Every time a new episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show airs in 2010, we will blog along with it. If you have plenty of time, read the long version. If you are pressed for time, read the “What we learned today” summary. If you are really, really pressed for time, read the Twitter-sized summary.

Archive for category Health

Date: March 26th, 2010
File Under: Entertainment, Health, Live your best life, Transformation

Episode 44: Ryan Seacrest and Jamie Oliver Join Forces

He is the busiest man in show business right now, he is a mover and a shaker, Mr Ryan Seacrest. This is exciting he says, it’s the first time he’s been on the Oprah set. He signed a $45 million contract to stay with American Idol, making him the highest paid reality TV star on television. He says shh his mom is in the audience, and then that there is pressure now for him to be good at what he does. Oprah says that he is paid that well because he is good. He is very pleased to be involved with something so successful. Simon Cowell said to Oprah that he thought that the 3rd season would be the last, and this is the 9th season. Oprah asks how their relationship is, and Ryan says that he will regret saying this in the real world but Simon is one of the sweetest people that you could meet in the business. He has a big heart and they are good friends. That being said, they love to compete. Simon says out loud what he hears in his head, so Ryan doesn’t have to do it. They talk about Ellen on the show- they both say she is terrific and wonderful. The crowd applaud. Ryan doesn’t have to be funny  because Ellen is funny. Before the show she worried about being critical and kind, and also herself and she is fantastic at it.

Oprah says that Ryan loves what he does so much that there is not an idle minute in his day, take a look while the cameras try and keep up with him for a few hours. He starts his day hosting, booking and producing his super-popular syndicated radio show. He feels that he was born to be on the air, he likes the circus of being in the center of a whirlwind of activity. Job 2, from the same chair, is hosting AmericanTop 40 with a 2 1/2 minute break to switch jobs. Job 3, one floor up, is as host and executive producer of E News. He has a stash of green apples and raw almonds for snacking. They fill every day, every minute. Job 4, he runs a multimillion production company, Ryan Seacrest Productions, making programs such as Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Jobs 5 and 6 are finding and scouting talent and creating more original shows. Job 7 is hosting the biggest show on TV, American Idol.

The busiest man in Hollywood says that he thrives on being this busy. At first it was challenging, but now he is in a zen rhythm. Until Twitter he had a handle on the rest of his life. He follows Oprah on Twitter. They talk about other people’s mundane Tweet updates. In life, he says that he was always willing to come in early, leave late and work the hardest. He wasn’t the tallest or strongest or smartest. He felt that he could control his time and efficiency, he conditioned himself to have a strong work ethic. His mother Connie, who is in the audience worried that he didn’t get enough sleep. Their house ethos was work hard- Ryan didn’t want to be an attorney like his dad who worked too many hours. They always sat down for dinner to talk about their lives, so they have a great honest relationship which helped him to do what he wanted to do.

American Idol has changed the landscape of television. In Hollywood, people said music would not work on TV, and now it’s everywhere. Oprah asks who is his favorite contestant, and he says that they are like puppies, you can’t choose your favorite. But he greatly enjoyed the success of Carrie Underwood, the crowd go wild, she had never been on an airplane, and now look at the success. His new reality show with Jamie Oliver debuts soon. This is a very exciting movement for them, he sees the things people get excited for with his radio show when the phones light up. They were talking about what Jamie did for school dinners in the UK and moms get really passionate about it, asking questions- why pizza for breakfast? Where are the healthy options? He met with Jamie and knew that this  project would be a phenomenal success.

They show a photo of Ryan when he was 11, and he makes the crowd laugh by referring to his athletic physique. His mom packed his lunch and he’d trade it out for more fattening options. He says that he will let someone go on his staff for releasing the photo. He was very aware of his physique and he didn’t like spring because he didn’t want to take off his t-shirt to swim in the pool. When you have that feeling as a kid it stays with you, which is why to this day he schedules working out like a meeting. Really, says Oprah. Yes he sometimes runs before Idol. Oprah says that he always seems in a good mood with balance in his life, where does that come from? He gets up and does what he wanted to do for his whole life everyday. He works on TV in Hollywood and worked for one of his idols. He learned to use his personality as leverage, to be smart not just famous. A wonderful asset, says Oprah. Recently Lisa Ling went to visit some wonderful nuns and one who was here said something that stuck with Oprah- you have to believe in something greater than yourself otherwise you can’t do anything greater than yourself. Oprah asks Ryan what he believes in- karma, what you put out you get back, maybe not today or tomorrow but it comes. Its for real, says Oprah. Ryan will stick around and chef Jamie Oliver will be here.

Ryan Seacrest has used his leverage to produce Food Revolution for ABC. Superstar chef Jamie Oliver started a one-man crusade in England to change the food in elementary schools. After 4 relentless years on the frontline he had success when the British Government spent I billion dollars bringing fresher healthier foods, like fruit and vegetables, to schools. Now Jamie has sets his sights on our shores, bringing Food Revolution the new ABC reality show. The US Center for Disease Control lists Huntington West Virginia as one of the most obese cities in America. That is where Jamie spent 3 months trying to change the way we eat. He’s here to show America that a little effort can make an enormous difference. He is appalled that the kids get pizza for breakfast, chicken nuggets for lunch and that fries count as a vegetable. The school chefs were very resentful of him coming in to change their system which they think works fine.

He is here to start a food revolution. Come on out Jamie. Oprah asks him why there is so much resistance to eating healthier? He says that we are creatures of habit and we don’t want to change unless we have to. He has found himself upsetting alot of people for the last 7 years but he is honest and knows that what he is doing is right. He almost caused a riot by removing the french fries from the school. Oprah says that the statistics are alarming- that this is the first generation of kids that are not expected to live as long as their parents because of childhood obesity. Jamie thinks it is beautiful that after 4 generations of adults making the wrong decisions, it is time to make the right ones. He doesn’t think that he is Superman, but he has hindsight on his side. Four hours of TV back home got a billion dollars from the government, rubbish taken out of the vending machines, fresher local produce and that they are on the beginning of transition of change. Michelle Obama is supported entirely by Jamie, and he hope that in the 6 hours  of TV that he has, he will incite change for people to support him to support the First Lady in her job. He says that parents giving junk food to their kids consistently is child abuse. Oprah was shocked that the kids were eating pizza for breakfast. Jamie thinks that it is hard for mums to go out and work and worry about their kids. The nutrition given to kids, for two meals a day, 180 days a year needs to be safe, and he wants parents to get as angry as he is about the matter.

Jamie Oliver spent three months with an uphill battle trying to change the landscape of eating in Huntingdon West Virginia. The local DJ wanted to run him out of town, because they didn’t want to be changed. Jamie thought that there were only miserable bastards like that in the UK. He needed to get the DJ to support what they are doing. Jamie took him on a journey for a day. This is about real people and families, health, life and death he says. They go to a funeral home where they look at an extremely large jumbo casket and talk about the reality of disposing of an obese body. The normal size casket looks diminutive in comparison. The large casket has to be transported in a cargo van, burying is an issue and cremation is ruled out because the body consumes itself, like a giant candle. It is hard to have dignity in this situation, they all agree.

Oprah says that they did some research and discovered that the jumbo caskets are a booming business now in America, the audience didn’t know that. Sales have tripled in the last ten years, They bring one in to the studio. Jamie says that they are made bespoke, they are steel reinforced. Most church doors aren’t big enough, so the coffin has to be tipped on its side to get through the door. They have to be lifted out on a forklift truck – all dignity is gone. Jamie says that he knows that he is a foreigner in this country, but that he is human and can we just say that enough is enough? The audience applaud.

DJ Rod Willis joins the studio by satellite, he found the jumbo casket had a huge impact on him, that was the turning point. When Jamie came to town they were all skeptical  but as they learned to trust him things turned around and that was a turning point. The CDC report came out and they were taking steps on their own, they thought that Jamie was trying to exploit them for a few bucks. Oprah says that she has known Jamie for a few years and that he has always been very sincere in his attempts to orchestrate change. The DJ says that Jamie changed him, he went and got a crock pot for the very first time.  Rod says that all it takes is putting in some healthy real ingredients- like mashed potatoes- Oprah says that people have forgotten where real foods came from by using packet mixes. Jamie says that we need to re-own our kitchens and change this before it’s too late. The fact that he is on this show and that Oprah did a show on Food Inc and that he is working with Ryan Seacrest means that the time to change is now.

Do you know what your family eats in a week? Jamie showed Stacey, a wife and mother of four and she was horrified. He had all the food that they ate in a week put together in one place. This stuff is going to kill their children early, 10-14 years off their life. Stacy cries and says she feels sad and depressed, this will not help her kids succeed. Seeing the food scares her that she is setting her kids up for failure. She wants them to learn from her. He tells her that she is a good mother and that they will change from this day on. Oprah asks how they are doing. Justin, the 12 year old has lost 20-30 lbs but Jamie says that this is about health, it is not a dieting show. This is not just about obesity, this is about what goes in us. He buried the deep fryer and they did an emotional prayer. Oprah thought it was interesting that all the food was golden brown. All of Stacy’s pizza’s cost 50c each- Jamie says that the whole system needs to change. The buy one get one free culture of supermarkets needs to move from processed foods to fresh local produce. Oprah says that Michelle Obama has just launched her Let’s Move campaign to inspire parents and kids to eat well and be active. Go to www.letsmove.gov for more information.

Jamie is cooking chicken nuggets with Oprah from 6 fresh, not out of a box, ingredients. Lemon, garlic, parsley and breadcrumbs are mixed together in a food processor. Oprah attends to the egg while Jamie slices the chicken. He says that this is about knowing and owning the food that your babies are eating. They put the chicken in flour, then toss it in the seasoning. Jamie got the ingredients for $3.75 and knows the ingredients. The processed ones cost about $5 and have 22 other ingredients. He will make a whole meal for $10 and will take less times than reheating nuggets. He is going to pimp the greens, olive oil, salt pepper and acid- vinegar or lemon or clementines. Use your hands. Taste your food. It is wonderful, nutritious, colorful. Mashed potatoes- 12 minutes, unpeeled, the nutrition is in the skin- go rugged, get used to it , it’s lovely. You can still use a little butter, but olive oil is better for you. Oprah likes truffle oil- Jamie says that can make you feel posh and it’s affordable. Oprah tries the mashed potatoes and likes them, says the greens are fabulous also. It cooks in half the time and costs less than buying processed food. Oprah and Ryan try the chicken which is lovely. Oprah thanks Jamie and Ryan, Food Revolution debuts on March 26th and the recipes from this show are on Oprah.com. While you are there take the No Phone Zone Pledge like the audience members. A life is more important than a phone call. Thanks everyone.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

Ryan Seacrest is the busiest man in Hollywood.

He has 7 different jobs and gets paid $45 million over 3 years for one of them- hosting American Idol.

Simon Cowell is a sweetheart.

Jamie Oliver and Ryan Seacrest are joining forces to create an American Food Revolution.

The sight of jumbo caskets for burying the morbidly obese motivated some Huntingdon, West Virginia, locals to eat healthier.

A VERY  QUICK SUMMARY:

Own what food you put in your body. Use real food and taste your food. It is wonderful, nutritious and colorful.

Date: February 4th, 2010
File Under: Health, Live your best life

Episode 20: America’s Silent Killer: Oprah and Dr OZ Want To Save Your Life

Oprah has a radical goal- to save million of lives in the next 60 minutes. Diabetes is a ticking time bomb, a silent killer, annihilating 100 African Americans a day. That number may not be alot unless it’s your mother or friend or your family or yourself. It’s time to get out of denial. Dr Oz is here because as a heart surgeon he sees the affects of diabetes daily. Its the fastest growing disease in history 80 million people in America have, or or on the verge of having diabetes. 6 billion are walking around undiagnosed. We spend $174 billion a year on this diease, more than all the  cancers combined or AIDS. The healthcare system will be bankrupt if we don’t do something about diabetes. Believe it or not, the bright side is most diabetes is treatable and preventable and even reversible. Dr Oz is here, his new show is doing great, congratulations. They high five. He says he learned from the best, he was well-taught.

So what is diabetes? Dr Oz wants to be crystal clear that the problem is not just a little bit of sugar. A tortilla in the mouth  goes into the  stomach, the liver takes the nutrients and decides what to do with it, including making sugar. The pancreas is the hero today. The food in the small bowel is washed by the  bile and the yellow stuff from the pancreas. The molecules of sugar get absorbed into the body. In the bloodstream, the sugar is traveling, particles of insulin are being released from the pancreas to attract the sugar. The pancreas is trying to take the sugar and funnel it from the blood into the tissues- to the brain so we can think, to our muscles so we can exercise. Simple carbohydrates are sugars. If you have too much sugar going in, we store it in our belly, just as our ancestors did to survive. Belly fat gets ponderously large and poisins the insulin so sugar can’t get out the bloodstream. This is a problem because in the heart the blood vessels are delicate and the sugar is like glass shards scraping and making holes.As our body scars and attempts to heals, it breaks and ruptures. The open surface forms a scab like anywhere else in your body. The scab in the artery gets larger and larger and kaboom. Right there, you saw the leading cause of death in diabetics. A diabetic will most likely die from a heart attack. 1/4 of the patients he operates on every day has diabetes. Oprah summarises that too much sugar is like shards of glass inside the body. We scar and heal which equals hardening of the arteries. It influences all of our organs: a scarred kidney gives us kidney failure. An image of a healthy kidney is shown next to a diabetic kidney which has shrivelled. The blood vessels in the eye are very fragile. A diabetic eye has cracked blood vessels, which means that you get dark patches in your vision. This is not just a little bit of sugar.

Oprah has family members who takes insulin every day. Dr Oz wants us to feel diabetes, not just think it. He took a film crew to New York Presbyterian Hospital to see Laureen who is on insulin, who has had diabetes for much of her life. Diabetes ravaged Laureen kidneys so much so that by age 34 she needed a transplant. Just 7 years later, diabetes destroyed that kidney too. 3 days a week, she is on dialysis for 3 hours a day to clean her blood. Now at age 44, diabetes has taken a further toll on her body.  She ended up with lesions on her feet; she has lost half one leg and half a foot. What would she say to people who say diabetes is just sugar? Take care of yourself- she thought insulin would compensate for eating soda and cake. She used to be very active and was a nurse. She says people dont take it seriously when they feel ok. The day it hits you, it’s too late. The day she saw the dialysis machines she thought this is not me, it can’t be happening. She cries.  Dr Oz says shes a brave woman. Looking at her body, Laureen says its so shocking to see her foot and leg gone.

86,000 amputations are done every year as a result of diabetes. Imagine that your blood vessels look like a straw. The diabetes causes scars on the inside which twist up the blood vessels, which shuts off both the blood flow and the protective white blood cells so you get infections. Often the first problem is a toe infection- diabetics can’t feel it and they loose their foot. People change their lives based on what they feel, not what they know. So Feel Laureen. She is Type 1, which is genetic, 10% of diabetes is Type 1.  Type 2 is a lifestyle issues- the belly fat has poisoned the insulin. This is a perfect storm. When you go to get food, you get sugar which is like crack cocaine. He says he  is going to blow our mind He shows the 150lbs of sugar that each of us eats a year. Their generation ate 40lb of sugar less. That is shocking, says Oprah.

This show should be a big wake-up call. Everyone in the audience today has diabetes, pre-diabetes, or a family member living with diabetes. Oprah brought Dr Oz out of surgery and off his own show to be here today to give the brutal facts. $175 billion a year in diabetes spending will be doubled in 25 years. We will have to take care of a good portion of the population.

Warning signs:

  • Constant thirst
  • Frequent urination
  • Non-healing infections
  • Tingling toes
  • Blurred vision

Your whole immune system is depressed. Those symptoms will be there with Type 1 or 2. Type 1 can not be prevented, but it can be treated. Up to 90% of Type 2 can be reversed.

Risk Factors:

  • Belly Fat
  • Sedentary Lifestyle
  • Family History
  • Smoking

Dr Oz can walk around and see people with big bellies who have diabetes. It is not surprising. Exercise can help reverse diabetes. A little bit of fat is hard to reverse. Oprah asks if only overweight people are at risk. If the average height woman is 150lbs, has an increased risk of diabetes. If your waist size is more than half your height, you’ll have an increased risk of diabetes. Oprah is 5′ 6 1/2″ so her height is 66 1/2″ so 33 1/4″ is the limit for her waist size. We are not talking about really big people. And please women of America. guys never change their belt size after age 40, they just let it hang over the top, so you have to measure.

Oprah asks why is diabetes running rampant in the African American community? The big reason is because the cheapest calories are those with no nutrients. Every day on his show, Dr OZ gives Doctor’s Orders, and  when the guidelines were to eat 100% wholegrain foods, because that’ll prevent the problem, people wrote in by the thousands saying that they couldn’t find those foods in their neighborhoods. We need to change that. Find it and demand it. Forget the cheap foods, get food without a label. The Hispanic community is also hard hit. We have to eat better. Essentially, we must avoid the white foods, the processed foods. White flour, pasta, rice, bread, sugar… white bread is like a candy bar for your stomach. Oprah reads an email letter from 33 year old Rochelle- she lost her mom due to a massive stroke and renal failure brought on by diabetes and high blood pressure. She was only 53, and spent most of her life as a nurse. Rochelle is concerned for the health of her church, over half of the members have diabetes; they fellowship over food. Breakfast is fried chicken, french fries, pork chops and maybe a hamburger, after evening service they serve sweets. They are slowly killing themselves and they need change.

Oprah thanks Rochelle for the email which prompted the show. Dr Ian Smith is a Harvard Educated  diet and health expert, author of the 50 Million Pound Challenge, where he is mobilising the country to loose weight and get healthy. He went to Rochelle’s church to try and light a fire to mobilise change. African Americans tip the scale in record numbers- they are twice as likely to have  Type 2 diabetes, twice as likely to have kidney disease, twice as likely to have  amputations, and twice as likely to die from diabetes. A familiar scene in churches across the US, the congregation are enjoying their usual meal. Dr Ian asks who in the audience has or knows someone with diabetes- everyone raises their hand.Walgreens is going to test all of their blood sugar levels- it’s a simple test. Dottie is living with diabetes and Dr Ian says she’s a walking ticking time bomb. He is alarmed by the numbers and the denial. The members with diabetes are on a crash course for disaster.

Oprah asks him how it was, he says it was unbelievable. African Americans have obesity in record numbers- its a habitual thing. Habits are tough to break, especially around food. They take a heels in the ground approach that they will not be told what to eat and how to change, This disease comes down to attitude. So 24 church ladies from Dayton Ohio are in the audience in their hats. Dee Dee was told she could end up in a diabetic coma- she thought about what he said and she’ll do better with exercise, diet and medicine. As a diabetic she should test herself daily, Dee Dee hadn’t tested for a month.  Nell who cooks the food has diabetes, as does her husband. Her mother and sister died of diabetes so she has decided to take it seriously after the wake up call. Typically African Americans are diagnosed with the disease at later stages which means that the reversibility is more difficult to happen. You can almost always reverse it, but not the side effects such as heart disease. Outreach is so important, Dr Oz says if we can figure out the people who don’t know they have it yet, we can answer Laureen’s wish. Dr Ian’s goal is for people to do something now. There’s a sense of resignation that the family history is there, and a lack of urgency unlike in say pancreatic or brain cancer. Diabetes can take years to kill you. People believe they can change in the future and be ok. By the time they get diagnosed, it’s too late. Dr Oz says that taking insulin is not the solution. The pills paint over the cracks, but you don’t want the cracks to form. We must address the foods that are stopping us from putting one foot n front of the other, which is something we have always done.

Fitness expert Bob Greene, author of Best Life Diet: Managaing Diabetes and Pre-Diabetes says its up to us to save our own lives. His parents have it so he is a candidate, but by changing factors of lifestyle, you can change your risk. Exercise is huge, it’s hard to tell people to eat right and it’s harder to get people to exercise. We dont move in our culture as we used to. Bob was charged with getting the church ladies to move. They do not wear pants, ever, so they wear skirts on the treadmill. In footage, only a few say that they exercise regularly. 30 minutes a day of exercise, lowers your risk of diabetes by 60%. Exercise is not negociable. If they do it consistently they’ll drop weight which will lower their risk. He shows them strength training. They have to do cardio every day. They are lowering their blood sugar by exercising. After exercising, one of the congregation walked back rather than take a wheelchair as previously. The group craved the information. Bob says some are really ready to make the commitment, some will need more emotional homework to make the commitment.

Bob gave them a sermon on sugar after the exercise- hidden sugar is the big problem, well find it in ranch dressing, and each plate had about 4 servings of dressing. Take soda off the table, there is 10 tsp of sugar in each can. Women who drink one can of soda a day, increase their risk of type 2 diabetes by 83%. 2 tablespoons of ketchup has 2 teaspoons sugar in it. The doughnuts can each have 13 teaspoons of sugar in each.

Dr Oz says cut out the white foods. Dr Ian says cut out fried foods- bake, grill, steam. Bob’s book is all about food choices and exercise and changing behaviour, unwiring ourselves from how we grew up. He has a specially designed website that Oprah actually went  to with all the information, everyone can get a free 30 day trial at thebestlife.com.

After Oprah’s former chef, Art Smith, was diagnosed with diabetes, ten months ago, he’s lost 85lbs and now no longer needs to take his diabetes medication. His diagnosis horrified him- his parents have diabetes. His first goal was to loose 50 lbs, he thought at first he was getting older and couldn’t see as well, he thought he was having a heart attack and he other ailments. Dr Oz measures his waist -it’s 40 inches- which has reversed his diabetes. Without the belly fat, it no longer sends out chemicals to the body saying ignore the insulin.

Bob Greene has great recipes in his book, including fried chicken without frying it. Art says once a week he makes skinless chicken in a multi-grain cereal coating. Greek yogurt is zero fat and has protein, to coat the chicken. Bob’s cheesy cornbread has less calories and sugar than regular, and there is a black-eyed pea salad. We should have legumes, the super-food, 3-4 times a week. Apple cider vinegar drops the glycemic index of any food. The recipes can be found on Oprah.com.

Extra belly fat, thirst, urination means you should get tested. Walgreens is stepping up in a big way- tomorrow from 11-11pm, you can go to any 24 hour clinic and get a free blood screening, or you can call 1-800-Walgreens to set up an appointment. It’s free and easy and you can get tested and help reverse this silent killer. Thank you.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

People change their lives based on what they feel, not what they know.

If your waist size is more than half your height, you’ll have an increased risk of diabetes.

The cheapest calories are those with no nutrients- white bread is like a candy bar for your stomach.

It’s hard to tell people to eat right and it’s harder to get people to exercise. Exercise is not negociable.

Stop eating white foods, stop frying foods, do 30 minutes of exercise daily.

VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

Women who drink one can of soda a day, increase their risk of type 2 diabetes by 83%.