Dark vs Milk Chocolate. The Healthiest Picks and Label Traps | Dr. Oz | S7 | Ep 96 | Full Episode
Dr. Oz explores the looming 1M-metric-ton global chocolate shortage—driven by African droughts, fungal diseases, and China’s doubled consumption—while debunking milk chocolate’s health myths, favoring 70%+ cocoa dark chocolate for benefits like lowered cholesterol, cognitive protection, and even reduced pancreatic cancer risk. A blindfolded dating experiment reveals deeper connections form beyond visual cues, as guests like Charles bond with partners through voice and touch, while Dr. Karen Ruskin warns apps like Tinder oversimplify attraction by ignoring brain chemistry and sensory depth. Meanwhile, Versavia, a six-year-old with her heart outside her chest due to a rare congenital defect, thrives despite medical risks, proving resilience amid life’s harshest odds. [Automatically generated summary]
We explain why in our Food Truth series, plus, my chocolate lovers health guide to buying chocolates, exactly how much you need to eat to get the health benefits, and meet a girl with a lot of heart.
I'm six years old and I have a heart outside of my chest.
You've got to see it to believe it.
Coming up next on Oz, we'll save lives today.
We are ready to get healthy!
And I know why, because Valentine's Day is Sunday, isn't it?
You're excited about it.
I'm excited because I know a lot of you will be getting chocolate, your favorite, and I mean a lot of you.
In fact, over 50 million pounds of it will be sold this week alone.
But headlines are sparking fears about chocolate, with experts worrying that the world may be actually running out of chocolate.
Is that possible?
Might run out of chocolate?
As red as you are, you deserve more.
So today's show, we're going to our food truth series.
We're going to get to the bottom of this.
And speaking of Valentine's Day, this show is all about matters of the heart.
And when it comes to heart-healthy chocolate, well, it's not all created equal.
I don't want you guys getting duped.
So I'm giving you a specialized health guide to buying chocolate.
Then we got Jennifo Fack.
She's here with an eye-opening investigation into online dating.
And in my See It to Believe It series, you're going to meet an inspiring six-year-old girl living with her heart, listen carefully, beating outside her chest.
It is possible it happens.
And she's still got lots of vitality.
But first, in our Food Truth series, take a look at food journalist and core team expert Mark Shaskier on the pending chocolate shortage.
Attention chocolate lovers.
I have the worst news possible.
The world is running out of chocolate.
It's getting so bad that chocolate demand will start to outstrip chocolate supply in just a few years' time.
Did you hear me?
Is anyone listening to me?
We're running out of chocolate!
The chocolate shortage is already underway.
Two years ago, the world ate 70,000 metric tons more cocoa than it produced.
That would fill 28 Olympic swimming pools.
And in just four years, that number could reach 1 million metric tons, or the equivalent of 400 Olympic swimming pools.
That's nearly 25 billion chocolate bars.
Maybe it's because the word is getting out that chocolate not only tastes good, but can be good for you.
It has more antioxidants than green tea, blueberries, and red wine combined.
That's Miriam, a chocolate vendor I met here at the Chocolate Expo, where I went out to find out just exactly how the impending chocolate famine might affect chocolate lovers.
Here's Larry, another chocolate vendor.
Larry, you make chocolate-covered bacon.
Are you noticing there's a chocolate shortage?
Yes, there's definitely a chocolate shortage.
I used to be able to get my chocolate in two days, and now it's taken two weeks, sometimes even longer.
And how about the price?
Price is through the ceiling.
There are three reasons for the chocolate shortage.
The first, dry weather in Africa, where 70% of cocoa is produced.
The second, nasty fungal diseases that have wiped out cacao crops all over the world.
And the third, an insatiable appetite for the sweet stuff.
Not just here in America, but also in China, where chocolate sales have doubled over the last decade.
All of which leaves less for the rest of us chocaholics.
But there's hope.
I visited farms in Costa Rica where farmers are growing new strains of cacao trees resistant to fungi.
And the trees even seem to be more productive than before.
So I'm betting the future of chocolate is going to be sweet, which means I don't have to give up my favorite pastime anytime soon.
Very mean that Mark Shasker concludes we'll have enough chocolate because chocolate's not just a sweet treat.
It's widely being considered a health food.
Let me explain why.
It's been shown to improve heart health by lowering our cholesterol and regulating our blood flow more effectively.
It prevents cognitive decline.
It boosts your mood, reduces stress.
It even improves our skin.
And there's a new study that shows you can actually help reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer, and that is very big news in the medical community.
But to get these benefits, you got to eat the right stuff.
And Mark Shasker is here in person.
He's going to explain how to do that.
And it all starts with these little babies right here.
These little beans, they smell like chocolate.
They smell amazing.
So explain how this bean becomes the chocolate that we all want for Valentine's.
Okay, so we all love chocolate, but so many of us don't know where it actually comes from.
These beans come from the rainforest.
They come from a tree called cacao that produces these brightly colored, they look like gourds.
That's what they look like.
They pick those and inside is a fruity pulp and beans.
And that fruity pulp is incredibly delicious.
And everything we do from there on in only makes chocolate better.
So the first thing we do is we take those beans and that pulp and we ferment it.
So these are the beans here.
They actually mix it inside of some juicy stuff or something.
Exactly.
And then we ferment it.
And fermentation is an amazing way to build flavor.
We ferment wine, as we saw from our bread story.
We ferment gray dough to make great bread.
So that's the first flavor-making process in chocolate.
Then we roast the chocolate.
Now think about roasting.
Roast coffee, roast chicken.
Roasting makes stuff taste great.
We roast the chocolate.
What we're left with are cocoa beans.
And we grind them and we crush them.
And we're left with two things, cocoa powder, which we see here.
And that's where you get the health benefits.
That's where those antioxidants and flavanols, those essential minerals like iron, magnesium, potassium, you find them in the cocoa powder.
But you also get this most beautiful sounding thing, cocoa butter.
It does sound fantastic.
And you're also thinking well, butter, is that unhealthy?
This is it.
This is it.
This is what it looks like.
And it's filled with good fats, monounsaturated fats and also stearic acid, which is saturated, but it's one of the good ones.
But here's why it's so interesting.
It's the cocoa butter that makes chocolate melt in your mouth.
It's one of the few foods that's solid.
Yeah, exactly.
And then it melts in your mouth.
Sort of weird tasting.
Yeah, well.
Chocolate without the taste.
That's right.
So this isn't quite enough on its own.
You can't really eat this.
Yeah, it's too bitter.
It's bitter.
Yeah.
Happy Valentine's College.
Thank you very much.
The love of my life.
By the way, nice red.
So the question then becomes for Valentine's Day, how do we convert this buttery stuff, which actually is soothing to the mouth, it's got that smooth feel, and this very bitter chocolate.
How do we convert that into what you would love?
So Mark's going to walk us through the difference between milk chocolate and dark chocolate.
So come on over.
And this is stuff that I think you all have to get clear because you're going to be tempted.
You know those big heart-shaped gifts that one gives for Valentine's Day?
Yeah, we're going to have a little different perspective on that because that's mostly this.
It's milk chocolate.
So what's in here?
That's right.
So if you see the ingredients for milk chocolate right here, you see the good stuff, the cocoa and the cocoa butter, but then you also see dairy and sugar.
And here's the thing.
Regulations require that as little as 10% of milk chocolate is this stuff, the cocoa.
That leaves 90% for dairy and sugar.
So, nutritionally speaking, you're more like ice cream or a milkshake.
That's not to say you can never eat milk chocolate, but don't make it your go-to.
Don't think you're getting the health benefits of chocolate by eating milk chocolate.
All right, now what happens in dark chocolate?
Dark chocolate is you get rid of the milk, it's cocoa and sugar.
But here's the thing: dark chocolate alone isn't a guarantee of these health properties because, according to regulations, it only needs to be higher than 35% cocoa.
So, that leaves up to 65% for sugar and other additives.
So, dark alone isn't a guarantee that you're getting that cocoa benefit.
So, here's the deal, guys: in order to get the health benefits, you got to know how much of each of these to eat, and you have to know exactly what kind to get.
Now that I'm learning more about these percentage issues, so up next, we're going to give you the chocolate lover's guide to buying chocolate for Valentine's Day, and frankly, all year long.
This is what you've been waiting for.
We'll be right back with the answers.
Next, there's a lot of junk chocolate out there So, how do you know what kind of buy?
We'll decode the labels for the best heart-healthy chocolate.
Plus, three good-for-you recipes to melt any chunkaholic's heart.
Silky flavor, it's like chocolate guacamole.
Coming up: people posing as doctors.
I honestly thought I was gonna die.
We cashed them in the act.
What happened next surprised us all?
We bust black market butt enhancements, all new eyes.
That's coming up on Monday.
You have your chocolates ready?
Chocolate-covered strawberry.
Chocolate is my weakness, too.
Notice I have more chocolate in mine than yours.
Dark chocolate coconut chocolate bars, dark chocolate dipping spoons, dark chocolate. in your hair.
You just take it straight in your mouth, yeah?
Just take the chocolate.
I've told you time and time again to eat dark chocolate.
You all heard me talk about chocolate.
You all excited about Valentine's Day.
All right, today, I'm digging a deeper dive than I have before.
It is my chocolate lovers health guide to buying chocolate.
So, all you guys dressed in beautiful red will be able to make the right decisions.
Food journalist and core team expert Mark Shasker is back.
Let's start with my chocolate prescription.
Exactly, how much you need to eat to get the health benefits.
And that's an easy answer.
I think it's one ounce of dark chocolate a day.
Show them how that's about that much.
What do you think about that recommendation?
I think that's a great recommendation.
I follow it daily.
But you also have to eat the right stuff.
You just can't choose the dark because we just talked about the fact that the regulations and the definition isn't clear enough.
So, those heart-shaped boxes that a lot of folks expect to get around Valentine's Day, your assessment is an expert.
My assessment is that a lot of the time you're paying for the box.
The chocolate inside is often milk chocolate filled with a sugary filling.
So, I don't think it's worth it.
I don't think those chocolates are all that great.
I think nothing says I love you better than a good quality bar of dark chocolate, buy a heart-shaped card, wrap a red ribbon around it.
Nice.
All right, and then the labels can be confusing as well.
So, let's decode for folks exactly what they're looking at.
And let's talk about the percentage of cocoa.
So, I usually think that we should get 70% of the real good stuff, the cocoa butter and the cocoa powder.
I agree.
Is that too much?
I know, I think that's a good place to start.
That leaves about 30% for sugar.
Now, that might sound like a lot, but here's the thing to think about: dark chocolate is incredibly delicious, but it's also really satisfying.
So, we talked about this one ounce.
You can't really eat more than that.
I can kill a whole big bar of milk chocolate, no problem.
I want to keep eating.
When I eat dark chocolate, I have just like something like this, and it's so satisfying.
But the other thing to think about: if you want to get into dark chocolate, don't run out and buy a 90% bar.
That's like the hard stuff.
You're not ready.
Get into it with something like 60, 65%, and you develop it.
You're not ready.
I love it.
You gotta build a tolerance to this.
No, you do, but you develop this passion for dark chocolate.
And the dark chocolate lovers, that's when they start to seek out, you know, the single-origin bars, the high percentage.
Start with 65%.
It's a really good entry point.
It sounds like a good scotch.
Absolutely.
I think it's going to evolve today.
Yeah.
Okay, so we look in the back of the package and they see, for example, chocolate liqueur.
Yeah, chocolate liquor frightens a lot of people.
They think there's alcohol in it.
That's just another word for a mix of cocoa butter and cocoa powder.
So don't be afraid of chocolate liquor.
You will also see things like vanilla, soy lethicin, or sometimes it's made from sunflower.
That keeps the fat from separating.
Don't be afraid of those things.
But as with most things, the shorter the label, the better.
Look for cocoa and sugar.
Those are the main ingredients.
That's the pure stuff.
And the better the chocolate, the shorter the ingredient label.
All right, thanks, Park.
Thank you.
All right, now, question then becomes: What do you do if dark chocolate tastes a little too bitter to you?
Well, I think you can get past that.
And so I listed Chef James Stefano from the Institute of Culinary Education to help change your mind about dark chocolate with three healthy dark chocolate recipes.
Joining us also are two self-proclaimed chocolates.
Zenobia swears by the stuff.
It's in her freezer and it's in her purse at all times.
They're always stocked.
And Savitri is here.
She says, I hear this from a lot of you.
She gets cranky if she doesn't have chocolate in her mid-afternoon snack.
Is that true?
It's very true.
Very true.
I can't go without the dark chocolate.
You look a little irritable right now.
No, no, no.
I had my breakfast this morning.
Two dark chocolate peanut butter cups, so I'm good.
All right, so judges are tough.
I want you to taste the foods as soon as we start speaking about them.
James, what do you have for us?
We have three great things here: all no-added sugar.
Okay.
We have a simple hot chocolate, skim milk, and 70% chocolate, so you get a lot of the richness from that.
In the middle, we have a chocolate avocado mousse.
Again, with dates and banana.
Who doesn't love a date on Valentine's Day?
This is really thick.
Yeah, and it's just from the emulsification of the milk and the chocolate together.
Nothing else is in there.
A little salt, I always tell the students, a little salt with the chocolate, just a pinch, it brings out, intensifies the chocolate flavor.
Yeah, I see Valentine's chocolates now with salt on them, which is a really smart idea.
Yeah, just a little bit.
Again, it's going to accentuate that chocolate flavor.
Critics, what do you guys think of the dark chocolate?
Oh my gosh.
Yeah, that gets you going.
Despite the texture, it's very easy to drink.
I want to drink the whole thing, but I had to talk to you.
And how about the mousse?
Taste that as well.
You say there's avocado in here?
Yeah, just a little avocado.
So what we do is we make a puree with avocado, a little milk, super ripe banana and date for that natural sweetness.
Oh my gosh.
Melted chocolate, and then blend it in.
So it's a really nice, rich, silky flavor.
Decadent, but again, no added sugar to that.
It's like chocolate guacabole.
That's breakfast.
Ben's Voice Experiment00:15:43
Really, this is amazing.
Thank you.
Amazing.
And it's vegan in the mouth.
Yes.
It's vegan.
Again, the dates and the banana product, all that natural sugar.
Now we're showing off, James.
No, I'm not.
And what's the last one?
Lastly, we have a great dark chocolate and almond nut cluster, again, with a little date for sweetness and some brown rice krispies as well.
You really should share these with the audience.
We're going to share them.
Absolutely.
What do you think about these clusters?
Oh, my God.
Pass that along with them.
They're amazing.
Thank you.
So, James, you're going to come with us later?
Totally.
Okay.
Yep.
She's taking you home with her.
Yeah, coming up from home.
Breakfast, lunch.
Can I continue teaching?
Yeah.
Aren't you surprised at how good these are?
These are fantastic.
Audience, we got to think.
Amazing.
Their mouths are full of food.
I want to thank James, Jeff, James, and all my guests.
These recipes, by the way, we're going to put them on Dr. OzdaCon.
Please try these out.
You're going to absolutely adore these.
Be right back.
Jenna Wolf investigates the exploding world of online dating.
Could this new dating app craze be interfering with the way people connect with each other?
Are they dripping all the anxiety to spontaneity and, frankly, the fun out of love?
And are they breaking our natural rules of attraction?
This whole show is about matters of the heart.
And now we're going from heart healthy chocolate to this kind of heart.
An investigation into the exploding world.
I know you're excited.
I love love too, but we're going to look into this world of online dating.
There's a new dating app craze and it is affecting your health in ways maybe you don't expect.
Whether you're single, you're married, or it's complicated.
You're going to want to see this.
I want you to take a look at what happened when journalist Jenna Wolf hit the streets to find the people behind the profiles to uncover if these apps could actually be breaking the natural rules of attraction.
The dating game has changed big time.
Now, searching for love can be as simple as swiping a photo on your phone.
Right if you like them, left if you don't.
But are they interfering with the natural way of connecting?
That biological chemistry that draws us to the one.
Hey, Dr. Oz, we're here in Central Park and we're talking to people about these online dating apps.
Are they working?
Who's using them?
Are they successful?
Or are they just stripping all the anxiety, the spontaneity, and frankly, the fun out of love?
Let's go find out.
What's dating like in the world today?
I mean, is it easy?
Is it hard?
Is it complicated?
It's very complicated.
It's complicated.
Oh, it's hard.
Why does this work for you?
Well, I work in the city and it's a little hard for me to go out and meet people with work and being busy.
It really is as simple as swiping right and left, I guess, now.
Tell me what apps you're on right now.
You have been on.
I've been on Scruff.
I just got a bumble.
Single parents meet.
I'm on Tinder right now, but I only go on it like after I've had a couple of drinks.
I'm on Vegans Match.
I'm on Cupid.
I thought you said you're on Vegans Match.
Yes.
Can I see how it works?
Sure.
So you swiped right?
Oh, there we go.
It's a match.
There it is.
I'm like hyperventilating.
Now you write this.
Trust me, you guys will be swimming in matrimony.
Hey, I'm just finishing up at the gym.
It was hard since I've been holding my Nobel Peace Prize while lifting weights, but I really want to see you in between patients, of course, since I'm a doctor.
Yeah!
What's the pool?
I mean, what do you hope will happen?
Well, at my age, I'm looking for the one.
Do you think you can meet the love of your life on here?
I really don't know.
What makes someone worthy of swiping right?
I hate to say it, but it really is as simple as it's a hot or not.
We wanted to find out exactly what's happening in your brain when you swipe right and left.
So I sent one guy and one girl to the Amon Clinic, which specializes in functional brain scans relating to behavior, to meet with psychiatrist and brain imaging expert Dr. Daniel Amon.
We hooked them up to a quantitative EEG machine, which monitors your brain weights and asked them to start swiping.
This is what we found.
Both of you, when you were on the dating app, the slow brain waves in your brain went up.
So that's consistent with people who end up having ADD or attention problems.
But for you, when you were on the app, the unhappy, irritated, sad part of your brain went up.
And as I watched, you're like, no.
The pickings are slim.
The pickings are slim.
But we didn't see that in your brain.
And it could be because you had more success.
Here we go, a few matches for sure.
Oh my, I didn't realize there was so much science to attraction.
So what surprised you the most as you talk to these folks who met their mates using these apps?
I can't believe anyone met anyone using these apps.
There was so much.
No, no, no, no.
First, you have to say yes, then they have to say yes, then you have to reach out.
Then it takes all the spontaneity and the joy and the anxiety and the fear out of love and it strips it down to two inches to the right with your index finger.
That's it.
I just can't believe that people are making matches and pursuing relationships based on apps.
But it's happening a lot.
So here's what we're going to do when we come back.
An investigation into online dating, a deep investigation, is going to continue with an experiment that may change the way you look at love forever.
Next, are dating apps short-circuiting the natural attraction our bodies are wired for?
We put this theory to the test.
What happens when two strangers meet for the first time but can't see each other?
Can they still make a connection?
Coming up.
People posing as doctors.
I honestly thought I was going to die.
We cashed them in the app.
What happened next surprised us all.
We bust black market butt enhancements, all nuise.
That's coming up on Monday.
Hey, we're investigating the dating app Obsession and asking whether or not they interfere with the natural rules of attraction that our bodies are hardwired for.
Now we got brain chemicals, those guide our choices.
In fact, all five senses are actually involved when we choose the one.
But the first stages of online dating remove four of those five senses.
So how's that transformed the way we pick our mates?
I've asked Michelle to join us.
She says she's met a few promising men on Tinder.
So when you go on online these dating apps and you see just a picture, what do you look for to figure out who the right one is?
Dr. Oz, I'm looking for a nice guy.
A guy that has nice eyes, he has a nice smile, and he's not a serial killer.
Can you tell the serial killer issue from the picture itself?
Is that easy or it's a little challenging sometimes?
It's a little challenging.
So one way you might be able to identify a serial killer or frankly a person you like more is their voice.
So do you type back and forth?
Do you call them from the phone and have a conversation?
Well with the online dating world, it always starts with communicating over the app first.
And then we eventually get to texting over the phone and then we meet up.
Rarely do I ever hear his voice before I see him?
All right, so then you're giving up that tool that all women would normally have because you have instinctively an ability to pick the voice that works for you.
So I'm going to do a little experiment.
If it's okay, right?
I want you to know your honest opinion.
There's no wrong answer here.
But you have to have an answer.
Okay.
The first rule of attraction is all about sound.
And it was always the usual, historically the way we'd first meet each other.
I'm going to play my voice.
I have altered it.
I've altered it in two ways.
I'm going to give you two versions of me.
Are you ready?
Okay.
Let's play version number one of me.
Welcome to the Doctorage Show.
Hmm.
I didn't think it would sound like that, but okay.
And let me give you another version of me.
Welcome to the Doctorage Show.
All the women are thinking.
There's some smiles out there.
Which one would you pick, Michelle?
I would go with voice number two.
You would.
Well, thank you very much, Michelle.
What attracted you to do about voice number two?
It sounds masculine.
That's actually, you know, that's actually the perfect intuition because women prefer lower tone voices because it signifies more testosterone in the male.
It was a way of actually judging virility, fertility, other things like that.
So voice is given up when we use these online apps, which is one of the concerns that I have.
And it actually breaks one of the rules of attraction, not to have that as a tool.
I'm going to come back to that concept in a second.
I hope it helps you in your next date, by the way.
Call him on the phone.
Let's get to the next rule of attraction.
It has to do with smell.
Jenna said in the audience investigating this sense.
And she has poor Ben.
Ben, stand up if you don't mind.
Jenna, what's the experiment?
All right, Ben.
So we have two bags here, and there's a shirt, a woman's shirt in each one.
And a woman has worn both of these shirts.
I want you to smell each of these and tell me, honestly, which one you're more attracted to, okay?
Go ahead, however you choose.
Should be interesting.
Really get in there, Ben.
Really get in there.
Get all up in there, Ben.
Got that one.
You got that one?
That's easy.
Yeah, merch your head in there.
Don't suffocate, though.
Oh, yeah.
Sorry.
Got it.
All right, think long and hard.
Interesting.
Make a smart choice.
Okay.
There is a right answer here, by the way.
We'll give you that.
The choice that I'm going to pick is the white one.
The white one.
The white one.
Who are you here with today, Ben?
I'm with my wife, Stacey.
Oh, thank goodness.
Stacy, Dan, if you don't mind, Stacey, do you have any insights into these t-shirts?
I do.
Lucky man, he picked the right one because I'm that white one.
That'll be a good ride home, Ben.
It would have been a long car ride home if you didn't pick that one.
Wow.
What would you have done to him?
I can't say that on TV, but it wouldn't have been good.
It doesn't matter.
He made the right choice.
He made the right choice.
Did it really just smell different?
Yes, I can definitely distinguish the sense of what I know and what I understand and what I'm around.
Is it a good smell?
Which is a very clean.
He goes, it's a very clean, fresh smell.
He's actually romantic.
Ben's a romantic.
You know, it's interesting.
You say it in a very beautiful way because you say it's what I know, but it's much deeper than that.
You know this because it actually attracted you subconsciously.
And an app wouldn't have shown you that, but come over.
Let's explain this.
This is really important.
Your nose knows.
So even if you don't know it, your glands are always working.
And they're making things like sweat and pheromones, chemicals that you don't even smell, but they're there, right?
And all these scents go out from your body, and according to your sense of smell, you, as the suitor, will either like it or not like it.
It's going to tell you information about mood, about their energy levels, even their fertility, just from the smell.
So all that data goes into the mind of someone who's wondering, hmm, is she right or wrong?
And when that happens.
Here comes Ben.
Hey, what's up?
How you doing?
There's Ben.
And he doesn't realize, he just thinks it's because it's familiar.
So in those early stages of dating, you want these tools.
And when you're not taking advantage of them, you're missing out on some of the experience.
And right now, Ben is wiping brows sweat right from the brow, right, Ben?
You made the right choice.
Stacy, smell his pheromones now.
They'll be married for another five years.
You guys are great.
Longer than that.
Let's get on to the most famous rule of attraction.
Thank you.
It's love at first sight.
Love at first sight.
Now, since apps like Tinder rely solely on the first visual impression, we wanted to do a little experiment to see what happens if we remove the visuals altogether.
But we let you keep all the other senses that we know are so important.
Take a look at Jenna's experiment.
We took four guys and four girls and put them through a speed dating session.
The catch, they'd be blindfolded the entire time.
We all have five minutes to get to know the person across from you without seeing each other, and then we're going to switch.
Speed date blindly, go!
You think she's a blonder, Brunette?
Honestly, I have no idea, but I don't care.
That's the point.
It doesn't matter.
What does his voice sound like to you?
Sounds sane.
Did you just say he sounded sane?
Yeah, that's always a good start.
Okay, I want you to feel space and tell me.
Keep going.
Bring it in.
Keep going, right?
Oh, you do.
Oh!
Do you wish you could just pull it off and see each other?
Is it frustrating?
I think.
It's the anticipation of it.
Oh, I don't know.
But from the way he smells.
Get off in there.
Ooh, hey.
Oh.
How different is this than a regular date if you were able to see each other?
I think it's an excellent experience.
They really get to know the actual person.
Oh, yeah?
We have a connection.
Yeah.
All right, big moment.
It has been 24 hours since Tony and Charles met.
They both say they made a connection despite not seeing each other.
Even today, they haven't seen each other.
They have no idea what the other person looks like.
How are you guys feeling?
Feeling good.
Nervous.
She feels good.
He's nervous.
Yes, typical gendered five.
I think Tony means good and nervous.
So Tony, what do you think he looks like?
Okay, so I think that Charles is tall.
We shook hands.
So based off of that, I'm like, I believe he's tall.
I believe he's fit.
And I have no idea what his hair is like, but I'm thinking a buzz cut for some reason.
All right, so Charles.
Right.
What made you choose Tony over every other girl there?
First of all, it's a nerve-wracking experience.
I'm old school, so I'm used to meeting the person first, you know, looking at them, and then feeling them out.
But her voice was extremely calming and it relaxed me.
It's funny you pick voice because that's what attracted me to my wife.
It sounded like we were having phone sex when I called her.
Wow.
She's a very sensual voice.
I still remember.
I never talked to anyone with a voice like that.
All right, so I understand the importance of voice.
Clearly.
You really do.
That's right.
Right.
We come back.
We're finally going to remove the blindfolds and an expert's going to weigh in on what all of this means.
Stay here.
Next, Will They or Won't They?
It's the moment of truth for our blindfolded singles.
Will it be love at first sight?
Are you ready to see each other for the first time?
Ah!
Two.
One.
But our experiment reveals about online dating.
Find out next.
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We have been investigating the online dating app obsession, which relies mainly on split-second decisions using a single picture to decide whether or not there's an attraction.
Now, before the break, we set up a blindfolded speed dating social experiment to see what happens when the sense of sight is taken out of the dating process altogether.
Think of this as the opposite of those dating apps like Tinder.
You got all the other senses, but not sight.
Vibes and First Impressions00:02:05
So Tony and Charles met last night and they said they made a connection.
I noticed that you've been taunting our guests.
I just want to make sure it's all legit.
And as you can see, it is.
You watch me sucker punch him by mistake.
Are you ready to see each other for the first time?
Yes.
Yes.
Ready?
Here we go.
Three.
Ah.
Two.
He won! Oh! Oh! Oh!
Wait.
She's fit.
Thank God.
Just so you know, see, that's what she's doing.
Your wife, thank God.
What do you mean that she's like?
I was right about the buzz cut.
How'd you know he had a buzz cut?
I don't know.
It was a wild guess.
I was like, I can't pitch him with a lot of hair.
And also, is this what you thought Charles looked like?
Yeah, well, definitely, because we talked about our footwear.
Yeah, yeah.
I was talking about being a sneaker.
She's tall.
Meanwhile, we're still holding hands.
We're still holding hands right here, guys.
Are you wearing the same color?
Nice to meet you.
I got to ask Charles.
Mail the mail on this.
Did it heighten your sense of attractiveness to her that you actually didn't see each other beforehand?
How did this experience change that?
It puts you in a vulnerable state, so you really have to learn, you know, like kind of learn the person and kind of really feel out their vibe.
And she had a really warm vibe, and it was really relaxing.
Like, she really relaxed me, and that was like a big thing.
You know, big thinking.
I like him.
Well, hold on, then let me ask you, female to female.
Was this easier or harder than had you gone out and you met him at a bar and you had to strike up a conversation?
You know what?
I think it was, well, I guess it was easier because we were sitting right there and everything, but it was.
It was nice not to have to even think about just to focus on the conversation and really listen, you know, not get distracted by anything, what he's wearing, or you know, what he looks like, even.
Online Dating Dilemmas00:02:56
It's just focus on what we're talking about.
That's what we're doing.
So I think this is Kiss Matt.
You are wearing the exact same colors, which we did not arrange.
Coincidence.
So if anything comes out of this, Jenna and I expect invitations.
We will both get ordained.
Exactly.
He's feed dating.
Jenna, come on over here.
And see how online dating can interfere with the natural rules of attraction that the five senses are hardwired to do.
But what's the psychological impact of these dating apps?
They've invited psychotherapist Dr. Karen Ruskin, who specializes in relationships to break it all down for us.
What do you take from all this, this little experience we just saw?
My goodness, when it comes to attraction, it is a full-body experience.
You cannot rely on one sense alone.
When we're talking about chemistry, we're talking about brain chemistry, which translates into sexual chemistry.
And you need all of your senses.
Online dating, it forces you to make this quick decision, yes or no.
Could you imagine if all of our life, if all of our relationships exist like Tinder?
Hello, goodbye.
hello, goodbye, that does not allow us to answer the real question that everybody wants an answer to, which is...
Are we better off as friends?
Well, that is a question.
What a pessimist you are.
But what everybody wants the answer to is, is this person going to be somebody that I can spend my life with that's going to be a happy and healthy long-term relationship?
Well, it's hard to ask all that from an app.
I don't think you would ever get that.
But this is where we are.
This is where society has brought us to the fact that there are apps for every demographic imaginable.
If this is what we're living in now, where are we going to be five, ten years from now with finding love?
Well, dear dear, you know, what concerns me is that we're going to be in a place where all we're going to be doing is looking for a relationship on an app.
Sort of like online shopping, but not, right?
Because we're not online shopping for sneakers.
We're looking for our life mate.
Well, that is a great example.
And I'll tell you something.
When it comes to online dating, we often do it like we're trying to buy something online, like an online pair of sneakers or an online pair of shoes.
Hmm, that shoe looks like it'll be a good fit.
Not that one, yes or no.
We can't do that with a relationship because it's not a yes or no.
We have to go into the relationship, experience all of the senses, not just boom, boom, boom.
It's really reduced love to a very superficial process.
Yes, no, based on what they look like.
There's a challenge.
One third, one third of all married couples say they met their mate online.
Think about that.
So it works, right?
Everyone has to acknowledge that it does work, at least that's for now.
So how does someone get the benefits of meeting someone online?
A lot of people you interviewed in the park all said they didn't, you know, that's how they actually first came in contact.
So if they're going to do that, how do you combine the attractiveness and the convenience of online dating with actually finding the right person for you?
Experience Beyond Yes or No00:07:01
Okay.
So the key is read first what they have to say.
Cover up that picture, guys and gals.
Read the words.
Then, if you find what they've written of interest, then look at their picture.
Then if you find that of interest as well, what I recommend to my clientele, and this works, this is effective.
You must speak with the person on the phone three times, 30 minutes each time, before you go out on that first date.
So that way you can evaluate their personality.
See if it's even somebody who you'd want to spend time with.
Three times?
Half hour each?
Oh dear, you see these facial expressions?
Well, we have become such a rush-rush society.
Impulse!
We want now.
We want what we want, what we want it.
The fact is we have to be patient with the process.
And somebody who is not going to spend time three times for 30 minutes in the wooing stage, could you imagine what that relationship is going to look like long term?
I told you.
Never going to happen.
Thank you very much.
Dr. Ruskin there, Jenna.
right back next meet a six-year-old girl who's unlike any little girl you'll meet Born with her heart outside her chest, she's a miracle child who has defied the odds.
When I'm dancing, I feel like I'm sleep.
Her story is one you have to seek to believe.
Next.
People posing as doctors.
I honestly thought I was going to die.
We cashed them in the act.
What happened next surprised us all.
We bust black market butt enhancements, all new odds.
That's coming up on Monday.
You're about to meet a six-year-old girl whose favorite things in life are dancing, going to school, and drawing.
Now, she may sound like an ordinary six-year-old to you, but Versabia is special.
She was born with her heart outside her chest.
Yep, that's her heart right there.
It beats just like mine and yours, but it's outside her body.
Now, she's been called a miracle child because she's defied the odds.
And her story, well, you have to see it to believe it.
Meet Versavia.
Versavia's story is one we had to see to believe.
She was born with a rare and life-threatening condition, causing her heart to protrude outside of her chest.
When I was in my mama's stomach, doctors said, I will not survive.
I think she's blessed and I blessed to have her because she's a miracle.
But without surgery, Versavia's condition is almost always fatal.
She and her mother came here from Russia looking for treatment.
At the moment, Versavia is not a candidate for surgery, and so they wait and hope that doctors will greenlight an operation.
If the doctors will tell me that she's ready to get the surgery, I will say yes.
In the meantime, Versavia lives as normal a life as possible under the circumstances.
Versave is like regular kids.
She goes to school.
She likes to draw, she likes to play.
And she likes to dance.
Today we're taking Versabia to her first day, to the dance class, to the hip-hop kids.
I love to dance.
When I'm dancing, I feel like I'm sleep.
But Versavia's mom also knows her daughter is living in the shadow of a condition that could cut her life short.
I'm worried about Versabia's dancing because it's very intense, but I'm here to make sure she's not pushing too much and she's comfortable.
Serious medical conditions can be expensive.
When the world got wind of Versavia's story and the family's modest financial condition, hearts were touched and support was offered.
A lot of people just helping us and I'm so grateful for that.
Through it all, Versavia and her mom are enjoying life, having fun, and making every day count.
She may have some problems with her heart, but I believe she have the biggest and the most beautiful heart in the world.
Now that girl has heart.
Literally, in every direction, there's heart.
It's there right there.
It's beating strong for everyone to see.
But how is it possible?
Up next, something you really have to see to believe.
We're going to go inside Versavia's body.
I'm going to reveal how it's possible this six-year-old girl has survived with her heart outside of her chest.
I'll be right back.
My wife star Big Ange.
They found London brain cancer inside her fight to stay alive, plus medical mistakes.
A 13-inch piece of metal left behind.
All nuance.
That's coming up on Tuesday.
My name is Virsava.
I'm six years old and I have a heart outside my chest.
She dances and she loves to draw.
She's been called a miracle child, living with an extremely rare condition where her heart avatar here of Versavia with her heart fully formed outside of her body.
I want to go inside and find out how this happened and how she has survived.
So it all begins in the womb.
That's where we all outside the body with the intestines.
It's supposed to be that way.
Completely normal.
We all went through this.
But in Versabia's case, it was a problem.
In development, because the bones didn't form right and the muscles didn't work right, the heart stayed outside the body instead of going back in where it's supposed to.
The intestines got out stuck outside as well.
Now, the rest of the fetus develops normally, but the heart itself can have problems.
The bone didn't come together in her chest, and the muscle has hernias in it.
But the heart itself also has a hole right here in between two major chambers that allows the blood to go back and forth and it's not supposed to and left the doctors very hesitant to operate.
But here she is at age six, generally living a normal life.
Her mom and the doctors are cautious of being in cold weather and it's cold in New York City, so she couldn't actually come to visit with us.
But she can continue to live like this.
And she can dance and she can draw and she can have fun and she can just enjoy life, which I love because her story reminds me, and I hope all of you, that appreciating the little things in life is what matters most of all.
Remember that this weekend because Valentine's Day is not just about chocolates and flowers, but it's about celebrating the little joys your loved ones bring you.
To find out more, don't you think so?
I think that's what it's about.
To find out more about Versavia's story and how you can get help from this fabuloctorise.com, remember, happy and healthy.