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June 14, 2024 - Dr. Oz Podcast
42:05
The Sugar Wars: Dr. Sanjay Gupta's Bitter Truth Revealed! | Dr. Oz | S7 | Ep 68 | Full Episode
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The sugar wars.
Cane versus high fructose corn syrup.
Your taste buds don't know the difference, but your body does.
Is one worse than the other?
The same pleasure centers that light up with sugar also light up with crack cocaine.
Sanjay Gupta has the bitter truth.
Plus, NeNe Leakes of Real Housewives is back.
She's dropping some big health news.
I'm really paranoid, though.
Hear it here first.
Coming up next.
Let me touch it a little bit.
Eww.
We'll save lives today.
You guys ready to get healthy?
Welcome!
On today's show, I want to give you all the best ways to live the sweet life.
And that's why I'm kicking it all off with The Sugar Wars.
My good friend Sanjay Gupta is telling you what you need to know about high fructose corn syrup.
Then we're putting three natural sweeteners to the test.
Which is the healthiest?
And which one tastes best?
And if you haven't finished your Thanksgiving baking, you're not going to want to miss that segment.
And then the queen of the sweet life herself, Nini Leeks, is here, returning today...
With the important health lesson she wants you to know, and these are important, the very latest on her own health crisis as well.
But now, what do you need to know about what is being called the sugar wars?
It's sugar versus high fructose corn syrup in a big legal battle.
And in the middle of it is your body and your health.
Take a look.
It's a war between the sweetest of enemies, big corn and big sugar.
For years, the sugar industry has beaten up on the high fructose corn syrup industry, pushing claims that corn syrup was the crack cocaine of all sweeteners.
Makes people fat, sick and old, even calling it a poison.
Big corn fought back with these commercials that say your body can't tell the difference between corn sugar and traditional sugar.
I started looking for answers from medical and nutrition experts.
And what I discovered is that whether it's corn sugar or cane sugar, your body can't tell the difference.
Sugar is sugar.
Big Sugar says that's a sweet little lie.
There is a difference.
And took Big Corn to court with a billion dollar lawsuit that recently settled.
The outcome?
Confidential.
So what's the truth?
What should you look for when shopping for your family?
Will one make you gain more weight than the other?
Today, the bitter truth about the sugar wars.
To tackle this very hot health topic, I've asked my great friend and colleague, chief medical correspondent at CNN, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
He's back!
This big cork battle you all have been reading about between high-fructose corn syrup and sugar.
It's put everything under the microscope.
But let's take a step back.
Why do we have so much of both in the food supply?
There is a fascinating history here.
You know, in the 70s, in the United States, we made a decision that we wanted to become a low-fat country.
Yeah.
We wanted our products to be low-fat because low-fat was healthy.
The problem is, take fat out of the food, it tastes like cardboard.
You've got to start adding stuff in.
And that's really what started this.
Over 40, 50 years ago now, they started putting sugar in slowly, but more and more over time.
And now it's in just about every product you could possibly imagine.
I mean, there are some products, obviously, that we immediately think of, right?
Sodas, for example.
But what about things like cheese?
Cheese?
You ever think of cheese having sugar?
Yeah.
It has sugar in it.
All sorts of salad dressings have sugar in it.
These are hidden sources of sugar.
More salad dressing.
Crackers, for example.
Crackers.
Again, you don't think of it as sweet, but it has sugar in it.
Bread.
Why does bread have sugar in it?
Because besides actually making things sweet, sugar attracts water.
So if food is particularly moist, it's probably got a lot of sugar in it as well.
More barbecue sauce, soups, you know.
Applesauce, all sorts of different things.
But how about meat?
Meat has high fructose corn syrup?
Meat has high fructose corn syrup or sugar because it can also be a very good preservative.
So if you want your food to last longer, people started adding this in.
And so, Oz, it's amazing.
Just about anything you go to and look at in the store is going to have some sort of sugar or high fructose corn syrup.
So think about this, guys.
And again, you've all seen this in labels, but tomato sauce, high fructose corn syrup.
I mean, it's in all the foods that you've pulled out.
In fact, it's hard to go shopping.
And not get this.
People don't always read the labels, but if you do spend a second to read the labels, you're going to find it.
Not only are you going to find it, but it's usually going to be the first three ingredients on many of these products.
So you're a brain guy.
Help explain to me why sugar is so important to us, and why is it such a wonderful thing to have in food that we would think would not need it, like meat or salad dressing or crackers?
Well, you know, I am a brain guy because the brain is the most important organ, as you know.
Please.
Please.
Just an end organ for the heart to work with.
The heart tolerates the brain.
Okay, all right.
We can't transplant the brain.
I'm just saying.
But if you think about your brain, we always want the last word.
The neurosurgeons are like that.
You think about your brain, and you think about the fact that you're giving sugar, and part of it, it's energy.
The brain's gonna require energy.
But I want to show you something that I think is really interesting.
If you look at your brain specifically here, and then you start to slice it in half, you're gonna see that green area there.
That's the pleasure center of the brain.
That's what makes you feel good when you have something sweet.
You feel good.
You crave it.
Sugar or high fructose corn syrup, they both do that.
They light up.
That pleasure center of the brain.
So last time you were on the show, come on over, we put me in a brain scanner.
This time, Sanjay went in the scanner.
He got connected, and while he was in there, he did something he normally doesn't do.
He drank soda.
So explain why you did this experiment, and please show us what would happen to a normal person's brain, because you have data on this now, if we actually got soda somehow in our vicinity.
It's so fascinating.
I wanted to do this, Oz, because, you know, you can read all the studies you want, but to actually experience it is a totally different thing.
So let me show you, because I think a picture really is worth a thousand words here.
This is a resting brain.
And take a look.
Again, in the middle there, you see those red areas in the very middle.
Those are the pleasure centers of the brain.
You see the outside sort of red.
This is just a resting brain.
These red areas.
Those areas right there.
Just resting.
Now, the next picture I'm about to show you is not me or anybody drinking or eating sugar.
It is simply looking at sugar or thinking about sugar, okay?
The brain reacts to just that.
And look what happened.
Oh my goodness.
You've flooded yellow now into those same areas.
The pleasure centers lit up as a result.
Those feel-good hormones now flooding those pleasure centers of the brain.
I haven't even eaten it yet.
I've just thought about it.
You can understand why there's so much craving around this, because as soon as you start to feel good just by thinking about it, You go out and get it, okay?
The same sort of pleasure centers that light up with sugar also light up with crack cocaine.
This is stunning.
Let's take this information, not process it about this battle between sugar and high fructose corn syrup.
So if you don't mind, explain to everybody how they're actually made so we know what we're talking about, and then we're going to show you something I think is going to change your lives.
This is so important, I think, because obviously there's a lot of misconceptions around sugar and high fructose corn syrup.
First of all, they both come from rather natural ingredients.
Sugarcane, people are familiar with sugarcane, and corn on the cob.
This is where we're starting here.
Neurosurgeons.
Yes.
They drop things immediately.
It doesn't matter that much.
I never do that with a brain, though.
But what happens next, okay?
I'm going to put that there so I don't drop that.
Let a heart surgeon happen first.
Right.
All right.
They both get processed.
Okay, the sugarcane goes to something that you're familiar with.
Table sugar there.
It's this granular stuff.
That's sucrose.
The corn now goes to corn syrup.
High fructose corn syrup.
And this is what it looks like.
It's a liquid, but it's all sort of the same thing.
Both of them can now be used to make your foods sweet and give them calories.
Again, the sugar cookies there.
Now you're eating the high fructose corn.
These are really good, Sanjay.
Yes.
I made them myself.
I was up all night.
Yes.
Can you tell the difference between these two?
No.
They're both good, by the way, but I can't tell the difference.
I think that's the most salient point here, because you're going to hear a lot of stuff about, here's the difference between sugar and high fructose corn syrup.
Your brains, as we just showed you, your bodies as well, really can't tell the difference.
They are the same once they get into your body.
Your taste buds don't know the difference.
We've established that.
But your body does.
Maybe.
And that's the big battle.
So let's come on over here.
This is the million-dollar question.
Is it really a difference your body reacts to differently?
So let me walk you through what happens in your body with fructose.
Just for a second, think about this.
Fructose, fructose, fructose.
When you drink something with a lot of fructose in it, like a soda pop, but a lot of the foods you talked about as well, goes to your body.
This is important.
That fructose, when it gets digested, moves up to the liver.
Your liver has to metabolize this.
Your body makes it into fats, like bad cholesterol, that makes plaque inside of your arteries.
And that plaque gets irritated and inflamed Because of the liver being ill, it ruptures.
Once you have a ruptured plaque inside the artery, what does your body do?
It tries to heal it, like with a scab.
The scab gets bigger and bigger, and then BOOM! It blocks off the artery, and you end up with this.
A heart attack, or in Sanjay's case, a stroke.
Now this is the other problem that we're going to talk about.
Your liver.
Unfortunately, you see how it looks like foie gras here?
It's all fatty.
The fructose seems to accumulate in the liver because it has to have the liver there in order to get rid of it.
Unlike other parts of sugar, which naturally go to our muscles and allow us to have energy.
And that's a big issue for us.
We actually want the sweetness of the fructose, but we don't need the calories from it.
We can get the calories from other parts of it.
So walk us through how important fructose is in the major sources.
So fructose, as you point out, Oz, is the operative word here.
Really, fructose is the enemy.
It can cause all those problems in the body.
But again, take a look.
We've got sugar on the left.
It's powdery.
It's that granular, solid substance.
But look how much fructose it has in there.
There's about 50% of that substance is going to be made up of fructose, the substance we're talking about.
Now again, high fructose corn syrup.
People say, oh, is this very different?
No, it's 55%.
There's really not that big a difference.
And again, once it gets inside your body, it sort of creates all those problems that you talk about.
So let's give a bottom line here to everybody because I think we can sort of settle this issue.
I think, I think everybody, high fructose corn syrup has in a lot of ways become the villain, the scapegoat for obesity epidemic.
Everyone's blaming it and pointing fingers.
In fairness, I think, I believe we agree on this, sugar is a big problem.
In fact, it's as big a problem.
The difference between them isn't nearly as big an issue for us as the fact that we're having too much of both.
Right?
That's the point.
That's the point.
And you just learned about it because these chronic illnesses, we talk about obesity and the cancers that come from it, the bad livers, all this inflammation, that's what's being caused.
But we got good news.
A lot of it.
The biological sugar loophole that allows you to have sugar in the best possible way.
way when we come back.
Next, Sanjay Gupta shows us the best way to have sugar without wrecking our health.
I mean look the entire mouth just explodes with this Startling new research on what happens to your body just 10 days after quitting sugar.
Coming up.
The coolest new gadgets.
Health products and ideas we're obsessed with.
You're going to love this.
Wow!
Factor favorites that make life easier.
Every woman on my staff is obsessed with this product.
They make great gifts.
It works perfectly.
But you may want to keep these for yourself.
Wow!
Plus, Marlo Thomas.
You are so adorable.
How you can help her in the fight against cancer in children.
All new Oz.
That's coming up tomorrow.
Today, the best ways to live the sweet life, and Sanjay's here to help me give you the whole story on sugar.
Now, there's good news that has researchers and doctors, even dads like us, really hopeful.
Please tell them about these new headlines, this big, very important paper.
Yeah, there is some encouraging news here.
This was a really important study.
It was looking at kids primarily, although it could be for adults as well, and they said, let's just see what happens when we withhold sugar for 10 days.
Right.
Just 10 days.
So you got the little lollipops.
The kids like the lollipops.
Kids like the lollipops.
By the way, they didn't take away the calories, right?
So they just took away added sugars.
They even replaced the calories.
So this wasn't about actually eating less.
It's eating the same number of calories, just making fewer of those calories come from added sugars.
So here's what happened.
They go ahead and they start taking away.
As you point out, the kids are still...
Yeah, they're all smiling.
They're still smiling.
Yeah, it's pretty good.
But take a look at what happens.
Again, just 10 days.
I think this is so important, how quickly these changes can take place.
10 days, and what they find is that triglycerides, these are some of the fats that are in the blood, 36-point drop.
Oh my goodness.
10 days.
You can tell me, but I don't think most medications can do that that quickly.
But also take a look at something else that you talk a lot about, LDL. It's a bad cholesterol in the blood.
Drops 5 points.
And then also blood pressure, something that people may not pay enough attention to, that also dropped 5 points in just 10 days.
So as problematic as this can be, as much problems as this can cause, it can actually get better rather quickly as well.
And again, a lot of people will look at a study like this and say, oh, they just ate less.
Not the case here.
They ate the same number of calories.
This was just about changing up the calories a little bit.
Getting rid of the extra added sugar.
That's right.
But here's the deal.
This is important.
These problems that they get cured will save lives and pretty reproducibly.
But think about this.
Ten days without added sugar with this benefit.
How can you do that for the rest of your life?
So I think that although added sugar is an issue, there's a loophole out there.
There's a loophole that allows you to scratch that little sweet itch in a very healthy way.
And it's this.
A piece of fruit.
Your body treats natural sugars and fruits completely differently than the refined sugars that we've been talking about.
So, when you have the sugar normally, it's a problem, but in a fruit form, it's not.
Why would that be?
So we do a little experiment here.
I love doing experiments with neurosurgeons.
So when you take sugar that's added to a food, like for example, you might have in colas and other sources of beverages that have been sweetened, what happens to them?
Your body's here, you pour it into your mouth, And it rapidly travels into your body.
In our case, we discussed the fact that it actually has to go to the liver, and then it goes where?
To your hips, into your heart arteries, into your brain, places you don't want it to be.
Over and over and over again, this is the unfortunate reality.
But Mother Nature, it has a plan.
The sugar in real food has fiber with it, right?
So when you chew the food up, it looks like this.
We had the audience chew this before the show.
Yeah, definitely.
And then spit it out.
So you got this chewed up food, and it goes into your stomach and into your body.
And Sanji, what happens?
Well, look how much more slowly this is getting absorbed now.
And this is really the operative point.
You still got sugar in there.
People always say, well, there's sugar in fruit.
That is true.
But here's the important thing.
It's not just the amount of sugar.
It's this, the rate of absorption, how quickly your body actually absorbs sugar.
That's going to be probably the most important point.
Understandably, you couldn't eat 20 oranges probably, right?
You couldn't get that much sugar.
But even if you did, you absorb it so much more slowly, your body can better handle it.
So take advantage of the fiber that nature naturally puts next to the sugar.
The sugar is actually the bait, guys.
The sugar is in these foods that get us to eat them, which is what's so perverse about the fact that we're forgetting about the nutrient benefit and going for the sweet stuff by itself.
But you've changed your diet completely.
I have.
I mean, look, I have a sweet tooth.
Do you have a little bit of sweet tooth as well?
I love chocolate.
Yeah, I know.
It's hard to beat.
But if you're craving something, I think keeping some sweet stuff around that actually is still going to satisfy that urge, but be healthier is important.
I like chocolate covered strawberries, dark chocolate on strawberries, dark chocolate on bananas.
I think those are really good foods.
And here's something.
I don't know if you've tried these.
This is something that I've tried more recently.
These are mangoes, just regular mangoes, and you dip them in a little bit of pepper.
A little bit of pepper, okay?
It can be a cayenne pepper, it can be a different pepper.
Oh, that's got a lot of kick to it.
I mean, look, the entire mouth just explodes with this.
You get the sweet flavor, but you don't have to eat much to really get the benefit and the satisfaction, if you will.
I would share these, but they're too good.
You've got to keep them all.
They're really good.
Let's share them.
Come on.
All right, come on.
Come on over here.
Let's share them.
All right.
Donji is too kind.
He gives them out.
I love having you in the show.
All right, yeah.
You know, this is an Indian approach, I guess, to making food taste a little differently.
It brings your ethnic background into it.
It does, yes.
But, you know, you take a sweet food and you add a little bit of, probably other cultures as well, you add a little pepper to it and it really brings out the sweet flavor.
You sure you want to do this?
Make sure you guys share those things.
We'll be right back, everybody.
Next, more ways to enjoy the sweet life.
I'm revealing three natural sweeteners you need to know about.
We test them out to see if these alternatives hold up to sugar.
Describe them like you would have fine wine.
See if our die-hard sweet tooths agree.
Coming up next.
Today's show is all about the best ways to live the sweet life.
And now we're giving you three natural sweeteners that you need to know about.
You can use it for your coffee, your iced tea, even your baking.
So I invited some bonafide sweet tooths, that's how they describe themselves, to see if these alternatives hold up or if they will leave you a little sour.
You guys pretty picky?
Yes.
I'm a picky eater.
You know your sweets, huh?
I do.
Absolutely.
So I'm going to ask you to taste these.
You're going to be honest about it.
Describe them like you would a fine wine.
You drink them, okay?
Very last minute to see your nutritionist extraordinaire.
What are the requirements, the most important things you look for to figure out if these natural sweeteners are worth the effort?
So, as much as I tell people that I really want them to avoid sugar as much as possible, it's not just possible and realistic to do it all the time.
So when I'm looking for that perfect or quote perfect sweetener, I look for something that comes from a plant, low glycemic index, and of course tastes good, the holy grail or trifecta of natural sweeteners.
Alright, so why do you love coconut sugar so much?
That's the first sweetener that Carrie says fits the bill.
By the way, please taste the coffees, the iced coffees and the teas in front of you.
Let me know what you think as Kerry describes this.
Okay, so coconut sugar.
Many people are wary because it has the same amount of calories as sugar, but I always tell people that is not the whole nutrition picture.
It also has minerals, calcium, iron, and zinc, and it also has fiber.
All right, the moment of truth.
I was watching their faces.
I definitely like the coffee.
You do?
The tea can definitely use some more sugar.
So tea wasn't sweet enough?
No.
I like the coffee.
So that's interesting, though, because it's normally like a one-for-one ratio, so do you normally have sugar in your coffee?
Yes.
I have eight packets of sugar in my coffee.
All right, well, we've got to fix that.
All right, the other two, sweet tooth?
It's not sweet.
It's not for me.
Not good enough for you?
No.
I could take a little more sugar in my coffee.
Give me some of this stuff here.
Taste some of this.
Yeah, let's try it.
I'm going to try it.
This is how you have to deal with sweet teeth, people.
What is a plural of sweet tooth?
There is none, probably.
All right, now open your mouth up here.
Which one?
I'll put it in one of these.
Just try these things.
It's like vodka and alcohol.
You've got a heavy hand up there.
I want to just know, actually, if you had enough in there, would you like the taste?
Because sometimes these things are bitter and people aren't going to taste it.
This is way better.
More than that?
This is actually pretty good.
I like this one.
Yeah, I like this better.
I like mine the way it was, but I don't put a ton of them.
You okay?
I've got a winner here, Carrie.
But the big test today, this is a good idea for everybody, but this is the big issue for Thanksgiving.
There are two natural sweeteners.
We're going to put them head-to-head.
Stevia and date sugar.
Alright, you can use these for baking.
They can be powerful.
What are the differences nutrition-wise?
Okay, so stevia has zero calories and zero on the glycemic index, so it's not going to raise our blood sugar.
And also, it has been linked with even lowering blood sugar in people with diabetes and lowering blood pressure in people with high blood pressure.
However, we have to remember that we are really only supposed to be using this when we would normally be using sugar.
We're not supposed to start including it in our diet.
Okay, and then date sugar is really delicious, and probably my favorite, even though it has the same amount of calories and the same glycemic index as regular sugar, but it is really the most whole, real food.
It's just pulverized dates, and it also has fiber, and it also has minerals, like calcium and manganese.
All right, so it all comes down to taste, obviously.
There's two good reasons to eat these from a nutritional perspective.
Go ahead, test it out.
I'm going to tell you which one is which.
Is it A, and there's a B. All right, take it away, sweet tooth.
B. B? I love B. You could use a little more sugar, but it's pretty good.
It doesn't have a funny taste.
It tastes good.
Well, do you have any more of A? I like A. All right.
How many cavities do you guys have?
Seriously.
I like A. So we got A. We got two A's and a B. Two A's and a B. Okay, so here it is.
A is stevia.
And one of the reasons you two ladies may like the A is because stevia is 200 to 300 times sweeter than sugar.
So it's still for an indulgence.
And then B, of course, is the date sugar, which you may like there, Celia.
Celia, right?
You may like that better because it is still more whole, real food.
So maybe you like the more natural taste.
Don't listen to what they're saying.
They eat the whole thing up anyway.
I mean, not food.
There's no A or B left anywhere.
They're both really good.
You'll find extra healthy sugar alternatives at DrOz.com.
Thanks for being here, Carrie.
Gary, be right back.
Next, Real Housewives star, Mimi Leakes.
The latest on the health crisis that could have killed her.
I don't know where it actually came from.
We still don't know.
The lessons she learned.
But I am here, honey, and doing well.
And the surprise she has for her fans.
Next.
Cool stuff you'll love.
Every woman on my staff is obsessed with this product.
Plus...
You are so adorable.
How you can help her in the fight against cancer in children.
All new Oz.
That's coming up tomorrow.
Actress and star of Will Housewives of Atlanta, Nene Leakes is here today with urgent, life-saving information for you.
Now, in the past couple of years, NeNe's had some pretty big, significant health issues.
She's dealt with them.
They could have killed her, but she's a survivor, and she's about to share the most important health message she wants you to know.
Plus, in true NeNe fashion, she's a very big surprise for her fans.
Please welcome my friend Nini Leeks.
Thank you.
Hi there.
Come up a seat.
What shirt do you want?
What do you want?
Well, wherever you want me to sit.
Come on over here.
How are you?
Very well.
So the last time you were here, you were in a little bit of trouble.
You were having blood clots in your legs, going in your lungs.
Yeah, I had blood clots.
Yeah, I sure did.
But I am here, honey, and doing well.
Yes!
So how'd you treat it?
Well, of course, I saw many doctors.
In fact, I was, like, everywhere looking for, like, the best doctor.
But I'm on blood thinners.
And there's a few different ones on the market.
But I'm on blood thinners.
And, you know, I travel a lot.
So I'm always in compression socks.
I'm always up on the airplane walking around.
I'm staying hydrated.
Everything.
I do everything.
I'm really paranoid, though.
Because I'm always scared, like, am I going to get another one?
Is another one going to come?
Because I don't know where it actually came from.
We still don't know.
So really, I have to take blood thinners for the rest of my life.
Just to stay on the safe side.
Oh, they've already decided that?
They're not going to give you a chance without them for a while?
No, I'm scared to take a chance.
It's almost like gambling.
They said, well, you don't have to do it.
If you don't want to take them, you don't have to take them.
And I was like, oh, no, no, no, this is not the casino.
You know?
That's right.
This is my real body.
You know, I think I'm going to take them.
So, Tamar Braxton, your friend, recently quit Dancing with the Stars with a very similar problem, diagnosed with pulmonary embolism.
Of course, flying around, which both of you guys do a lot.
Yeah.
When you're not moving, the blood doesn't move either, so it can form a clot, like it would if it was on a counter of your kitchen.
Yeah.
What'd you tell her?
What advice would you give her?
Well, of course, I've been talking to Tamar every day that she's been in the hospital, and she just got out the other day, and she goes, okay, so, Nene, okay, were you depressed?
I have a job I got to go to Africa to do.
I was like, girl, you're not going to Africa to do any jobs right now, okay?
You have to sit down, take your blood thinners, make sure they're all gone, the clots are gone before you can do anything.
You have to really get some rest because she had clots all over both left and right side of her lungs, you know, and so did I. So it was really bad.
It's really bad for her right now.
You know, 40% of African Americans, I take it back, the chance of having pulmonary emboli is 40% higher with African Americans.
I heard.
It's a big issue.
And we don't actually know why.
But here, come up for a second.
I'm going to show you.
Yeah, I heard all about it.
You know, thank you so much, honey.
You know, I love holding hands with you.
Well, I got you your very own gloves.
I thought they'd agree with you, the color anyway.
Yeah, this is more like us being Bernie.
Betsy, that's like Barney.
Well, I'm gonna take out one of my big old rings, honey, before I can put this thing up.
These are big rings!
Well, you know how it is when you work, honey, you have to buy yourself nice rings.
Yep, you are living this sweet life as always.
You have to find it.
Now, this is not so sweet.
This...
Ooh, you know, I don't like stuff like that, honey.
Well, take your Barney gloves, and I want you to just describe...
Now, I want to really look, though.
This is a lung.
And I'm going to point something out to you and everybody else.
Well, why is this one longer?
Well, the lung actually is made up of several different, they're called lobes, and they're not all the same.
In fact, you've got to think about it.
The heart's on the left side of your body, so your left lung is smaller than your right lung.
Oh, really?
Let me touch it a little bit.
Ooh.
Now, are those the holes?
Is that where the blood clot was?
Yeah.
But notice what's going on here.
Ooh.
You see that little area?
There's a little black in there.
Can you all see that?
See this thing right here?
That's a blood clot.
It's not supposed to be there.
See, this is a normal lung, but there's a clot here.
This is a blood tube, actually.
And that blood tube needs to get the blood through your lungs.
You can't actually take any benefit of the oxygen you're breathing.
Well, you know I want to breathe, honey.
You want to breathe for sure.
That's a little petrifying.
But I want to point something out.
These blood clots, they didn't start in your lung.
They came from your legs, right?
Well, I'm not sure where they start, but they always say they start in your legs first and they work their way up.
I'm pretty sure.
I've operated on people with this.
It's usually, it looks like a cast of your leg.
So it looks like the veins in the legs form a clot, and then it escapes from those veins, travels up to your heart, and they lodge in these arteries in your lungs.
I just wonder how did it get in my leg, though?
You know, why was it in my leg?
Not somebody else's?
Yeah, somebody else's leg.
I think there's beautiful legs in yours.
That's why my leg.
Your beautiful legs are sitting across on that plane for a couple hours, and within two hours, you form little clots in there, and that's why those nice little veins gave you clots that could have killed you.
Well, I get up and move now, and I make sure I wear my compression socks, really, because I do not want to have a blood clot at all.
But it is common in African-American, isn't it?
Yeah, 40% more common.
The other interesting thing is a lot of people don't wear those compression stockings because they don't like the way they look.
I like the way they look.
You do?
I don't have a problem with them.
They even have leggings now.
I buy those, too.
They do.
They've kind of stepped up their fashion game a little bit.
And you're talking about your life, so you just put them on and go on, honey.
Come on over here.
So let's talk a little bit about another one of your friends, fellow Atlanta housewife, Kim Zolziak.
Yeah.
You know, she was hospitalized for a hole in her heart.
How's she doing?
She's doing fine.
The last I saw, she was on vacation in Mexico.
There she's in her hospital bed.
Look at that.
Yeah.
All of us girls working and traveling, it's a lot.
Y'all spend time in hospitals.
The hospital has treated us really good, though.
Those nurses were really good to me.
Well, nurses are the best.
The Nurse Nation, shout out to you guys, because you're the real caregivers.
So after you left, The Atlanta Housewives last year, that big reunion show.
Yeah.
And we thought you were done.
But I don't think you're staying away very long.
You got a little announcement for your fans.
Well, sort of, sort of, kind of not.
Well, the producers called me and asked me if I wanted to surprise the girls or would I come and surprise the girls on an island?
And I did.
I went back and surprised the girls.
So they won't get to see me yet.
On a trip.
You went on a trip with them?
Yes, I did.
My husband and I, we went in surprise to girls, so you guys will see us, you know, towards the very end of the season, we'll step in and say hi to the girls.
All right.
Yeah, just to check up on it.
There's one other reason.
I went at the actress version of Nini today.
She's back on Broadway until it's December 20th in Chicago, and she's playing the role of Mama Morton.
That is the role made famous by Tuna Tifa in the movie.
She was just on the show, by the way.
How's the theory back on Broadway?
You like it?
You know, I love Broadway.
It's tough, though.
You know, last time, last year, this time, I was in Cinderella, and I loved it.
It was so amazing.
But the schedule is so tough.
It's a tough schedule.
So right now, I'm in Chicago.
I'm Mama Morton, and the schedule is just as tough.
I have two songs.
I have a duet, and I have a solo.
So I'm singing this time on Broadway.
So it's really, really, it's great.
I love it.
I love just getting out there, acting, and letting go.
You know I'm dramatic, honey, so I be giving them everything.
So answer me this.
This is a big question.
I want to know if it's true.
When you're good to mama, is mama good to you?
Yes, honey.
She is?
Yes, mama is good to you.
Yes.
When you're good to mama, mama's good to you.
All right.
Okay, breakfast.
Last moment you knew when we come back.
Yeah!
How do you feel?
You look good.
Next, we're looking at some of the best and worst health and beauty treatments on the market.
Nene tells us which ones are sweet.
I'm all about bright sticks.
And then no wrinkles, honey, or whatever you gotta do to fix that.
And which ones are?
I know that.
Next.
We are giving you the best ways to live this sweet life and someone who does that better than anyone else is Nene Leakes.
Thanks for being back.
So we're going to give you the best and the worst health and beauty treatments out there, and then NeNe is going to do this little game with us, rapid fire.
We're going to name the product, or the idea, the concept.
You're going to tell us, all health and beauty treatments.
Is it a NeNe, meaning?
Yeah.
Yeah, you think it's good.
You try it.
Yeah.
Or is it a no-no, which means you would skip it?
Yeah.
Are you ready?
So ready.
All right, set.
Let's start off.
Let's go with the speed round.
Pole dancing exercise class.
Uh-huh, yeah.
I'm gonna get one of those.
That's gonna take fun.
Next, cocoa butter as skin moisturizer.
Uh, yeah.
Yeah, I'm all about great skin.
Well, I can tell.
Yeah, I'm all about great skin and no wrinkles, honey.
Whatever you gotta do to fix that, do it, okay?
So, knee knee.
Alright, this next one, you've never heard of.
It's brand new.
Everyone's talking about it, though.
It's called Spray-On Nail Polish.
Look at the product.
It's coming to America in the spring.
You spray your fingernails, and then you let them dry.
Then you wash, and literally, the polish comes off your hands, the skin, but it stays in your nails.
Okay.
I like to do stuff fast.
You can take a chance on that one.
I thought you weren't a gambler.
All right, come on over.
Keep it hard.
We're gonna keep voting here.
Got some women in the studio.
Next treatment is cocoa face masks.
You say you're all about the skin?
Take a look.
Here they are.
They're made from yogurt, honey, cocoa powder.
They hydrate and they adjuvenate.
Ladies, how's it doing for you?
It's cocoa.
Like what I drink?
It feels good.
It smells good.
It does?
It's so good.
I want to eat it.
It smells like cocoa.
Let me smell it.
Oh, it sure does.
But here's the real test.
It's a face mask.
Can you eat it?
No, can you eat it?
You go first.
No, you eat it.
If I eat it, will you eat it?
Okay.
Let me, okay.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Feed me, honey.
Wait a minute now.
Be a gentleman.
Oh, come on now.
It's face mask.
How bad can it be?
Let me taste this.
Have you guys eaten any of this yet?
Not yet.
Oh, it's great.
You don't think so?
I hope this is the real deal with I'm eating over here.
It is the real deal.
So what do you think?
Is it a nini or a no-no?
Um, no.
I guess it's a nini.
I'll take it a nini.
It's a nini!
Would you guys nini it?
You know, the antioxidants and that stuff you're frowning on, it's really good for your skin.
I'm frowning on it.
I'm just like, really?
So you're going to have a mask on that you can eat?
Okay.
There's no leftovers.
It's perfect.
Okay.
I've got this last one for you, though.
This one, I need a real expert like you to help me with this.
Oh, Lord.
This is a brand new gadget.
It is called the Facial Fitness Gadget.
And the maker says you put it in your mouth so it looks like this, and then you're supposed to wave it up and down.
Okay.
You want to try this?
This is like anything I want to do and break my teeth.
Here?
Like that, and then you gotta wiggle.
And it's for facial fitness.
Bigger, bigger.
Now you're supposed to feel it up here in your muscles.
You're supposed to exercise all the muscles as you do that more and more.
So you don't have to even speak.
Is it a needy or is it a no-no?
No.
No-no.
No-no.
No-no?
I agree with you.
I mean, really.
You can just break your teeth like, you know.
Just because you want to have great skin, just go to the doctor, honey.
Go to the doctor.
Listen, I wouldn't use that either.
Couldn't find any studies on it.
And I got, I think, I used it before you did, by the way.
You did.
I probably should have cleaned it.
But the, uh...
What?
I cleaned it.
We'll be right back.
*laughter* Iam is gonna swab your feet to estimate the bacteria on there because bacteria are the root of most body odor.
It tickles a little bit.
Oh, so we have 7,289.
Is that a new world's record?
Well, above 30 we're worried.
What do we do, Mike?
Alright, so we're going to take a quart of water and then half a cup of apple cider vinegar.
And now we wait 20 minutes.
Still tickles.
11. From 7,268 to 11?
Wow.
That settles it.
For foot odor, apple cider vinegar is a fix.
Next, what if your favorite dish had to apply to be part of the holiday dinner?
Why do you think you deserve a spot on the Thanksgiving table?
So it says here you have experience with Thanksgiving.
What was your background?
Where'd you grow up?
The ground.
Who gets the job?
Find out next.
Cool stuff you'll love.
Every woman on my staff is obsessed with this product.
Plus...
You are so adorable.
How you can help her in the fight against cancer in children.
All new Oz.
That's coming up tomorrow.
Today's all about living that sweet life, and there's no sweeter feeling than serving up a delicious meal for Thanksgiving.
You only want the best for your family.
So, I got thinking about this.
What if your favorite Thanksgiving foods had to apply to be on your table?
Imagine this.
You're interviewing the Thanksgiving foods.
Who would get the job?
Let me try.
Take a look.
It's a sweet potato casserole.
Why do you think you deserve a spot on the Thanksgiving table?
I'm super sweet.
My mama, she said I'm even made with sugar and spice.
Listen to me yammering on.
So it says here you have experience with Thanksgiving.
What was your background?
Where'd you grow up?
The ground.
Let's fast forward a little bit.
Where'd you go to college?
Kale University.
What would you say to your strengths?
My apples are high in antioxidants and fiber.
Great.
Any weaknesses?
Sometimes my crust might have some trans fats, which might make me a little flaky.
But is that really enough to keep me off the table?
So Cranberry Sauce, what happened at your last job?
To be honest, I got canned.
Alright Craig, I heard you have worked with Turkey in the past.
Everyone says he's just a fantastic guy.
What's he really like?
Such a diva!
And you know, Turkey's pretty foul if you ask me.
I've been covering that guy since the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock.
Turkey's the main event at Thanksgiving.
It's one of my favorite lean and healthy sources of protein.
I've never heard anyone criticize turkey.
You know, my boy Stuffin' is also tired of being his side dish.
He's been doing inside jobs for that guy for years.
It's all guts, no glory.
Cass, I think if you can cut down on the sweetness, you might be a good candidate for us.
Cass?
Yeah?
I am super impressed by your credentials.
I must say that vitamin major really paid off.
You've got tons of them, folate, iron, potassium.
Congratulations and welcome to the Thanksgiving table.
- Thank you. - All right, who's cooking this year?
You like that, by the way?
Wasn't that clever?
All those folks there on the staff, who's cooking?
Let me have two hands.
Let me go Shelly up here.
Heard about you.
You guys have something called Friendsgiving, is that right?
Yes, Friendsgiving.
And we're having turkey with a potato medley, with russet potatoes, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash with some cheese, some asparagus.
Getting hungry.
Some stuffing!
So I heard you had a little snafu the other day, last year.
Oh, well that was Carrie.
And what did Carrie do?
Pass that down.
That was Carrie.
So when I was cooking the turkey, which I don't always do, I was in the bag.
I left the giblets in the bag and cooked the turkey.
You don't trust her anymore, huh?
In the oven, so everything burnt inside.
It was lovely.
I'm glad you're still friends laughing about it.
Yes.
Good Friendsgiving.
That's right.
So I want to thank the Dr. Oz players for helping us out with that video.
I'm very thankful every year for my amazing staff.
There they are up there working tirelessly.
The crew, the medical, and all of them.
I posted this video on my Facebook page for you to watch.
Here she is, yammering on.
Post that video to all your friends.
Share it with you.
Have a great Thanksgiving.
Be right back. - Cool stuff you'll love.
Every woman on my staff is obsessed with this product.
Plus...
You are so adorable.
How you can help her in the fight against cancer in children.
All new Oz.
That's coming up tomorrow.
You know, I never get enough of NeNe Leaks, so I asked her to stick around for an extra 30.
And she does something at the end of every year that she says is a great way to remove some of the drama and keep the sweet positivity in your life.
That's right.
That's exactly, let me tell you what I do.
So this is a great tip for all of you guys here in the audience and including you.
So, I don't generally tell my New Year's resolutions, but this is one that I tell everybody every year.
At the beginning of the year, when the New Year rings in, I go through all of my contacts, and I look at the people, and I say, well, they've brought me nothing but negativity, they mean me no good, and I delete.
You delete them?
I delete them out of my contacts.
So, we didn't delete this year.
I don't know, but it's getting close.
I got quite a few people I need to delete.
Well, you know, it's just like, look, they mean me no good.
Well, I mean, this is just not working.
Whatever the case may be, I no longer need you in my book.
Let me just delete it.
And you just delete them.
Am I on that list?
Am I there somewhere?
No, you're not on here.
But I'm sure there's somebody in there you just like, or either, you know, and I do still have in my phone currently, like I have, under the D's, I have a do not answer.
Like, seriously?
You do?
I have people in my phone, look at these.
Don't answer.
Oh, she does.
Show that to the camera.
Just look at that.
It says, don't answer.
I mean, can you imagine that?
No, seriously.
Like, I'm like, don't answer.
Don't answer.
All right.
No need.
It's like whoever they are, by their name, just don't answer that.
I've got some other stress solutions.
I like scents, for example, like lemons and orange scents.
I got a whole list of things that I think are great.
These stressors are going to put them on my Facebook page so you can share them with all the people that you have not deleted yet from your phone.
Remember, having to be healthy, it starts at home.
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