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March 29, 2024 - Dr. Oz Podcast
42:47
How to Change the Fate of Your Heart & Statin Answers You Need | Dr. Oz | S7 | Ep 4 | Full Episode
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Time Text
Some people wear their heart on their sleeves.
These women are carrying hearts in their hands today.
We've asked two of our viewers to spend three days with a human heart.
Can my experiment get two moms to take their health seriously?
When I have this heart in my hand, it's making me think twice.
Plus, there's been a lot of news about statins.
Today, I'm giving you my advice.
Should you be on one?
This is a big deal.
coming up next.
We'll save lives today. - Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
we are going to get healthy Today's show is inspired by viewers like you that write in that they've had huge breakthroughs in their health.
So I've been thinking, how can I motivate more of you to do the same?
So we'll try something we have never done before, an experiment that's completely unorthodox and maybe a little shocking for some of you because sometimes it takes something extreme to motivate us.
Now, over the last seven seasons of this show, we've seen the power of holding an organ, like the human heart.
In your hand.
And we've asked two of our viewers, women just like you, to spend three days with a human heart.
Now, they haven't been living as healthily as they would like, and they agreed to carry these hearts everywhere, never letting them out of their sight to find out if this could be the needed wake-up call.
Now, could our heart experiment be the breakthrough that changes your life?
Plus, the new breakthrough in statins and the breakthrough diet from the summer is called the alkaline diet.
I'm going to weigh in on all that, break it down for you.
But before that, I want you to meet these brave women who took a human heart home and find out how it changed their lives.
I'm Roxanne.
I'm 43. Over the past few years, I've had a hard time making healthy choices.
Fast food over good food.
Also, I have an exercise like I should.
My blood pressure is elevated.
I am a little overweight, and my cholesterol is borderline.
I have a family history of heart disease.
My mom's actually taking medication.
I'm not worried about my health because I have a one and a half year old son that I need to take care of.
So I need to be able to keep up with him and live as long as possible for him.
My name is Jody, and I'm 46 years old.
I feel like I'm juggling it all.
I work full-time nights as a nurse, and I'm the mother of three children who are very active.
I can pick you up in 15 minutes, and my health, I'm sure, is paying the price.
I have high cholesterol.
I have high blood pressure I'm on medication for.
I don't have the willpower to stick to any diet plan.
My father had his first heart attack when he was in his 40s.
And ultimately it was a heart attack that he died from at the age of 71. I don't want to follow his footsteps.
I don't want to be at the age of 40 having a heart attack.
I know I need to do something.
And I just hope that it's not too late for me.
Both Roxanne and Jody are finally ready to make a change and lead a healthier lifestyle.
So I had them meet with my med team to receive their sacred task.
Welcome ladies.
I'm going to play a message for you from Dr. Oz.
For the next three days, I'm putting you in charge of a real human heart, a heart that belonged to someone who had heart disease.
You will take it with you wherever you go.
It is never to leave your side, never out of your hands.
Remember, this heart belonged to someone who didn't get the chance to take control of their own health.
Look at this person's heart and think about it as you make every decision in your life that could affect your own heart.
By taking care of this heart, I hope you start caring for yours.
Would you like to see the hearts?
Yes.
When you're walking and you think it's going to be gross, and oh, I don't want to touch it, but then after, it's beautiful.
It's awesome.
So we're going to let you hold the hearts now.
Wow.
Wow.
I've never seen a heart before, especially up close.
It was kind of emotional, and you just think that was actually beating in somebody's chest at one time.
And what made it stop beating?
After putting the hearts in safe containers, our two women continued on with their day, hearts in hand.
It was just unreal, holding that heart in my hand.
It was completely unreal.
As I'm heading home with this heart, I know that it's going to help me and guide me to make the right choices in my life.
In this closet is everything that I want to eat all the time when I'm stressed.
And everything in here is a trigger.
I can't imagine what it's doing to my heart and to my body.
But when I have this heart in my hand, it's making me think twice.
Do I really want to eat that stuff?
Right now, I just got the heart and I'm about to go running.
And the heart already motivated me to do something different.
I haven't run in years, so this is going to be the first step.
It's so easy for me to grab something quick like pizza or something during the day, but today, I'm going to try to make a healthier option.
When I look into my fridge, I see that I need to make better choices.
Normally, I don't make time for exercise, but today, because I'm carrying this heart around, it feels good.
I normally eat fast food at least three, four times a day, and me making the smoothie is definitely a healthy choice.
It is very strange to have a heart in a box, walking around with it, but the only way I'm going to meet that goal is to have that heart nearby.
Peek-a-boo, I see you!
As I'm headed to work here, I'm thinking, I'm a nurse.
I should know better.
I need to start thinking about more than just myself.
I have my kids and my family, and I need to start thinking about them.
It's an experiment, but at the same time, I'm looking at it as I don't want my heart to have to die from heart disease.
I want to live for my son.
I don't want to be like my father.
I don't want to be having a heart attack in my 40s.
And then leaving my family behind.
Before we meet the ladies, it's important for me to repeat how sacred these human hearts are to us.
These hearts are a teaching tool and we hope that they will help change lives through this experience.
So thank you both for babysitting these hearts.
Let me start with you.
When you look at this heart and you're carrying it around, how did it affect you?
It affected me in a big way.
The first thing that I did is, because that was a diseased heart, I wanted to see what a real heart looked like, you know, what a healthy heart looked like.
And I compared the two, and I was hoping and praying that mine looked more like the healthy heart.
So it affected me in a big way because I kept thinking, God, I hope mine looks like the healthy heart.
And the only way I'm going to make sure it does is to keep making those good choices.
There's something about seeing a real organ, not one that's a play one, but one that's actually a human heart that's come out of somebody, that sort of grounds you, makes you focus.
Roxanne, was there any point in the entire time that you thought, I can't do this, I want to stop this experiment?
No, definitely.
I didn't because I want to live for my son, so me having this heart pushes me to do better.
My son is one and I'm 43, so I'm a little older, but I want to see my son graduate.
I want to be a grandmother, so I know I need to live for my son.
So this having this heart is just, yeah, it was a great experience for me.
But what happened when the camera stopped rolling?
What happened on the second and third day when you're walking around with the heart?
What did people say to you?
What was it like?
It was a little overwhelming for some people.
I'm like, what is this?
Why do you need this?
What is this for?
I'm like, it's an inspiration.
It's a goal.
I want to do a goal.
It's a goal.
So this is my way of starting that goal and just going with it.
Troy, let's talk about your father for a second.
Obviously, an important motivating factor is your Understandable pain, seeing him leave you so early.
Yes.
You could tell him something right now, after having carried around a heart similar to the one he probably had when he died.
Yep.
What would you say to him?
To take it seriously.
It wasn't something to joke around about.
And I think he knew that he was having difficulty the night before he died.
And I think that he expected to die early, and I think that if he had Taking it more seriously, he could have gone on living for a lot more years.
There was a woman, Linda, who wrote a letter to me.
She had seen a show he'd done on The Heart, seen an organ like this, and went to her doctor and was told that she was a ticking time bomb.
She ended up having her life saved, and she's a stewardess, so whenever she would go on the plane, she would actually tell the passengers.
That there were some signs that they needed to be aware of about their hearts, the way she had saved her life by being aware of her heart.
It's really at its very core why I feel so passionate about what we're doing today.
So I'd love to give you the platform now.
Both of you felt the awkwardness.
You probably had some awkward moments too, walking around with heart, right?
Yes, yes, definitely.
People were walking away from you.
But you were brave enough actually to take this heart and this message very seriously and to treat it with the sacred passion it deserves.
What would be your message?
What do you want to share with everybody?
Find a way to make time for yourself.
Find a way to decrease the stress in your life and take time out for yourself because you deserve it and your family deserves to have you around for a long, long time.
So here's my prayer for everybody.
You're not all going to be able to take a heart home.
I don't have enough to share with them, although I wish I could.
But I want you to find one thing.
One thing that's going to motivate you for change.
It could be a picture.
It could be a memento.
And then carry that around with you.
And then spread the word.
Now, speaking of hearts, how many of you are taking statins?
Statin takers?
Fair number.
A good part of the American population, in fact, 25 million people are taking statins.
Are you guys either on a statin?
I probably should be.
Well, we're going to find out if you should be in a second, because that's part of the show message.
But the statins have been all over the news recently, and the topic of debate, because there are a lot more people being put on them, the question is, is that the right thing or not?
I'm gonna tell you what I think when we come back.
Later.
I listen to every sign my body gives me.
There was definitely something wrong.
She used her prescription for statins as a motivation to transform her health.
The surprising way she turned her heart health around.
This was totally a wake-up call for me.
Coming up.
All New Oz.
The truth about pork.
Why are American farmers using a drug that's banned in many countries?
If the average American knew how their food was produced, they would make very different food choices.
Our Food Truth series reveals a big change coming to your grocery store.
Plus, how hangover star and real-life doctor Ken Jeong uses comedy as medicine.
Are you okay?
Oh my God, it sounds like you have food poisoning.
All New Oz.
That's coming up tomorrow.
Today we are focusing on the heart and something I have talked about a lot when it comes to your heart health is statins.
Now this summer we were flooded with headlines about new studies that made me take a second look at who would benefit.
I know there's a lot of confusion about who should and should not be on a statin, so today I'm giving you my advice on who should be on these statins.
Some of the women here Some are on statins and some aren't.
But they are all worried about heart disease, which is a sensible thing to do because it's the number one reason that we're lost to our families.
So we know that statins can help prevent heart disease in addition to lowering cholesterol.
So again, we knew it helped with cholesterol.
We didn't realize it helped in addition to that until recently.
And that for me is a game changer.
I'm going to show you why this is so important and then we're going to talk about it.
All right, who wants to help a little bit?
I got two arteries here.
I need, let's say, two women, two volunteers.
Come up, cuddle up close.
If you sit close to the arteries, you gotta help me with the arteries.
All right, so here's the deal.
These two arteries sort of look similar, don't they?
You guys see any differences here?
They both have yellow plaque.
This is plaque, by the way.
Oh, that has holes.
That has a little hole in there, a little hole in the side.
I'm going to come back to why that might be important.
But on the inside, they still don't look the same.
You sort of agree?
Yellow plaque, blood vessel here.
That's your body.
That's where the blood's going to feed you all.
That's a little piece of candy left over from the last cell.
You want the candy?
Now, I want you guys at the back to pick up those little balls.
Those balls represent blood cells.
Normally in an artery, even if you've got plaque, this is important, even if you have plaque, It doesn't always cause a problem because the blood, go ahead and pour them down gently, can still get around the plaque and go where it needs to be.
There it goes.
And it all comes down.
Help it along.
Help it along.
Good.
That's fine.
Not all of them.
Take some of those back.
All right.
Now you notice what happened.
Most of the blood, like it's supposed to, went down.
And we're all in a good spot because of that.
Now, there's not a big clot here.
We've got little issues, but nothing big happening.
But here's what's different.
We always thought statins primarily helped by making sure you didn't get any extra plaque here.
That's actually not the only way they help.
They also help by reducing inflammation and irritation.
Now, you mentioned that little hole here.
This plaque is actually an inflamed, irritated plaque.
It's not a happy plaque.
So I want you to go ahead and see if you can wiggle that free.
Go ahead.
Oh, that's it.
As you wiggle it free, that's good.
As you wiggle it free, you've got now extra plaque and you've got this clot that starts to form inside there.
This is a big deal.
We took a plaque that was sort of stable and now it's ruptured because it was inflamed.
Statins, in theory, prevent this whole thing from happening.
Now try to pour the blood down.
And what ends up happening is the blood can't go anywhere.
Keep going.
You know what that's called?
What did you just create?
A clot.
A clot.
The other word we have for clot is heart attack.
The other word we have for clot is stroke.
That's what this is.
This blood, nothing went down there.
And this is the problem.
Again, I'm going to say this.
It's not so much the plaque, it's the rupturing of the plaque, the irritation.
It's this stuff.
And if we can stop that rupture from happening, which it turns out statins can help us do, it changes who ought to be on them.
Again, game changer.
Y'all clear on this?
Now, this is a plaque that theoretically is with someone who is on a statin.
So this artery was with someone who had a statin, so go ahead and wiggle that free.
The same way this young lady did.
Go ahead, pull it off.
Put your back into it.
It's not going anywhere.
It's stable.
So the blood can keep getting past it because it hasn't ruptured.
All right, now have a seat.
Let's talk about this.
This is the time to pay real close attention.
Stop what you're doing because I'm going to talk about something that's really important for us all to get right.
Now what I recommended before is if your doctor suggested a statin, if they told you to go on a statin, I used to say, hold off for a second.
Let's not rush the issues here.
Let's try lifestyle for three months.
Give it a shot.
And you still can't fix it on your own because a lot of times you can, then let's go on the medication.
But with all the new data that came out, all the new evidence, I'm changing my mind.
I think that if your doctor recommends you go on a statin, that you make the lifestyle changes, but you also go on the statin at the same time.
And give yourself the trial, because you can still make yourself well enough that you may not need to stay on it, but you've got to go on it in the beginning to make sure you don't take any risks of this happening.
So here's the question then.
When will your doctor determine if you need to be on a statin?
Any of you know the answer to that question?
Sort of, maybe.
What are you going to say it's caused?
When cholesterol is high.
So we always thought it was high cholesterol.
But what did I just share with you?
Cholesterol causes the plaque, but it doesn't make it rupture.
So it's not just the cholesterol.
That's why what I'm about to say to you is some of the most important words I've said on this show.
These are the guidelines that we believe everyone ought to be following.
This is what Doc is going to be telling you.
They're going to say, first of all, if you've had a heart attack or have heart disease, already have evidence of a problem, you ought to be in a statin.
They're also going to say if your lousy LDL cholesterol is above 190. That's a big number.
That's so much cholesterol that you're going to end up with both these problems.
But here's the last category.
If you have another risk factor, for example, you've got diabetes and you have an LDL, lousy cholesterol, even 70, they're going to put you on a statin pill.
Now, you women all know your numbers, right?
So, if you're in any of those three categories over there, any of those three categories, I want you to please stand up.
Be proud.
Now, are any of you surprised that you're standing now?
Not surprised?
Are you on a statin, ma'am?
You're not on a statin.
What's your name?
Linda.
So why are you not surprised?
If you just stood up to tell me that you probably ought to be on a statin, but you're not on one.
No, because my ACL numbers are going up higher.
And what I would say, if it goes up to 7.0, I will be on something.
So you're sort of a diabetic.
I am a diabetic, yes.
So with those numbers, then you have to be on a statin.
So you have to be on two pills then.
A diabetes pill and a statin pill.
Yeah, we'll talk about that, yeah.
We'll talk about that.
Can we talk about it now?
Yes.
Is that a little frustrating for you, having to know you might have to go on some pills?
Yes, it is.
I'm trying to stop you before I have to go on anything, yeah.
This is a really important conversation because a lot of folks have a wake-up call when they're told they have to go on a pill.
And our first reaction, mine as well, is, geez, do I have to really do that?
And part of today's show is to understand how we can actually use that news as motivation to move forward.
Not to sort of passively watch and say, you know, I'm really in trouble.
I've got to go on all these pills.
But rather say, what can I do to fix myself up now that I know that I was actually at risk?
So, if you're not, by the way, if you're not standing, it doesn't mean you're out of the woods either.
It just means you're not quite as quick.
You can all take a seat.
Thank you very much.
I want to come back to you.
What's your first name again?
Linda.
Linda.
Linda will be prosperously talked to in the future.
All right, so there's a calculator.
You can all sit.
There's a calculator, actually, for the people who are still sitting.
They can help you figure out if you ought to be on one of these medications.
Hopefully, you won't have to, but take it into consideration.
You go to DrRoz.com or talk to your doctor about it because they have this calculator as well.
And when you know the risk of you having a heart attack or a stroke, sometimes...
That calculator will tell you to be on a statin.
We didn't trust it that much when it first came out, but these new studies over the summer, big news, have revealed that it's really accurate.
And therefore, I want you to look to see if that predictor is worth taking into consideration.
Now, I'm going to ask all you to stick around if you're willing to do this, because when we come back, I want you to meet Brenda.
Now, she used her statin as motivation to make a change.
That's something that Linda and others really want to listen to, because that's, I hope, an inspiration that you won't forget.
Stay with us.
There was a real true headline and I wasn't sure if it was real or unreal.
Outrageous health stories are making headlines everywhere.
It would have made you click if you'd seen that on the web.
Are they real or are they fake?
We're revealing some of the most eye-opening captions.
Today we're talking about "Satins Day." They should be seen as an opportunity to make the lifestyle changes you need to reduce your risk for heart disease.
And our viewers who are worried about heart disease are back.
You're all back for an important reason.
I think it's important for them to meet my next guest.
Her name is Brenda.
She used her prescription for statins as a motivation to transform her health.
I pay attention to every sign my body gives me.
I knew there was something wrong.
I knew I had to give myself to the doctor.
When the doctor told me that I had to go on statin for my cholesterol, it really shocked me.
This was totally a wake-up call for me.
I just didn't think that the way I was eating was going to hurt me.
My food choices should have been better.
Keeping up with your diet?
Sure am.
The doctor told me I had to change my lifestyle, my way of eating.
And ever since then, I've been doing what I have to do.
It feels great to just know that I can lose weight and I can be healthy.
I feel like I've been given another chance to live.
Brenda Giornias, why was this prescription for statin such a breakthrough moment for you?
Oh, wow.
Um...
It taught me that life's too short.
I have to do what I have to do to eat healthy and live longer.
What's changed since you got that prescription?
I've actually changed my whole lifestyle.
More proportion eating.
It's been hard, that's why.
It's been a journey for me.
But I weigh my foods, I measure my foods.
You're careful.
Yeah.
You're aware.
Yes, more aware than ever.
And how has it changed your numbers?
Oh wow, I'm happy to report Dr. Oz.
I'm so excited.
My LDL went from 143 to 81. You're kidding me!
- Yes. - Now, the specific steps are important, but I actually wanna focus a bit more on the emotion that goes into this.
And I've struggled a lot personally about giving people medications.
I have to do it as a doctor.
You guys are always coming to me saying, do I have to be on those pills?
And instead of saying what to do with regard to the pill, let's talk about what the motivation is.
What happens if you know that that's a possibility?
So as an example, Linda, can I pick on you?
Linda back there just stood up because she actually, in theory, needs to be on a statin.
Didn't know that before today's show.
Not surprisingly, I sense a little resistance.
Right.
What would you tell Linda?
And can I just pick on Roxanne for a second because she was so kind of pulled her heart around.
Now, Roxanne, I noticed you didn't stand when I asked people if they needed to be on a stat.
Hold on, if you don't mind, dear.
Oh, you actually have a mic.
You don't need it.
So should you have stood when I gave those numbers?
I should have.
It's a little embarrassing.
Don't be embarrassed.
The whole point of this is that no embarrassment is done.
We can be embarrassed about pee and poop, but we shouldn't be embarrassed about life schemes.
So why didn't you want to stand up when you knew your numbers would actually indicate you probably need to be on one?
I should have stood up, but, you know, I need to take better care, but I'm just embarrassed to get that start to kind of make it better.
I'm going to turn it over to you, Brenda.
You've been there.
Yes.
What should Roxanne, what should Linda be thinking when they know that their doctor is going to give them a statin?
And yet, they also see that your numbers dramatically shifted.
Right.
Well, first ladies, we only have one life to live.
So you need to control your life.
You can't let medications control yours.
So before you're put on statin, or if you are on statin, you have to tell yourself, what can I do to better myself, to live longer?
You have family, you know?
Change your way of eating.
Measure your foods if you have to.
Go from white rice to brown rice.
Cut down on your sodium.
Exercise is important.
It's key.
Walking.
Incorporate three days, four days a week walking.
It helps you.
It makes you feel better with yourself.
And once you see that your pounds start to melt off, you just like, you're amazed and you just want to keep going.
But you can only do this for yourself.
No one's going to do it for you.
I got a co-host here.
Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
I want you to hold out, Linda.
I want you to be a viewer.
You were a little bit awkward about this earlier.
Someone who's now a friend of yours, because she's giving you advice, so everyone gives you advice as a friend, is just where you are.
And yet, you know, with changes that obviously aren't super simple, but doable without difficulty, dramatically shifted everything.
So much so that, you know, who knows?
Maybe you don't have to even stay on this statin.
Maybe the doctor wants you off it now, but your numbers are so perfect.
So, where does that leave you with this conversation?
I will discuss with my doctor.
I think I have to go, and I will.
Roxanne, what about you?
Since you were brave enough to cart around a heart for three days.
Which is awesome.
Yeah, I'm definitely going to speak to my doctor and see what I need to do to...
I know what I need to do now to make these changes in my life, but I'm definitely going to speak to my doctor and take it from there.
That's actually the final step, is that conversation.
And again, it's not a penalty shot.
You know, folks are sometimes embarrassed and ashamed about this.
It's a conversation that literally is going to allow you to figure out, do I need to be on something or not?
Do I need to be on it for a short period of time and then get off it?
Do I need to be on it for the rest of my life?
Who the heck knows?
And three months after you start on a statin, if you're going to be on one, and in both your cases, they're probably going to put you on one.
Three months after that, within three months, I want that conversation taking place so they can say, you know what, let's pull back here.
You're doing so well, Linda, you don't need anything.
Or Roxanne, you've got some genetic issue.
Let's not miss the boat here because you're young and beautiful.
Let's keep you looking that way.
And I'm okay either way, frankly, as long as we're doing it with awareness.
But right now, not knowing, that is a decision too, by the way.
Not acting on something is a decision.
It's not the right one, but it is a decision.
As proactive as acting on it.
So I don't want this conversation to end it here.
I've asked the American hardest...
You guys say anything?
Yeah, I want to tell you, I lost 10 and a half pounds in a few months.
Are you kidding me?
Yes.
You're burying the lead.
The big news.
Yes, I know.
That is fantastic.
Thank you.
So you all know what the American Heart Association is, right?
Fantastic organization.
I've been a member of it my whole life.
They, you know, sort of speak for doctors in America who deal with heart disease.
So we've teamed up with them.
And if you go to hashtag myheartpledge, I want everyone in the audience, I want everyone at home to do this.
I want you to take this pledge.
Especially, especially if your doctor has recommended a statin or you think you need to be on one based on today's show.
You can go to dros.com or go to my Facebook, Twitter, Instagram feeds to take the pledge and then you can share it with people So they know that you took that pledge.
It's not committing you to anything except taking care of yourself.
Read it carefully.
It's simple to understand.
And I want to hear back from all of you in three months about your progress.
Don't worry.
I will be there all along to support you because I care about you.
Are you going to be with them?
Yes, they got this.
We got my co-host here anyway, Brenda.
When we come back, more health headlines from this summer.
And not all of them were true.
We're going to figure out if you can spot the fakes.
So stay with us.
Later in the show, today, I am weighing in.
The new weight loss trend that has a lot of women seeing colors.
By peeing on a strip, that's the concept.
That's the belief.
Here's why it's trending.
We're trying it out on the audience.
Coming up.
The truth about pork.
Why are farmers using a drug that's banned in many countries?
Plus, how hangover star and real-life doctor Ken Jeong uses comedy as medicine.
All nuance.
That's coming up tomorrow.
So we're talking about statin gear.
They made some serious headlines this summer, but they weren't the only ones that caught our attention.
In today's conversation, I want to take a look at some of the more interesting summer headlines, a few of which seemed almost, well, unreal.
Who wants to help me figure out if these are true headlines or made-up headlines?
Hands up.
Hands up, interesting people.
You want to join me?
Yeah.
All right, come on down.
What's your name?
Stancy.
Stacey?
Stancy.
Stancy.
It's an intriguing name, I think.
Okay.
Hold this here.
Sit next to me here.
We're going to do this.
I'm going to press this button here, and the headline is going to come up there.
Now, you're allowed to ask for help from the audience.
So here's the headline.
Woman in Chile learns she has carried fetus in her uterus for more than 60 years.
No, no, no.
We've got to talk first.
What do you think?
They're smart, but don't be a guppy.
You've got to make your own mind up, then you go back and ask their advice.
So what do you think?
60 years?
Sure.
You guys agree with her?
Yeah!
All the women think that's possible.
That's a long labor.
60 years?
All right.
And this turns out to be?
It is real!
At least CNN says, I don't know these answers.
According to CNN, this 91-year-old had been carrying around a calcified fetus in her uterus, which posed no health threat to her.
Can you imagine that?
It's a long time to be pregnant.
Imagine if the pooch in your belly was from your pregnancy that you didn't know about from years earlier.
That would be a great excuse.
All right.
Next headline.
You ready?
It is.
Next headline.
Skitty jeans hospitalized fashion victim for four days.
Huh.
True.
You think that's true?
I think it's true.
Why do you think that's true?
Personal experience.
So pray tell, what happened?
You put on skinny jeans.
I couldn't get them off, you know?
You just try to get them on.
It's so hard to get off sometimes.
So you stayed in them for how much, 60 years?
How long did you stay in them?
Half an hour.
Half an hour?
I think this is true, too.
There's something called skinny pants syndrome.
Let's see if it's true or not.
I hope it's true.
And it is real!
NBC News!
They always get it right.
They're true.
And for the reasons you say, I think a woman spent four days in the hospital.
She had to have her skinny jeans cut off because they cut the blood supply off to her calf muscles, causing her to collapse.
Would you wear skinny jeans that long until your legs collapsed under you?
All right, last one.
Ready?
Lost California hiker survived for three days by chewing toilet paper.
I think it's true, too.
You believe everything.
They're all yelling false back there.
I think it's true.
So what would it taste like?
Toilet paper for three days gets bland after a while.
Yeah.
Have you ever eaten toilet paper?
No.
No?
All right.
This one turns out to be, let's find out.
Not real.
I'm happy it wasn't real.
It's fake.
But, but...
It would've made you click, wouldn't it, if you'd seen that on the web?
You did very, very well.
I'm very happy.
So listen, over this summer, there was a real diet headline that caught my eye, and I wasn't sure if it was real or unreal.
It involves your pee.
Have you heard about a diet that involves your pee?
All right, stay tuned.
We're investigating it next.
I'm gonna let you know if there's something you ought to be trying.
Stay here.
Coming up next, it's the diet trend that has my entire audience revealing their true colors.
Hers is really green.
She's like a Martian down there.
And later, if you're scaled to talk, what would you want it to say?
Coming up.
Whoever said a doctor's visit isn't fun has obviously never been to the Dr. Oz show.
Is that right?
Make your appointment today.
Go to DrOz.com slash tickets and sign up for free tickets.
It's go, Jake.
I have always been interested in your pee.
But it seems like it's caught on in an entirely new way.
A brand new trend.
Over the summer, everybody was talking about the alkaline diet.
And believe it or not, a lot of women on it are using the pee strips to track their progress.
Check out all these headlines.
These are all real, by the way.
Unbelievable.
Why all the cool kids are bringing pee strips to bars.
Miracle Cure Alkaline Diet was just another fad.
So all these headlines got me thinking.
So how does the alkaline diet work?
Take a look.
It's the diet that broke the internet.
Celebs swear by it, and now women everywhere are using the alkaline diet to shed pounds.
The rules are simple.
Do eat alkaline-friendly foods like fruits, nuts, and vegetables.
Don't eat processed foods, meats, and refined sugar that cause your body to produce harmful acid, which is stored in fat cells, making you gain weight.
The idea behind the diet?
Certain foods can affect the pH of your body and eating too many acid-forming foods is bad.
Overwhelming the body with acid and preventing you from losing weight.
So, how do you measure your body's pH?
Women on the alkaline diet now get together for so-called P parties, where they use test strips to check the pH of their urine and, or so they believe, the pH of their whole body and their progress on the diet.
Bravo star Chantel Fraser and her friends are alkaline diet devotees and frequent pee party hosts, touting the parties as fun and even addictive.
For me, it's really, it's changed my life.
Since I started the alkaline diet, I've lost about 40 pounds.
My friends and I are constantly competing to see who is the most alkaline.
It started off as like a bit of healthy competition, but it's kind of become a bit of an obsession for me.
If I'm at a bar, if I'm on a date, you know, I'll test my date's alkaline levels.
It's definitely something that's become a huge part of my life.
So what's the truth behind the trendy headlines?
And is the alkaline diet right for you?
So today, I am weighing in.
Is there really any value to knowing the pH of your pee?
And does it even matter for weight loss?
But first, let's have a little bit of fun here.
I asked you all, the entire audience here, because it's not often that I have people come to my home, the studio, and do this.
But I asked you all a pee on a strip.
Did you all do it?
Alright, so if you don't mind, pull out your strips.
I've got mine here.
I did the same.
Show me your strips.
Now shake the hand of the person next to you.
You know, one person, I've got to be honest here, one person didn't really understand the directions, they peed into the bag.
They really did.
They're not in the studio right now, I don't think.
Or maybe they are and they'll come clean, figuratively speaking.
Alright, so everyone, look at this good color.
So everyone, look at your color.
Let me, hold them up, let me see here.
So, orange...
If you're sort of red, that means that you're acidic.
If you're sort of this neutral yellowish color, all of us are in that range here, a lot of yellows.
You're sort of neutral.
You're in the middle, right?
But if you've got green, that means you're alkaline.
So who's green?
Oh, that's green.
That's a really green color.
Now compare that.
Green.
Oh my goodness.
Is that yours?
Yeah.
Wasn't saliva or anything?
It was urine?
No, it was green.
It was green.
All right.
And are you proud of your green color?
I don't know.
No, I do this with my doctor.
You do?
Yeah, I have a diet doctor.
He makes me do this.
And it worked?
Is it usually green like that?
I don't know.
He usually yells at me.
Yes.
Doctors do that a lot, don't we?
Yeah.
Why does he yell at you?
Because last time I was supposed to have, like, 80 points and I had five.
That doesn't sound good.
It was like a holiday, so I had to celebrate the day before.
I'm Italian.
Yes, it comes to the territory.
All right.
So according to the diet, you want this yellowish-green color that you have, and thank you for showing it to us.
And it means that you're sort of in the right spot.
Sorry, you're good.
Where's Karen?
He can hold my strip if you want.
No.
Karen, stand up if you don't mind.
Karen, actually, you've been on the alkaline diet.
I have, almost two years now.
May I see yours?
Yes, you may.
I give it a B+. So, you decided to go on this alkaline diet.
Yes.
And do you do these little pea strips everywhere you go?
When I started, I did, and it's remarkable because it was very, as you had mentioned, it was very orange in the beginning, but then when I started to eat more wholesome foods, more foods that are alkaline, I became, like, if I have weak rest shots in the morning, I will have a bright green p-strip.
So, have you seen a medical benefit besides your urine changing his pH?
Absolutely.
What's going on?
Well, first of all, naturally, I actually lost some weight, which is always nice because so many of us are looking, want to look a little better.
What I didn't realize, though, is that I feel so much better than I've ever felt.
Are you guys curious about this diet?
All right, so here's the deal.
Let me speak honestly about this, because I see a lot of diets.
My bottom line.
Totally.
I don't actually know if it's important that my pH becomes greenish, like our Italian friend over there, or not.
I don't know, but I do like the fact that this diet's centered around healthy food.
And, you know, your pH may not make a difference, but being on healthy food actually probably does.
So I say bag the strips, my personal belief, so they're sort of fun to have at parties, and focus your attention on heating the healthy aqua and food.
And if you're willing to do this with me, Yes.
When we come back, let's walk the audience.
If you'll stick around.
I would love it.
All right.
Karen's going to walk you through with me.
I'll help a little bit.
What you should do if you're going to stay on the Alkal and Die.
I'll be right back.
Later, if your scale could talk, what would you want it to say?
The truth about pork.
Why are farmers using a drug that's banned in many countries?
Plus, how hangover star and real-life doctor Ken Jeong uses comedy as medicine.
All nuance.
That's coming up tomorrow.
I just weighed in on this summer's trendy alkaline diet.
Now, I don't agree with everything that the diet says, but I do think some of the rules can help you reach your weight loss goals.
So let me ask the audience, how many of you think you might be able to plan a meal around a vegetable?
How many of you do it now?
A couple of you, good.
That's a big chef.
Who plans their meals around starches?
Be honest.
Yes.
And how about meat?
How often is meat the centerpiece of your meal?
Oh, yeah.
Hallelujah.
All right.
You're all hurrah-ing about meat and starch is your centerpiece, but there are a couple of simple things you can do.
Karen's articulating them.
On the alkaline diet, I want you to change the way you think about what you're going to center your food around like Karen did.
There are four easy steps to help you follow the alkaline diet.
Take a look.
Rule number one, plan your meals around vegetables.
Rule number two, balance every meal with lean or plant-based proteins.
Rule number three, include citrus in one meal per day.
Finally, rule number four, avoid liquid sugars.
So let's break it down.
Rule number one, Karen's went through it, is to plan your meals around vegetables.
So avocado, seaweed, smoothies, crazy things, but you can make it work.
So easy.
Just come up with an idea that you want to saute in a pan.
Just a little bit of oil.
Using all those vegetables makes a bulky meal.
Alright, step number two.
Big one.
Balance every meal with lean or plant-based proteins.
That's the centerpiece.
You're going to balance it out.
So what's an example of how you do this?
I love legumes.
They are so filling.
I will add those.
Sometimes I might roast them a little.
Other times I will eat them raw.
But the thing is, is that they're actually filling and that is a great sense of protein.
What about cold cuts?
Definitely not.
Not.
Your pee would turn really red then, wouldn't it?
I am not.
I don't eat cold cuts.
I would say if somebody wants to have low-fat turkey, chicken, small four ounces, that's okay.
But I would stick away from meat and potatoes.
That's not about eating alkaline.
Rule number three, citrus in one meal per day.
This says everything, right?
Grapefruit, oranges, lemons, whatever.
Yes.
I start out my day every day with a warm water and a lemon.
Is that what most people on the alkaline diet do, something like that?
A lot of people do.
I think it's really trending in the wellness world.
I see a lot of people doing it.
We actually put it in the total 10 plan, and I thought I was being really innovative by doing it.
Then I found out that a lot of folks like you have already been thinking about that.
Alright, I forgot something here.
The alcohol diet also has a rule about liquid sugars.
Specifically, you can't have them.
So please talk to everybody very honestly.
What about sodas and cocktails and all those things?
Oh, my substitute is infused water.
I know it's not the same, but you start to like it and you start to crave it.
And there are so many great fruits, especially the citruses that you can use, that make it refreshing and that actually will fill you up.
So, again, this is, by the way, you've got to also be careful of things like fruit juices and the like, not a lot of liquid sugar.
You don't want that.
All right, here's the deal.
If you follow our alkaline diet, it can help you reach your weight loss goals, but it's more than just a fad.
It's really a way of eating, so think about these rules.
You can find my alkaline grocery list on DrRoz.com.
Now, here's a question for you.
Think about this, Karen.
If your scale could talk, what would it say to you?
What would you want it to say to you?
Surprising words of encouragement for weight loss for a very surprising place when we come back.
The search is on.
We're looking for a nurse to join our core team of experts to provide wisdom, expert commentary, and advice.
If you'd like to nominate yourself or a nurse who's made a difference in your life, go to DrOz.com and click on hashtag nurse search.
Sometimes it's not easy getting on that scale.
You're unhappy with what it says.
You're afraid of what it might say.
You just want those numbers to be blacked out from your memory.
But your scale isn't in control.
You are.
So tomorrow, you're going to be talking about if your scale could talk, what would you want it to say?
Let me see what you guys came up with.
Hold up your little posters there.
Interesting idea.
Oh, I like that one.
What does that say?
Keep on keeping on.
You've got this, girl.
You've got this, girl.
Oh, way to go.
Play on words.
Purposely misspelling way.
I like it.
You go, girl.
I'm broke.
I'm broke.
Oh, the scale's broke.
I love it.
Only a guy would come up with that.
What do we got?
Oh, we got Cookie Monster here.
You like that?
Cookie Monster.
Oh, this is...
I'm sorry.
Please.
Please stand up for that.
This is hilarious.
And what does yours say?
It's all muscle.
It's...
Oh, it's too many.
Who's proud of theirs?
What do you got?
Oh.
What are you waiting for?
What are you waiting for?
You know what?
There's some very clever people.
I'm going to share mine, but I'm going to put the best ones because there's so many up here on my Facebook page.
You got mine?
You have mine?
This is mine?
How do you know it's like yours?
Nice hairy legs.
I do wish.
I get criticized for them all the time, especially by my daughter.
So listen, if you want to take control of your scale, do it now.
I've added six of the most popular scale messages.
We're going to collect them from the audience onto my album.
It's on my Facebook page.
And you know what?
Check them out.
Share the ones that best describe how you feel.
Add to them.
And remember, healthy and happy starts at home.
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