The Two Sides of America's Health Secretary

"Since he was confirmed as Health and Human Services secretary early last year, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has previewed big changes to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans-the government's go-to guide on what to eat, and how much of it. Rewritten only every five years, the dietary guidelines are ubiquitous in American life: The food pyramid, launched in the 1990s, is a result of the document. The guidelines determine what millions of kids eat in school cafeterias every day."

"Chief among those supposedly forthcoming changes Kennedy that has promised is a dramatic rethinking of how the United States deals with saturated fat. For decades, the dietary guidelines have recommended that people get no more than 10 percent of their daily calories from these fats because they increase bad cholesterol. But Kennedy is a saturated-fat evangelist. The health secretary, who has said that he follows a "carnivore diet," once famously prepared a Thanksgiving turkey by submerging the raw bird in a vat of beef tallow."

"the new guidelines, which were released earlier today, retain the exact same recommendation about saturated fat that the health secretary seems to loathe. During a press briefing, Kennedy declared that the guidelines "end the war on saturated fat." The guidelines do plug beef tallow as a "healthy fat" and say that Americans should get some of their protein from red meat. (The previous version says that a healthy diet includes "relatively lower consumption of red and processed meats.")"

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., confirmed as HHS secretary last year, previewed major revisions to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The guidelines, updated every five years, shape public nutrition policy and school meals. Longstanding advice limits saturated fat to 10 percent of daily calories because of its effect on bad cholesterol. Kennedy, a vocal proponent of saturated fat who follows a "carnivore diet," had signaled a dramatic shift. The released guidelines nevertheless retain the 10 percent recommendation, while acknowledging beef tallow as a "healthy fat" and recommending some red-meat protein. Revisions favor incremental change and avoid overtly activist statements.

Read at The Atlantic