Following Nutritional Advice from Dr. Oz: How is that working for you?

Jessica Elliott, Kailey Roberts, and Dr. Cynthia Wright Department of Agriculture and Nutrition, Southern Utah University

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

CONCLUSION

Dr. Oz is a celebrity heart surgeon who gained fame as a medical/nutrition consultant on the Oprah Winfrey Show. He then began hosting his own show, becoming a well-known television celebrity. This project involved evaluation of the nutrition advice from the Dr. Oz Show. Over 100 episodes were recorded from commercial broadcasts in 2014, of which approximately 30 were used in the process of development and testing of a coding system and rubric. The coding system was developed to identify the: 1) topics covered, 2) qualifications of guest “experts,” 3) monetary cost of following the advice provided, 4) frequency with which a food and/or supplement was identified as “the cure” for a condition, 5) frequency with which he stated that the information was backed by research, and 6) percent of each show that was dedicated to nutrition-related content. Once the coding system was completed, 50 consecutive episodes were evaluated using the rubric.

Dr. Oz is a heart surgeon and not a nutrition expert. His nutritional advice, though he claims it is backed by science, is often contradictory to advice given by Registered Dieticians. Those who choose to listen to his nutritional advice should do careful research before following it to avoid possible harm or serious side effects. A large amount of money would be spent following his advice and the potential interactions between products could be very dangerous. Best advice is to do your own research, using documented well-researched information, before following any nutritional advice given by Dr. Oz.

• According to Dr. Oz is the nutritional advice research based/supported?

• Does Dr. Oz promote specific products? • What would your supplement intake look

like if you followed all of Dr. Oz’s advice from just 50 shows?

• From the 50 shows, what would the cost be for those supplements recommended?

• Should Dr. Oz’s nutritional advice be followed?

"I watch your show and go and buy

everything you recommend”

-Shaye, Guest on The Dr. Oz Show

ABSTRACT

Cost of Following Dr. Oz’s Advice

Week 1: Week 2:

Item: Average Cost: Item: Average Cost:

1000 IU/day fish oil 28.00$ ½ Meyer Lemon before meals 23.00$

Few mg/day Folic acid 8.00$ Mushrooms 1.98$

3 cups/day strawberries 8.96$ Organic foods(kale, potatoes, 17.23$

1 cup/day yams 2.28$ grapes, celery, strawberries)

½ c spinach daily 3.96$ Greek yogurt 3.98$

3 oz Salmon/day 5.48$ Seltzer water with soda daily 15.00$

Probiotic-for 2 weeks 23.00$ 1-2 capsules Feverfew/day 2.99$

White tea-2 times/week 9.50$ 9 raisins and gin daily 16.88$

2 low dose Aspirin daily 9.50$ 500 mg Matcha green tea (pill)/day 24.97$

4700 mg/day Potassium 7.50$ 1 tsp. Seaweed flakes/daily 11.72$

106.18$ ½ sheet seaweed/day 16.57$

¼ can pumpkin in 1 c oatmeal 2.88$

600 mg DHA(Omega 3) daily 19.96$

Melatonin spray 8.79$

Cheese (feta, goat, gruyere) 28.50$

Eggs 1.98$

Bran cereal 4.29$

150 mg Rhodiola Rosea/day 18.90$

1 Cup Ginko 14.17$

233.79$