected to be even in that kind of a conversation.
But it's a giddy little teenager inside.
I'm really proud of everybody who put so much heart and soul and their love into this movie.
And so that it's getting, this is amazing.
So before I let you go, because you do watch this show, take it away.
Ask a question, any question you want.
Well, almost any question.
A question you're allowed to ask on national television.
So hard.
Oh, right?
Okay.
I have so many questions for you, by the way.
I have a hard time sleeping.
Sleep is a tough one for me.
My brain, the committee in my head, if I wake up at 3 in the morning, it just is like, oh, no.
And then I just start having conversations, and they won't shut up.
And then I can't get back to sleep.
And then I do have three animals and a human being in the bed.
So, I mean, there's all these distractions.
But I would really love to know.
Oh, and I got an app on my phone that allows you to sort of track your sleep rhythms, like how deep you go.
I don't really ever quite get into the deep, deep, deep sleep.
And am I going to die young?
Let me read your palm.
It's a long life line.
That's even longer.
Most people when they go into their heads, they're going behind enemy lines.
There's some bad stuff going on in there.
They're hamster wheel.
But there are things we do before we go to bed that really mess us up.
So if you want, I'll show you a couple.
You want to be my Vanna White?
Come on over.
Alright, so talking about sleep disturbers, alright?
The first sleep disturber...
I don't get to put on a purple jumpsuit or something?
Can I have purple gloves, please?
Oh, yes, purple gloves.
She needs purple gloves.
Okay, thank you.
Okay, but we're going to start in the meantime.
Okay.
I want you to go ahead and show me what's under the first box.
These are the first sleep disturbers, and they are...
All your electronics.
Now, you know all those fun things you want to have in your life, but there's more to it than meets the eye.
That's a light bulb.
Isn't that interesting?
Look at that.
Look at that thing.
Who knew a light bulb's...
That's a present.
That is a present for me to you.
Thank you.
But let me explain why this is so critical.
A lot of people think that the problem with electronics is that they don't want to get their mind revved up again.
Oh, here are your gloves.
Toss them over here.
These are yours.
Thank you.
You go ahead and put them on, although it's only...
I can touch everything, but I'm just pretending like I can't.
Exactly right.
I can throw an organ out.
You want to have an organ out here?
No.
All right.
Yes, maybe.
Maybe later.
Think about it.
So, electronics aren't just about stimulating your brain.
The light, the actual physical light from the electronics messes with your brain and throws off your sleep cycle.
For example, when you go to bed at night, where do you put your cell phone?
Well, not because of my sleep app, right next to my bed.
On my mattress!
Oh, bad.
Naughty, naughty, naughty.
Well, all right.
It says to put it on your mattress when you sleep.
Do it once to figure out how your deep sleep is, but if it's within five feet of where you're sleeping, it messes with the deep sleep you're trying to get into.
Why would you want to do that to yourself?
I don't want to do that to myself.
So, five feet away.
And this light is interesting.
They have a lot of these LED lights now.
They don't emit light that's of the blue spectrum that actually prevents your brain from making melatonin.
You've got to have the melatonin coming through your brain in order to put you to sleep.
And so the light in your room, the light on your devices, it's actually very toxic to that.
So, you know, change that equation.
I want you to turn, either turn your lights down, or get, this is yours, you can take that, but these lights are available all over the country, and people ought to be using them in their nightstands, so they're not walking up, especially if you go to the bathroom at night.
Okay.
That's really bad.
That's really bad.
Yes.
Does this make pretty light?
Yes, beautiful light.
Okay.
You can't even tell the difference.
And are you ready for the final?
Yes.
You'd like to have a little bit of this before bedtime?
Oh!
Well, not red.
What do you drink?
We do enjoy a little Pinot Grigio.
Pinot Grigio.
Well, we'll pretend.
Okay, pretend it.
It's all evil.
Is that all evil?
It's interesting.
Wine does make you sleepy, but as it wears off and your body metabolizes it, it really messes with your deep sleep.
Is that because it turns into sugar and the sugar wakes you up?
Or is it?
It's not just the sugar.
It falsely sedates you.
And your body wants to recover from it.
And so as it balances back, the pendulum seems too far.
You're wide awake, Jen, at 3 in the morning.
And then, of course, as you mentioned, the internal committee takes a fair.
This is my toast to you.
Congratulations for all you do.
I have adored having you on the show.
Jen's great new movie, Cake, opens in some cities December 31st, a nationwide January 23rd.
Check it out.
We'll be right back.
Next, the best diets, breakthrough medical advancements, and the year's biggest trends.
I'm already shaking and it's not just because I'm excited to be standing here with you.
We're counting down the year's biggest top three.
The best in health for 2014. You guys ready for the big one?
Next.
Oprah sits down with Oz.
I love the viewers!
She opens up about her struggles and the film that's inspiring the nation to take a stand.
How do we heal our nation?
All new Oz.
That's coming up tomorrow.
It's been a great year in health.
So today, I'm counting down this year's biggest and best in health, from trends to medical advancements to diets.
Number three is an exercise trend.
Crazy workout sensations have long swept the nation, but this year it seemed everybody hit the bar.
Not for a drink, but for a better body.
Named for the hip-height handrail used by dancers to maintain balance during practice, this technique incorporates ballet, pilates, and yoga to lengthen, strengthen, and tone your core.
Bar-themed workouts are taking the fitness world by storm, popping up on YouTube and every gym, mall, and bookshelf around, making it this year's breakthrough exercise, bar none.
Number three of the Countdown Bar Exercise.
Sadie is founder of Bar3, a nationwide bar company, and she's joining us to talk about why it's such a valuable exercise.
Hi, thanks for having me.
Why do you love it?
Well, we all love it because, really, anybody can do this workout.
It's incredibly doable, and it's incredibly results-driven, which we like, right?
Will you show me how to do it?
I would love to show you how to do it.
So we've got Frida and Mary, they're going to join us from the audience.
They are completely inexperienced, as I am, about this workout.
You're in good hands.
Show us through the folks at home.
You don't have to go to a studio, right?
You can probably just use a bar in your house somewhere.
You can.
There are ballet bars anywhere.
My husband and I use our kitchen counter.
You can use a pack of a park bench, a couch.
You can just use your husband.
Put your hand on his shoulder.
Yeah, you can.
You can do it anywhere, yeah.
So let's do Starfish.
So Starfish, we're going to take a narrow second position.
Super accessible.
Bend the knees.
What's the second position?
So second is like if your legs are at 3 and 9, but we're going to turn them at 2 and 10. Yes.
And then bend the knees and shoulders over hips, tailbone down, belly in, ribs in.
Frida, no cheating, Frida, back there.
No cheating.
I got my eye on her.
Okay.
So from here we're going to do a plie.
So you're going to drop down.
Oh, jeez.
Lift the arm up and kind of lean towards your ballet bar.
Straighten the legs.
Yeah, perfect.
And then come down.
And then I like to start here.
We love our modifications.
So you can stay here or go into full starfish where you lift the leg up and kind of lean over the bar.
And then come down.
And lift.
And come down.
And reach.
And come down.
So we're going to put a bunch of bar exercises at DrRoz.com.
Everyone at home, I want you doing this stuff.
It actually is much more taxing.
You guys keep going.
I'm exhausted.
Nice job, Frida.
A little flare like this.
All right.
Number two on the countdown is a medical advancement that could change the face of cancer testing forever.
This is really cool.
It's called the colon cancer at home test.
It looks like this.
It's so simple.
Simply put this on top of your toilet.
That goes on top of the toilet.
Then your seat goes on top of that.
Then this little bucket goes inside because guess what?
It's gonna catch your poop.
It collects the stool sample and then Throw away the bottom.
Get this little box.
There's a little solution that goes in to preserve it.
Put that in there.
And you are done.
You take this thing, squeeze it tight, so you don't leak any on the way off to the laboratory, which is where you're sending it.
When it gets to the laboratory, they actually test this for DNA changes in your stool.
Now, let me be clear.
This is not replacing diagnostic colonoscopies.
But what's in this bucket can be hugely helpful because cancer researchers, and they're right, argued the best kind of cancer testing is one that people actually get.
This is so easy that all you've got to do is go to the bathroom and send it off.
It's available through prescription, and it's covered by Medicare.
And at-home testings like this, I believe, are the future of medicine because, again, everyone will do it.
Are you guys ready for your number one countdown item?
All right.
It is the way we eat, and diet was completely changed this year for the better.
It's the trend that defied everything the medical profession has believed about fat since the 1950s.
After decades of blame as a major cause of weight gain, 2014 will now be remembered as the year fat came back.
Friday through Sunday are about eating healthy fats to burn fat.
Now I actually call this fat loading to lose fat.
New studies this year point the finger at refined sugars and carbs as the real culprits in our dietary downfalls.
Putting saturated fats in a whole new and healthy light.
It's a one-two punch.
And the curry is the secret part here.
Cashews, all nuts will help you lose weight.
The new bottom line?
Both doctors and diet pros are now incorporating fats back into their reduction regimes.
The best part is they're packed with healthy fats that blast away your belly fat.
Making fat the comeback king of the weight loss world.
Number one on my countdown.
Fat is back.
Marie is joining us.
Take a look at what Marie did over the last year.
This is her last year.
Unbelievable.
Isn't that remarkable?
Now, you say this year was the year that you actually used fat to make you skinny.
I did, Dr. Oz.
My whole life, my whole life, everybody told me, low fat, low fat, fat's bad.
Well, this year, I put fat back in my diet, did a low-carb diet as well, and everyone, I lost 52 pounds.
Nice job.
Wait, wait, wait.
And that's not the only thing.
I lowered my cholesterol that I am no longer on any medication.
Thank you very much.
Isn't it remarkable?
It is.
It's almost crazy that we don't do that all the time in our lives.
I know.
Especially people that we love.
All right, come over here.
I want you to walk people very concretely through the tips you use to change your life.
Okay, so I make, I'm Italian, right?
So I need my meatballs.
I usually make my meatballs with breadcrumb, right?
So I'm on a low carb diet, high fat.
I reinvented the meatball.
I now use almond meal, chicken meatballs, and I also make this with ground beef, but because of you I made it with chicken because it's healthy.
Oh, it's so good.
It's good, right?
It tastes Italian.
Yeah, Italian.
And what are these?
Now, I love avocado as well, so I swapped out my Hellman's mayonnaise and put in some avocado and made it a high-fat, healthy tuna.
I mean, it's very savory.
Very.
How'd you come up with these ideas?
You know what?
I love to eat.
You figured it out.
I have to make things that taste good, and I'm not a diet person, so I just keep reinventing the wheel.
And I've heard rumors about this mousse already from my staff.
Okay, so again, Italian.
Love my cannoli.
Cannolis.
They're not part of any program.
I had to make a cannoli, chocolate cannoli cream with high-fat ricotta cream, and there it is.
You know, I never had a cannoli until I got married to my wife, who's from Staten Island.
Oh!
And they have really good cannolis there, but this would match any cannoli I've ever had.
Thank you so much.
I'm very proud of you, not just for knowing what to do, but actually doing it in a way that works for you.
Thank you so much.
We're going to put all Maureen's recipes on DrRoz.com.
coming right back we're gonna shut you down turn you off and unplug you from your electronic A three-day digital detox challenge to wean you off your electronics so you can sleep better, stress less, and power up your real life.
Next. Now, warning.
What I'm about to do might make you, certainly many of you, very nervous.
If you thought of shutting down your electronic device and then walking away makes you shudder, then this next segment is for you.
Because today, my simple three-day digital detox to help wean you off electronics so you can get better sleep and stress less.
It's an electronic epidemic.
The average adult now spends almost half their day in front of a screen.
This can lead to eye strain, headaches, and has been even linked to depression and anxiety.
That's why I challenged three plugged-in viewers to undergo my three-day digital detox.
The only break allowed?
Video diaries to tell us how they're doing.
I'm halfway through day one of my digital detox and I hate it.
I feel like I have all this anxiety because I'm missing out on stuff.
I have 28 text messages and I cracked and texted my friend.
Let's just get real.
How does anybody do this?
I never realized how much I actually relied on my phone.
It's almost ridiculous.
Things are getting a little bit easier than I thought they'd be.
So I was not up on my phone all night and I definitely got a better night's sleep.
So it's the end of day three and I feel so much better.
I was able to catch up on things I hadn't been able to catch up on in a long, long time.
This has definitely been a learning experience for me.
I feel like I'm not as dependent on my phone as I was when I started.
I feel so much better about myself not being on social media all the time.
Hopefully I can get my kids to do the same thing.
Tech expert Minoush Yamarodi is here.
Now, she reports on technology.
It's a big part of your job.
So why would you even think of a digital detox?
Well, I'm not just a tech reporter.
I'm also a mom.
I'm a working woman.
And I am in front of a screen all the time.
And it kind of got to the point where I wasn't sleeping that well.
And I thought, you know what?
I want to find some balance.
I want to be in control of my technology.
I don't want it to be in control of me.
So let's reveal the simple detox steps to lower your digital dependence.
The first thing you want us to do is to dumb down your smartphone.
Yes, we do.
Okay, so does everybody remember this?
Maybe?
It's a phone, actually.
We used to use it to make telephone calls until we started using just this.
So what we're suggesting here is look at your phone.
Take off that app that is constantly making you go to it.
That game that you can't stop playing.
Turn off the notifications.
Go into settings and say, you know what?
Don't ping me when there's a new message.
I don't want to know.
Tell your kids, don't text me all the time.
Call me if there's an emergency.
And then with yourself, remember paper?
Paper.
Write down your to-do list, stick it on the refrigerator, stick it in front of your desk, and you will see it.
That visual cue will actually help you get more things done than maybe typing it in there in some folder and forgetting you ever did it.
I love this as a tech reporter speaking.
So let's get to our women.
The ladies who took the digital detox are all here.
Carolyn is joining us.
So what was it like to dumb down your phone?
I mean, let's be honest.
It was really difficult at first.
But, you know, with time it got easier.
I was a lot more aware of what was going on around me.
My friends were definitely happier that I wasn't sidetracked during conversation.
I would say I cut the time I spent online in half.
In half?
It's a big shift.
Imani, what was it like to not have that constant buzzing, reminding you that people cared about you, that there was stuff coming in, that there was stuff you had to do?
It was actually pretty refreshing.
I was able to do more things with my family.
My husband was able to spend more family time with him.
I got more sleep.
And my phone stayed charged a lot longer, too.
Good.
Alright.
The next step to a plan is the digital curfew.
So, what time is the best time to give your digital devices a little bit of a rest?
Okay, so what I'm suggesting is, you know, after dinner time, check your phone once.
And then go plug it in to be charged outside of your bedroom.
No screen time an hour before you go to sleep.
Because we know that blue light really disrupts the sort of brain currents that are going on.
Again, you know more than I do.
But we know, like, for me, I was looking at a screen and then, oh, time to sleep.
And I couldn't just relax and sleep into that deep sleep that Imani was talking about.
I love that you're having us plug in outside our room.
Two things, obviously, you're right, the light does influence our ability to get to sleep, but the phone near our head influences the quality of our sleep.
Two reasons to get it outside of your room.
You also want us to take mini breaks during the day.
Yes, I do.
So what we have in front of us here is a phone stack.
And the idea is that when you're going into a meeting or you're meeting with friends for lunch, stack up all your phones so you're not texting under the table or constantly checking, right?
And the first one to cave to grab their phone has to buy a round of coffee for everybody, has to do the dishes, maybe even get stuck with the bill.
So there's some incentive to be really present with the people who are surrounding you, not the ones on Facebook.
So we tested out this idea with our staff this week.
So this is actually the phone stack we created.
Our meetings, by the way, are a little bit shorter because everyone's focused.
At our households, for dinner, we don't let the cell phones in the room.
Everyone has to leave it outside the room so we eat because they always hear the buzzing.
But now that I think about it, we just turn off the alerts and we're in better shape.
You know, I want to mention one more thing.
A lot of us use our phone as our alarm clock at night.
I went and bought an old-fashioned alarm clock again, so I wouldn't be checking my phone.
I'm proud of you.
Thank you.
Before we get to the next step, I want to show something to you.
Look at this screen.
Does this look like any of your screens?
See how crowded it sort of looks there?
I know I'm not alone by showing this.
The next step for digital detox is to focus on one window at a time.
Manoushe Wise is so important.
Well, because we are flitting around.
You look at those windows.
They're piled up.
I feel stressed just looking at all those windows that are open.
We're on Twitter, we're on Facebook.
Oh wait, I meant to write that letter.
We're all over the place.
So we have found an app called Self Control.
So you can see what I do is I'm going to set this for 25 minutes.
What a great name, Self Control.
I know.
I know, right?
If only we all had it.
This app has it for us.
Okay, so 30 minutes.
I'm gonna push start.
Okay.
And I know so many of you are spending so much time at, let's put in Dr. Oz.com.
Yes, there I am.
I want to go there.
Oh, it's blocked me.
I put Dr. Oz.
You blocked me?
I'm sorry, but I have to get this letter done.
I've been meaning to do it.
I'm going to focus on my task at hand.
I'm going to use a half hour to do it, and then I'm allowed to go back to Dr. Oz.com, my special treat.
Okay, so even if you don't block it digitally, the main idea is do one thing at a time, set a limit, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, whatever it might be, half an hour.
That's right.
Do tasks in a serial fashion, because we really don't multitask at all, and the digital world convinces us we can and we can't.
Yeah, and you know what?
There's technology to help you beat technology, so don't work against it.
Fight with it.
All right.
The next step is to only charge your tablet once a week.
Think about that.
Laptop or tablet once a week.
It's a big shift.
Why?
Okay, so this came from a very personal experience.
I was putting the kids to bed every night and going on Pinterest.
Pinterest.
Sucked into the hole of Pinterest for hours on end.
And so I said to myself, once a week I get to charge my iPad, I can binge and go crazy on Monday night, use up all my time, my battery power, or I can meet it out and make sure that I use little bits every day, and that's my special treat.
But it means that I don't go crazy and spend, you know, look at my watch, it's one in the morning, wait a minute, I was supposed to go to bed three hours ago.
So, you know, if I don't have self-control, I use the technology to make me have it.
Jennifer, you were bold enough to take this radical step.
How did it work for you?
I charged it once a week, so it gave me much more time to spend with my family.
I actually got through a whole week of dinners without grabbing my tablet and going on the games while I'm eating dinner with my family.
Did you panic as this power level get down to the red zone?
Yes, I did.
I did.
I had to limit it.
I limited it to about a half hour, so a little bit each day, but I did panic.
It was hard.
All three.
Are you happy you did the digital detox?
Yes.
Very happy.
My family is happier.
Husband, kids, everyone's happier.
Husband, kids, everybody's happier.
It's very helpful.
My friends are a lot happier.
Your friends, your spouses, especially your kids.
My family, right.
Thanks for being part of it.
You can take the three-day digital detox challenge.
The plan is on my website.
I want you to check it out and go digital free for a little bit.
Be right back.
Next.
Can't get to sleep.
Can't stay asleep.
Your mind keeps racing.
All you want is rest.
Put insomnia to bed.
We're getting everyone sleeping again with Dr. Oz viewers best sleep solutions.
Find out how these sleepless fans did it.
Next.
Oprah sits down with Oz.
I love the viewers!
She opens up about her struggles and the film that's inspiring the nation to take a stand.
How do we heal our nation?
All new Oz.
That's coming up tomorrow.
One of my biggest missions is to get America sleeping again.
And the good news is that it's working.
Thousands of formerly sleepless viewers have written saying, Dr. Oz, I am sleeping again.
So today, I asked them to get out of bed and come share with all of you how they finally got to sleep.
Loretta sent me a Facebook message.
She said, Dr. Oz, you're not boring, but after trying everything else, you're the one who finally put me to sleep.
Thank you very much, Loretta.
Oh, thank you.
I'm glad that you're getting some sleep.
And it's not just because I'm a little boring sometimes.
What was going on with your sleep?
I think it started around the time I started menopause.
I could not stay asleep.
So you actually are in a field where you teach people how to sleep.
Yes.
So how do you reconcile teaching folks how to do it, but not being able to do it yourself?
I do self-hypnosis, but there was just something I was missing.
When I saw your segment on Better Sleep and the dark cherry juice, it really changed my life.
Show me how you do it.
Again, teaching people how to hypnotize themselves, you've got to be able to do it to yourself, but it's hard because sometimes the chemistry is not right in there.
So walk me through what you do.
Yes.
I take the juice concentrate, and I do a shot glass like this every night, 90 minutes before I go to sleep, and I sleep through the night.
It is so wonderful.
I'm so glad I saw that segment.
That was one of the benefits of having insomnia.
I caught up on all of your shows.
I T-vote.
Thank you very much.
You can get tart cherry juice in a lot of ways.
You can get eight-ounce glasses of the regular tart cherry juice.
There's concentrates, which is interestingly just an ounce there.
And they come frozen.
They're dried.
You know, I actually remember as a kid going with my father to his hometown where he grew up.
It actually has a picture from way back then.
This is probably when I was about 10. That's my sister in front of me, by the way.
She always got to get the better donkey.
That was the segment I saw.
Yeah, but that's true.
My mom there, there's just, you know, cool glasses from that era.
And we would go up and we'd pick the cherries that he had and put them in the docus.
And it's a staple in Turkey.
And I never realized there are a couple of things that benefit us.
First off, the melatonin, which is at the perfect level.
In cherries.
It's not too much, not too low.
It's the exact amount that we need.
So if you want to do a little shot with us.
Yes.
I gave glasses to the front row of the audience here.
Ladies, I want you to see what this is like.
Now, again, for some people, an acquired taste, I happen to adore it.
But for one ounce, which, again, if you have eight ounces of it, you might have to go to the bathroom at night.
But for one ounce, you'll sleep like a baby.
Are you ready?
Salute.
Salute.
Well, they're so calm with it.
I put a little vodka in yours, by the way.
Was it good?
Very good.
It worked wonders.
All right.
Thank you very, very much.
Thank you, Doctor.
So I could not ignore this Instagram that a viewer named Stacy sent me.
It shows the difference between before and after she started getting eight hours of sleep nightly.
I mean, what a difference.
Yes, Dr. Oz.
So what changed?
How'd you do it?
Well, first, I was watching one of your shows one night and I couldn't sleep.
I have 25 Dr. Oz shows on my DVR. God bless you.
So probably number 15 was how to go to sleep.
So I was sitting there and I was just like, okay, this is not good.
So the first thing I did, you talked about taking electronics and dimming down.
So I took my TV out of my room.
I unplugged all my phones, my laptops, my tablets, took them in the living room.
So now basically what I do is when I go to bed at night, if it's not in the living room, it doesn't go to bed with me.
You know, I'm so happy you do that.
It actually relates a little bit to this cherry juice.
When you take the lights out, you allow the brain to make its own melatonin.
Right, right.
And so if we have bright lights on, of course you can't fall asleep because we don't really ever fall asleep, right?
We glide in.
We glide in.
Then you look as beautiful as you look today.
Yes, no more bats.
No, they're all gone.
And I can now take more healthy selfies.
We'll do one after the show as well.
All right, now, Tammy's here because she says the sleep secret she learned from the show was taking lavender Epsom salt baths.
So, you want to show us your bath ritual?
Absolutely.
I have to admit, I'm from Wisconsin, where it seems like the cold weather season seems to last forever.
So, nothing's better than a warm bath, and what I do is I take a cup of Epsom salts, And put them right in the bath.
Spread it all out.
And take 10 drops of lavender bath oil.
The lavender has a nice relaxing scent.
And just put it in.
It's like a spa treatment for yourself.
Has this helped your mind relax so you're not racing all the time?
Absolutely.
The lavender scent really relaxes me, puts my mind at ease, and really soothing and helps me fall asleep.
And even better, have more energy throughout the day.
So thank you so much.
I greatly appreciate it.
I am happy that it worked for you.
Thank you.
I'm glad everyone's getting to see what they need.
I want to hear your tricks for curing insomnia.
Please send them to me at facebook.com slash Dr. Oz.
Be right back.
Coming up next, he was one of America's favorite actors.
Now his son reveals a groundbreaking advancement in the treatment of spinal cord injury.
Continuing his father's tireless advocacy, Matthew Reeve's story is next.
It's been 10 years since the death of actor and activist Christopher Reeve.
Now, his oldest son, Matthew, is revealing for the first time a huge breakthrough in the treatment of spinal cord injuries.
And he wishes his dad were here to see it.
It was a pretty normal day.
Sunset, dusk.
I was standing in my driveway.
I was just leaving the gym.
I was out practicing.
August 26, 2010. I was retrieving a workout bag out of the back of my car.
I flew 98 feet, I believe.
My motor locked up on my bike.
I was struck by a hit-and-run driver.
I was told that I was paralyzed from the neck down and would never feel or move anything from my chest down, including my arms.
And that left me paralyzed from the chest down, which is the T5 area.
The doctors came in and they explained to me that I broke T5 and T6 in my back and that I had a complete injury.
And that there was basically no hope for me to regain any mobility or movement.
I was injured at a C6, C7 in my spinal cord.
I was injured at a C6, C7 in my spinal cord.
The realization of understanding that you're never going to move anything or feel anything again, it's like your world is ending.
It hits you.
It hits you hard.
That just wasn't how it was supposed to be.
Epidural stimulator is placed on the top of the spinal cord in the back.
It sends generalized electrical signals to the spinal cord.
It reminds the spinal cord of its potential.
Really what we call changes the central state of excitability or changes the state of those networks.
So now a tiny little signal that may be just remaining of intent can come down and generate a toe to move or generate the leg to move.
They ask you to move your leg, move your toe, move your ankle.
And all those times, nothing ever happened.
I had about 80-something sessions before I came here.
I had seen no changes.
It was a great opportunity, and I took my chances.
Going into it, there was only one other guy, and our injuries were pretty different.
After implant, we were doing the same test again, and they asked me, they're like, all right, Kent, now do left leg up.
I could just feel like the charge of it go down my back to my leg muscles and feel them just pull it.
And it was just, it was overwhelming.
I first stood on day three of turning the stimulator on and at that point we weren't expecting that to happen for at least two years.
What is going on down here is such an amazing experience.
I have more confidence than I've ever had.
I have more self-esteem than I've ever had.
I've tried that motion so many times, and then that one time it did it, it worked, and it was nuts.
I've gotten back a very good sensation and feeling, bladder function, bowel function, sexual function.
With the stimulator on, it feels like I'm...
It makes me feel normal again.
I can stand and I can move both my legs, toes and ankles and I'm working on doing sit-ups and back extensions.
You go so long without being able to stand up by yourself and you have the stimulator and you turn it on and you just stand up on your own and it's just like, I'm standing.
It's really good.
You know, something like this can change the world.
There is a tremendous potential for recovery based on knowledge that we really didn't have before.
I'm ready to start leaping and skipping and jumping and bouncing.
Epidural Stimulation Project is the definition of victory over paralysis.
Matthew Reeve and Rob Summers are here.
Matthew, what would your dad say if he was here and he saw this breakthrough?
He'd be really excited.
He'd be very proud of all that we've accomplished.
But at the same time, he wouldn't want to dwell.
He'd want to keep moving forward.
We've come a long way.
We still have a really long way to go.
Not much of a dweller, was he?
No, he was always looking ahead and trying to move us ahead.
Rob, what was that moment like?
Where after four years of not being able to move your legs at all, all of a sudden you felt like you had control.
It's an incredible feeling to be able to overcome so many adversities and overcome so many doctors and specialists around the world that told me I'd never move or feel anything.
To be able to stand was truly groundbreaking and then to be able to regain the controlled movement of my toes, ankles, knees and hips, it was one of the best feelings in my entire life.
You know, I remember going through medical school and being told that people with spinal cord injuries would never walk.
I gotta say, this is one of the biggest breakthroughs in that area, period.
I was so stunned when I learned about it.
And it wouldn't have happened without your father, without Christopher Reeves' dedicated, tireless campaigning, advocacy for this area.
What's the biggest takeaway about the six million Americans who have disabilities that limit their ability to walk?
Well, one is that there are six million Americans, which I don't think a lot of people know.
The other main takeaway is that it is no longer a question of if there will be effective treatments.
There's a question of how quickly we can get them to those who need it.
Let's be in the game, folks.
You are an inspiration, both of you, to all of us.
Thanks for all your work.
We'll be right back.
Oprah sits down with Oz.
I love the viewers!
She opens up about her struggles and the film that's inspiring the nation to take a stand.
How do we heal our nation?
All new Oz.
That's coming up tomorrow.
With the holidays in full swing, I know a lot of you are stressed out about making your lists and checking them twice.
Hectic holidays affect all of us, but one of my viewers has a great holiday mantra she shared with me on Facebook.
Are you ready?
Don't get your tinsel in a tangle.
I love that.
When I find myself stressed and I want to take a little time to breathe, I'm going to remember that.
Listen, it helps you relax.
It does untangle your tinsel.
Take those...
Nice deep breaths.
Alright, now it's time for in case you missed it.
Today we counted down the biggest and best in health this year from trends to diets to medical advancements and number one on this year's countdown was, drum roll please, fat is back.
We used to be afraid of fat, but many diet plans this year crushed that misconception.
You want to get skinny by eating more fat, the right kind of fat, the healthy fat.
So here's a great healthy fat substitution thing I'm talking about.
You can make meatballs, but I want you to use flaxseed and almonds instead of breadcrumbs.
That way it cuts the sugar down, you have the right kinds of fats, everyone's happy.
So finally, I want you to be careful about dubious people online that make it seem like I'm endorsing their products.
I do not.
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