Image by haaretz

America’s best-known doctor, on his first trip to Israel, has this advice for the locals: Keep walking, but chill out.

“I think the Israelis have incorporated into their daily lives activities that make them healthier in general than many Americans, partly because they move themselves more,” Dr. Mehmet Oz, the daytime television talk-show star, told Haaretz in an interview. “They don’t rely on their cars solely, which is a major positive.”

Yet all the benefits of this ambulatory lifestyle, Oz warns, could be wiped out by the tendency he has observed of Israelis to stress out. “Living under constant stress, as you do here, can cause people to overeat and lead to obesity,” he noted during a short break following a tour of a drug rehabilitation center in Tel Aviv.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“What you people need is some good stress management tools. I just want to remind everyone in Israel that anxiety is not something that comes from outside – it comes from within. So no matter what the source of stress may be, it’s how we cope with it that determines our overall health.”

Oz, a practicing Muslim of Turkish heritage, is in Israel this week with his wife and four children on a trip organized and hosted by America’s celebrity rabbi, Shmuley Boteach, who runs a nonprofit group devoted to promoting Jewish values. Boteach also brought his family along for the trip.

For more, go to Haaretz

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount