welcome to "sg md" a young who says why marijuana saved his life and you'll see why and why legal marijuana is hard to pin down in this country. and morgan spurlock will talk about the emotional experience of putting his own grandmother into a nursing home. if it has no calories and sugar, it's healthy, right? well, not so fast, at least according to a new report. artificial sweeteners have been under fire for years, some

experts suggesting they're bad for your health. well, now, purdue university researchers are fueling that debate. they're saying sweeteners in diet beverages may increase your risk of obesity, diabetes, and even stroke. the editorial was published in the journal "trends in endocrinology and metabolism." it's the review of a dozen of long-term science studies. i want to bring in our friend, dr. vanpolis, you keep an eye on these stories as i do and artificial sweeteners in diet drinks are fda approved and regulated for safety. we talked to coke as well, they say that most studies do not show a link to weight gain or any harm, we talked to the american beverage association and they gave us this statement, they said it was an opinion piece and not a scientific study. low calorie sweeteners are some of the most studied and reviewed ingredients in the food supply, and this are safe and effective

tool in weight loss. and you've heard the statements before and you've seen the new review, the new opinion piece, what's your take on it? >> well, i mean, i think there were two large studies that came out in the past year, showing an increased risk of both stroke and type ii diabetes with higher levels of diet soda consumption. now, again, we can't really determine cause and effect, but i think the bottom line is that just because these are low calorie or don't have sugar doesn't mean that they're completely safe or risk free. again, we don't have any nail in the coffin data, but i think the two studies that came out this year really bear more fleshing out. >> yeah, and what you're describing i think as something that people refer to as reverse causality. >> exactly. >> do people that are already at risk of these things start drinking more of the diet drinks or do the diet drinks cause them actually to gain weight. some people may say they crave sugar more after consuming the artificial type. does that really happen, do you think? >> yeah, that's a really

interesting question. and the science of hunger and cravings is very complex. we don't even fully understand it when it comes to regular sugar and with artificial sweeteners we have even less of an understanding. but what we know is that there are hundreds of times sweeter than regular sugar. so, over time when you consume them, you really could become desensitized to the normal sweetness of things like fruit and need higher and higher levels to feel satisfied. >> what about foods? we talk a lot about drinks but what about the artificial sweeteners in foods? >> my personal opinion is it is not as clinically relevant. because in this case you're actually combining the tacht of sweetness with calories, so there would be a more appropriate response to that food group and actually if some of my patients really love drinking diet sodas, i say at the very least drink it with a meal. so, i think we need to look into this. we need to see the interaction, but i think associating calories with sweetness is a more

physiologic approach to nutrition and digestation. >> so, bottom line, melina, and i think i may know the answer from you specifically, if you were drinking a diet or a regular soda, if you had the choice between the two, for you or your patient, let's say, what would you recommend? >> well, from a health perspective neither is a really good option. but if we're talking about weight, i would still go with the diet soda unless you find yourself doing all the right things and very resistant to weight loss or at high risk of stroke or diabetes, i really would discourage you from having any of those. but diet at the end of the day, and you can even try a soda sweetened with stevia which may turn out to be a better option, but we don't know, more research needs to be done. >> and water is always a good option you always say as well. >> of course, water is my first choice, water, green tea, coffee which has favorable effects on disease outcomes. >> we'll have you back to talk about it sometimes. thanks a lot, doc. see you soon. >> thanks, take care.

doctors and patients they complain all the time about red tape. and about insurance companies. so, what happens if a doctor says, the heck with it? well, this summer a family doctor in south portland, maine, decided to give that a try. cnn's christine romans went to see how it's going. >> well, come on in. >> reporter: he was fed up. >> just have a seat. >> reporter: the family doctor from portland, maine, used to do lots of paperwork so much it was taking time from his patients. so, earlier this year, he stopped taking medicare and other insurance altogether. >> we asked patients to pay at the time of service just like you would be expected to pay at time of service at your garage, at the barber shop or at the grocery store. >> reporter: under his new system, the doctor's prices are clearly marked on his website. $75 for an office visit. $150 for a complete physical. >> $75. >> reporter: that's roughly in line with how much he'd been receiving from medicare and private insurance plans. with less paperwork, his

operating costs are much lower as well. >> we've had real cost savings already in that we've been able to cut our staff down. we have one full-time employee to support me and she answers phones and draws blood and so forth. and so that's been a huge savings. >> reporter: he says he now has more time to focus on his patients and even make house calls. >> so, how are you doing, rudy? >> reporter: for many of patients they can't pay out of pocket. the doctor said he's lost a quarter of his roughly 2,000 patients but he expects others to take their place. >> hey, god bless. >> reporter: he said he admits model works best for those who don't have insurance or either have high deductibles. another doctor understands the frustration. >> the idea of a streamlined, simplified billing and collection practice is very attractive. a lot of us hunger for a simpler structure to our practices where it could just be about the care we give to our patients. >> reporter: but in this rural community, dr. clark felt he

simply couldn't turn away as many senior patients who are reliant on medicare. and some experts say other groups would also be vulnerable. >> there are not that many patients who would be able to put up with this. some very rich patients, of course, they could do this. but a lot of low-income people couldn't afford the fees. >> reporter: but with endless bureaucracy and costs that often seem out of control, some doctors are trying to different tactics to stay in business. >> and christine joins us now. you know, it's interesting when we look at the statistics about 90% of doctors roughly still take insurance but the trend that you're describing here is growing. i'm curious just from a moral perspective is there a moral sort of, they feel an obligation? >> you know, rural doctors struggle with it more because they want to make sure there's other choices for their patients, right? but it cuts both ways, they'll lose 20% to 25% of their patient base, they'll lose customers who

would have been paying through insurance or medicare so they'll have a smaller patient base to choose from but those people will be paying cash or credit. but many say, look, in the case of this doctor, house calls. he can make house calls now. that's almost in a way improving care for his patients and that's really important to him. >> you were just saying $75 for a house call. >> i'd pay it. >> is it a lower price for him or how did he figure it out? >> it's right in line with what insurance or medicare would have reimbursed him. he doesn't have an extra employee chasing you at paperwork and cuts the red tape and it makes the difference for his very small practice. >> i'd like to check in with this doctor in a year. >> we will. >> thanks for joining us. we appreciate it. we've got something edgy for you, this man has a severe disorder of the lungs and diaphragm but wait until you hear what happens when he smokes marijuana. i--- [ both ] oooooh... [ female announcer ] as you get older, protein is an important part of staying active and strong. ensure high protein... fifty percent of your daily value of protein.

low fat and five grams of sugars. [ major nutrition ] ensure! nutrition in charge! [ lighter flicking ] [ male announcer ] you've reached the age where giving up isn't who you are. ♪ this is the age of knowing how to make things happen. so, why let erectile dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. 20 million men already have. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain;

it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. this is the age of taking action. viagra. talk to your doctor.

18 states now allow the use of marijuana to treat at least some medical conditions, not includes colorado and washington state, where voters also decided that any marijuana use by adults should be legal. the federal government still says this is against the law, by the way. and that leaves doctors and their patients in this weird kind of limbo. but for one young man i met in colorado, the weed has had a dramatic effect for him. >> i always have two -- >> reporter: meet 19-year-old chaz moore. he uses many different strains of marijuana to street his rare disorder of the diaphragm. >> my abs, like, lock up. >> reporter: that's why he's talking this way, almost speaking in hiccups like he can't catch his breath, it's a diaphragm flutter. the fluttering here is annoying but it becomes painful pretty quickly i imagine. >> yeah.

after, like, 15, 20 minutes is what i can, like, start to really feel it. >> reporter: he's about to show me how the marijuana works for him. he's been convulsing now for seven minutes. how quickly do you expect it to work? >> within, like, the first five minutes. and i'm done, like -- >> reporter: that's it. >> that's it is. >> reporter: it was actually less than a minute. >> depending on attack and the day, like, it will work within the first couple hits. >> reporter: hear how his voice is completely different. that attack lasted eight minutes. >> now, this is obviously not conventional therapy but for chaz smoking this has had a dramatic effect for him. the question you are probably asking, what do the studies say about this? and that's the problem. there really aren't any studies. this is anecdotal evidence because it's illegal to study in this country and chaz's

condition is rare. doctors in the 18 medical marijuana states, by the way, they do prescribe it for a variety of conditions. now, in terms of real evidence, the most solid support for cannabis is as a way to suppress nausea, as a pain medication and for some types of nerve damage, there are studies looking at effectiveness in a wide range of conditions including people with m.s., epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, ptsz and schizophrenia to name a few. you can learn a lot more, it's fascinating stuff. watch my documentary, it's called "weed." i traveled all over the world looking for answers to some of these questions. you'll see what i uncovered. sunday, august 11th, 8:00 p.m. eastern, right here on cnn. you know, a lot of us like to maintain our personal space these days, maybe more than ever, but at one mexico restaurant, the customers don't seem to mind a little pda, tim harris, he's the owner of tim's

place restaurant, he said the hugs are worth the trip, and the best part, they're free. >> reporter: breakfast, lunch, and hugs. >> the hugs are free. no charge at all. >> reporter: that's what's on the menu at tim's place restaurant in albuquerque. this is tim harris. he's the owner. and he has down syndrome. >> i do have down syndrome. i have a disability, but i have the ability to make thousands of friends. it feels awesome. >> reporter: the atmosphere for customers is equally awesome. walk in the door -- >> hey, james! >> reporter: get a hug. only if you want one, of course. serve that up with a side of green chile cheese grits and you have a recipe for the world's friendliest restaurant. >> we come here for our therapeutic hug every weekend because after a long week at work we both need it. >> reporter: but tim's dad, keith, wasn't always so sure about the idea. >> at first i can say not even i

took him all that seriously, but we began to realize it might be a great, great way for tim to have an independent life. >> reporter: keith helped his son start the business and then got out of his way. >> and it's my signature dish. >> reporter: the best part for dad, sitting back and watching the show. as a customer. >> our world, our society i think in many ways has become so sterile that, you know, a restaurant experience is a transaction, and here it's an experience, a human experience, and that's the magic. >> reporter: as for tim -- >> i am amazed. i do have a girlfriend, though. >> reporter: his favorite part is the hugs. >> almost 40,000 hugs. i am excited. >> i think we could probably call that the world's friendliest restaurant, looks like it to me. good stuff, tim. thanks for the hugs. up next planning care for an aging population. make your parents? morgan spurlock is here with a

sneak peek at sunday night's brand new "inside now." mom, dad told me that cheerios is good for your heart, is that true? says here that cheerios has whole grain oats that can help remove some cholesterol, and that's heart healthy. ♪ [ dad ] jan? humans. we are beautifully imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. that's why liberty mutual insurance has your back, offering exclusive products like optional better car replacement, where if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. call... and ask an insurance expert about all our benefits today, like our 24/7 support and service, because at liberty mutual insurance,

we believe our customers do their best out there in the world, so we do everything we can to be there for them when they need us. plus, you could save hundreds when you switch, up to $423. call... today. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy?

end of life planning, you know, it's something that no one wants to talk about, let alone think about. these are tough conversations to have. but on this weekend's brand-new "inside man" elder care gets personal for our very own morgan spurlock. >> trudy still has an active life even if it is maintained booher family. every week someone helps her with her grocery shopping. >> okay. >> and drives her to her weekly

appointment at the beauty parlor. >> how long has trudy been coming here? >> she first started coming when i first opened the shop 41 years ago. >> wow. but this week tudie has a monumental event, her 74th high school reunion and i get to be her date. one, two, three, big smile. >> that's good. >> so, in this episode you go back to virginiwest virginia. >> yes. >> and you move in with your 91 grandmother. >> it's like "bosom buddies." i called her up, how would you like to have a roommate for a week, week and a half, and she said, bring whoever you want. >> did he mind the cameras and the fuss? >> no, she was great. the whole idea was to show what elderly people have to go through, the health problems they may face, you know, how they have to manage, you know, their medicine or their doctors' appointments, whatever it may be and she's 91 and still going, you know, and i want to move in with you and see what it's really like. >> you wanted to tackle this.

topic of elder care and it's a topic that comes up a lot in health care overall and part of the affordable care act and thinking of health care in the future -- >> yes. >>-- but you did it in a personal way. so close to home. what made you do that? >> for me i have such a close relationship with my family and i love my grandparents and it was one of those things where i wanted to kind of tell it from my point of view about how we don't think about these things or we don't prepare for them, you know, my grandmother, you know, was kind of scraping by on the social security she would get every month and, you know, when you're that age, all you need is one thing to go wrong and it can be problematic, and thank goodness she had my father and my aunt there to take care of her, but a lot of people don't have that, and what you learn over the course of the they is that getting old and dying can be expensive if we don't plan for it. >> and people talk about it. the vast majority of the health care dollars that we spend on our own lives are spent in the last five years of life. >> that's right. >> there's a lot of decisions. did you have discussions with your grandmother about the types of things that sha would want,

not want? >> if she'd had these discussions with my dad and my aunt who are basically -- they are basically her signatories, they basically had the right to decide what would happen to her once she became unconscious. and she -- they had very open conversations, that she didn't want to be plugged into a machine. she didn't want to be kept alive, she wanted to, you know, she wanted just to this go out, you know, the way god intended and it was -- i mean, and those conversations what you realize is a lot of people don't talk about those, those types of things because we all want to believe we're going to live forever and the reality is we're not. >> i can't -- i'm a doc and i have a hard time having those. i know i should. with my parents and grandparents, but they are incredibly hard conversations. >> you don't want to think about it. >> you're forced to confront, you know, your mortality and it's just an unpleasant thing. how will people feel when they watch this documentary, do you think? >> i think you -- it's such a lovely story. it's a beautiful story and i think you'll feel moved. i think you'll be touched and i

think you'll be eternally grateful for the beautiful people you still have in your lives, your mothers, your fathers, your grand fathers and grandmothers and it will make you reach out and talk to them and hopefully take care of them. >> give them a call. >> get on the phone immediately. >> thanks again. appreciate it. >> great seeing you. >> you, too, thank you. again, these are difficult conversations to have but so important to have as well, make this serves as a wake-up call to start those conversations with your loved ones. "inside elder care" debuts this sunday night 10:00 p.m. eastern, right here on cnn. and we'll be back right after this. river ] today, my ame knew all about a bike accident, just by talking to a helmet. it grabbed the patient's record before we even picked him up. it found out the doctor we needed was at st. anne's. wiggle your toes. [ driver ] and it got his okay on treatment from miles away. it even pulled strings with the stoplights. my ambulance talks with smoke alarms and pilots and stadiums. but, of course, it's a good listener too. [ female announcer ] today cisco is connecting the internet of everything.

so everything works like never before.

the day building a play set begins with a surprise twinge of back pain... and a choice. take up to 4 advil in a day or 2 aleve for all day relief. [ male announcer ] that's handy. ♪

we're just about a month and a half away from race day. that's when the "fit nation" six-packs will jump into the pacific ocean and begin the malibu triathlon. they are training hard to swim, to bike and to run and last time we checked in with the ladies, so now i want to check in with the fellas. >> good morning, "fit nation." >> basically everything's been going well. >> douglas mogul here, checking in from atlanta, georgia. >> one, two, three. ♪ >> when i started this whole journey, i couldn't really run 40 seconds, and now i'm a runner. >> go! >> it's not about being the leader or not, that we're stronger together than we are apart.

>> working out on a regular basis, watching my weight, trying to eat right. >> it's about the rhythm of your stroke. >> you know, i'm at the point now that i know i'm going to finish the race. but finishing is no longer good enough for me. >> i won't say this has been easy. it's been one of the hardest things i've ever done. has it been worth it? absolutely. >> whoo! chasing life today as heat waves continue to sweep the country, society so hot out there. i want to remind you of a couple of things. first and foremost, use your sun sunscreen, it protects the skin but keeps you cool. if you get burned, don't wait, medicate. it's an inflammation of the skin, taking an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory can help right away. and moisturize, aloe vera is a good idea but look for lotions that have vitamins c and e, it will help promote the healing of the skin.

for more relief, you can try soaking in a cool bath, i've done it recently. some experts suggest adding a tablespoon of baking soda or white vinegar, and sunburns tend to develop six hours after the exposure, even if you see a little bit of pink during the day, take cover. don't stay out. you'll just make it worse, that will wrap things up for "sg md," but stay up to date with me on twitter @doctorsanjaygupta. time now to get you up to date with the top stories with don lemon. >> hello, everyone, it's the top of the hour, welcome, i'm don lemon. you're in the "cnn newsroom." we want to give you what's going on in the country because a lot is happening right now. we'll begin with this -- bride-to-be found dead today after a prewedding boat party turned into disaster. now the driver of the boat is charged with manslaughter. hours ago authorities found the bride's body in the hudson