Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. has urged people to cook with beef tallow and eat more red meat while giving a reality check to America’s McDonald’s-loving president.
The administration released new U.S. nutritional guidelines on Wednesday encouraging people to embrace more proteins, vegetables and healthy fats, and to cut down on sugar and highly processed foods.
According to Kennedy, the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans would “revolutionize” the nation’s food culture.
But as the Health Secretary discussed the new initiative at the White House, the advice did not seem to align with Trump’s enthusiasm for fast food and Diet Coke.
“Today, our government declares war on added sugar. Highly processed foods loaded with additives, added sugar and excess salt damage health and should be avoided. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, my message is clear: eat real food,” Kennedy said.
“Nothing matters more for healthcare outcomes, economic productivity, military readiness and fiscal stability.”
The guidelines could end up being a reality check for Trump, who has been diagnosed with swollen ankles, loves McDonald’s, and will soon be the oldest president to occupy the White House.
The 79-year-old president donned a McDonald’s apron as part of an election stunt in Pennsylvania, feasted on Big Macs aboard Air Force One, and recently revealed his favorite dish from the iconic franchise: the Filet-o-Fish.
He also has an aversion to exercise—unless you count golf—declaring in an interview recently: “I just don’t like it. It’s boring.”
“To walk on a treadmill or run on a treadmill for hours and hours like some people do, that’s not for me,” he told The Wall Street Journal.
But the president insists he is in “great shape” for his age, and his administration has nonetheless embarked on a mission to “Make America Healthy Again”.
The new guidelines scrap the old MyPlate visual guide, which recommended filling your plate with roughly equal parts grains, protein and fruit and vegetables, with a small portion of dairy.
Instead, the old food pyramid has been replaced by an updated “upside down” version, emphasizing protein, dairy, healthy fats, and vegetables and fruits, with less focus on whole grains.
The guidelines also promotes one of Kennedy’s favorite staples: beef tallow—a rendered, purified beef fat used for cooking, baking and even skin care.
“When cooking with or adding fats to meals, prioritize oils with essential fatty acids, such as olive oil. Other options can include butter or beef tallow,” the guidelines say.
Kennedy has long advocated for a return to beef tallow, which was once widely used by fast-food restaurants before saturated fat was linked to cardiovascular issues.
But the inclusion of red meat and animal fats in the new guidelines are at odds with decades’ worth of past recommendations and scientific evidence that had urged people to eat less saturated fats and more unsaturated fats, such as those found in olive oil.
“The hard truth is that our government has been lying to us to protect corporate profit taking, telling us that these food-like substances were beneficial to public health,” Kennedy insisted, as he outlined the changes alongside celebrity doctor-turned-Medicare-administrator Mehmet Oz and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.
It is not known whether Trump will heed the new guidelines himself, but the president has nonetheless been on a health-and-fitness tear for other Americans since taking office.
Last July—shortly after he was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency—Trump announced the revival of the Presidential Fitness Test, which creates school-based fitness challenges and awards for “excellence in fitness.”
Last month, he also announced a new national high school competition pitting top athletes from across the country against one another.
He called it the “Patriot Games” but Democrats were quick to dub it “the Hunger Games”—a reference to the 2012 movie in which a wealthy regime forces 12 poor districts to send their teenagers to fight to the death on live television.
