Recalibration: Why Dr. Oz is such a positive force for empowering health-conscious people

Saturday, December 01, 2012 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...) Tags: Dr. Oz, organic food, sellout

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(NaturalNews) I have updated the story that originally appeared here with this account after having met Dr. Oz face to face and appeared on his show as a guest for a heavy metals research segment.

This experience drastically altered my opinion of Dr. Oz, and in my view he has become more and more of an "activist" in his own way, daring to delve into areas of investigation and controversy that his show probably wouldn't have approached in its first two seasons. What follows is my updated, firsthand view of Dr. Oz from April of 2014:

When it comes to natural health, Dr. Oz is one of the best-known names in the world. His show, now in its fifth season, has become even more exciting and "edgy" lately, as he covers potentially dangerous food additives and even confronts diet product scammers illegally using his name.

I recently appeared as a guest on the Dr. Oz show and was able to meet him face to face. My experience as a guest on the Dr. Oz show gave me a whole new perspective on who he is, what he's accomplishing and just how incredibly challenging it is to do what he's doing.

For starters, Dr. Oz's staff is absolutely remarkable. These are some of the hardest-working, most professional and well-informed people I've encountered in the world of media. They run the operation there like clockwork, filming an astonishing six segments in one day, complete with video animations, graphics, set artwork (such as product mock-ups) and studio prep. I've always considered myself to be one of the hardest-working people online today, but these team members at the Dr. Oz show set a whole new example of productivity and efficiency.

I fully realize many Natural News fans who aren't used to me gushing about a famous media personality are going to immediately think there's some funny business going on here. Perhaps I'm trying to cozy up to Dr. Oz, you might think. But I think you know me better than that. I'm a blatant truth-teller, and I don't hand out compliments easily. In fact, I'm known as being quite critical rather than easily impressed.

So let me get right to my observations of Dr. Oz himself. He's a brilliant person, flat out. And he's courteous, too. Being around him, I immediately got the sense that he's a person who genuinely cares about what he's doing, who he's empowering and how he's introducing important ideas of nutrition, wellness and self-care to his audience. In no way did he come across as a fake or an actor. He seems genuine through and through.

I've met and worked with a lot of people in media, and some of them truly are fake... but not Dr. Oz. He's the real deal, and from what I can see of how hard he works at delivering an informative (and sometimes entertaining) show, he deserves every bit of success he has achieved. As a specific example, he ran through the show notes on our segment with lightning speed then delivered the segment without missing a beat. He asks good questions, he engages you as a guest, and he allows you the space to express what you were invited there to share.

Expanding cultural boundaries on food, nutrition and medicine

As you probably know, Dr. Oz and I don't 100% agree on everything, but that doesn't count against someone who engages his audience and guests with authenticity and kindness. Dr. Oz is extremely thoughtful and he really does his homework. He expands the boundaries of cultural thinking on many issues, and he's helping shape the cultural landscape on food, nutrition, medicine and self-healing. Although he and I might disagree on the efficacy of seasonal flu shots, for example, my sense is that Dr. Oz would always be the kind of person who would listen to a reasonable argument, even if his own conclusions might differ in the end.

That's the kind of person I honor in this realm of holistic medicine, nutrition and self-healing. We don't all have to agree on precisely the same conclusions; but we must at least be able and willing to listen to each other's viewpoint. For example, if someone offered a suggestion to Dr. Oz to do something like, "Remove the toxic mercury from flu shots," I have no doubt he would be very open to such an idea, even if the vaccine industry wouldn't.

My own experience on the Dr. Oz show was extremely positive and welcoming, by the way. He and his crew did their due diligence on the story I brought to him, and they required lots of scientific documentation before they would even consider having me on. I respect that. It shows a level of professionalism and reasonable skepticism that I think is healthy and necessary in investigative reporting. If I ran the show, I would operate in precisely the same manner.

For these reasons (and others), I've become a fan of Dr. Oz and what he's accomplishing with his show. Consider how remarkable it is that today, in 2014, we have a national television doctor who broadcasts episodes entitled, Foods That Might Prevent Heart Disease Better Than Statins. This is exactly the kind of story you'd frequently read on Natural News, too, because it's based on the fundamental philosophy that we need to empower health-conscious consumers with genuine solutions based on principles of nutrition and self-care.

Both Dr. Oz and I wholeheartedly share in that philosophy. It's why I see Dr. Oz as a positive force for the health education of a global audience.

Rest assured that neither the drug companies nor the FDA will offer any such education. If not for popular TV personalities like Dr. Oz, who else could bring this kind of message to mainstream viewers?

See more Dr. Oz episodes at:
http://www.doctoroz.com/episodes