Biting the Hand that Feeds

Dr. Oz has always been a complicated topic for the folks at Foods For Living, and at health stores generally. Now he's getting some public comeuppance, and I'm glad. There, I said it, and I speak only for myself in saying so. See below.

"Why?" one may ask. "Doesn't he drive customers to Foods For Living by the dozens?"
That he does. To understand why I'm experiencing some Dr. Oz schadenfreude, I'm going to let you witness a different conversation, through the magic of the printed word.

East Lansing: Foods For Living, 5 pm.

"Does it work?" It was no average hope in his eyes—it was the spinning, burning core of the placebo effect.

"Probably not," I said.

The shelf had been stocked earlier that day, and already it was picked nearly clean. Below the remaining few bottles of green coffee bean extract stood a few rows of last week's darling, raspberry ketones.

"But Dr. Oz," said the customer and I in perfect synchronicity.

"What do you think of him?" asked the customer, as so many had before, and would again.

"Dr. Oz forces me to choose between two classic American values: 1)Being a straight shooter, and 2) Doing what's best for my company. And I don't appreciate that," I said. Okay, I (probably) never said that on the sales floor, but I wanted to.

If I were too forward with my own opinions about Dr. Oz's eagerness to sell questionably effective fat-burning pills, this hypothetical customer may think I'm unprofessional, or uncommitted to my role as a supplement seller. I don't want him to think that.

But what's the alternative? I could tell this customer, who trusts me, that Dr. Oz's dozen or so "miracle" weight-loss pills are the answer to their long battle with dieting. I'm not really enthused about that option, either.

Like any polarizing public figure, DOZ has legions of detractors and supporters. I wouldn't say I fall neatly into either camp. The Doc is a charismatic guy with a big megaphone, and I appreciate that he often dispenses sound advice. He is a cultural force, and he gets people thinking about healthy living, diet, and exercise, who otherwise may not. Much like his pal Oprah has done for many authors, Dr. Oz brings health and safety to the daytime television forefront. In a country struggling with obesity, heart disease, and other preventable health issues, the value of Oz's influence is inestimable.

And that's precisely why his decision to hawk "miracle fat burners" between his better segments is troubling.

The people of FFL understand that the human body is indescribably complex, and it's to everyone's benefit to keep an open mind when approaching healing and nutrition. Vitamins, antioxidants, even the simplest exercises--like running--have gone in and out of fashion as our understanding of the body evolves. People of all perspectives can even agree on the healing power of the placebo effect and the immune benefits of positive thinking. Many of theses issues resist simple "thumbs up/thumbs down" judgement.

But there's a line between claiming that something may work for some people, some of the time, and claiming that something rare and expensive is "lightning in a bottle," a "secret weapon," or a "breakthrough." Ham-handed advertising jargon has no place in a real discussion of how to improve your life with better habits and better food.

I think trying garcinia cambogia in an effort to gain an edge in a battle with weight loss is a fine idea, and I'm happy to sell it under that premise. I simply can't get behind the bolder claims attached to some of these products.

While any business is happy to have a trusted public figure driving sales, the FFL staff has always taken the claims of the Great and Powerful Oz with a grain of sea salt. And really, so has everyone else. No customer ever asks if kale "works," or exercise "works." Much like anyone who loves the harmless thrill of the lottery, I don't think most people truly expect Oz's diet pill recommendations to make good on his miraculous claims. But still, they ask, usually rhetorically, simply needing permission to give a low-risk plan a try.

Part of the Oz Dilemma has to do with the fact that many people at Foods For Living assign great value to both integrity and business sense. But there's a larger concern at play, and it goes back to what fundamentally defines Foods For Living.

Foods For Living's mission, since its inception, has been to provide a curated selection of healthy and specialty foods and supplements, alongside staff knowledgeable and friendly enough to make shopping easy. Part of this staff's role is to stay on top of health trends, providing access to all, while separating hype from health, when called upon, to the best of the their ability. It's not always as easy as it sounds.

We'll continue to sell what people want to buy, and we'll continue to be honest about the science involved, to the limit of our knowledge. Inevitably, though, people will buy Oz's recommended products. They will call ahead to check availability, and they will order them specially. They will let us know their displeasure when stock is depleted by a demand usually reserved for new Star Wars movies.

So it is not with cynicism or condescension one may hear, on any given day in the supplement aisle: "Dr. Oz has some great tips and recommendations, but I really can't get behind this (week's) pill until there's more research on the effects." Mind you, I know this could interfere with a sale. But if we didn't say these things, we would be losing a lot more than a sale. We'd be losing integrity, and that's something that you can't simply restock.

The opinions expressed above are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of Foods For Living as a whole or any of its employees.