Inside Robert F Kennedy Jr's controversial diet of red meat and fermented foodsPublished 16:13 2 Feb 2026 GMT The politician has even roped his wife into helping him achieve his diet goalsby Ella Scott Robert F Kennedy Jr, Secretary of Health and Human Services, has never shied away from discussing his controversial diet ideas with the public. Last month alone, the 72-year-old shared new US dietary guidelines, proclaiming that the ‘war on saturated fats’ was over, and presenting the idea that American’s should eat copious amounts of meat and cheese while keeping whole grain consumption to a minimum. Now, the environmental lawyer has defended the eyebrow-raising carnivore diet, claiming it has helped him lose a large amount of ‘visceral fat’. What is the carnivore diet?The carnivore plan is a restrictive diet usually consisting of meat, fish, eggs, seafood, and some more meat-derived products, such as cheese and butter, as per Harvard Health. Shannon Haynes, RD, a registered dietitian at Backus Hospital in Norwich, Connecticut, explained that the extreme ketogenic grub explicitly restricts carbohydrates, alleging that the body gets its energy by ‘burning fat instead’. “[It’s] supposed to speed up the breakdown of fat, improve blood sugar and decrease inflammation,” she told Hartford Healthcare. However, studies suggest that the carnivore diet can lead to nutritional deficiencies, increase inflammation risk due to the copious amount of red meat consumed, and put stress on the kidneys. Dr Mia Kazanjian, a board-certified radiologist in Connecticut, told Fox News Digital that anyone thinking of embarking on the idea should speak to a doctor first. "As a physician focused on cancer prevention, I recommend a Mediterranean diet, largely plant-based, with whole grains, fruits, vegetables and lean proteins, for optimal health and longevity," she added. RFK Jr defends the carnivore dietIn a new interview with USA Today’s Extremely Normal show, RFK Jr has admitted he is ‘on a carnivore diet’. “I only eat meat or fermented foods,” he said, adding that his daily meal plan ‘may not be right for other people’ and that he didn’t want to ‘make [himself] a role model for what people should do and shouldn't do’. As well as claiming to have lost fat by solely consuming meat, animal-based products, and fermented foods such as sauerkraut, the Republican alleged his diet had helped improve his cognitive ability. The politician celebrated his 72nd birthday last month with a plate of steak (X/@HHSGov) "The way I feel, my mental clarity, my word retrieval, I had noticeable improvements, and you can attribute some of that to placebo effect, but I lost 20 pounds in 20 days when I switched to this diet,” he claimed. However, he acknowledged that some of the so-called ‘enormous benefits’ could be put down to a placebo effect. Does the carnivore diet help you lose weight?Yasi Ansari, senior dietitian at UCLA Health Santa Monica, has spoken about RFK Jr’s weight-loss claims. “Technically, it’s possible to lose visceral fat on any diet in the short term," she told USA Today. "Anytime we restrict calories or significantly change the diet, we may see reductions in visceral fat in the short-term.” However, she added: “The long-term health benefits of consuming a diet rich in fibre from whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans, chickpeas and lentils − alongside lean proteins − far outweigh the short-term results that may be seen with a highly restrictive, fad diet.” RFK Jr's fermented foodsAs well as tucking into plates of meaty madness, the father-of-six apparently enlists the help of his wife, actress Cheryl Hines, to carry fermented foods around for him. Cheryl Hines reportedly carries around fermented foods for her husband (David Crotty/Getty Images) "I’ll have my little clutch, one of my good bags that I only take out every once in a while because I want to keep them nice, and he’ll hand me a bag of sauerkraut and say, 'Can you put this in your bag?'" the 60-year-old Curb Your Enthusiasm star said to The Cut. In January, the Washington DC native celebrated his 72nd birthday with a plate of steak, rather than a traditional sweet cake. “No cake, just steak. Happy Birthday @SecKennedy! We are so grateful for your leadership and determination to Make America Healthy Again,” wrote the official X account for the Department of Health and Human Services. ARTICLE SOURCE: https://www.foodbible.com/news/celebrity/rfk-jr-carnivore-diet-fermented-foods-explained-951518-20260202
I have made note of carnivore, fasting and trying to hit protein targets. I have altered the fat content and found pretty much where I need to be.
I have also noted I am amazed by the amounts of food other people can eat in one setting. Once I get past a 3/4"-1" rib eye, I'm full and sometimes can manage to eat the other half of my wife's steak, but that can be a stretch. I have tried to hit protein targets as I am getting more and more into lifting at the gym.
The past few weeks I have been on a stretch of overtime. I am averaging just a tad over 66 hours per week. I have been using some of the time on nights to pursue my Google degree in Carnivore and my YouTube College of Medicine Certificate with a lot of the metabolic things that come along with the carnivore diet, fasting and lifting weights (with an autoimmune disease tossed in as well). I'm not close to graduating from either Google nor Youtube, but I am working on those degrees.
I read a ton on the sugar diet (not that I am interested but more so to read about the effects of sugar). I have read a ton on glucose, glycogen, the liver and the pancreas as well as insulin resistance and insulin sensitivity. Instead of watching other people give their (mostly biased) opinions on studies and medical papers I decided to read theirs and then conduct my own experiments on myself. (Maybe inspired by Nick Norwitz, ??)
My first conclusion is that after going without sugar for 13-14 months the least little bit of sugar triggers hunger signals like I have not had in forever. As noted, I am trying to hit protein targets, and I simply can't eat that amount of meat to get to 200 grams of protein. For weight loss and using fat for energy this is a good thing. For weight/muscle gain I don't think I am fueling up as well as I need. I had some ideas and tried to kill two birds with one stone. I bought some of the pre-mixed protein drinks. I tried one, and then waited a week to try another, and then another after the third week. This container has 2.5 servings per bottle and I drank half of it and then 12 hours later the other half.
Rockin' Protein - Shamrock Farms
It has 20grams of carbohydrates and 11 grams of sugar so I'm getting them at 10 and 6 per serving.
Within an hour of each serving I am as hungry as all get out. It does not feel like an old sugar craving as I didn't really have any of those going to carnivore. But I can remember always feeling a little bit hungry. 5-6-7 20oz Mountain Dews and multiple snack cakes thru the day was providing me with the sugar to make my brain say, "I'm hungry again". I am guessing (hypothesizing if this were truly scientific) that by being off sugar/carbs for so long it only takes a very small amount to take me back to "hungry" all over again. (I have found a similar issues with seed oils. I ate them by the buckets before Carnivore and now the least little bit sends me running to the bathroom).
The sugar and the carbs have been a tradeoff for appetite and getting in extra protein. My weight fluctuates/swings normally and that has continued. Maybe up a pound or two more but swings back down to where I am averaging around 215. (still 90lbs off my start point on carnivore).
I could stand to lose some more weight, maybe 15-20lbs or so, but I am not as concerned with weight loss as of late. Super happy with the 90-95lbs in 14 months. Carnivore is still my way of eating, and as far as food is concerned it is still strict carnivore. Once a week or so I am indulging in a few carbs and a few sugars which triggers some hunger. I get the benefit of the extra protein from the drink but at the same time I can get in one more rib eye due to the hunger it provides. Probably not the best method to trigger hunger, but since I never had cravings, I don't see it being my 'gate-way' drug back to Mountain Dews and Little Debbie Snack cakes. LOL
The return? In the past month I can see a difference in my biceps and triceps. And although the aesthetics is not the goal, it is pretty cool to gain a little muscle at 55. The end goal is to gain muscle to offset the natural muscle loss from aging as well as the effects of the auto-immune disease I am trying to reverse with carnivore. The most impressive part so far is the plates I am adding in the gym. I am a lot stronger at 55 than 35. I am not 25 and just out of the service healthy but I am a lot closer to that than I was 14 months ago. And there has been some strides in the last month with "sugar dosing".
If I were struggling with weight still, I might not see this as a grand idea but since I am good with my weight right now, I don't see the harm of the occasional sugar spike. (This is similar to a four-year carnivore friend at the gym who eats sweet potatoes on Thursday nights before a big lift on Friday. Really similar concepts).
Again, not one of those double-blind studies with a thousand humans as control subjects, just me, and my approach to my own health. Maybe not the best plan, but it is my plan, and for now it is working rather well.
babbling on again.
Scott