Those of you who have been reading this blog for awhile know that I am no fan of Dr. Oz. I even wrote a blog post on his ridiculous show on overcoming obesity a few months back. Can you imagine recommending to an obese woman to eat lowfat yogurt and edamame as a snack?
Talk about priming the pump for a serious eating binge! Kind of like his misinformed show promoting the benefits of pumpkin seed oil.
Another show that was incredibly frustrating and shortsighted to me was his “interview” (if you could call it that) of Dr. Kaayla Daniel, author of The Whole Soy Story, and Dr. Mark Hyman (plant based diet proponent).
The topic covered the pros and cons of soy this past October. The interview was a huge letdown to me in every way.
Did Dr. Oz dig into the intricacies and the fallacies of this very complicated subject?  No. The discussion was so incredibly broad brush that no one could have gleaned anything of real value if confronted with the topic for the very first time. It was a classic example of TV marketing – building up anticipation and viewership for an episode which promised an in depth, quality debate between Dr. Daniel and Dr. Hyman only to be given a few choice soundbites. Poorly planned and poorly executed all around.
It isn’t a good idea to be critical all the time, though, and when something is done well, the effort should be applauded. Such was my reaction to the recent episode of the Dr. Oz Show that featured Dr. Mercola, creator and author of one of the top 5 health websites in the world.
I have to admit that I was very skeptical before watching this segment as I was anticipating another letdown similar to what transpired with Dr. Kaayla Daniel’s interview. I was pleasantly surprised, however, as Dr. Oz permitted Dr. Mercola an extended amount of time to verbalize his views and answer the critical questions put before him. I thought Dr. Mercola came across as clear thinking and eloquent. Dr. Oz came across as an open minded interviewer. Bravo!
I was especially delighted when Dr. Mercola’s plug for grassfed raw milk was not edited out or immediately shot down by Dr. Oz!  Pinch me, am I dreaming?
Could it be that Dr. Oz is coming around or is he just trying to gain viewers from our neck of the woods? My guess is that it’s all in the name of marketing, but only time will tell for sure.
Have a look for yourself.  What did you think?
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
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