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Jan. 6, 2025 - Dr. Oz Podcast
42:51
Teatoxing, Scented Candles & Hair Trends: Are They Safe for You? Dr. Oz | S7 | Ep 113 | Full Episode
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It's a hot new trend in weight loss.
You've heard of detoxing.
What about T-toxing?
I lost about five pounds and I feel great.
It was not good.
Is it safe?
Then, you love the smell, but are your scented candles toxic?
How much of these chemicals are in the air around us?
We sniff out the truth in our investigation.
What is this stuff?
You want this in your lungs?
Coming up next on Oz.
We'll save lives today.
We'll save lives today.
You guys ready to get healthy?
Welcome to our show you can't afford to miss.
Today, we dig deep and take an investigative look into the trends in weight loss and beauty that are blowing up online.
We're going to reveal what's safe and what's not.
Starting with T-toxing, which is a combination of tea and a detox.
It's the hot new trend in Hollywood and on social media.
You've seen the pictures, the ads, the celebrity endorsements.
We all want to look perfect.
We want to lose weight, look better.
But is T-toxing good for you?
And then, the candles from your favorite home stores.
Could they be emitting dangerous toxins?
We're going to find out with the testing that we did and what it uncovered.
Plus, the latest in hair trends.
From straighteners...
To home conditioning shampoos.
Why some women claim they actually have been left bald by these products.
You're going to watch this to find out whether it's going to affect you or not.
I don't want it to happen to you.
And finally, check out this video.
Take a look at this.
Could burning your hair actually rid you of split ends?
You've got to see this to believe it.
Yeah, you've seen it.
It's really what's going on.
We'll talk about that too.
But first, there's this new tea trend that is exploding all over the internet.
You've probably heard about it.
It's called tea toxin.
What is it exactly?
Well, it's a new form of detoxing.
It's basically hot tea mixed with different herbal ingredients.
Then you drink this tea twice a day, along with clean eating, of course, for 14 to 28 days.
So, what does it promise?
Well, a lot.
Frankly, everything from weight loss to cleansing to increased energy.
So, here's how popular it has become.
T-toxing has taken social media by storm.
You can't check Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest without seeing a new T-tox brand being touted.
A-list celebrities swear by it, posing proudly with their daily T-tox regimens.
And real women everywhere are posting before and after photos online, claiming it helps them lose weight.
Here's how it works: Detoxers drink custom-made herbal teas at designated times throughout the day.
Herbal mixtures vary from brand to brand, but most act as both an appetite suppressant and a diuretic.
Most brands promise weight loss, decrease in bloating, healthier looking skin and nails, even improvement in overall gut health.
But are the claims too good to be true?
Are there any negative side effects?
Is a detox really good for you?
Joining me are viewers, Lisa and Jen, who have both tried T-Tossing, like so many of you.
So, Lisa, you tried T-Tossing, and I understand you actually enjoyed it.
I did.
I went on a 14-day T-Tossing to get prepared to lose weight for my mom's wedding.
And I lost about 5 pounds, and I feel great, and I had a lot of energy, and it was fantastic.
All right, so that's the good side.
And I assume that a lot of people are happy because I'm seeing so much being written about it now, especially from our viewers.
Okay, Jane, take it away.
You had a different kind of reaction.
I had a bad reaction.
I did the 14-day cleanse, and I actually got through a week.
And within that week, I got dehydrated.
I had diarrhea.
Diarrhea?
It was not good.
You said it on national television.
I did.
I did say it.
Thank God.
I'm not single.
No.
But no, yeah, I had diarrhea.
It was really not...
It felt like I was allergic to it, almost.
Like, it had the opposite effect.
I almost got, like, bloated.
Right.
Yeah, and it was weird.
Not what you desired.
Not worth it.
No, not what I read.
It totally wasn't what I read.
So, I also heard folks complain, as you have, Jen, that it's not doing what it's supposed to do for you.
So, I looked in this a little bit.
Let me, if I can't explain it to you and everybody else at home.
These detoxes, they're all based on teas, right?
And because of that, people think, well, my goodness, it's good for me, right?
Teas cleanse me.
Let me show you what's going on inside your body when you take these detoxes, what's really happening.
A lot of these teas have senna leaves in there.
You may have heard of senna leaves.
It's the last senna, but it causes also stomach irritation.
Because it can irritate the lining of it.
That can result in, when you've taken them, cramping down your belly, the bloating gem that you mentioned earlier.
And it's actually FDA approved to use these scented leaves as a non-prescription laxative.
So people use it for chronic constipation.
That's a good reason to do it.
But you're not supposed to take it.
To lose weight and the other reasons that people are using these TTOX plans.
And many of these plans are two, three, four weeks, as we've mentioned.
That's enough time that if you're sitting in that bathroom long enough and you're getting dehydrated, you can develop electrolyte problems which can cause issues with your muscles.
All your muscles.
Muscles in your legs, your arms, also the muscle of your heart.
That's what worries me.
So come on over here.
For everybody at home and for both of you as well, I'm going to give you a different kind of solution.
Because abusing laxatives, which is basically what this is tantamount to, is not a good idea.
I think you ought to skip the tea talks and take advantage of the teas.
Because the teas themselves are probably worthwhile.
And listen, you all want to get your metabolism up a little bit.
One tea that seems to do that a little bit, it's just a little nudge to your metabolism, is green tea.
Which is what I do twice a day.
And if you can replace at least one of those coffees you guys love so much with some of your green tea, I think it'll at least catch you in the right direction.
It'll also spare your bowels.
Thank God.
Thank you both for telling your stories.
Thank you.
We'll be right back.
Next, they can set the mood and help you de-stress.
But new research says a scented candle could be polluting the very air you breathe.
Can they be emitting dangerous toxins?
We investigate.
Are scented candles putting your health at risk?
Next.
The beef with America's beef.
See why cattle ranchers are blowing the lid off the industry.
Consumers are voting with their wallets.
What they uncover could change the way you eat beef.
Plus, the health foods doctors are begging you not to eat.
All new laws.
That's coming up on Monday.
Scented candles.
This simple pleasure.
Can really set the mood.
It can also de-stress you after a long day.
It can even mask unwanted odors in your home.
But new research says your favorite scented candle may be polluting the very air you breathe.
Today, we investigate scented candles.
Are they putting your health at risk?
Once considered a luxury item, scented candles are now a $2 billion industry.
Sold everywhere from dollar...
The big box, the clothing stores, even your local pharmacy.
In fact, scented candles are now so popular, 7 out of 10 households use them regularly.
But are they really as safe as they seem?
Scented candles are made from a variety of different oils, the origins of which are often unclear.
And now, new research from a BBC investigation finds one chemical used in almost all citrus-scented candles, limonene.
Produces formaldehyde when exposed to air.
And formaldehyde has been listed by the National Toxicology Program as a human carcinogen since 2011. But this isn't the first time candles have come under fire.
Many imported candles used to be made with lead wicks, leading to their eventual ban in the United States in 2003. But some of those older candles may still be in stores or at the back of your drawer.
So, just how dangerous are the scented candles you may be burning in your home?
Today, what you need to know before you light them again tonight.
Bakasilya Ahsan is here.
She was part of the BBC investigation.
Her research looked into the chemical limonene in scented candles.
So, tell us more about this ingredient.
So, limonene actually comes from the rind of citrus fruits, like lemons, like oranges, And it's used in things like candles and food products like sweets and gums because of the citrus flavor of it.
Well, it sounds so natural.
How could it have a dangerous element to it?
I know you would think, wouldn't you?
So it's stored, if you like, in this form in candles, but then when it gets released into the atmosphere...
And floats around in the air around us, it degrades into chemical byproducts, which then become harmful.
And those byproducts, those chemicals, can cause breathing irritations, skin irritations.
And one of them, formaldehyde, we definitely don't want floating around in the air around us.
And we know from our research you get...
Two molecules of limonene producing one molecule of formaldehyde.
So for every two limonene, one of formaldehyde, which is pretty significant, we thought.
And you've got that floating around.
And that formaldehyde, we know, is an irritant to your skin, to breathing.
It can cause nausea.
It can cause coughing fits.
And it's a known carcinogenic, which is a big worry.
And we know that it has led to...
Cancers of the throat and of the nose.
So this is a much bigger issue than I anticipated before I studied your work.
So besides the formaldehyde, you also found that there are other chemicals that candles can emit.
Yes.
Paraffin.
And that's commonly used in candles.
So, you know, we know about paraffin candles.
They break down into things like alkanes, alkenes, and toluene, things from my chemistry degree, actually.
You have a chemistry degree?
I have.
No wonder you do all this stuff.
These are all chemicals that we are told to be careful about when we're studying to be doctors, and I'm now finding out that I might have bought a perfectly...
Harmless looking candle and unwittingly release this into my atmosphere.
Absolutely and the alkanes, the alkenes and the toluene again are irritants.
They can be allergens and again it goes back to skin and breathing problems.
All right, so the question then becomes how much of these chemicals are in the air around us?
Right, well that I don't know for sure.
We've been trying to determine that.
We haven't come to a figure.
But what I can help you with is one point.
This is important.
The biggest issue When you actually light the candle, are you exposed to it in a high enough amount that it can be dangerous?
Because we're never going to know how much is going to affect one person versus the other.
But this is going to blow your minds.
Okay.
Explain to us why the fact that we light them in homes, especially in the colder months, is such a big issue.
Right.
Well, there's a thing going around that we describe as indoor pollutions.
And the thing with this is that when you light a candle in one part of your home, it doesn't just stay there.
It travels.
So you've started it there and it goes all around your house.
So you might be trying to set the scene in the lounge, but it's gone into your bedroom as well, in the bathroom and the kitchen.
And it's two to five times more toxic.
So you did an experiment that sort of looked at this and we chipped in and reproduced it.
So come on over.
We actually decided to take candles, a scented candle and an unscented candle.
And Dr. Sun, what did we find after 10 hours of seeing whether or not there was stuff coming off here that we don't want to have?
Okay, well, this was news to me because I am a scented candle burner.
So, if you look at this one, it's pink, it's the fragranced one, and you've got this black soot on the glass, and that is the unfragranced candle, and there is no soot there.
Can you see that?
Really clean.
The thing, the problem with this is that that black soot doesn't just stay there.
It goes everywhere.
It goes onto your walls.
It goes onto your blinds.
Let me look at this.
If I just rub my finger along here, you see the soot after 10 hours?
Can you all appreciate that?
Imagine, imagine that's happening all the time.
And?
And what is this stuff?
Do you want this in your lungs?
And that is exactly where it's going.
It's also, you're also breathing that in.
So we can do better.
So, you recommend a few tips here.
I want you to walk us through some things we can all do right now, because I know your candles are important to you.
The first is to trim the wicks.
How do we know what the right height is?
So, what's recommended is a height of one-eighth of an inch.
Now, I can't conjure up what one-eighth of an inch is in my head, but...
Someone cleverly has worked out that it's two pennies stacked together.
But you want this kind of a wick height, not the ones we originally had there.
That'll help minimize the amount of these chemicals that are getting up into the air around you.
Now, there's one other idea that has really been shown to be helpful.
There's a natural air filter that NASA designed.
These guys are top-quality scientists sending the rockets up into the air.
They designed this solution, and look what it is.
It's a plant.
This is true.
The NASA scientists found out that the best way to remove pollutants from the air was through the leaves and the roots of any of the soil that plants are in.
And some of these plant species can remove 70% of the formaldehyde that Dr. Hassan spoke to earlier within a day, within 24 hours.
So what are the plants that you think we should be buying?
Right, so the Boston fern is very good at this.
The English ivy.
And also lavender.
And I like lavender for this purpose because it's got two purposes here.
It helps keep the air clean, but it's also got its own smell.
Two for the price of one.
I know she got the English ivy in here.
She had to do that, didn't you?
Yes.
You're from London.
There we go.
So we put them all in these cages.
Now, who wants plants?
Give them a plant.
All right.
Grab your English ivy.
So you get a plant.
And you get a plant.
And while she's doing that, up next, a buyer's guide to candles to keep your air in your home more clean and more pure.
Stay here.
I see that.
Coming up next, do you love scented candles, but worry they may be toxic to your health?
I don't want to give up my candles.
You don't have to throw out the whole ball of wax.
We've got the buyer's guide to safe and healthy candles.
These are the things you can remember as you buy your candles.
Next.
We've been investigating scented candles today.
Dr. Salia Ahsan is back with a buyer's guide to non-toxic candles.
And I also am joined by a candle fanatic, Shauna, who's here with her entire collection, or just a small sampling, rather, of her collection of candles.
Why do you love candles so much?
I, well, you know how you've heard of the cat lady?
Yes.
Well, I'm the candle lady.
Ah.
So, I just, I love the scent of a candle.
I will wake up in the morning, and I'm choosing my candle out for the day.
As to what I'm going to burn, how my mood's going to go.
If I want to have a relaxing day, I'm burning something relaxing.
And it's just kind of that scent that is inviting to me.
So take me through a typical day.
What kinds of scents do you enjoy for different parts of the day?
Okay.
So lately, my holiday candles.
They're my go-to candles.
Oh, let's have a smell.
Oh, this is like butterscotch.
Yeah.
You eat this stuff too?
You could.
It smells that good.
And then if I want to have a relaxing, fruity...
That's nice.
That's my go-to candle.
And then sometimes I even have a candle that I take on vacation with me.
Oh my goodness.
Yes.
I'm that obsessed.
This big?
Yes.
I'll take it with me because...
Can you imagine traveling with someone with candles like this?
You have, like, a hat box to put it in?
It reminds me of home, and so I feel like I'm taking that candle with me for that scent.
All right, so, look, there's one person who might love them as much as you do is my wife, Lisa.
We have candles all over the place, and crazily, I've actually taken candles on vacation, which I thought was a little bizarre.
Maybe it's not so much that we've spoken.
Yes.
But you've been listening to Dr. Hassan.
Educate us about the potential risks of candles.
Has that influenced your thoughts at all?
It does make me think about the type of candle that I'm buying.
It makes me sad, though, because I don't want to give up my candles.
But it does make me think about the type that I'm buying.
But you can get potted plants now.
Carry those with you on the plane.
Come over here.
We're not going to have to throw the whole bowl of wax away.
We've got better ideas.
They're simple solutions that will work for you and everybody else at home.
And these are the things you're going to remember as you buy your candles.
The first is, we're going to ask you to buy unscented candles.
Okay.
Dr. Sam, why is that so important?
Okay.
So there are two types.
There's soy.
And there's beeswax.
And I have to say that the beeswax ones are my favourite because beeswax is one of nature's own.
It's a naturally occurring wax.
And it's multi-purpose because not only does it not emit dangerous chemicals, it also helps clean up the air.
So it removes odors and allergens as well.
So you're getting two for the price of one.
And the other thing, if it doesn't say 100% beeswax, it could be a cheeky mix of paraffin and beeswax.
And we really don't want any paraffin in there whatsoever.
What's a cheeky mix?
I haven't heard that phrase.
It's a bit of Londonism there.
That thing to be a cheeky mix?
Yeah.
We don't want any paraffin sneaking into that.
No cheeky mixes out there today.
All right.
I love bees.
I actually, although I'm allergic to them, here's a picture of me with my little bee box there.
My son Oliver doing it.
But we actually melt our wax, and it looks like this when you're done.
And I think it's a wonderful idea.
So soy or beeswax, but it's got to be 100%, and that way you get away from the scents.
However, you're probably asking yourself, Should I listen to Dr. Ross?
Because I like the scents.
You pointed them out to me earlier, right?
So what do you do, Dr. Hassan, if people like the smell that comes off of their candles?
So this is fantastic, actually.
All the ingredients that you'll have in your cupboards at home, you can make your own smells.
So what you do, put a pot, a pan of water on the stove, and then you can throw in things like cinnamon and cloves, and we'll do some now.
Go ahead and do it.
Track this up.
What do you fancy?
That star anise?
That's clove?
Just make your own concoction.
And there's ingredients on Pinterest as well and online.
So once that's boiled away and simmering away, you then pour it into a jar.
You can cover it up with cling film on the top just to store it.
And then you just bring it out whenever you want.
Now this is a cheeky mix.
Of mint or something, yeah.
So how long will one of these last?
That's a really good question.
So it's about a week.
And when you start to see that the smell is fading, just go back to your pan.
Okay, one last little thing.
There is a risk in the older candles of lead.
Because the wicks used to have lead in them.
And they're not allowed anymore.
And you don't want to buy candles that have lead in them.
But we have older candles in our drawers.
Sometimes they're still left over in the stores.
How do we make sure the wick doesn't have lead in it?
Okay.
So, lead.
Like a lead pencil.
If you can draw with your candle, that's a bad thing.
You don't want to be able to draw with your candle.
So, if it's got lead in it, you will get this grey mark, just like a pencil.
So, draw with it.
I know it might sound a bit strange, but if it's got...
If it's got lead in it, you'll create a gray line.
And if that's the case, throw it away.
Okay.
You know what we're going to do?
We're going to go through your bag together.
All right.
Do that heart task to make sure you're safe.
But I'm very happy that you love your candles.
Thank you.
You can find my buyer's guide to safe and healthy candles on our website.
You can catch Dr. Ahsan on her show, Trust Me, I'm a Doctor, which will be airing in the U.S. this spring.
Enjoy it.
We'll be right back.
Coming up next, do you have trouble shutting down your racing mind at night?
They're lying in bed, staring at the ceiling.
We look at the newest sleep aids that claim to do just that.
They now have sleep drinks available.
Do they work, and are they good for you?
Next.
The Beef with Beef.
Why cattle ranchers are sounding the alarm.
Consumers are voting with their wallets.
And why it could change the way you eat beef.
All new Oz.
That's coming up on Monday.
All this hour we're asking the question, is it good for you or not?
Now we're tackling alternative sleep aids that promise a calm mind and a good night's rest.
And with so many women complaining they can't shut off their racing mind at night, it is time to see if they work.
So I'm joined by Gabriela and Valerie, who have tried everything they say and are curious about new options.
So, Gabriela, how are you?
Good, how are you?
So what happens when you try to fall asleep again?
My mind just keeps racing and I think about what I have to do tomorrow.
I just lay there and just really try.
Sometimes it takes me two hours to fall asleep.
It's the worst.
Isn't it staring at the ceiling?
Yes, exactly.
That's what I do.
Just stare at the ceiling and think.
Think, think, think.
How often do you fall asleep and stay asleep throughout the evening?
Not too often.
Maybe once a week I might fall asleep and stay asleep all night.
What happens the rest of the time?
I usually fall asleep for like an hour and then I wake up and I'm constantly...
Maybe every hour, every two hours, I keep waking up.
I can't get into, like, a REM sleep.
Oh, I like that.
Yeah.
How do you know it's REM sleep?
I actually Googled it.
I love this!
The smartest viewers in television.
All right, stay tuned, because I've got advice for both of you, and I think it'll help.
All right, so, we've all heard the stress from day-to-day activities, anxiety about what's happening tomorrow, what happened today, keep you up at night.
So here to uncover the truth about alternative sleep aids is core team member and sleep expert, Dr. Michael Bruce.
How are you?
So let's go through some of the newest ideas that are out there.
What's exciting you?
You keep your finger on the pulse of this.
Well, it's pretty interesting.
They now have sleep drinks.
And these are actually widely available.
We can see them in gas stations and pharmacies and any place, like drug stores, things like that.
And they're sleep drinks, and they're kind of like the opposite of energy drinks.
They're sold in the little shot formats of like three bucks a pop.
And what's kind of interesting is when you look at the label, they might list some of the ingredients, but what they don't tell you is the amount.
Of these ingredients.
And that's a little bit concerning to me.
Most of these drinks are not required by the FDA to actually put the amount that's in each one of these things.
And that, I think, can be problematic.
So there is melatonin.
They tell you that the things are in there, not how much.
Correct.
So for the melatonin, since you don't know how much, do you know if it's the right amount for you?
Any idea?
Well, you don't, and that's part of the problem.
We know that the right amount of melatonin is somewhere between a half and one milligram.
And unfortunately, what seems to be happening is people are testing these drinks, and they're coming back with less.
And that can be kind of dangerous, because we know that things like melatonin and some of these herbal supplements, if they mix or interact with prescription medication, they can have some pretty serious effects.
Do they have 5-HTP? I see that written about a lot.
So that's a big one, 5-hydrogen.
That's not a bad one to have in there.
And don't get me wrong, melatonin is not a bad thing to have in one of these drinks, but I'd like to know how much.
There's also something in there called GABA. So I like the fact that GABA is in there because GABA are the receptor sites that a lot of the prescription medications are actually targeting.
And GABA is kind of like the brakes of the brain.
It slows everything down and kind of eases you into sleep.
So I don't have a problem with GABA. So is it good for us or not?
Would you buy sleep water?
So I'm a little concerned, and I'll tell you why.
Consumer Reports has done some testing on some of these drinks, and what they're coming back finding is that they don't have as much of the stuff in them that they say.
And, you know, you always have to be concerned with some supplements that there could be.
So I would not run out and buy a sleep drink as it were right now.
Let me switch gears to a natural alternative, magnolia bark.
So does this magnolia bark make sense?
Does it actually help with that?
So it does.
So magnolia bark is a natural anxiolytic, meaning it helps reduce that level of anxiety because that's what's happening.
So picture this.
You're lying in bed, and I was listening to the guest talk, and she was, exactly what you were saying is exactly what I hear my patients tell me.
All the time is they get in bed and they can't turn off their brain.
Or they're lying in bed staring at the ceiling.
And what happens is they get more and more frustrated, causes more and more anxiety.
So something like 30 milligrams of magnolia bark actually could be something that would be well-received probably about 30 minutes before bed.
And you've used it with your patients with some success?
I have.
I have used it with several patients and it's actually been quite successful.
And you think that makes more sense to magnolia bark than the steep waters?
Well, here's what I can tell you.
I know the data on magnolia bark.
There's real research on that.
I don't know what's in all of these.
Or rather, I don't know the amounts.
And that's going to be a critical factor.
And how about mygulia bark compared to prescription sleep aids?
So I like using natural alternatives first.
There's a couple of different reasons to think about that.
Remember, when we look at sleep aids, the historic sleep aids, the benzodiazepines, have high addictive potential.
People don't have a tendency to use them for short periods of time, which is what we're really looking for.
When we're looking at a sleep aid, we want something to break the cycle.
Of insomnia.
Then, while we're breaking that cycle, we want to teach people, like we've done here on the show many times, about keeping a consistent bedtime, about good sleep hygiene, and then we slowly want to get them off of these things.
We're not looking for people to stay on them forever, but I do have patients that have been on things for a long period of time because some people just aren't great sleepers.
So Gabrielle and Valerie, you just heard...
Pretty good presentation here.
Do you think, from what I'm gathering, this magnolia mark might actually help both of you for the reasons that were mentioned.
Your minds are sort of racing.
That's part of your story.
What do you guys think?
I actually, I'm going to go buy some today.
You know what?
Just take this bottle.
And if you share half of it with Gabrielle, is that a deal?
I would love to try, but one question I have, I was...
Do you have trouble waking up in the morning after this?
It's a great question.
So what's nice about something like a magnolia bark is it doesn't make you sleepy.
It reduces your anxiety before bed.
Very different operating mechanisms.
And so for that question, it wouldn't make you have a hangover, if you will.
Some of the OTCs that you see out there, some of the PM medications, can make you have a hangover.
Is that what you've experienced before?
And I think one of you has tried melatonin in the past.
Is that correct?
So what's interesting about melatonin, what a lot of people don't know, but we've talked about many times on the show, is proper dosage between a half and one milligram, and it's supposed to be taken 90 minutes before lights out, because it takes that long to get into your bloodstream to be able to allow you to have that effect.
So if people are out there thinking about taking melatonin, they really need to make sure they follow those guidelines.
Love having you here.
Thank you very much.
Let's give our gifts away.
We'll be right back.
Next, we take a look at the latest hair crazes.
From Brazilian blowouts to the as-seen-on-TV hair conditioner.
Could these wildly popular treatments be doing more harm than good?
We put these beauty treatments to the test.
Coming up.
We are bringing a healthy back this season and want you to bring it too.
Grab your prescription pad for fun and sign up for free tickets today.
You can go to DrRaz.com slash tickets and sign up.
We're back and now we're looking into a billion dollar industry.
The latest hair crazes.
From Brazilian straightening treatments to the As Seen on TV conditioner making headlines, we are continuing to ask the question, the big one, is it good or bad for me?
We're going to start with the wildly popular cleansing conditioner, WEN. There's a recent class-action lawsuit filed by 200 women claiming the product is causing baldness.
With 10 million bottles sold, it's left consumers wondering about its safety.
If you've ever stayed up late watching TV, chances are good you've seen The When by Chaz Dean Infomercials.
I'm going to share with you some tips and tricks on how to get the most out of your when.
Hair care products endorsed by Brooke Shields and Alyssa Milano.
When is not an ordinary shampoo.
It's something completely different.
Online, Chaz boasts about his hair products being healthy and holistic.
Even made with natural ingredients.
But a recent lawsuit claims hundreds of women who used WEN products experienced this.
Their hair slipping out, bald patches, baldness.
David Andrews of the Environmental Working Group says in addition to the lawsuit, over 17,000 people have complained to WEN about hair damage.
This is not just women, this is also children and girls under the age of 12 where there's reports of hair loss.
The company behind WEN Products is contesting the lawsuit and issued this statement saying in part, there is no scientific evidence to support any claim that our hair care products caused anyone to lose their hair.
What's the bottom line?
Today, what you really need to know about those WEN hair products you've seen on TV. Joining me now is one of our core experts, Tia Brown, who studied beauty trends for Ebony Magazine.
Now, along with our medical team, he had researched the ingredients in WEN Cleansing Conditioner to try to determine whether it could cause this alleged hair loss.
You see those images there?
So could it be from the WEN or not?
So Tia, what did you find?
So this is very interesting.
The FDA does not require beauty companies to disclose their formulations.
What that means is that we don't know the concentration of the ingredients in any of these items.
So though there's been a lot of concern around when, it does have the same ingredients as comparable cleansing conditioners.
There have been no independent studies on when yet.
So we don't really know how it's formulated.
It's a little bit of a mystery.
So what's happening?
What's causing those bald spots?
So there's an interesting theory around this.
People love cleansing conditioners because they make your hair feel very supple.
But shampoo is what's really needed to get the residue out of your hair.
And many people believe that the residue...
Being on your hair leads to hair loss.
So, experts are suggesting that you make sure that you rotate shampoo into your washing cycle.
So, the rule of thumb should be, if you wash your hair every four times, make sure one, if you wash your hair four times, one out of four times, make sure that you're using a shampoo.
Minimally, once a month you want to make sure you're giving your hair a good scrub.
Now I get it.
And when we look in the box of these things, does anything that gives away what makes it better or worse than a competitor?
Well, sulfate is one of the key ingredients that we want to make sure isn't in your cleansing condition.
Cleansing conditions aren't supposed to have irritants.
All right.
So next, when it comes to chemicals in hair care, the danger of formaldehyde in Brazilian straightening treatments.
It's gotten a lot of attention.
Take a look.
It's been touted as the miracle hair treatment that will turn your frizzy, unruly locks into silky straight hair.
That's the promise of keratin hair straightening treatments, also known as the Brazilian blowout.
Women love the results, but this popular treatment can cost you a pretty penny, up to $300 or more at the salon.
You can also be paying an even bigger price for your health.
Most keratin straighteners contain formaldehyde.
Which can cause breathing problems, even cancer.
Now, most women are opting for cheaper at-home hair straightener kits.
They claim to be safe, but are they?
A Dr. Oz investigation.
Are at-home Brazilian hair straighteners bad for you?
So now you're all clear that the Brazilian straightening treatments in the salon can be bad for you because of that formaldehyde.
But there are a lot of consumers, for that reason, turning to these less expensive Brazilian at-home kits that promise the same straight and frizz-free results.
Boxes like this delivered with these products.
So do we know much about these products?
Do we know if they're safer than the salon products?
Different.
So this is very interesting.
EWG did a study, and they found that these products actually have harmful chemicals.
We did our own study, and we found that there's a specific chemical in here.
It has a very complicated name that starts with a C. They'll display it at the bottom of the screen.
I won't even try to say it.
But when it's heated up, it releases...
Cyclopentasiloxone.
Who cares?
Right, right.
That's terrible.
Well, the thing you should know is that that...
That releases formaldehyde when it's heated up.
So, a lot of the instructions on these boxes say, if you heat your hair, you should heat your hair past 400 degrees to make sure to activate the chemical.
Well, guess what?
If you heat your hair past 300 degrees, it releases formaldehyde.
So, it's very harmful.
It can be very misleading.
Alright, let me show you if I can.
I made a little animation.
I was doing some homework on this.
So, if you use these straighteners, you got hair that's, you know, not so happy.
It's a little bit unruly.
You need to tame it down.
So, you put the conditioner in there, right?
Now, all of these...
Chemicals, you know, there are lots of them in there.
So when you take one of these heating irons and you go more than 200 degrees, as you mentioned before, you actually release, when you apply it, little bits of chemicals.
You convert that crazy name thing we talked about earlier into formaldehyde.
We don't know how much, but we know that's not good for you, right?
Because we learned earlier in the show when we talked about the candles that when you release formaldehyde, it can cause all kinds of allergies and it's probably a carcinogen.
So, let's give people some advice they can use.
Absolutely.
What should they do if they want to straighten their hair to avoid the risks of things like formaldehyde?
Well, we have a lot of different options.
We don't want to say you have to totally eliminate using those types of products, but you want to do it in a better way.
So, one thing you can definitely do is make sure that you keep your flat iron at 250 or 275 degrees.
We don't want to go to 300 degrees because it will activate the chemical that releases the formaldehyde.
Does it work as well if you don't go to 400 degrees when they say to?
So you really have to figure out what works best for your hair.
But if you want to be healthy and you want to make sure that you don't have adverse reactions like going bald, you want to make sure that you follow these instructions, right?
And then I can say old school is always best.
You can go the natural way if you're a hair purist.
I use coconut oil.
I do have a relaxer in my hair, but I also make sure that I use good products like these.
So you can use coconut oil.
You can blow dry your hair depending on the hair texture.
Use pins and a head wrap to make sure you help mold your hair.
The thing here is it's important for women and all people who, you know, quaff their hair to understand what works best on their hair texture.
So I'm an advocate of making sure that you use these good products.
If you decide that you want to use something else, make sure that you adhere to the rules because you want your hair to be healthy and what?
Full.
Everybody wants full, beautiful hair.
And if you use the chemicals, that's not going to happen.
I love having you here.
Thank you very much to you.
You can find the Environmental Working Group's information about specific at-home straightening kits at DrIs.com.
I'll be right back.
Thank you.
You can't get your hair.
Coming up next, you blow dry your hair.
Or do you prefer to let it air dry?
We go head to head to find out which method is better for you.
You never want to leave your house with your hair wet.
Air dry is way, way better.
And which gets you out the door faster.
Next.
The beef with beef.
Why cattle ranchers are sounding the alarm.
Consumers are voting with their wallets.
And why it could change the way you eat beef.
All new laws.
That's coming up on Monday.
Hair is always a hot topic at my house, and probably houses across America, One of the biggest debates is whether to blow dry or not to blow dry.
Is blow drying really that bad for your hair?
Is it worth the risk?
So I've got two sisters here who are going head to head on this critical issue.
I've got C.O. here who's on team blow dry.
Who's with her?
Come on.
I know.
I know.
They're cheering.
Jules is on the team air dry.
Yes.
That's a loud arm.
You know, are you guys related to the Kardashians?
No, but we get that a lot.
It's like the Spanish version of it.
The Spanish Kardashians.
Something like that.
That's what I hear.
What's your last name?
Laracuente.
Laracuente.
Yeah.
Laracuente.
Okay.
So why do you think blow-drying makes more sense, CEO? Listen, blow-drying, it's just the shine that it gives you, and you never want to leave your house with your hair wet.
It just gives you a nice, nice style body to it.
You never want to leave your hair with your hair dringy, all, like, nasty, and...
You're pointing at your sister, Jules, and you like her hair.
I do not have nasty and, like, ratty hair.
Hello?
I believe that an air dry is way, way better.
First of all, clearly we can tell who has the longer hair here.
Thank you very much.
Short is in right now.
But long is fabulous.
And the way I got it long was actually by air drying it.
Because I feel like it damages it.
Every time that I put that heat to my hair, it just doesn't work out for me.
So we asked you to do a little homework before the show, and Jules was kind enough to secretly film her sister, CO. Very rude to do, but it worked.
Great.
Actually doing one of her typical...
Blow-dry routines.
Look at the camera here.
It's 7 o'clock in the morning when you start.
It's still going there.
You're almost done.
Are you done there?
Not quite.
You're rolling it up.
It's short hair, but it still takes more than half an hour.
How long do you blow-dry your hair for?
It takes about 40 minutes.
About 40 minutes.
An hour?
No, an hour.
I just looked at it.
It's 59 minutes.
All right, all right.
Maybe an hour, but I'd like it to be nice and bouncy.
All right, so we're going to settle the score by asking YouTube's myth investigator, Nick Juhasz, to look into it.
Now, he loves to get to the bottom of everyday questions just like this one.
So he went out on a limb.
He took a lot of risks.
Here's what he did.
On average, I probably spend about five and a half hours a week on my hair.
If I'm going to work, I probably spend about 45 minutes on my hair.
And if I'm going out, I probably spend about an hour and a half.
On average, women spend over 240 hours a year on their hair, brushing, curling, and drying.
Trust me, it just doesn't look like this by itself.
We all care about our hair.
We've all been told that air drying is healthiest for our hair, but some rules are meant to be broken.
Let me explain.
Hair is made up of a squishy core and a hard outer layer, which is permeable to water.
Blow drying with hot, hot heat can damage the hard outer layer, but air drying can do deeper damage.
And that's because when hair comes in contact with water, it swells.
And as swelling continues, it puts pressure on the delicate proteins inside the hair, which can lead to breakage.
And nobody wants breakage.
These sponges represent your soon-to-be damaged, swelling hair, which is no good.
When we apply the blow dryer, you can see it blows the water off the sponges before it can be absorbed, which prevents swelling and hence damage.
So what is the healthiest way to dry your hair?
Well, blow-dry it on the coolest setting, six inches away from your head, moving around continuously.
Looks like CO won the battle.
You're not even high-fiving.
Your hands are all full.
I knew it.
I'll high-five you for losing.
It's the best I can do.
I can't believe this.
I thought I was going the natural way and healthier and better for me.
This surprised me as well, but now you all know.
Glow-drying actually seems to cause less damage.
Gently take care of your hair when it's really wet.
It's like silk because you don't want to damage it.
But after that, six inches away, not too hot, and it's the way to go.
Congratulations.
I knew it.
God, I'm still a winner.
You are still a winner.
They are truly winners.
We'll be right back. - There were many days that I, I really didn't want to live anymore.
Reality star Yolanda Foster on her fight against an invisible disease.
You visited with more than a hundred doctors.
And her response to her critics.
People started insinuating I was crazy in the head.
All new Oz.
That's coming up on Tuesday.
Today we're investigating some of the most common beauty trends on the market right now and finding out if it's good or bad for you.
So, for my next trend, while it's so darn hot, it's literally on fire.
Everybody is talking about it.
It is called candle cutting, where a stylist actually burns your hair to get rid of split ends.
Think about that.
They're burning your hair to get rid of the split ends.
Let me show you how it's done.
But before I do this, please do not try this at home.
I'm not sure you should try it at all, frankly, but do not try it at home for sure.
So, what happens in a salon is a stylist takes some pieces of your hair, little strings, they twirl them up like this, right?
And then they run a flame, see how the flame's running right over the hair, over those frayed pieces.
I think that's a theory.
Finally, when they're done this, they wash your hair with cold water.
They have to because it's almost on fire.
And then they put in this two-hour deep conditioner to close the cuticles.
So let's take a look at the results from this video, and I've seen others like it.
So this is what your damaged hair might look like before you step into the salon, right?
Let's look at what happens when you put a flame to those pesky split ends.
Is that pretty good?
Huh, you all in?
A very polite, trepid response.
But the real question you're asking yourselves, because you're so smart, is whether or not this is good for you.
Because it does beg that question.
So it's believed that the heat opens up the hair cuticles so that nutrients, for example, the conditioner, can be absorbed faster and easier.
So in theory, this sounds great.
So I have a medical team look into the process further, right?
And I actually think this hot trend should burn out.
I don't think we should be doing this.
Now here's why.
This is an image of what your hair might look like.
Here are the cuticles on the outside.
They're like tiles on a roof.
They protect the outside of the hair.
And this is the middle portion called the cortex that gives your hair that body, right?
Now, when you twist your hair, it doesn't always expose all your split ends.
You're actually burning some very healthy, normal-looking hair.
When you put a flame on your hair, it damages the cuticle and the cortex.
It damages middle portion, which leads to weakness and then breakage.
And we don't want that.
So the smoothly, shiny hair that you saw...
Earlier?
Well, I think this is the work of the deep conditioner product they put in after they did this.
It's not the flame that made it happen.
So ladies, if I were you, I would stick to the old-fashioned way of getting rid of split ends.
Take those little scissors and cut them off.
It's worth the investment of time.
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