Member of Dr. Oz's medical advisory board says he no longer associates with the celebrity physician because of his politics: 'I want nothing to do with him'

• A member of Dr. Oz's advisory board no longer associates with the physician because of Oz's politics.
• Joel Fuhrman, who appeared on "The Dr. Oz Show" five times, says he now wants "nothing to do" with Oz.

Joel Fuhrman, a family physician and celebrity "diet doctor" who served on the medical advisory board of "The Dr. Oz Show," told Insider he can no longer support Mehmet Oz due to his ties to former President Donald Trump.

"I, of course, respected Dr. Oz for many years, knowing he was a doctor," Fuhrman told Insider. "But now that he's a Republican Trump supporter, I want nothing to do with him."

Fuhrman added that he believes Trump is "an evil individual who's done horrible things for our country," citing the party's denial of climate change and Trump's attempt to "take over" the 2020 election as his primary concerns.

Oz is the Republican candidate from Pennsylvania running for a seat in the Senate against Democratic challenger John Fetterman. Trump endorsed Oz in April.

A current resident of San Diego, Fuhrman is not eligible to vote for Oz in the upcoming election but feels strongly about the political stances Oz has adopted since running for office.

"I'm no longer a Dr. Oz supporter because my political viewpoints are very much against what Trump stands for and what Oz has taken on politically," Fuhrman said, adding that he believes the physician is motivated by ambition and a desire for power, rather than profit. "So I have not been in contact with him."

The medical board from Oz's show has recently faced criticism over questionable science promoted by members of the group, including lining one's nose with petroleum jelly to avoid viruses and drinking tea made of onion juice and lemon to treat flu symptoms.

Fuhrman told Insider he had no specific duties or meetings while serving on the board, but knew Oz from their time at the University of Pennsylvania together and, at one time, considered the physician-turned-politician his friend. Fuhrman appeared on Oz's show approximately five times to promote his "nutritarian" diet.

The nutritarian diet is largely plant-based — adherents are meant to have one pound of raw vegetables and one pound cooked each day — and no animal products or dairy, oil, added salt, or between-meal snacking. Dietitian Carolyn Williams referred to Fuhrman's nutritarian meal plan as a "fad diet" that "takes the concept of nutrient density to an extreme, and it's an extreme that we don't know is really necessary."

Fuhrman himself claimed in a 2012 interview with Men's Journal that he fasted for 46 days, drinking only water, to cure an injury to his heel.

Fuhrman said he stands behind his diet and its potential to heal people from all manner of ailments, but that he no longer supports Oz — not because of any concerns about conflicts of interest or the science presented on his show, which he acknowledged could be "B-grade" or "C-grade," but because of his support for former president Trump.

"I just can't, in my own mind, fathom a person to be ethical and reasonable and be a Trump supporter," Fuhrman said. "I just can't understand how it happens."

Representatives for Oz did not respond to Insider's requests for comment.