Dr. Oz, "America's Doctor," burns my biscuits.
The charismatic thoracic surgeon, who is a professor of medicine at the esteemed Columbia University, author or co-author of over 300 papers, has spent his considerable professional capital promoting absolute balderdash to his millions of viewers every week.
Even worse, like some sort of Trojan horse, he packs the Athenian soldiers of homeopathy, reiki, and "miracle" cures into an equine shell of mainstream medical advice. Last week, America's Doctor teamed up with the Canadian homeopathic huckster Bryce Wylde to present one of his "13 miracle cures for 2013," and his hyperbole was in fine form.
Oz and Wylde offer up what they consider to be the next revolutionary anti-aging super-food: red palm fruit oil. Derived from the flesh of the fruit from Elaeis guineensis, this oil is a staple in Africa and Indonesia where it is farmed, and is a mixture of both saturated and unsaturated fats, resulting in a butter-like texture at room temperature. The virgin, or unprocessed, red palm oil contains both vitamin A and vitamin E, with a special form of vitamin E called alpha-tocotrienol. This clip tells a sensational story.
The good doctor and his handsome sidekick make some pretty strong claims about red palm oil: it will unclog your arteries, protect you from a heart attack, prevent belly fat buildup, and overall is "an amazing fat that helps stop the signs of aging inside and out... it can help you add years to your life!". Oz even throws in a few "studies show" lines to back up his cheerleading with a little white-coated gravitas, but a closer look at the claims and the evidence shows that his pom-poms are not quite perky enough.
The overly simplistic demonstration of the different oils oozing through the large arteries would be laughable if it were not for the fact that Dr. Oz is a thoracic surgeon who should know better. While it would be difficult to distil the actual process into a demonstration as spectacular as the one on the show, free oil does not flow through the blood vessels and plaques cannot be just flushed out like the gunk on the valves in your car's engine. Judging from the oohs and ahhs from the audience, this point was a bit lost on them.
An actual check of the facts reveals a lot of research into the alpha-tocotrienol found in the unprocessed oil. Supplementation with this chemical did show promise in lowering bad LDL cholesterol (see link above), and one rat study showed the potential of red palm fruit oil to limit the amount of damage to the heart during a heart attack. However, most of the studies into red palm fruit oil and alpha-tocotrienol, and their effects on improving the cardiovascular system have been done using faceless cells in a dish or in animals like mice and rabbits, with very few studies involving actual humans. None of the studies actually studied the effect of red palm fruit oil on your chance of dying from a heart attack or other cardiovascular event.
There was a similar over-selling of the ability of the oil to prevent the onset of alzheimer's or dementia, but that did not stop Wylde from making a wild claim that it will prevent the changes in the brain that will lead to these very awful diseases. Red palm oil does look like a promising dietary supplement, but the miraculous anti-aging promises by Oz and Wylde never materialize in the data. We just don't have the evidence yet. They leave the audience with a lot of sparkle and no substance.
This is the real problem with America's Doctor. Dr. Oz has considerable capital as a well-trained surgeon and scientific researcher. He has a terrific opportunity to dispense thoughtful evidence-based health information in a very compelling and entertaining way, but instead he reduces his show to a polished version of the late-night blender salesmen. With only three easy payments, and a little suspension of disbelief, you too can be young and healthy forever and live to your full potential in a world of miraculous cures.
Just don't look at the facts behind the curtain.
Follow Michael Kruse on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@anxiousmedic
While the presentations I've seen promoting this oil are overly simplistic bordering on fatuous, silliness is not necessarily evidence of error. Indeed the American public is so scientifically and logically credulous, such matters must often be reduced to an 8th-grade mentality. So, to view the presentation Mr. Kruse so adamantly pans as too simplistic to be true, is in itself a simplistic argument. His article presents no evidence to substantiate his claims.
Orangutans not withstanding, basing one's consumption on whether or not even life-essential items are "sustainably" harvested, we in the over-civilized world would be hard pressed to live on anything but grass and indigenous weeds. As to my personal concerns, if it comes to my life or an orangutan's – well, the monkey is in serious trouble.
Sorry, Colleen, et. al., but if your consumables were inspected, there'd be a variety of items that someone else would condemn you for using.
90% of the global supply of palm oil comes from Indonesia and Malaysia which is prime orangutan habitat. Please keep in mind that the palm oil industry is directly responsible, in many instances, of slaughtering orangutans. It is illegal to hold, sell, or kill an orangutan and yet it is taking place at an alarming rate with little to no prosecutions. Mothers are killed while babies are torn off their dying mothers to be sold in the illegal pet trade. We consider the orangutan an umbrella species. If you save the orangutan you save indigenous people, rhinos, elephants, tigers, etc, etc, etc....
So what can you do? AVOID palm oil products and support efforts to protect orangutans and their rainforest home. Thank you! {:(|} www.redapes.org, www.redapes.org/droz, www.redapes.org/ran-and-oo-team-up
Best cure for anything is commonsense, health and no meds!!
Indonesian and Malaysian forests are being burned to the ground-- releasing so much carbon into the atmosphere that Indonesia now ranks 3rd behind China and the US in carbon emissions-- and it is barely industrialized. The UNEP estimates that the forests of Indonesia are being cleared at a rate of 6 football fields per minute every minute of every day. To see how palm oil is produced, watch the award-winning documentary GREEN: http://greenthefilm.com
When the forest is cleared to make room for oil palm plantations every living creature is captured or killed. Adult orangutans are shot on sight. These peaceful, sentient beings are beaten, burned, mutilated, tortured and often eaten. Babies are torn off their dying mothers so they can be sold on the black market as illegal pets to wealthy families. If nothing is done to protect orangutans, they will be extinct in just a few years. Learn more at Orangutan Outreach: www.redapes.org
Join OO & RAN to force Dr Oz to retract his statement:
http://redapes.org/ran-and-oo-team-up
http://ran.org/act/dr-oz/
He did a bit on fatigue and said it could all be cured with Magnesium. Didn't even address other causes one of which is simple dehydration.
I don't know - he's a smart guy but I think this financial show biz success has blinded him.
He's lost his credibility with me.
Soon they will be touting the benefits of rhino horn, bear bile and tiger parts?
Any good doctor or health professional would explain the side effects of a prescribed "miracle". The side effects of palm oil production is devastating to the planet by means of catastrophic deforestation, which contributes greatly to the climate change crisis, as well as contributing to the annihilation of countless numbers of species of critically endangered animals like orangutans, sun bears and tigers. One cannot recommend palm oil without explaining the harm to the environment. One cannot casually mention "sustainable" without stressing the importance of sustainability. Most people may not be aware of the cost to the environment, to plants and animals, and to indigenous peoples but if he is going to promote this product, Dr. Oz is responsible to inform them! His entire endorsement smells of the lobbying/PR machine hired by the palm oil industry who is desperately trying to shiny up its tarnished (and rightfully so) image.
Dr. Oz and Wylde are just tools of the palm oil corporations who are spending lots of money on powerful lobbyists and PR to fool the American people that palm oil is healthy for people and the environment.
"Late night blender salesman"
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2012/04/04/dr-oz-promotes-quackeryagain/
It’s foolish and short-sighted to declare red palm oil as healthy or beneficial. In this daytime television parallel universe, anecdotes are evidence. There are no incremental advances in knowledge — only medical miracles.
What's next Dr Oz...will you be touting the benefits of rhino horn, bear bile and tiger parts?
Any good doctor would explain the side effects of prescribed "miracle". The side effects of palm oil production is devastating to the planet by means of catastrophic deforestation, which contributes greatly to the climate change crisis, as well as contributing to the annihilation of countless numbers of species of critically endangered animals like orangutans, sun bears and tigers.
You cannot recommend palm oil without explaining the harm to the environment. You cannot casually mention "sustainable" without stressing the importance of sustainability. You are dealing with an audience that is not aware of the cost to the environment, to plants and animals, and to indigenous peoples.
On the other hand, while he does have ridiculously loyal followers, many of the people who come in on his recommendation are open minded and willing to listen to what products actually do work, or at least willing to change their expectations.
MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL THOUGH?
Palm Oil plantations (and Coconut too) are a serious detriment to virgin rainforests, particularly in Indonesia. If your Palm or Coconut Oil doesn't say fairtrade organic, Don't buy it. Or you can buy it and murder orangutangs andf tigers. Your choice.
"There is no 'alternative' medicine. There is medicine that works, and medicine that doesn't."
Homeopathy is hokum. Prevention is the best medicine. Exercise and good, natural nutrition. But if I were to get cancer, I'd go to an oncologist NOT some new-age guru.
Funny you should put it that way. I've never sat down to watch Dr. Oz, but I did by accident once while waiting for an oil change. I didn't even realize what was on the TV. I thought it was an infomercial.
I applaud Mr. Kruse for bringing attention to this issue. It desperately needed to be done.