DoctorOz: Robin Roberts on Conquering Her Greatest Health Fears | Dr. Oz | S6 | Ep 66 | Full Episode

Today on Oz, she beat breast cancer, then battled a second life-threatening illness. And there have been some really challenging times, and I have been in tears. Robin Roberts on conquering her greatest fear. I'm not complaining, one iota, because I got life. And her emotional surprise. Plus, addicted to artificial sweeteners? Maybe they're not so sweet after all. Substitutes to satisfy your cravings. Coming up next on Dr. Oz. Thank you very much. When I think about my friend, Robin Roberts, three words immediately come to mind. Strong, smart, and optimistic. Robin is all these things, and so much more. Over the years, she and I have had many serious and wonderful conversations about her illnesses. And more importantly, about her strong will to get healthy. When Good Morning America anchor, Robin Roberts, announced she had breast cancer in 2007. It's the early stages. I will have surgery on Friday, begin treatment. With treatment and the support of friends and family, Robin successfully beat breast cancer. Then, just five years later, in 2012, she made another devastating announcement. Sometimes, treatment for cancer can lead to other serious medical issues, and that's what I'm facing right now. It is something that is called MDS, Myeloplastic Syndrome. Robin had survived cancer, but it had led to another life-threatening illness. To fight the MDS, Robin needed a bone marrow transplant. Her sister, Sally Ann, was a perfect match. The transplant was a success, and soon, Robin was back. Hi, it's Robin, and I have been waiting 174 days to say this, Good Morning America. After beating two serious medical conditions, Robin is following her late mother's advice, making her mess, her message. Robin Roberts, come on out. Hello, my friend. Good to be here, too, and for more than me. Thank you. I'm so happy you're here. I like what you've done with the place. Yes, I tricked it up a little bit. I'm working on it. I need your advice, though. Oh, no. I use these words to describe it. I really do feel our actor. I think most of us would. Strong, smart, optimistic. Yeah. What other words would you add to that? Sexy, I think sexy would be. I like sexy. Oh, please. I do like sexy. You can tell I have a sense of humor. That would be the. No, I am extremely blessed. I am so thankful that I am doing as well as I am, and that I can continue to get the message out to people to just keep persevering, no matter what it is that they're facing. Would you describe yourself as being cancer-free? You know, we've talked about this a little bit, and I know people use the R word, remission. I can say that I've had recent test results. They've been very good. That there is no cancer that is detectable. Thank you. Fabulous. Nothing is detectable. I have my blood work drawn every six weeks or so, and the last one was just pristine. And so, I take it one step at a time, and I'm just very grateful that I am as healthy as I am right now. You know, one of the things that's always amazed me about you is you do keep moving ahead, even though sometimes things don't always seem to make sense. I mean, you do everything perfectly in life, and you get cancer, which is, of course, something that happens a lot of times. Yeah. You almost sort of wish you'd done something wrong so there was something you could actually change. Yeah, I should've been smoking, and eating, you know, doing all those things, and drinking, and stuff like that. And then, to have the recovery that you've had from the breast cancer, you went through chemotherapy, which we offer to a lot of women. And that, as you mentioned, causes the bone marrow disorder you're suffering with now. Do you have any regrets about having that therapy for the breast cancer? Oh, no, no, not at all. You fight the battle in front of you, and when I was diagnosed, triple negative breast cancer, very aggressive, and so I got many opinions, and everyone had the same outlook in saying, this is what you have to do to fight it. And so, I feel very confident that we did what we had to do. And it was just one of those fluke things. My oncologist at the time said I was one of three patients out of thousands that she had that this condition ever happened from having that treatment. So, I say fight the battle in front of you. Don't ever, and I'm adamant in saying that I'm grateful that I received the treatment that I did. Have no regrets whatsoever. One thing you're probably, especially feeling blessed about is that you had parents who made lots of kids. Because one of them, Sally Ann, was a perfect bone marrow match. Yeah. Because that's a catastrophe. If your bone marrow's shutting down, you don't have anyone to give you a different bone marrow that's close to you in nature, then it doesn't work. You know that, yeah. And I really, everyone thinks if you have a sibling, it's automatic. That only happens 30% of the time. And so, my father, my dear father, had passed before all this happened. And my siblings were getting tested and I knew I needed to get every opportunity. So I said, does Dad have any more kids out there, Mom? That's right. And she was like, oh honey, oh hon, she's not your daddy. I'm like, hey, you know, I need all the, I gotta ask that. That's the question. But thankfully, my sister, Sally Ann, was a perfect match, actually. My other two siblings were not. And so, but we have been very active in getting people involved in Be The Match because had I not found that match within my family, I would have had to go to the donor registry. Are you closer to Sally Ann now? She's in the will. She's in the will. She's in the lock. She's, she's, she's, yeah, she's, she's in the lock. But you know, I have this because I now have her runny nose. I now have her sweet tooth. I have, because I have her DNA. That's right. So, but I'm not, I'm not complaining one iota, because I got life. So I'm not, I'm not complaining one iota. Fantastic. I'm thankful to her, yeah. There are some things in our lives that are genetic, as you mentioned, like our bone marrow. Others you say are like a muscle. We have to train them. Optimism is like that. Yes, it is. And I have found that when people say to me, and look, you, you, we, you've been around me a lot of years and there have been some really challenging times and I have been in tears, but I choose to be happy. I choose to be optimistic. And, and people say, well, how can you do that? And I said, I, I got in the habit of doing it. So when those tough times come along, it's a little easier. It's not easy, but it's easier because I've gotten into the habit of just, gosh, you just have to see things in a different point of view. Cause I really think you have to change the way you think in order to change the way you feel. I'm going to say, cause I've, you know, I do adore you, you know this, but it's not a false bravado. Deep down, you're not just pretending, you actually are feeling it. And what you're saying completely resonates. And oftentimes I wouldn't expect to be sort of stunned by the whole reality, I guess. And you've spoken about your parents. I know you love them. Yeah. Wherever they are. I miss them so much. But your mom would always say, make your mess your message. Make your mess your message because everybody's got something. We all have had something that we've gone through or are going to go through. And my mother would say, that's not the tragedy. It's if you don't take the time to understand the meaning and purpose of what it is that you're facing, why you're facing it and what you can learn from it. And more importantly, what you can teach others by what you're going through, make your mess your message. And so that's something that I've been trying to do. So what's your message? My message is keep one foot in front of the other that yes, I think I'm a walking, breathing example of this too shall pass. Again, I don't know what it is that everybody has that they're going through, but I know it's something and I do know that it will pass. And I think that I am an example of that. And I primarily come along to say, thank you for the well wishes, the prayers. People have really buoyed me in a time when I needed it and I want to be able to say thank you. And gratitude too, gratitude. There's gratitude, it seeps out of your horse. It's tangible though, you know this. And I think that somebody said my doctors were actually going to study some of the ways that I went through this because a lot of it is gratitude and that spirit and positivity. And now it's being proven that that can help in your recovery. In fact, it's the topic that you're gonna attack tomorrow night, that Thanksgiving special, fantastic one on gratitude. It's made you healthier, I think in ways that are indescribable by an Orthodox doctor. Yeah, my mother said, you can't put a limit on gratitude. And thank you America, what we're doing tomorrow night is that we've gone across the country, unsung heroes. We're very blessed, people want to bestow us with honors and we're very grateful for that. There's so many people that are worthy of the recognition and no one does that. And so that's what we're doing on this program. And we're really just lifting them up and saying thank you for all the things that they have done, just showing gratitude. Well, I wanted to prepare something that would be a little taste of how we all feel about you. Okay. Because you've obviously influenced a lot of people, but especially people who are going through difficult times. You've given them purpose, mission, hope, which is making sense of what's happening. So I hope you enjoy this little surprise for you. Oh, okay. My name is Heather and I'm currently living with stage four breast cancer and undergoing chemotherapy. I've certainly had some low moments over the past four and a half years, but I always try to remember your saying of make your mess your message, that this disease is about living and not dying. When I was nine weeks pregnant, I lost my father. And then my son was born quite a few weeks premature. And I look at you as superwoman. I really felt like I just had to be the superwoman for my son. My name is Molly. I'm a mom who's been through a pretty traumatic divorce. Your love and your positivity has helped me be even stronger for my family. I used to feel down and want to have pity parties, but after watching your struggle, I don't even do that anymore. You are a pillar of strength. Just wanted to say thank you for that. Thank you, Robin. Oh, wow. Thank you, Robin. Thank you, Robin, for making my life a little better. Isn't that amazing to see a positive effect you have on people? That is the greatest gift that you could give me. I am just so grateful and so thankful to all of them and just glad that they're doing as well as they are. And that's the whole purpose of it. We just all do whatever it is that we can, because when I say everybody's got something, it's not just the bad things. Everybody's got a resource to help everyone through what it is that they're going through. A gift of some sort. More than we realize. So those women with the tip of the iceberg, there were so many who wanted to be part of that video, I could not hold them back. They literally are barricaded backstage, but not anymore. They're coming out right now to show you their gratitude. Come on out. Get me. All right, well, she's kissing them all off. You can see Robin every weekday morning on Good Morning America and her Thanksgiving Gratitude special airs tomorrow night on ABC. We'll be right back. What's the most important health decision you've ever made? My sister and I both decided to start running and get back into shape. The first couple weeks were awful, but 14 months later, we finished our first marathon. Share your story on Facebook.com slash Dr. Oz. Coming up, sugar-free, but at what cost? Your addiction to artificial sweeteners could be damaging your health and make you crave even more sugar. The plan for you to finally give up sweeteners. Coming up next. Tomorrow on Dr. Oz, natural remedies that work like meds without the side effects. Push past the problems that plague you. Dr. Andrew Weil shows you the new no-pill solutions. Plus, is it safe to eat food after the expiration date? Before you toss it, find out how long food really stays fresh. The surprising truth may save you hundreds on groceries. That's coming up tomorrow on Dr. Oz. Many years, zero calorie artificial sweeteners seem like a great way to have your cake and eat it too. But now we know the detrimental effects these sweeteners can have on your health. That has a lot of you, like Kristen, worried about our addictions. Take a look. I'm Kristen, I'm 48 years old and I'm addicted to artificial sweeteners. I started using artificial sweeteners as a substitute for regular sugar because of the calories. But it's out of control. I use 20, 25 packets of artificial sweeteners a day. And coffee, tea, cottage cheese, oatmeal, even an apple dessert that I make. I have about three glasses of diet soda a day. There's all different flavors, fruit punch and lemonade, artificial sweetener, drink mix. And then I drink about five a day. I usually have artificial sweeteners on hand. I carry them in my purse, in my car, in case I go somewhere and there are not any artificial sweeteners, I know that I'm safe. When I go shopping, I buy the pudding that says sugar-free on it. I buy cottage cheese that says fat-free. And then I use the artificial sweeteners to sweeten it up. I thought using artificial sweeteners and zero calorie products would help me get off sugar. I started out with one or two packets and that just doesn't do the trick anymore. I just keep adding on and on into four, five, six to even taste the sweetness in my food. I'm a personal trainer and I talk about nutrition and what's good for your body. And I really kind of feel like a hypocrite. I'm working out this person and here I am drinking a artificially sweetened drink mix. I'm nervous and scared actually now. Am I hurting my health because of the amount of artificial sweeteners that I use? Tristan's joining us. So you seem to put artificial sweeteners on everything, cottage cheese included. I do. What about the taste you crave? I crave just the sweetness. I am such a sweet-a-holic. I love, love, love, love sugar. And I am buying low-fat, sugar-free food. And then I'm using the artificial sweeteners to sweeten it up. And so I'm kind of in my mind saving on the calories and then using the artificial sweeteners to make it taste sweet. You're a personal trainer. You've chosen a life where you tell people how to be healthy. I do. I mean, why can't you do the same thing for yourself? Like walk the walk, talk the talk kind of thing. I guess that I don't advocate it to my people but I myself am just more concerned about the calories but yet I also, I guess it's a little bit of ignorance. I don't know the repercussions of the artificial sweeteners because I haven't done the research. Well, you know some of them. You know. That's why you're here. Right, I have recently found out the research about it. There's one big question in my mind. Is it the taste that you love that's driving you or is it the fear of gaining weight? You know, I think it began with the fear of gaining weight and I switched over. And it actually has become the sweetness that I don't, you know, notice the difference and what woman wouldn't want to gain weight and have her, like you said at the beginning, have her cake and eat it too. You know, have the sugar taste. So if I can, just through your story, I want to have everyone understand why I'm really concerned about these artificial sweeteners. And I get that it's blowing your taste buds out and it creates this almost addictive feeling and I have a plan for that. Well, let's talk about you for a second. So there are a couple of things that artificial sweeteners do. We know a lot of artificial sweeteners aren't able to process their glucose. Have you heard that before? No, really. It's a precursor to diabetes. Before you get diabetes, you first have problems processing sugar, glucose. So come back here. Okay. So I wanted to look at your glucose tolerance and I did a little test on you, which you were kind enough to participate in. Okay. And the good news is, your body actually is metabolizing glucose the way it's supposed to. So you are not pre-diabetic and you're not diabetic. Good. That's the good news. That means that you've got more time to make change. Okay, good. The second thing I worry about, which is actually a big issue, is the effect of the artificial sweeteners on your kidneys. And there was an interesting study that came out looking at people who drink two diet sodas a day. Two? Yeah, and you do a lot more than that. Too far more. The people who drink two a day over time develop a lot more kidney problems. And we look at your kidney in several ways, but one of the most accurate ways is look at how well you filter stuff. So your kidney function filtering rate needs to be more than 60. Your number, as though you're still young, your number has dropped below that to 55. Okay. Which means your kidneys are not working like they're supposed to. No. And one day that's gonna become an issue for you. This is like an early warning system for us. We don't want this to continue going on. No. And for that reason, we're gonna have to focus on things that you can change. And having a dependence on artificial sweeteners leads to that. So I know that you're already sort of aware that there's some potential risks. Now you know there's some real risks. What have you tried so far to give up artificial sweeteners? I actually haven't tried anything. Never tried to get off them? I really haven't. I didn't know an alternative. And I didn't know that they were this bad for me, that it would really affect my body. If I give you alternatives that are palatable, that really are designed for you and everybody else out there who has this artificial sweetener drive. Maybe it started because of the desire to not gain weight. Maybe it's because of the taste now. Would you come along for the ride? I'm absolutely ready. If this is affecting my body, I'm gonna do it. All right. When we come back, I have a three-step plan to help anyone overcome their addiction to artificial sweeteners. I absolutely love it. Stay with us. Next, addicted to artificial sweeteners? Using more and more to get your fix? Maybe those artificial sugars are not so sweet after all. Simple substitutes to satisfy your cravings. The step-by-step for everyone who wants to kick the habit. Next. Well, there's the package with the zero calorie sodas and snacks. If you're addicted, listen up because today I brought in physician and nutritionist, Dr. Joshua Axe. He has researched this extensively. He's gonna walk us through a simple three-step plan for anyone who wants to kick the artificial sweetener habit. So to get to the first part of the plan, this is essential because I know you're not giving up the taste without paying some penalty and it doesn't have to be that way. The first step is to go for 50 calories or less of the real thing. So Dr. Axe, explain this. Yeah, so we wanna go for the real thing and I know Kristen, we wanna satisfy two things. That fizziness that we get in things like diet soda, we wanna replace those and that sweetness of the artificial sweetener with the real deal natural sugars. In order to do that, one of my tips that I do with my patients is we use natural seltzer water or mineral water, something with that carbonation and then take one shot of natural fruit juice and add that in as well. Some of my favorites are lime juice, cranberry juice, even orange juice. And here's the thing, you can have your cake and eat it too. 20 calories or less by adding in some organic natural fruit juice added to your mineral water. So if you took, for example, the cranberry, throw it in there. And again, a lot of you actually like the fizziness on your lips, on your tongue. Go ahead and give that a taste, for example. Kristen said. And again, the key question here is would you be willing to take a few calories into your soda if you didn't have to add the artificial stuff? Not many, just a few. And one of the other things you can do is even sweeten it up more. You can add a little bit of a sweetener. We'll talk about the Anstevia or something else to add even more sweetness. But yeah, the natural fruit juice, great way to go. Another example is the water. And I know you took a water, you were buying waters that actually had artificial sweeteners in them. And some of us find water boring, which is probably why you do that, I gather. Right, right. You get tired of just drinking water. You want something with taste. Dr. Ash. Yeah, so fruit-infused water. And this is one of my favorite recipes. It's watermelon mint. And you're getting the natural sweetness from the watermelon. You're getting a cooling sensation of the mint. The other great thing, we know watermelon is packed with potassium. So this here is something that I absolutely love. I think it's a great replacement is doing natural fruit-infused water. Before I leave this, if I took seltzer water and cut my artificially sweetened beverage 50-50, would that work too? You know what? One of the things that we want to do over time is wean yourself off of them slowly. And so I think that that's an absolutely great way to do it is start off 50-50 and then go down to 25% over time and continue to do less. You like those puddings. I do. And I get it. There's a taste to them. And Dr. Ash, you've got solutions even for puddings. Yeah, so what I would suggest is, you know, a lot of these puddings today and protein powders and meal replacements, they are loaded with artificial sweeteners. And so what you can do instead, one of my tips is go and buy a natural pudding, so you still have the pudding, take out 50% of it and then add in all natural fruit, blueberries, raspberries, packed with antioxidants to go 50-50. They're a great thing to do. What do you think? That's good. Great. It's good because it's got real sugar in it, but again, you're only getting half of it and we'll mix up with the berries and make some of the bulk. Okay, that's the first big idea. Tolerate a few calories, not many, but have real stuff. Second big idea. Can you put other fruit in that? Oh, absolutely. Watermelon is one. One of my other favorites is cherries. Actually, I'll put some frozen cherries in. There's some great natural fruits. And pineapple, another great one. Now, this is an important one because I know folks like to spice things up, so to speak. So we're literally gonna use sweet spices and stevia. Dr. Axe, these artificial sweeteners have become such an important part of so many people's lives. Walk us through how this could replace them. Sure. Well, you know, I know for so many people, artificial sweeteners are something that they have really become addicted to. And what I've done with my patients is had them add in natural spices and natural sweeteners. Some of my favorites, and actually these natural sweeteners actually bring out the natural sweet flavors in things like fruit and whatever other food you're consuming. And so cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, vanilla extract, ginger, even cacao powder, these things naturally enhance natural sweeteners. And so one of the things that I know, I saw you stuffing your purse full of those artificial sweeteners, Kristen. I do. And so what we've done here, and I think it's a great thing you can do, is get little packets here of things like cinnamon and ginger and cacao powder, and you can actually load up your purse with these natural, natural herbs. And one of the things Dr. Odds mentioned is the importance of blood sugar balance and cinnamon and nutmeg and cloves are actually great for that as well. And then last but not least, I really think that this is the key because one of the things that people say who are using artificial sweeteners like yourself and millions of others, is that they really are craving something sweet. And the great news is, is there is an all natural sweetener called stevia that actually comes from the herb of a flower, a leaf, that you can actually get in a powdered granulated form here. You can see these packets of stevia and you can carry these around with you and you can use these as an exact direct replacement for artificial sweeteners. And so this is plain stevia. A little bit goes a long way. Most stevia is about 30 times stronger than sugar. And same thing, most sucralose, which is an artificial sweetener, is stronger than sugar as well. And they're natural flavors. This is chocolate raspberry. You can do a toffee, a vanilla. My wife loves to keep these in her purse. So we add this to tea, to smoothies, to coffee. So there's one last little bit about this. And this is important for you because I think you need a strategy now to get off that artificial sweetener that you have clearly become addicted to. Dr. Axe, you don't want us to do this cold turkey, I gather. Yeah, you know, I wouldn't recommend cold turkey. I think for most people is you want to get rid of and find these direct replacements, but remove one pack on day one, two packs on day two, three packs on day three, four packs on day four, until you are completely off with it. That takes you one week or three weeks. Get yourself to where you're totally getting on. And what I would do, let's say you're using, I know that you said you may use up to six packs for breakfast in a cup of coffee. Well, maybe what you do then is do five packs day one and then one pack of Stevia and slowly switch it out over time. And I think you're going to see that is going to be the most effective way long-term for you to do it is to swap these out naturally over time. I'm rooting for you. I know you can do it. Like so many of you out there, these are very clear tactics we've given you today. It will work for you. Make the investment of time. You can find the full plan and lots more information from all of our True Tube experts at DrOz.com. Be right back. Woo! Tell us, what do you use instead of artificial sweeteners? I used to use artificial sweeteners every day in my tea, but I recently switched to honey. It sweetens better and tastes amazing. Everyone should try it. Share your alternative on Facebook.com slash DrOz. Coming up, new pantry essentials that won't get lost in the cupboard must have items for less than $10. Everyday multi-purpose basics to keep you healthy through every meal. Delicious ideas for your perfect pantry. Next. Tomorrow on Dr. Oz, natural remedies that work like meds without the side effects. Push past the problems that plague you. Dr. Andrew Weil shows you the new no-pill solutions. Plus, is it safe to eat food after the expiration date? Before you toss it, find out how long food really stays fresh. The surprising truth may save you hundreds on groceries. That's coming up tomorrow on Dr. Oz. Today, the essentials for the perfect pantry. And you know what? They're all under $10. You probably have the basics like oatmeal and olive oil, but renowned chef and restaurateur Jeffrey Zakarian has some other healthy foods he argues make a big difference with very little money. So what makes this pantry so essential for food? Well, the pantry is something, I know you all know this, the pantry is sort of where old spices go to die, right? Yes. That's right. You just put stuff in there, you don't know what happens to it. You have six or seven open jars of garlic powder, cayenne, oregano, four or five soy sauce jars. They're all open, right? And you're sort of scared to go in there. You don't know what's in there when you bought it, which is really important. I want to throw it away. Everything solid has turned liquid. Everything liquid has turned solid. So this book I wrote because everyone asks me, what do I need in my pantry? And these are 50 essential items to make 150 recipes. Each item makes three recipes. Very inexpensive. You can find them in any grocery store in the United States. Like Healthy Pantry Essentials gets in the first one. That's going to cost you in aggregate altogether less than $10. The first pantry essential is barley. Absolutely. Barley weighs in for a very economical $2.50. Why barley? Well, barley is like, it's, first of all, it's healthy. Like this is a health show. So it's essential amino acids. It's inexpensive. It's a low glycemic index grain. It's one of the, it's in a grass family, actually. And when you cook a cup of barley, you get three cups of barley. Imagine that. So it's like, imagine giving your husband two steaks. He came back with six. Never happened. Lucky guy. So what do you make out of it? You say it's multi-purpose. So we have a barley with green tahini vinaigrette. We have a beef barley bisque, and we have a chicken and barley salad with mango. All like really, really good. In the restaurant that I work at, I love to do like proteins and grains. It's really all the rage now. You know what I'm saying? Composed salads with protein. Oh, it feels full. It's full, and it'll expand, and it's so good for you. All right, next pantry essential. Our, what are my favorites too? Very healthy, dried cannellini beans. And these, if you buy them, the way we tell you to, are $2. Two bucks. So we're doing pretty well. Again, again, like it does anything. And we have, there's so much to do with beans. And you can have, canned beans are great. So don't like turning up a canned beans in my book. I recommend canned beans, actually. Again, you cook a cup of these, you get three cups. It just expands. So what do you got here? And you know, they're amazing for, again, health-wise. Iron, folate, magnesium, really loaded with stuff. So here we have almost a hummus, but we make it with spiced bean dip, with a little tahini. And we have a lamb salad with cannellini beans. All right, isn't that good? And a veal and bean casserole for a hearty night. Really, really good for you. Very inexpensive and delicious. You know, I'm starting, I have a world-class chef next to me, and you're cooking with food, ingredients that come out of a pantry. Of course. I mean, there's nothing wrong with the pantry is, the pantry to me is the engine in the kitchen. It really is. When you have your pantry stocked correctly, you can go to the store and like, I'm gonna get my protein, my vegetables. I know I have beans, I have pasta, I have salt. I have all the ingredients I need and they're all fresh. And I know the expiration dates of them because I stocked it small. So use the bags and the boxes the right way. Absolutely. All right, so far we have spent $4.50. Less than half my allocated $10. Let's splurge a little bit. The next essential item in the pantry, you will love whole wheat breadcrumbs. You know what? For the $3, that's all they cost. You get a lot of bang. Yeah. So I mean, breadcrumbs, of course, we always try to keep healthy. So we're having whole wheat. You don't have to buy them. It's very inexpensive if you buy them, but it's even less expensive if you just make it yourself. But if you don't make it yourself, buying them is perfect. I wasted money with my $3. I could have spent less. You don't have to. They're easy. And you know, you can go to the, my mom used to go to the baker and said, give me the bread that's stale. And they would give, they'll give it to you. And you can freeze it and just put it in, pulverize it and make breadcrumbs. What do you make for us? Okay, so I love meatballs, and these are called Magnificent Meatballs. We have some chicken fingers, which we bake. And we have some roasted carrots. Roasted carrots. Good. Simple, right? You know what? You guys want to taste some of these things? I won't bring you carrots. I'm bringing the meatballs. Come over here, Jacqueline. Let's go. See, they didn't respond when I said carrots. Right? So I want some honest opinions here. You're gonna get made out of pantry items. Go ahead. You'll have a lucky day. But take a class. Enjoy yourself. Splurge a little bit. You guys can split them up there. There you go. Bon appetit. See what you guys think. These, I'll tell you, what I like about them is they're crunchy. But the point is an excellent one, Jeffrey. If you can make these things with boxes and bags already found in your pantry, it simplifies your entire life. Very simple. And you know, I guarantee that everybody has way more than 50 things in their pantry. They probably have multiples of the same thing. And most of them are stale. What do you think? It's good. Good? No one had a really, I got a really good here. You got promoted to really good. Thank you. So far, how much have we spent? So far, we're up to $7.50. Now you gotta stay under my limit. So I picked peanut butter as the last option in the pantry. Because guess what? Most places you can buy it for $2.49. Yeah, actually, so this is one of the 50 ingredients. And peanut butter is just incredibly versatile thing. I mean, first of all, it's packed with protein. You can use almond butter also. I have that as well. But I love peanut butter. And you know, we've made today a smoothie with a banana. I actually take the bananas. You freeze ripe bananas. You peel them first. Because they're really tough to peel when they're frozen. Peel them first. Put them in a bag just when they're getting rotten. Put them in a blender. They act like ice cubes. A little yogurt, almond milk, peanut butter. Absolutely fabulous. And we have a spicy peanut butter slaw. And a peanut brittle made not with sugar, but with coconut sugar. Which today is all the rage. Coconut sugar. Now, who wants peanut brittle? Now, there's a whole different response over here than the carrots I offered earlier. All right, wait one second. I'll give them out to you. The total, grand total, for this entire Pantry Essential Party is $9.99. As I promised, as I promised, we're under $10. You can find all these recipes in Jeffy's new book, My Perfect Pantry. 150 easy recipes from 50 essential ingredients. It's on DrOz.com. Check out the book as well. We'll be right back. Coming up next, this college student is lifting the spirits of students all across the country through cheerleading. Go Spartans! Helping her peers with disabilities. Replacing insecurity with confidence. That is so good! Coming up next. We are bringing a healthy back this season and want you to bring it too. Grab your prescription pad for fun and sign up for free tickets today. You can go to DrOz.com slash tickets and sign up. One college student is literally lifting the spirits of students across the country. Through cheerleading, meet Sarah Kronk, who's helping students with disabilities sparkle. Let me hear your Spartan spirit! No matter who you are, nobody wants to be alone. And I never want any student to feel as isolated as my brother did in high school. Sarah's older brother, Charlie, is on the autism spectrum and struggled to fit in. He just wasn't able to make that connection that he was really longing for. One day, a popular upperclassman at our school named Jared took Charlie under his wing, eventually encouraged my brother to join our school's varsity swim team, and it completely turned Charlie's world around. So after seeing the positive impact, I felt like I had this mission to create the same opportunity for other students. And I became a cheerleader the next year and decided to create a cheer team that would include students with disabilities. And it was the first time that students with and without disabilities would be cheering together as one unified team. The new team will be named the Spartan Sparkles, and the success was immediate. It changed everything. Before, these kids were walking down the hallway every day without a single person looking at them, smiling at them. All of a sudden, have the support of thousands of people. The Sparkles really felt like this is where I belong. And all of a sudden, they're not invisible. Go Spartans! So after the success of the first team, I started the Sparkle Effect, which is a nonprofit organization that helps other schools create cheerleading programs that include students with disabilities. And five years later, the Sparkle Effect has grown into 134 different teams all across the country. Teams like the Lion Sparkles of West Isop High School in New York, where students like Katie, Kelly, Haley, and Hannah are shining brighter than ever. Go! The girls on the varsity team absolutely adore the Sparkle girls. They teach them drills, they'll show them motions. Hey girls, do that thing, do that thing, let's go! Cheerleading is my favorite because I love having fun with my friends. I love every girl on the team. They're like sisters. Show you're proud. I feel like the Sparkle girls have taught us just as much as we've taught them. They teach us that you could do anything you put your mind to. Let's go, Spartans! It's such a loud and public symbol of acceptance. It does change the culture of schools. And I hope that the Sparkle Effect is just the beginning. Go, Spartans! Sarah Cronk is here. What a great idea. What's been the most rewarding part of the Sparkle Effect for you? Well, when I think back to that first game that we ever cheered at at my high school with the inclusive team and being so nervous about how the student body was going to react and whether the girls were gonna be able to handle the pressure of that huge crowd. I mean, this is small town Iowa, Friday night lights, big deal. And we walk on arm in arm with the Sparkles and huge standing ovation, not a dry eye in the house. The students were more excited, spirited than I'd ever seen them before. And I just knew in that moment that this was gonna change my high school forever. That's one of the most beautiful things. I would've thought you'd be nervous about the performance and you weren't at all. Well, I was sure it was gonna be, it was pretty simple, but it was more just that our student body had never seen anything like that before. What were the biggest obstacles you faced and how'd you overcome them? Well, if you can imagine that first meeting that I went into with my school administration, I was 15 and had this idea that no one had really heard of before. And I could tell they clearly saw me and this other girl from my cheer team as these kind of flaky kids with this, here's this idea we have. And they were like, I don't know, sounds like something you might just be into for two weeks and then drop it. But we really pushed it and convinced them to let us do it. And I think it really showed our school that it doesn't have to be this huge thing to do if you wanna make a difference. You can really start small with just inviting kids to practice with us, with the cheer team or even just smiling at someone in the hallway. A lot of the kids in our high school were feeling not so much bullied as just invisible. So just really, it was the little things that created that shift for our school. Beautifully stated. I never want anyone to feel invisible again. In fact, if you guys are interested, audience, we have the Sparkle team from West Ice Thip, New York. You wanna see them all? Yeah! Come on out! Sparkles! Go, fake blue, let's go! Go, fake blue! Classic work. All right, if you do one more, we're gonna go to commercial and you do the cheer. You ready to do it? Turn them loose. We'll be right back. The West Ice Thip High School Lion Sparkles. Cheer us out! We want to touch! Tomorrow on Dr. Oz, natural remedies that work like meds without the side effects. Push past the problems that plague you. Dr. Andrew Weil shows you the new no pill solutions. Plus, is it safe to eat food after the expiration date? Before you toss it, find out how long food really stays fresh. The surprising truth may save you hundreds on groceries. That's coming up tomorrow on Dr. Oz. Tomorrow on Dr. Oz, natural remedies that work like meds without the side effects. Push past the problems that plague you. Dr. Andrew Weil shows you the new no pill solutions. Plus, is it safe to eat food after the expiration date? Before you toss it, find out how long food really stays fresh. The surprising truth may save you hundreds on groceries. That's coming up tomorrow on Dr. Oz. Great, your idea to help you stay away from the candy, except in an emergency. Don't you love this? It says, in case of emergency, break glass. I know some sugar addicts would have shattered that glass long before I even finished reading the script, what was written on it. But that leads me to an in case you missed it that you don't wanna miss. The first thing we talked about had to do with sweets. A plan to stop down your addiction to artificial sweeteners. And here's a very simple recipe. You wanna add sweet spices and stevia to your life. They replace artificial sweeteners beautifully. Spices like ginger and cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, they enhance natural sweetness of food so you don't have to add artificial stuff. You can sprinkle sweet spices into your coffee or tea, combine them, even bake with it, it works. And instead of carrying around packets of artificial sweeteners, which so many of you do, in your glove compartment, in your pocketbook, get these spices in tiny little bags and carry them around with you in your purse instead. They actually work very nicely this way. Your friends will be asking you why you're doing all that fun stuff. Next, the essentials for the perfect pantry, all for under $10. Cannellini beans were the big topic here. They cost about $2.50. They taste great, they're packed with nutrients that regulate your blood sugar and boost your energy. And for $2 a bag, these beans can help you create a variety of nutritious meals. Don't let your pantry be a place where foods go to die. Instead, take things from the pantry. We had a world-class chef today who created dishes from just that bag of beans that I gave him. We had a bean dip, which is to die for. We had bean salads. We had bean casseroles. Take advantage of all the things that we taught you today. All these recipes are on DrRoz.com. And for a full list of those essentials as well, all you gotta do is visit the website and you won't be breaking your bank either. Finally, please be careful about dubious people online who make it seem like I endorse their products. I don't. To see a full list of our trusted sponsors and partners, please go to DrRoz.com. Take care. Thank you.