Dr. Oz: Weight Watchers spokesthingy

“America’s doctor” Mehmet Oz is proud of the fact he’s not Dr. Feel.

He says he won’t endorse or sell vitamins and other products to his lemmings yet today he announced a million dollar prize for one of his loyal viewers who manages to get her Body Mass Index into the 25 zone. All of this is brought to you by Weight Watchers which is offering a “free” BMI test and meeting for everyone in North America.

Free, what a joke.

It’s the old bait and switch. Get ’em in the door cause Dr. Oz says so; let them convince you that you need Weight Watchers so you can look like a Barbie Doll on a bogus weight measurement scheme.

The BMI isn’t a one size fits all measurement. Somebody like me with a size H bra size comes in at a whopping 33 on the BMI scale which doesn’t account for the 16 pounds I’m carrying up front.

I asked Ottawa weight specialist Dr. Yoni Freedhoff if BMI was an accurate measurement for me.

“Nope,” he replied on Twitter. “I don’t think it’s important. Goal is to live the healthiest life you can enjoy i.e best you can do is best you can do.”

Then he wondered how much Dr. Oz (or his company) was getting paid by Weight Watchers for this campaign.

This is very disappointing.

I love Dr. Oz, but of late, I’ve found he’s turning a little wacky — now that Oprah has given him her time slot.

He’s already been in the news this month for alarming America’s moms, telling them there are high amounts of arsenic in imported apple juice. The FDA has vehemently denied this is true.

Dr. Oz seems to be going to the dark side, in fact, becoming another Dr. Feel, finding new ways to market his popularity and take his viewers to the cleaners.  There are many weight loss shows out there, like the Biggest Loser, that are marketing machines designed to take advantage of those of us who struggle with body image issues.

But they are at least up front about it.

Dr. Oz is an MD, a professor of medicine, a cardiologist. People put more store in what he has to say; they believe him to be trust worthy because of these credentials.

I’m not saying that Weight Watchers doesn’t work. It works for a segment of the population that needs peer support, but there are many other programs that work. Heck, a visit to a nutritionist also works.

Essentially, weight loss experts all say that all programs work at least for a while. The key is to burn off more calories than you take in.

Duh.

But the BMI is bunk as far as I’m concerned.

And Dr. Oz might as well join the circus and start selling elixir.