In the end, you can’t go wrong with healthy eating and exercise, the only “secret” to an enviable figure and good health

Dec 22, 2014 13:01 GMT  ·  By
Dr. Oz has a huge audience to whom he promotes countless weight loss products, which are usually useless
8 photos
   Dr. Oz has a huge audience to whom he promotes countless weight loss products, which are usually useless

Dr. Mehmet Oz, or Dr. Oz as he’s known on TV, is a very popular TV figure and not only. With an average of 2.7 million viewers on his show, he reaches an even wider audience with his website, which means that he has a huge platform to promote healthy living and healthy weight loss.

But Dr. Oz has seen better days in terms of popularity: this summer, he was reprimanded in Senate for lying about the green coffee bean extract and how it can be used as a supplement for successful weight loss even though he had no scientific data to back up his claims.

More recently, another study has shown that almost half of the health and weight loss advice he gives on his show (and the segment The Doctors) is either bad or, at best, completely inefficient.

Playing up the benefits, ignoring the drawbacks, lying

Published in the British Medical Journal, the study saw researchers focus on 40 random episodes of Dr. Oz and The Doctors, to determine which advice was sound and which was just his way of peddling products to his audience.

The episodes were chosen randomly in order to have a fair assessment of the situation.

Each episode included on average 12 tips for healthy living or weight loss, with researches pointing out that Dr. Oz focuses more on the latter, while The Doctors includes more general advice to lead a healthier life.

At the end, researchers were left with 479 tips from Dr. Oz and 445 from the doctors. Almost half of these turned out to be unfounded claims or tips that emphasized the benefits and completely ignored the drawbacks.

“Anyone who followed the advice provided would be doing so on the basis of a trust in the host or guest rather than through a balanced explanation of benefits, harms, and costs,” researchers write. “The near absence of potential conflict of interest reporting further challenges viewers’ ability to balance the information provided.”

“Consumers should be skeptical,” the authors continue, adding that we should ask ourselves “whether we should expect medical talk shows to provide more than entertainment.” In other words, if you’re watching an entertainment show, don’t expect to get only sound nutrition and weight loss advice. At best, you’ll get a mixture that will undermine all your efforts.

Dr. Oz peddles useless products but he knows the secret to good health and sustainable weight loss

Asked last summer why he’d use his platform to push useless products on his audience, Dr. Oz tried to explain and excuse himself by saying that it was his duty to talk about the fads that everybody else was talking about, and present its pros and cons (even though he failed to do that with the green coffee bean extract).

He was also asked which was, in his opinion, the best way to lose weight and his reply was something along the lines of, I believe the only way to lose weight and stay healthy is to eat right and exercise regularly. He added that exercise was directly proportional to the amount of lost weight.

Of course, if he were to say just that on his show, nobody would tune in because he’d be too repetitive.

So if you’re thinking you still have time to lose a couple more pounds before the holiday season kicks off, or if you’re planning on starting the New Year with a Dr. Oz-endorsed diet, think again: if what he’s selling sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Dr. Oz's show (8 Images)

Dr. Oz has a huge audience to whom he promotes countless weight loss products, which are usually useless
Dr. Oz speaks before the Senate after it is proven weight loss product he endorsed is completely uselessDr. Oz dishes health and weight loss advice on his show, but you shouldn't believe everything he says
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