The charismatic cardiothoracic surgeon rose to fame shocking audiences with show-and-tell displays of decaying lungs and rotting livers to press his message — take care of yourself, or else.

These days his message has not changed, but his method bears a distinct trace of easy does it.

Oz’s regimen includes 18 stretching, strength and balance exercises, most of which can be done on the living room floor, along with dietary guidelines and checklists.

The linchpin is a daily 30-minute walk. Oz’s fans will also recognize his characteristic calls to meditate and drink green tea.

“It’s very gentle, very basic for someone who is starting out and not terribly healthy to begin with,” said Gabi Redford, editor for AARP magazine, which focuses on quality of life issues for the 50-and-over age group.

“At the end of six months, if you can do all of these things, follow the diet, ramp up exercise, manage stress, we guarantee that blood pressure, healthy cholesterol, and blood sugar, will improve,” said Redford, whose magazine reaches 35 million readers.

For Dr. Wojtek J. Chodzko-Zajko, an expert with the American College of Sports Medicine, inactivity is a matter of national concern.

“You have the highest levels of obesity and inactivity disorders that we’ve ever seen in this country,” said Chodzko-Zajko, who chairs the Aging Blueprint project, a coalition of organizations formed in 2000 to promote fitness among the aging.

“A lot of heart disease and diabetes occurs at least partly because of poor physical activity and nutrition choices,” he said. “Life expectancy may be increasing but the prospects of healthy life expectancy remain unclear.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63P1MV20100426