“We all love fun cookie swaps and potlucks this time of year. With many teams at CMS hosting holiday gatherings this month, I’m sharing some strategies to help you make healthy choices — while still indulging in festive recipes,” Oz wrote in his latest message, which appears as a recurring section in his weekly bulletin titled “From the Administrator’s Desk,” according to the email seen by WIRED.
“Set your intentions,” Oz writes. “Decide in advance how many recipes you’ll enjoy and try to stick to that number. You don’t have to try every cookie on the cookie table.”
His email continues with further guidance: “Practice portion control,” “Be careful,” and “Don’t clench your fists,” he tells the agency’s more than 6,000 employees. He advises subordinates to “eat from a smaller plate when possible and take smaller portions of food so you can enjoy them without overeating,” eat more slowly (“Savour each bite, put down your fork between bites, and pay attention to your body’s cues,” he advises), and not hold food and beverages in more than one hand so as to “free up the other to socialize with colleagues and friends during this festive period.”
Such advice has been appearing in Oz’s emails since early November.
In the past, Oz has promoted several unproven medical tips related to weight loss. He at one time pushed weight loss solutions that, he later admitted in a 2014 Senate subcommittee hearing, “do not have the scientific ability to present as fact.” (Oz promoted one such product as “magic” on his show, claiming, “You may think magic is gimmicky, but thanks to this little bean, scientists say they have found a magic weight loss cure for every body type – it’s green coffee extract.”)
Oz, who has also shared misinformation about the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as Covid treatments, had not worked in health care policy before taking over as CMS administrator this year. CMS oversees the provision of health care coverage to more than 160 million people. Current CMS staff have described the agency to WIRED as “the most policy-intensive organization in government”, where the CMS Administrator makes decisions on where to spend billions of dollars in a high-risk environment. As administrator of CMS, Oz works under health care conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
“Dr. Oz knows it’s not easy to balance a healthy lifestyle and a demanding job. That’s why he welcomes and offers tips and encouragement to the hard-working CMS team to help them stay healthy while they work hard to ensure millions of Americans get the quality health care they deserve. So far, the feedback has been positive,” says CMS spokesperson Christopher Krepich.
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