Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), has been emailing his agency’s employees with weekly tips on “Crushing Cubicle Cravings.”
The diet advice from the former host of The Dr. Oz Show appears in his weekly internal bulletin, ‘From the Administrator’s Desk,’ which he has used since early November to share tips.
Highlights
- Dr. Mehmet Oz sends weekly internal emails to CMS staff with tips on controlling food intake during holiday workplace celebrations.
- He advises employees to set treat limits, practice portion control, eat off small plates, and savor each bite to avoid overeating.
- Dr. Oz’s past includes promoting unproven diet cures and controversial medical advice, raising questions about his CMS leadership.
- Despite criticism and a lack of relevant experience, Dr. Oz was appointed by Trump to lead CMS, overseeing healthcare for 160 million Americans.
In recent emails reviewed by WIRED, Dr. Oz encouraged staff members to control their food intake during workplace celebrations.
Dr. Oz sends a weekly internal bulletin to employees to control their food intake
Image credits: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
“We all love a fun cookie swap and potluck this time of year,” he wrote. “With several teams across CMS hosting holiday gatherings this month, I am sharing some strategies to help you make healthier choices—while still indulging in festive treats.”
Dr. Oz told employees to “set your intentions” and decide in advance how many treats to eat, and stick to it. “You don’t have to try every cookie on the cookie table,” he said.
He told the agency’s more than 6,000 employees to “practice portion control,” “be mindful,” and “don’t double fist.”
But Dr. Oz’s advice didn’t stop there. He even told the employees how they should eat, literally: “Eat off a small plate when you can and take small portions of treats so you can enjoy them without overeating.”
In another piece of counsel, Dr. Oz said, “Savor each bite, put your fork down between bites, and pay attention to your body’s cues.”
Finally, he said not to hold food and beverages in more than one hand to free up “the other for shaking hands with colleagues and friends during this festive period.”
Image credits: Mark Makela/Getty Images
CMS was one of the agencies hit hard by the government shutdown, furloughing nearly 47% of its employees, while the rest were retained in exempt or essential roles.
While most of them were recalled once the shutdown ended, the agency and the Trump administration owe them a lot more than diet advice.
CMS spokesperson Christopher Krepich told WIRED that Dr. Oz offered the advice because he “knows it’s not easy balancing a healthy lifestyle and a demanding job.” He said the administrator hoped to “help the hardworking CMS team stay healthy while they work hard to ensure millions of Americans access quality health care.”
Oz has included similar advice in the bulletin for weeks.
The emails mark a continuation of themes Dr. Oz often highlighted during his years at The Dr. Oz Show, which holds a 3.7/10 rating on IMDb and where he frequently discussed diet and weight-loss strategies.
On his show, Dr. Oz promoted a similar product as “magic,” claiming, “You may think magic is make-believe, but this little bean has scientists saying they’ve found the magic weight-loss cure for every body type—it’s green coffee extract.”
Image credits: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
He later admitted at a Senate subcommittee in 2014 that one of these weight-loss solutions pushed by him didn’t “have the scientific muster to present as fact.”
He said at the Senate meeting that many of the solutions he shared were to give his viewers hope. However, several fact-checkers have found no claims or scientific evidence for the recommendations provided by him.
In another instance, Dr. Oz recommended endive, red onion, or sea bass as foods that can prevent cancer, and said that lavender essential oil could relieve restless leg syndrome, with no evidence supporting either.
Dr. Oz also made headlines during the COVID-19 pandemic when he shared information about the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as treatments. In several instances, doctors have warned against Dr. Oz’s advice.
Dr. Oz was chosen for the position despite his controversial medical advice
Image credits: Simon and Schuster
In 2015, a group of doctors wrote a letter addressed to Columbia’s dean of the faculty of health sciences and medicine, where Dr. Oz was the medical director of the university’s integrative medicine center. They accused him of engaging in “an egregious lack of integrity” by promoting “quack treatment cures in the interest of personal financial gain.”
“Members of the public are being misled and endangered,” the doctors claimed.
Despite that record and the fact that Dr. Oz is a TV celebrity without the relevant experience for the job, he was selected by President Donald Trump to lead CMS, which oversees health coverage for more than 160 million Americans.
He reports to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.