Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s approach to food stands in stark opposition to President Trump’s dietary choices. In a recent podcast interview, the HHS Secretary openly acknowledged the difference while marveling at the President’s seemingly inexplicable vitality.
Kennedy follows a strict carnivore diet, focusing primarily on meat and fermented vegetables. “I eat meat and fermented vegetables,” Kennedy stated plainly when describing his daily routine.
His commitment to fermented foods extends beyond his home kitchen. Kennedy revealed he takes sauerkraut with him to social events, including a recent dinner at the Ned restaurant.
When asked about his source for fermented vegetables, Kennedy explained he doesn’t make them himself but relies on his daughter to shop for him. “There’s an extraordinary selection at Whole Foods and at some other places. There’s an entire wall of fermented vegetables. I just pick and choose,” he said.
His supplement regimen is extensive, though somewhat haphazard by his own admission. “I take vitamin D and I take quercetin and zinc and magnesium and vitamin C and a bunch of other stuff,” Kennedy listed. He confessed his method for choosing supplements is less than scientific: “I read an article about something and I get convinced that I got to have this stuff and then I get it and then six months later I’m still taking it. I don’t remember what the article said. So I end up with a big crate of vitamins that I’m taking. I don’t even know why.”
Kennedy’s daily routine reflects his health priorities. He wakes at 6:00 a.m., attends a meditation and 12-step meeting, goes to the gym, then heads to work. He typically works until 6:00 p.m., then continues at home until 9:00 p.m.
When pressed about cheat meals, Kennedy admitted to one indulgence: “One of my favorite restaurants is Joe Seafood. I love Stone Crabs. And when I go to that restaurant, I’ll eat the key lime pie.”
Kennedy’s description of President Trump’s eating habits reveals a dietary approach that seems to defy conventional health wisdom. “The interesting thing about the president is that he eats really bad food, which is McDonald’s, and then candy and diet coke. He drinks the diet coke all times,” Kennedy said.
Despite these choices, Kennedy expressed genuine amazement at Trump’s physical condition. “He has a constitution of a deity. I don’t know how he’s alive, but he is,” Kennedy remarked. He continued: “You get this idea that he’s just pumping himself full of poison all day long and you don’t know how he’s walking around, much less being the most energetic person any of us have ever met.”
Kennedy offered some context for Trump’s fast food consumption, explaining the President’s rationale: “He says that the only time that he eats the junk food is when he’s on the road and he wants to eat food from big corporations because he trusts it. He doesn’t want to get sick when he’s on the road. But when he’s at Mar-a-Lago or at the White House, he’s eating really good food.”
The stark contrast between their diets becomes even more remarkable when Kennedy shared a medical detail: “He’s in incredible health. Doctor looked at his medical records and said he’s got the highest testosterone level that he’s ever seen for an individual over 70 years old.”
This revelation appears to baffle Kennedy, who has dedicated his career to promoting whole foods and eliminating processed items from the American diet. The fact that Trump maintains such robust health while consuming what Kennedy characterizes as “really bad food” stands as a counterpoint to the dietary guidelines Kennedy has championed at HHS.
Kennedy did note that his impression of Trump’s constant consumption of fast food might be somewhat exaggerated by travel conditions, suggesting that Trump’s baseline diet at his residences is “really good food.”
