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May 7, 2025 - Dr. Oz Podcast
41:15
Protein Overload, Meat Antibiotics & Fish Buying Hacks! | Dr. Oz | S10 | Ep 20 | Full Episode
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Today, for years, we've been told to eat less carbs and more protein.
New research shows that those steaks, burgers, the bacon could be the secret culprit behind your biggest health issue.
Meat belly dilemma.
When you eat this kind of diet, bad bacteria can overpopulate.
Plus, shocking information that you never knew about seafood.
90% of our seafood is imported, and the FDA only takes a look at 3% or less.
Coming up next.
Oh, oh, oh.
Y 'all ready for season 10?
Yeah!
I love you, Dr. I. Paleo, keto, Whole30.
No matter which diatribe you belong to, One thing is clear.
We live in a new, low-carb culture that has everyone thinking meat.
Meat.
But new research shows that those steaks, burgers, and the bacon may be changing our gut and could be the secret culprit behind your biggest health issues, including what you dread most, constipation.
So today, we're asking, could a protein-packed diet lead to a meat belly dilemma?
My go-to tester or not this year with a group of meat lovers right now.
Who have concerns?
So, Renata, who'd you bring with you?
What are their concerns?
So, these ladies are some hardcore meat lovers, okay?
They pack on the protein.
They are in the meat, meat, meat, and meat, and meat, more meat, right?
But they do have some concerns, okay?
So, I mean, this is who these ladies are, some meat lovers.
Don't look at me like that.
Don't look at me like that.
Caroline, I know you all have complaints.
Well, I pretty much eat meat for every meal, so I think if I'd have...
I think I probably do have meat belly, so I'm just worried about how I can...
Fix things.
Carol, what's bothering you?
If I said you look good, but maybe you don't feel so good, what's bothering your belly?
I feel that since the low-carb diet that I've been on, I eat a lot of protein and meat, but I also feel that I'm stopped up, and I'm...
I just need, like, I need a movement.
Or join the movement.
Well stated.
Join the movement with a movement.
I appreciate it very much.
That's a big complaint with folks who eat meat.
All right, so, Susan, what are your concerns?
Well, I've been on a low-carb, high-protein diet for a really long time, and I've done really well with it.
But I just want to know what meat belly is.
What's the dilemma?
All right, so this caught my attention, and there's actually a lot to say about it.
So I brought in a guru that I trust a lot, and there's also my big expert on gut, Dr. Butch Roster.
So Butch, you just heard.
How are you?
So Carol stopped up.
Bernath avoided the issue completely because I know there's probably things she's worried about.
Zaina's got her, you know, concerns about the pendulum swimming too far.
So there was a study recently which actually prompted me to do this show, which looked at the effect of meat on the bacteria in our gut.
Yeah, a study from Harvard, by the way, ladies and gentlemen, his alma mater.
But it's from Harvard.
Now, give him a hand.
The Yellies have to give you a prompt, right?
That's where he went.
That's where he went.
All right.
Now, so here's the deal with this.
We had...
Prominent universities, Harvard and the University of California, that took two groups.
And they had equal number of males and females, but they did something different.
They fed them over five days a plant-based diet and one group a meat-based diet.
And the meat-based diet was beef, pork, egg yolks, and other fatty foods.
And guess what happened?
In five days...
Five days of that diet change, the people in the meat-based group, their gut bacteria composition and populations changed.
And as you know, we want to keep a healthy gut balance in our GI tract for good health.
Actually, we have a little animation here.
Show this to everybody, because I want you all to appreciate how gut bacteria affects your health, especially when it's the meat that's changing it.
So baseline, these are all the little bacteria.
Exactly, and we want a diverse population.
It's all about a balance of power between the good bacteria and the bad bacteria.
But when you eat this kind of diet, oh, the little nasty bad bacteria can really overpopulate.
And these are nasty little critters.
Let's just say, how nasty are they?
You would not invite them to Thanksgiving dinner if you had a bunch of these.
But they come along uninvited.
Exactly.
And what do they release?
And the big thing is that they release something called TMAO.
Now, nobody should try to remember this.
I remember it by saying...
To mayo, okay?
That's how I remember it.
But the big thing that you must remember about this dangerous agent is that it can cause chronic autoimmune diseases.
And that's the bottom line.
All right, so Dr. Rosher has some foods that can lower the inflammation that could be caused by meat, so you can avoid the meat-belly dilemma.
So what do you want us to add to our diets?
Let's go to the first one, Dr. Oz.
Pistachios.
Of all things, pistachios.
Why?
Because they can decrease TMA or TMAO.
But sometimes, you know, Dr. Oz, you have to trick yourself.
Let me go ahead and show people how I can actually trick myself into getting those nutrients.
If you don't mind, at dawn this morning, I got this alarming picture.
Put it up there, please, if you don't mind, Scott.
That's what I got.
This is Dr. Rosser getting up in the morning.
I don't think he was showing off either.
That's what he was having for breakfast.
Yeah, exactly.
But look at what we do with salmon.
You can grind up the pistachios and make a crusting agent and then put a little cayenne pepper.
You know, I'm a southerner, so, you know, I'm going to go New Orleans on you and wrap that up into something that is absolutely delicious.
It looks fantastic, and it is.
Oh, it is.
And let's go to the next one.
Now, this one, Brussels sprouts, of all things.
The only use I had for Brussels sprouts, Dr. Oz, was in the fifth grade, hitting the boy upside the head that took my girlfriend.
Yeah, I'm still injured by that.
But my wife recently taught me how you roast these.
You roast it, and you can even have bacon.
Yeah, guys, that's right.
We're not declaring a war on meat at all.
Okay, but you can't go berserk with meat, and especially just...
Give a little bacon here, and then roast it, and you got yourself a good meal.
And the last but not least, I gotta have something sweet.
Do you know that grapes and berries actually have a special ingredient that helps to decrease TMAO?
Now, what I do, Dr. Oz, you can have them frozen, but I have to put a little low-carb whipped cream, if there is such a thing, on top, all right?
So, Renata, he's speaking your language for you.
What do you guys think over there?
You know he's speaking my language, guys, okay?
First of all, mind blown, okay?
My mind is blown.
And, I mean, yes, the frozen grapes.
Because I do have a sweet tooth.
You know me, okay?
I do have a sweet tooth.
And, um...
Using the pistachios as crust for salmon, you know, we gotta trick ourselves.
You know, I love my fried stuff, so I gotta trick myself into making it a healthier option.
Renata, we call that stealthy, healthy eating.
You know, I gotta trick myself to do the right thing.
There's one other dilemma that got brought up earlier, which is constipation.
You know, the need to move.
It's not always being satisfied.
First of all, why do so many folks who are big meat eaters have issues with that?
Well, and this is one of the most frequent complaints I have with patients, that they have a difficult time going.
And the big thing is that the meat has a high fatty content.
And here's the process.
And this is going from the rooter to the tutor, as we say down south.
For all you folk who are familiar, all right?
The rooter to the tutor.
The rooter to the tutor.
You eat this heavy fatty food.
That slows down your transit time, how long it takes to go through the intestine.
That allows more absorption of water.
That makes your bowel movement what?
Hard.
That gives you constipation.
And Houston, we have a problem when that happens.
So that's what it's all about.
So, you know, once again, we don't have a war on meat.
Let's look at these three items here.
And this is a way to find out, well, help you in the decision making.
Here, when you look at this steak over here that I'm pointing to now, notice, Dr. Oz, it's not a lot of white streaking there.
No.
Okay, that's low-fat content, all right?
Now come over and look at this T-ball.
Maybe it looks good.
Oh, Lord, help us.
And this is the one we really like, right?
And so the big thing here is follow this Rosser's rule.
If you've got to have one, you've got to give me four days of the good meats.
If you've got to have one, you've got to give me four.
It's always a pleasure, my friend.
God bless you.
All right, God.
Up next, a meat industry insider is signing the alarm on an FDA loophole that's allowing antibiotics to still sneak into your meat.
Now, are these antibiotics also messing with your gut?
We're going to find out when we return.
All new Waz.
A new e-cigarette you don't even know your kids are using.
You have kids congregating and they start to vape.
It looks like a flash drive, it's not.
And then the kids can tuck it away when they're done.
Kids don't think that they're doing anything but vaping water.
Young people in particular are really, really susceptible.
All new Waz.
That's coming up tomorrow.
*Cheering*
It's the change consumers like you and the medical community have been asking for, to have less antibiotics in meat.
And the FDA listened, having banned the use of antibiotics in healthy animals aimed at speeding up their growth.
But meat industry insiders, they're sounding the alarm on a major loophole in this policy that still allows antibiotics to sneak into our meat.
Today, a rancher speaks out.
Nicolette Hahn-Nyman is the author of Defending Beef.
And one of the most influential ranchers around, she's actually at Nyman Ranch.
So how are antibiotics still ending up in our beef?
In our meat, generally.
What FDA did was it said you can't use antibiotics to promote growth.
But it didn't say you can't use them in a non-therapeutic way, which is where you feed the whole herd or you put it into the water and so all of the chickens or all of the pigs are getting the antibiotics.
So they're still allowing it for disease prevention.
That's a non-therapeutic use, and from a public health perspective, and from a concern about healthfulness on meat, you know, the antibiotic-resistant bacteria being on meat, it has the same effect.
So it's a huge loophole in the FDA rule.
The big question is, how do the antibiotics mess up your gut flora, right?
Or do they at all?
And I was going to say something.
You know, we've been just fielding questions about constipation and other problems like that.
The good news is, there doesn't seem to be an impact from the antibiotics that the animals are given in your gut.
It's not messing up your gut like if you were taking the antibiotics.
There are strict rules that require animals to be weaned from antibiotics well before the slaughter, so those antibiotics aren't ending up in your meat.
But there are other concerns, like the animal passing along anti-resistant bacteria, which is what you're bringing up.
And if you don't mind, let me take one second to get everyone on the same page.
Let's take a closer look at this loophole, because it's vitally important, we understand, because it's the hypocrisy about all this that really bothers me.
So let's talk about what happened before the ban.
Ranchers used antibiotics.
Not just for treating diseases, but for making the animals grow faster.
Because why?
Animals get ready faster for the slaughter, and time is money, so if you were a rancher, you'd probably do this too.
But recently, this came to an end.
The FDA banned antibiotics used just for growth promotion.
Why?
Because antibiotics and their use became so prevalent that we started suffering a national health crisis of antibiotic resistance.
Have you all heard about it, right?
Antibiotic resistance?
It's because, in part, we believe so many animals are getting antibiotics for reasons that don't involve infections.
So the FDA limited the use of the drugs by saying, you can't use it to fatten up your pig, but you can use it to treat your pig if they get sick.
Right?
Pig's not feeling well.
We don't want the animal to die.
Antibiotics are appropriately used for humans.
They can be appropriately used for animals, for your pets.
Everyone's happy.
But, this is a very big but.
The FDA left a loophole.
Ended up becoming a big loophole.
They allow antibiotics to be put in the feed of animals as a means for disease prevention.
Now, that means even if the animal's not sick, it can be given preventatively.
And the problem is it leaves a back door open to use it as a growth promoter again.
So, Nicolette, this is a theoretical issue.
And, you know, I host a television show, but I'm not a farmer.
I'm not a rancher.
You are.
So how commonly are meat growers using this loophole, in your opinion?
Well, I think it's probably quite common.
So really the problem with this rule, as it's written right now, is that it's just about the intent of the farmer.
So someone can just say, I'm not using it for that purpose, I'm using it for this purpose, and not change any of their practices.
And most animals probably do get antibiotics, right?
In the conventional industry, yes.
A few years ago, there was a really thorough analysis done by the Union of Concerned Scientists, and they found that 100% of pigs were getting it in the finishing stage, and about that much in the poultry as well.
These are in the conventional industry, something that's not organic.
And the usage has continued to grow over the years.
So it's a huge issue.
You don't believe we should get rid of all antibiotics, I'm told.
No.
I think that's a really important distinction.
There's therapeutic use.
It's just like you just said.
When you have a sick...
Human, you can give them antibiotics, and that's appropriate.
Similarly, if you have a sick individual, pig or chicken or cattle animal, it's appropriate to treat them.
We had a mature mother cow that was seven years old on our farm a few years ago.
She had never been sick, and she had, as the fall weather came and it was getting cooler nights, she got pneumonia.
We treated her with antibiotics in that case, and she fully recovered, and she didn't have to suffer a prolonged illness.
She's still with our herd.
That is the right way to use antibiotics.
I should point out this true paradox.
You're a rancher and a vegetarian.
Yes.
You guys can work that out later on.
It's unusual.
On this show, we believe transparency is critical when it comes to your meat.
So Renatha's group of meat lovers is going to get a chance to ask questions to a real-life rancher.
If that's okay, come on over.
The first thing I want to ask Renatha, actually, is no antibiotic meat.
Is that important to you?
I mean, yeah.
I mean, it's important.
I mean, you know, antibiotics was used for meat growth, but, and, you know, in the long run, if you're going to the grocery store, you get more meat product for your buck.
But, you know, my concern is antibiotic resistance, you know, so, you know.
It's the right concern to have.
Right, absolutely.
Doctors like me are primarily worried about that as well.
I actually wouldn't mind it so much.
I don't want farmers to suffer or ranchers to have a difficult time.
I just don't want to create health problems for the rest of us.
Right.
Santa, you have a question for Nicolette.
Yeah, I mean what can I do to ensure that I'm buying the best meat?
Yeah, well, if you're in a grocery store and you want to get the best possible meat, the organic label is a good label.
It does say that the antibiotics haven't been used.
It also tells you more about good animal husbandry and good land stewardship.
And I also, there's certainly an antibiotic-free label you can look for.
But for me, I always try to find that the animal was raised on pasture.
So grass is kind of the watchword.
If the animal was on grass, it probably had a healthier...
And the food that it produces, whether it's milk or meat or eggs, is more nutritious food.
Nicolette, thank you very much.
Check out Nicolette's book.
It's called Defending Beef.
You and I joining a cow show after the show.
We'll be right back.
Everything you need to know about how to buy and cook the perfect fish every time.
I'm letting you into the magician's circle.
Find out all the secrets coming up next.
Look how flaky this is.
Oh my goodness.
*Sexy music*
Now look carefully.
This or this?
Fresh or frozen?
When it comes to buying fish for your family, it's hard to tell which is best.
So today we're connecting you with a fish industry whistleblower and a food investigator to reveal shocking inside information that you never knew about seafood.
Paul Greenberg is here, one of the biggest authorities in fish regulation.
A sports fisherman and ecologist who's making waves lately, tracking the fish we eat from sea.
Historian Chef Danny Boom is here.
He's got the consumer red flags that you have not heard before.
Paul, I'll start off with the first thing.
You're around fish all the time.
Is it okay to buy in a supermarket where it's cheaper?
Well, first of all, there's something fishy going on with our fish supply.
I mean...
That means so many puns.
He's casting a wide net on these puns.
Got you on the line.
So, 90% of our seafood is imported, actually, in this country.
And the FDA only takes a look at 3% or less.
Wow.
So, huge, huge disconnect between what we know and what is being sold out there.
Supermarkets can be a good place to get your seafood, but you need an extra layer of knowledge and protection.
And we're going to give you a few ideas, I think, that will help you get along with that.
You did an interesting experiment.
Yeah.
For all of us to benefit from.
For breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a year, you ate fish.
I did.
Was it worth it?
What was the outcome?
Well, I was a little, again, fishy, but no.
You think I'm kidding.
Everything he says is one fish pun.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Well, first off, my omega-3 levels were quite high.
They were over 10%.
Most Americans are about half that.
And also my mercury went up, up to about five parts per million.
So it was super, super high.
What I've kind of come to realize is that two portions of sustainably raised or sustainably caught seafood is really great.
And the rest of your diet, make it vegan.
So a little bit of fish, a little bit of shellfish, mostly vegan, you'll be good.
So the best consumer is an educated consumer.
So if it's okay, you guys are going to school us.
Thank you for getting my puns.
We understand the question I opened the segment with.
Fresh or frozen?
What do you guys think is better?
Fresh.
Fresh?
You're sure?
Yes.
Why are you sure?
I feel it has more benefits to it, and it's...
I'm not really sure.
You're not sure, but it sounds like it's better, right?
You're pretty sure?
Healthier.
Healthier?
Fresh, but frozen is...
Much easier and more convenient.
That's the problem, right?
Frozen is so much more convenient, but darn it, fresh is better for us.
Or is it?
The first thing you need to know about buying fish is which one is actually better, frozen or fresh.
Paul, walk us through this.
Well, here's the thing.
Frozen is not bad at all.
And, you know, it used to be frozen seafood was gross, right?
It was sort of rubbery texture.
That was because they froze things at really not low enough temperatures, froze it too slowly.
Now they have these super fast freezing methods that keep it really, really frozen, really cold.
And if you defrost it in your refrigerator overnight, you will end up with a really delicious piece of fish.
Aren't you happy you came to the show today?
All right.
Next thing we want to know is we want to look...
For the freshest fish, and you want to look, therefore, for clear eyes, not cloudy eyes.
Danny, why is that important?
Okay, first thing is a cloudy eye looks dead in me.
Look at this fish here.
Look, we've got the fresh and then sort of like a five-day to six-day-old fish, okay?
So the eye is cloudy, but then there's the old wives' sayings, okay?
So let's look at this fish here.
This is how we know a fish is fresh because we have a clear eye, beautiful scales.
But then we open up the fish.
This is where we will insert the knife.
We come down, okay?
And then what we do is we open up from the gills.
Now, the gills are here, okay?
Now, you, most people are going to look in here, and this is the gill.
Look how beautiful, pink, deep red that is.
Can you all see that?
You can see it on both sides there.
Now, everybody knows the expression green behind the gills, right?
That means when you're sick.
Well, you don't want green behind the gills when it's a fresh fish.
You want deep, beautiful pink and red colours.
Then we look at the actual flesh of the fish as well.
When you're dealing with white fish or snapper or even salmon, you're looking at that bright colour every time.
Okay?
So the brighter the fish, the deeper the colors.
And again, like with snapper, like with white fish, it should be opaque.
It should be a bright white.
Okay?
And with salmon, it should be like a good deep red.
So get back to these eyes.
I read an article recently because I'm fascinated by telling you about the fish being good or bad for you.
And there's a tweet that showed that markers are putting fake googly eyes on fish to distract the shoppers.
This is a real tweet!
Right?
It's unbelievable.
But that's how, you know, attractive it is.
If it was working for that market, they wouldn't be doing it.
All right, next thing you need to know about buying fish is you're going to buy your shrimp and your scallops in a way that you're sure they have not been treated with a hidden chemical.
Or if you get the hidden chemical, at least know that you're getting it.
So what is this hidden chemical, Paul?
So it's sodium tri-polyphosphate.
It's actually a salt.
And this is a chemical that seafood makers use.
To plump up their catch.
It actually causes seafood to absorb a lot of water.
But in the process, it's also giving us quite a sodium load.
So these five ounces of shrimp here, that's like 60% of the recommended daily intake of sodium.
So that's a huge load.
So the problem is, when you cook this, in addition, this stuff will shrink down, shrinkage will occur, and you'll end up with a lot less shrimp on your plate.
So the S is sodium, salt.
Correct.
And if you don't have it, it's only 16% of the salt that you're allowed for the day.
Correct.
So that's a four-fold increase from adding this.
That's right.
All right, so in fairness, this salt stuff, STPP, is not dangerous for your health, right?
No, no.
It's small amounts.
It's the price.
It's the price.
It's the flavor.
Yeah.
And maybe the texture, because they all fit together.
So let me bring Zaina in here, because Zaina's got lots of questions.
This woman has more questions than anyone I know, I think.
All right.
So, your family apparently can't get enough seafood.
So how worried about chemicals like this in the store?
Well, first off, I'm just concerned that there's chemicals being pumped into my seafood anyway.
But now that I'm hearing it's not bad for you, my other concern is just being ripped off at the supermarket.
So how can you tell, Chef Danny?
Well, basically, as we said, we're talking about the STP, it's plumping it out.
So when we talk about certain things, you're looking at...
Differentiations.
When you're looking at the scallops right here, we have dry and we have wet.
The wet is in a milky brine, okay?
Actually, that's your STPP right there, okay?
So those, they look off already to me.
I don't actually find that appetizing.
But when you look at the dry, look at them.
They've got these beautiful peaches and cream color.
How about shrimp?
Because I suspect families like ours are eating a lot of frozen shrimp.
It's the classic thing you get.
So how do you know if they've added STPP, which appears to be pretty common?
This is the problem.
It's not always on the packet.
Labelling in this country is terrible.
So when we look at this bag of shrimp here, it just says shrimp on it.
That's fantastic.
So then when the other bag of frozen shrimp, it says easy peel, but it doesn't say anything else.
So what I'm going to tell you right now is when it says easy, nothing's easy in the food world, people.
We have to prepare.
We have to make food.
And you have to be within that in your kitchen culture.
When you look at easy peel, what that means is basically it's been pumped.
It's been sat in the brine of the STPP.
So basically the flesh is basically bulked up and it's too big for the shell.
So when you actually defrost it and when you get to cooking, it pops.
Okay, that's what makes it easy.
You know what?
I'm not going to be eating these so you can have these.
If you feel bad buying the cheaper option when it comes to your fish, we're absorbing your guilt because you're going to break two fish rules that you always thought were true.
Stick around.
Thank you.
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The top three ways to cut down your risk.
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The man that raised me was not my biological father.
All new Oz.
That's coming up on Wednesday.
Thank you.
If you have ever...
Had a wave of guilt.
He'll cheat you when you're fish shopping and you choose the cheaper option.
Well, fear not, because they were giving you permission to break two rules, big fish rules that you thought were always true.
So I've told Susan buys fish for her family.
So describe everybody what it feels like when the tide rises, the tide of guilt.
Well, I feel really guilty when I buy frozen fish, like I'm a cheap mom, like I'm cheaping out on my kids.
So I don't know.
You know, I always think I should get the wild.
Versus the farm-raised?
There are a bunch of questions we always have.
We saw that earlier when we started challenging folks about their assumptions.
So you know something makes sense for your family, but you think the other thing is better for your family.
So let's break through this right now.
Pay attention because Chef Danny Boom and our fish whistleblower and author of The Omega Principal Paul Greenberg says, farmed fish can be as good as wild.
I hope that sets your heart at ease because this is a big issue because it's a big price difference.
Paul, why?
Well, I mean, first of all, I'm a dad and I do all the cooking in my house.
So I also look for cheap things.
But farmed seafood used to have a bad rap.
And there's all sorts of instances, a lot of antibiotics being used, poor siting of farms and so forth.
But we're really starting to see this new generation of aquaculture entrepreneurs who are really trying to do things as sort of sustainably as any organic farmer.
My mind has changed completely.
Ten years ago when we started this show, I would have actively told you not to buy farmed fish.
Because I've been to farm fish areas, it just didn't seem sanitary, seem sloppy, low budget.
It's not how it is right now.
Are these farms getting better?
Because obviously they heard the consumer.
The consumer had concerns and so the farmers listened.
And so then we're looking at fish like arctic char, catfish, big hardy fish now that are being produced en masse.
There is a better and safer way.
So these are all fish that you guys are beginning to hear more and more about because they're affordable, they're farm-raised.
I think from a health perspective they're just fine.
And I want to applaud guys who made a big difference.
They've changed my mind on this.
You love the ocean.
You're committed to sustainability.
You see it as an important rule when it comes to buying fish.
And I'm going to say, this is not about nationalism.
Paul says we've got to buy American or from countries with good environmental policies.
Why?
Well, this country has gone through a tremendous revolution in our fisheries management, and so we should award American fisheries for really behaving really well.
And it's not just America.
It's not just a nationalist thing.
We have Australia.
We have New Zealand, Iceland, Norway.
These are countries that are really following the rules of science and are really producing good, healthy fish for us.
Iceland, huh?
Why not?
Listen, we have this very popular new podcast, the Oz Podcast.
Paul's a guest on it.
We do these deeper dives into these kinds of topics, and you tell a great story.
So, you know, check it out.
It's free!
You'll learn something.
Thank you.
Our next chef, Danny Boom, says, when buying fish is okay...
To go for smaller fish, maybe it's preferable to go for smaller fish.
It really is.
Well, the first thing is they're tiny but mighty, okay?
They've got tons of omegas in this.
And the great thing is you don't have to buy it pickled or in a jar.
You can actually buy them fresh.
They're fantastic for barbecuing, okay, or on the grill.
And seriously, also a little bit of olive oil, a little salt and pepper, and they just do it all.
They have all the flavor, packed with flavor, packed with nutrients.
I tend to eat this kind of fish as much as possible.
I know it has a strong taste.
For things like a herring, I turn into a cat.
I can't stop myself.
But let me explain what Danny means and why you might want to change what you're eating.
So, besides the taste, because I do think it tastes better.
Researchers say that small fish, right, they travel around and they eat all the different things, the algae and all.
But guess what?
They often have a little bit of mercury in them because the algae they're eating and the other seaweeds and stuff, they get contaminated from coal-fired plants and other things in the water, right?
So these little fish have a little bit of mercury in them.
But guess what happens?
A bigger fish comes along, chumps them up, right?
The predator now has all the mercury that was in the many fish that it ate.
It doesn't stop there, because what happens to the bigger fish?
They get eaten by the even bigger fish, right?
And the process continues, and so on and so forth.
And you purchase the big fish, right?
You put it on your plate, and guess what?
It now has the largest amount of mercury of all the fish, and that can be harmful.
I had high mercury levels.
That's why I'm so attuned to this.
So high that I got a letter from the State Department of Health saying, hey, what's wrong with you?
And it's because I was eating so much fish.
And, you know, Paul, we learned earlier, did an experiment.
He was eating fish all the time.
He got higher levels.
It doesn't have to be that way.
Eat the smaller fish.
You can avoid the problems.
So now that you know what kind of fish to buy, plus it's less expensive when you buy the small fish, Chef Danny Bloom is giving away restaurant secrets you can use at home to cook the tastiest fish of your life.
Ooh, you're going to like this.
I love getting to talk with you on my show every single day.
But when the cameras stop rolling, the conversation is not over.
I still have a lot that I want to talk about.
So download the Dr. Oz podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Music.
Thank you.
I watch you eating fish at least twice a week, but a lot of you tell me it's hard to prepare.
I get it, so I asked Chef Danny to spill the restaurant secrets to perfect fish.
What special method of cooking fish?
I think what most people get is the timing and the heat.
I think we either overcook it or we either basically put it at such a high temperature that we dry it out.
And that's the biggest complaint when we talk about fish.
So there's three major ways of cooking fish.
There's baking, steaming, and poaching.
The first thing we're going to start with is baking.
So we've got a baking tray.
This is basically the quick and easy.
And most types of fish are very hardy that we would do this with.
So we're using cod today.
So what I'm going to do is I'm going to go straight I'm going to put it in with a little lemon on the bottom of some foil.
Okay, a little salt.
Okay, now why I'm putting the salt on the base and the pepper is because I'm not going to be turning my fish.
So I'm going to be baking it.
So I'm going to be surrounding it in the oven.
It's going to be about 400 degrees.
And the magic number when you're cooking fish is between seven and eight minutes.
And your fish will be perfect.
When I order fish at a restaurant, I tell them to undercook it.
Not sushi, just undercook it a little bit, and that gets you to the same place.
You'll be so happy.
We're going to place the cod on, okay, on here, like so.
So we place one, fill it on, two, fill it on.
We're going to take some lemon again, give it some squeezes, okay?
The lemon really brings it out.
And this is what it looks like after seven minutes, not even eight.
That's right.
It looks just like this.
Now look at the difference here, though, Doc.
Because what you've got here is, this is, it looks kind of...
Flaky, right?
It looks beautiful.
And when you actually put your fork through it, okay, look how it just literally falls away.
Look at that.
Isn't that beautiful?
Exactly what you want.
Okay.
So we'll put that back in the oven, because I'm sure somebody in the audience is going to want to taste that.
Yes, we've been beating the audience all day.
Yeah, of course you do, right?
Okay, so that's our bake.
So remember, when you're baking, nice hot oven to start off with.
Put it in at 400 degrees, and remember, what's the magic number?
7 to 8. 7 to 8 minutes.
Brilliant.
So that's baking.
Then we're going to go to the real healthy way, okay?
Steaming.
Everybody loves steaming vegetables.
When it comes to fish, it's even better because basically you're absolutely sealing in all the nutrients and you're not losing anything for overheating, okay?
So when we actually look at this, we have what we call a bain-marie.
We have the steamer basket on the top, so it's boiling water.
And the great thing is when you're cooking, you could be doing your vegetables on the bottom.
And then you could be cooking your fish on the top.
What I'm going to show you here is a little trick.
We've got some salmon.
It's called the Dib Dab.
Dib dab.
Dib dab.
Okay, oily fish like salmon.
What we would do is we would just basically give it a touch of water and then dab it.
That just takes the over-secretion of oil off, okay?
Because I don't want that white film popping out.
Then I'm going to place it in.
But before I place it in, I've got to think about air rotation, okay?
Because I don't want it just all cooked in one spot.
I want it cooked all over the round.
So I'm going to take a little rosemary.
And this is very controversial in the cooking world to put...
Rosemary in with salmon.
You guys fight over this?
Oh, yeah, we do.
But what we do is put the rosemary or a chopstick or some lemons and some limes at the base, and it'll actually help the steam rotate around the fish.
I love the smell of the rosemary.
Oh, my goodness.
So we place that in there.
Don't forget the salt.
Don't forget the lemon, because that brings the flavor party to the kitchen.
Okay?
I'm letting you into the magician's circle.
Oh, I like this.
All right.
Finally, poaching.
You've been waiting all day.
Yeah.
So, look at what we've got here.
We've got some water that's boiling away.
It's simmering nicely.
Okay, now what we can do here, if you do that, do the reveal.
Now, I've taken some halibut, just for the halibut.
Oh, he'll be here all week.
Thank you.
Try the eel.
Yeah, try the eel.
The corned beef and the eel.
Oh, my goodness.
So, what we've got here, we've soaked it in milk, and it's going to tenderize it down, okay?
So, we're going to take the two fillets here.
I'm going to place them into the poaching solution here, and I'm going to leave them in there for how long, folks?
Seven to eight minutes.
That's beautiful.
It's already boiling.
Then we're going to add in a little paprika, a little turmeric, maybe some mustard seeds.
Put them in there.
Made a mess.
But we pop it in there, and basically they breathe in all those flavors.
Touch of white wine, and you have got delicious poached fish in how long?
Seven to eight minutes.
You got it.
All right.
Who wants to taste that?
Here.
Let's see what you got here.
Now, this is poached.
I've never given poached to an audience.
I don't like it, usually.
Very good.
You can miss me.
Chef Dan can miss me.
Head on over to drrods.com for the one sheet on the best ways to prepare your fish.
But you already know it's seven to eight minutes.
Don't forget that one.
We'll be right back.
Are you freezing your food all wrong today?
We're revealing the mistakes you may be making in there.
And the best and safest way to store your food.
Ooh, ice cream.
Step away from the ice cream, Mara.
Not to sound cold, but you might be making big mistakes when it comes to freezing your food and not even know it.
Investigative journalist and resident foodie Mara Shabacompo is here.
The Digital Science has started taking a look at the food in our freezer, which most of us have ignored.
I certainly have most of my adult life.
Why is it so important?
You know, the freezer is one of the most important appliances in your house because it's the key to quick, easy, convenient meals.
It saves you time in so many different ways.
You can freeze your leftovers.
You can cook food ahead of time and freeze it so you have ready-to-go meals.
You can grocery shop less often.
You go once a week, you put that food in the freezer until you're ready to cook it, and it can help you save money because buying in bulk is often cheaper.
Stock up, you put it in the freezer, defrost it when you're ready to cook it.
Alright, so, Marcez, the first mistake we're making is to stay at the temperature of our freezer, ta-da, drumroll, too high.
This seems impossible to me.
32 degrees is freezing.
So why is that not the right temperature?
Most people think exactly what you think.
So we did a poll.
We asked our viewers at DrOz.com, what temperature is your freezer set at?
And here's what they told us.
They told us that they were setting it at zero degrees.
Some said they were setting it at 32 degrees.
About 41% of people said what you think.
And 28% said they have no idea, which is exactly what I would have said, right?
I have no clue.
But the reason that it's too high is because this is the temperature that...
Water freezes at, but when it comes to freezing your food, it's too high.
The magic number for freezing your food is zero.
You want it set at zero degrees.
All right, second big thing is we overfill the freezer.
I don't know anyone who has enough room in their freezer.
Yeah.
Ours is a big freezer.
It's still packed all the time.
Yeah, my mom has two.
She does.
So what's the problem with that?
Yeah, so a full freezer is actually a really good thing because it helps keep the temperature nice and consistent, but you don't want to overfill it because then you're preventing air circulation and you're blocking vents.
There are air vents way back in the back there.
Who knew there were vents back there?
Be honest.
Good.
All right, like three people.
Look at this front.
I had to look for a while.
I didn't even know where the ones are at home.
I found it here, though.
I take it out there.
See that little thing back there?
Hiding back there, that vent, if that gets blocked off, your freezer's not working.
Yeah, and the other thing is, is location is really important, right?
Just like real estate.
Location, location, location.
The coldest part of your freezer is here in the middle.
The place that gets the least amount of cold air is the door.
So you want to put your ice cream on the door, and then you put your meat, which you do want to be really rock solid, put that in the middle of the freezer.
So valuable.
There you go.
That was everything.
News you can use.
Now, the freezer may be...
A big mistake, but it's not the only mistake you're making.
Not wrapping your food tightly enough is a big, big concern.
We sent two members of our bike club, Adriana and Denise, out with a homework assignment.
We gave them an ice pack bag, right, and a cooler, and we asked them to raid their freezers.
Here they are at home doing exactly what we asked them to do, and they had to bring stuff in that they had to admit were not wrapped tightly enough.
And we're going to show you and everybody at home...
What we're all doing wrong and why it matters.
All right, so let's go in that first bag there.
What's Adriana guilty of?
And what is the penalty?
All right, so let's take a look at what Adriana's done.
So Adriana has waffles.
A lot of us buy these.
We love these pre-made waffles.
And what she's done is she hasn't eaten all of them at once, right?
And when she puts them back in, she just kind of loosely wraps this up.
And what happens, you get all of this crystallization forming because it's not tight enough.
If you just put it in a zipper bag, you'll solve that problem.
Adriana, should you be eating waffles?
That's the question, girl.
I know you're going to say that I watch your show all the time, Dr. Oz, and they're multi-grain or whole wheat, I make sure, but at the same time, at the same time, I only eat like one every month, and that's why it got that way.
So, you know, so I can't be blamed too much.
I'm honored you brought it in.
All right.
So, you know, I look in here, and I notice this.
Mara, please walk us through what you've noticed.
Yes, so this container is not filled enough, and because there's so much air in there, you can see that this has gotten all crystallized.
So what we call freezer burn, it's actually food drying out.
You know, you see those burned patches on chicken or what have you, and you see the ice crystals around it.
These ice crystals, this is water that has come out of the product, making it a lot more dry.
So it's just not going to taste that yummy.
Speaking of chicken...
Sorry.
We found this at your house also.
Thank you for bringing it in.
Again, same thing.
It doesn't matter that it's frozen.
It doesn't matter.
But this is a bit of a problem because, you know, here it's obvious.
You've got to fill the whole thing up.
But you just put this in a baggie, which I thought you were supposed to do, but I guess you left too much air.
Yeah, and I have a great hack for you.
You're going to love this.
You want to hack on this one?
Let's go.
Let's do it.
Yes, please.
Come on over here.
So this is really amazing.
I learned this in reporting the story out.
This is going to change my life, okay?
So vacuum sealers can be expensive.
They're upwards of $100.
Do you guys have vacuum sealers at home?
No.
I don't know.
I don't either.
I don't know who has one of these, so that's not going to happen.
And they're also big, right?
They take up a lot of space.
But there is a genius hack that will simulate the vacuum seal.
So can you help me with this?
I'd love to.
So we have this chicken.
It's in a zipper baggie.
It's open.
We're going to put it in a bowl of water.
The water is room temperature, not boiling, not hot.
As you push the bag down, it's naturally, through some magic of physics, going to push the air out.
And then can you just seal that up for me?
Yeah, displacing the air.
That is so smart, like you would if you were swimming.
I figured you would know the explanation.
Yes, this is so good.
And then when you pull it out, you can see that it's pretty much vacuum sealed.
You see that?
A vacuum sealing for the price of a baggie!
That's so cool!
And now your food is safe.
No freezer burn.
All right.
Ladies, thank you very much for playing with us today.
Thank you.
Up next, the biggest frozen food mistake that you are making.
It's going to surprise you.
Stay with us.
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Using genealogy and cutting-edge DNA technology to create her suspected killer's face.
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