Dr. Mehmet Oz: Next Oprah ‘all about fixing things’

DALLAS — I am about to sit down with the next Oprah, and she’s white and a surgeon with a funny name — and a he.

I realize the consensus from TV critics seems to be that Dr. Mehmet Oz is not in fact The Next Oprah. That distinction belongs to Ellen.

What TV critics ignore is what has turned Oprah into a trusted friend in many American households: not sugary celebrity interviews, but rather real talk about the issues that affect us.

And so the dark horse to replace her should be the heart surgeon who made it OK for us to talk about the shape of our bowel movements, about our worst habits and vices, and freely about our health when he first started appearing on her show. He is the perfect blend of knowledge and Oprah-training.

“Because I’m a male and a surgeon, I’m all about fixing things. You have a problem. I want to fix the problem,” Dr. Oz said. “It took me a long time to realize you can’t fix an emotion. You just have to be there and let people talk. Learning this helped my marriage, helped my practice.”

His goal is to be the doctor whom our parents had, the guy who had time to listen and did more than write prescriptions. And he, like Oprah, is on a mission to fundamentally change how we treat ourselves — mind, body and soul.

“By the time we are 50, two-thirds of how we age will be driven by our lifestyle,” Dr. Oz said. “When people realize, ‘My goodness, not only do I control it, only I control it.’ Because doctors don’t change what you put in your mouth.

“He can medicate you, which is painting over cracks in foundation. He can put mechanical devices in, but those are poor imitations of what you were born with. Only you can be a world expert on your body.”

Low fat, no carbs, exercise, don’t exercise: We have been inundated with so much conflicting information that eventually you just figure you should drink water and pray. So Dr. Oz gives his viewers tips every weekday — what to do, the science of it, and the real-life examples of people grappling with it so that you can do your own three-month turnaround. Here are a half-dozen top tips:

No carb, low carb, low fat, no fat, Atkins, cabbage soup — whatever your diet ploy is, know it will not work.

Repeat after Dr. Oz: Will. Not. Work.

Now embrace what he calls “the biology of blubber.” He suggests slicing 100 calories a day, which will drop 11 pounds in a year. Not as sexy as some diets, but sustainable and in adherence with the biology of blubber.

Never travel without snacks, and Ding Dongs are not a snack. Neither are 100-calorie snack packs, low-fat brownies or really anything in the low-cal, low-fat fake-food category.

Why not is simple, according to Dr. Oz: “They have to put something else in place of that fat. Prepare for the usual boring list: Nuts, fruit, yogurt, veggies. Things that grow in the ground.

Stop drinking diet sodas and, no, you cannot replace them with sugary sodas. The ugly truth is diet sodas do not make you thin. Diet sodas screw with your brain. They taste sweet but don’t provide calories. So your brain gets all confused. “What really happens is diet sodas remind your brain to eat,” Dr. Oz said.

Lack of exercise does not kill you, not right away at least. It just makes those later years miserable.

“What kills us is frailty, losing the strength we once had.” He calls sweat-producing exercise “the magic solution for long-term longevity.”

Give your doctor homework. And take notes.

Dr. Oz drops two “nevers” when dealing with doctors: “I would never walk into a doctor’s office without a list of questions and have a copy to give to the doctor,” Dr. Oz said. “And that recorder you have, I would never go to the doctor’s office without one.”

Hey, moms, the single most important thing you can do for your kids is take care of yourself: eat right, make time for exercise and de-stress about your kids.

“Kids don’t treat themselves the way we treat them,” Dr. Oz said. “They treat themselves the way you treat yourself.”

McClatchy-Tribune Information Services