Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr is set to introduce new dietary guidelines in a bid to end the ‘war on saturated fats’.
On Monday (17 November), the 71-year-old took to the stage at the Food Allergy Fund Leadership Forum to announce that new US legislation will ‘stress the importance of protein and saturated fats’.
“And those [results] will come out, I think, next month,” RFK Jr said, as per The Hill. “I think that will really revolutionise the food system in the country, the food culture in this country.”
National dietary guidelines state that saturated fats should make up less than 10 percent of a person’s diet. There are also recommended limits on added sugars (50g) and sodium (2,300 mg per day).
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The American Heart Association recommends adults achieve no more than six percent of their daily calorie intake from saturated fat, found in animal-based foods such as beef, butter, eggs, and tropical oils, such as coconut and palm.
The nonprofit organisation warned that too much of a good thing can cause major issues with your cholesterol levels, which can increase your risk of heart disease.
AHA instead recommends replacing foods high in saturated fat with healthier options, such as lean meats, poultry without skin, and eating beans, fish, and nuts.
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Oils can be swapped out for canola, soybean, and olive oil, all of which can lower risk of heart disease, experts added.
RFK Jr has previously admitted to following a carnivore-inspired diet.
His day-to-day menu features meat and gut-friendly fermented foods like no-sugar yoghurt, sauerkraut coleslaw, kimchi, and fermented vegetables, according to an interview with Fox and Friends.
“I would say it’s dramatically changed my… everything,” the politician alleged.
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The Republicans’ revised dietary guidelines come after RFK Jr made a bid to eliminate petroleum-based synthetic dyes by the end of next year.
The movement is part of the Trump administration’s ‘Make America Healthy Again’ (MAHA) initiative, tasked with addressing various chronic diseases in the United States.
RFK Jr called the dyes ‘poisonous compounds’ that ‘pose real, measurable dangers to our children’s health and development’.
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His statements are contradicted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which stated scientific evidence showed ‘most children have no adverse effects when consuming foods containing colour additives, but some evidence suggests that certain children may be sensitive to them.’
The former environmental attorney has also taken aim at ultra-processed foods in the past, and urged Americans to limit consumption of foods with added sugar and salt.
In July, he ordered the FDA to explore how to eliminate a policy that allows food companies to decide for themselves whether additives added to their products are deemed ‘same’.
“That’s a really, really big deal,” Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and director of the Food is Medicine Institute at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, told The Guardian.
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“Ninety-nine per cent of compounds in food were added through this loophole.”
Ella Scott