Dr. Oz Testified Before United States Senate
On Tuesday June 17, 2013 Dr. Mehmet Oz testified before the United States Senate consumer protection subcommittee about the claims he made adopt weight-loss aids on this television show.
Dr. Mehmet Oz is undoubtable the best know celebrity doctor with a daily television show promoting all sorts of secret and miracle foods and products that have done nothing to reduce increasing obesity and type-2 diabetes in the United States.
I lost interest in Dr. Oz’s show years ago. There was some good medical advise, after the 4th or 5th miracle secret diet, food or supplement I doubted the integrity of Dr. Oz. There is a disclaimer that Dr. Oz does not endorse any products on his show. and he acknowledged during the Senate subcommittee hearing about using “flowery” language about green tea and other supplement.
Why would a prominent doctor, cardiovascular surgeon, and health advocate promote dubious products? It takes millions of dollars producing a one hour show broadcasts 5 days per week. Advertisers make his show possible. No advertising, no show. And manufacturers know products advertised on the Dr. Oz Show will sell. With that comes producers that put finance before science.
One example is Dr. Oz’s show about green coffee, not green tea, green coffee.
Within weeks of Oz’s show about green coffee, unroasted seeds or beans of coffee, a Florida-based operation began marketing a dietary supplement called Pure Green Coffee, with claims that the chlorogenic acid found in the beans could help people lose 17 pounds and cut body fat by 16 percent in 22 weeks.
The company, according to federal regulators, featured footage from “The Dr. Oz Show” to sell its supplement. Oz has no association with the company and received no money from sales.
In May 2014, the Federal Trade Commission sued the sellers behind Pure Green Coffee and accused them of making bogus claims and deceiving consumers.
The weight-loss industry is an area where consumers are particularly vulnerable to fraud, Mary Koelbel Engle, an associate director at the FTC, testified at the Senate hearing. She said the agency conducted a consumer survey in 2011 and found that more consumers were victims of fraudulent weight-loss products than of any of the other specific frauds covered in the survey.
Oz stressed during the hearing that he has never endorsed specific health supplements or received money from the sale of supplements. Nor, he said, has he allowed his image to be used in ads for supplements.
Dr. Oz agreed there is no long-term miracle pill out there without diet and exercise. When you take a weigh loss supplement along with dietary changes and exercise, you don’t know what is causing the weight loss.
Americans love celebrities. There are an abundance of celebrity doctors, fitness experts, bloggers, and chefs. Being a celebrity doesn’t mean they have knowledge or expertise in there area. Some do, others don’t. Many are cashing in on there celebrity status.
Eating a Mediterranean diet has allowed me to maintain my weight for almost 40 years without sacrificing the foods I love. Researchers continue to strengthen the evidence for a Mediterranean diet. Home cooking and a Mediterranean diet can save you thousands of dollars and your life or the life of someone you love.
Watch Dr. Oz’s show for it’s entertainment value not for its information content. Hopefully, future shows will contain less fluff and flowers.