I dreamt up this article running on a treadmill, heart racing, sweat pouring down my face, as I pushed myself to a new top speed.
I’d just finished three days of eating like Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and, honestly, I felt like I was on fire.
While most politicians’ diets leave you wondering how they are still standing (looking at you, Diet Coke and McDonald’s-loving President Donald Trump), the HHS secretary may actually be on to something.
RFK Jr, who turned 72 this month, follows a carnivore-leaning diet built around meat, whole foods, vegetables and even the occasional processed indulgence: bacon.
He also practices intermittent fasting, eating only between noon and 7 pm. Research on this is mixed, with some suggesting it can boost weight loss, mental clarity and lower the risk of serious disease, while some studies suggest it can lead to nutritional deficiencies, dehydration and heart problems.
Having put myself through several grueling diet and exercise routines in the name of journalism, I decided to attempt his diet to get inside the mind of the man who is leading America’s health.
I had planned to do this for a week, but it was not cheap (I spent $100 on three days worth of food), which led me to pivot to just three days.
However, after just 72 hours on the RFK Jr meal plan, I felt energized and focused, and was curious to see what else this controversial routine could do to my younger-but-not-exactly-toned body if I followed it long term.
Shown above is myself eating a Robert F Kennedy Jr dinner with some minor alterations. I put seasoning on the steak and added a sauce, redcurrant jelly
Earlier this month, RFK Jr turned America’s food pyramid upside down this month, updating it into one that closely mirrors his diet plan, telling people to prioritize protein, healthy fats and full-fat dairy and avoid processed foods and grains.
He said of his carnivore diet on the podcast The Excerpt: ‘This may not be right for other people, but I lost 40 percent of my visceral fat. It was a really extraordinary benefit. The way I feel, my mental clarity, my word retrieval. I had noticeable improvements.’
Although I was thrilled with RFK Jr’s diet overall, I must admit that to begin with it was something of a challenge.
According to multiple sources, RFK Jr skips breakfast and doesn’t touch a single morsel of food until noon.
As a religious breakfast eater, I found following this left me doubled-over with stomach pains. But, consoling myself that RFK Jr would have at least have had a drink, I tried to quell my hunger with his favorite beverage, black tea.
When 12 pm finally came around, I ravenously devoured his breakfast – yes, despite it being lunchtime, RFK Jr enjoys a traditional breakfast meal of bacon, four scrambled eggs and more black tea.
This meal itself was delicious, although I wasn’t entirely sure whether that was because RFK Jr is a culinary genius or because by noon I was so hungry that even my pencil was starting to look appetizing.
Overall, it contains about 400 calories and 32 grams of fat, equivalent to about a third of the FDA’s recommended daily fat intake for someone following my standard diet of about 2,300 calories.
After this, the health secretary pivots to grazing, snacking on a 3/4 cup of pistachios, 3/4 cup of peanuts and several slices of dried mango.
I would cram these down after my breakfast, peanuts first — which are completely unappetizing to me — then pistachios, and finally the mango slices, which satisfied a craving for something sweet.
However, mango should be eaten sparingly as just nine slices are estimated to contain 27 grams of natural sugar, about half the FDA recommended amount, and as much sugar as in a Red Bull energy drink.
After my late breakfast and afternoon snack, I was feeling satisfied, not weighed down, calm, and not impacted by any post-meal sleepiness.
The Health and Human Services Secretary is famous for his meat-heavy diet. He is shown above enjoying a steak for his 72nd birthday this week
RFK Jr eats this diet alongside working out four times a week. He is shown above during a gym session in August last year
There was no lunch for me because RFK Jr skips this meal.
For dinner, eaten just before 7pm, the health secretary indulges in a 12oz rare ribeye steak cooked in beef tallow, the melted fat from cows, alongside green beans and asparagus.
Reports say there are no sauces or seasoning.
Given that I normally fall in the door from work at about 7 pm, sticking to this time was impossible and I actually ate around 8 pm.
I will admit that I disagreed with RFK Jr on the best way to cook a steak.
I felt it would be akin to a crime to cook such an expensive steak without seasoning, so I opted to douse my steak in Montreal Steak seasoning and I paired it with redcurrant jelly, a British sauce that is a jelly made from redcurrants.
I also dumped his beef tallow recommendation and swapped it for olive oil because I was concerned about consuming that much fat.
The USDA says two tablespoons of beef tallow, the amount needed to cook a steak, contains 26 grams of fat. This, combined with a ribeye steak that contains 68 grams of fat on average, means that I would have eaten 94 grams of fat in a single meal, or above the FDA recommended 90 grams per day for a 2,300-calorie-a-day diet.
After the first day, I was surprised to feel satisfied, happy and not as though I needed any additional snacks.
I also felt mentally clear, and found myself spending the evening, rather than slouched on the sofa in front of Netflix, working on an upcoming article, energetically vacuuming the apartment and rapidly reading my book. I suddenly found the time and energy to call my mother, too.
Scientists say this could be because the foods in the RFK Jr diet steadily release energy throughout the day, whereas the standard American diet mostly contains refined carbohydrates, which provide a sudden energy boost followed by a dramatic energy crash.
An RFK Jr-inspired shopping basket. It’s packed with red meat, eggs, pistachios, yogurt and bacon
Shown above are the RFK Jr breakfast, left, and snacks that I took to work daily while following this diet
Over the next two days, this routine continued – starvation in the morning followed by steady energy, clear thoughts and a relaxed feeling through the rest of the day.
I had the same exact meals each day.
I would say I was much more productive at work too, and my weight lifting performance in the gym didn’t suffer, which surprised me given the morning hunger.
But by mid-morning on day two, I was suddenly wracked by this strange unquenchable thirst. I just couldn’t get rid of it, no matter how many black teas I consumed. I also downed a few bottles of water, to no avail.
This may have been because I consumed a lot of salt, with the more salt you consume prompting more water to be pulled from your cells, triggering thirst.
RFK Jr’s diet contains about 1,200 milligrams of salt overall, but with my additions of Montreal Steak Seasoning, which contains 1,000 milligrams of salt in a teaspoon, I likely went over the FDA’s recommended limit. The agency says people should consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of salt per day.
Overall, I consumed 2,700 calories per day on this diet, more than the 2,500 calories recommended per day for a man or 2,000 for a woman. These estimates do not factor in exercise level, however, which raises requirements.
I also ate 150 grams of protein, well above the 69 grams per day recommended for an individual of my weight, and 201 grams of fat, also well above the daily guideline.
RFK Jr has previously described processed food as ‘poison.’ Nonetheless, President Donald Trump did once convince him to have a McDonald’s (Shown above on Air Force One)
RFK Jr is shown above during a workout that he posted on social media
Doctors warn that a high fat diet raises the risk for health conditions including stroke, heart disease, obesity and type 2 diabetes. They are particularly concerned about saturated fat, found in beef, which they say can cause plaque to build-up in blood vessels more rapidly raising the risks of complications.
But advocates on a carnivore diet would counter that their chosen meal plan helps with weight loss, boosts insulin sensitivity and reduces inflammation, which can help to reduce the risk of heart complications.
One thing to really note is that RFK Jr’s diet was not cheap. A ribeye normally costs just shy of $20 for a standard version in Manhattan. But, if you get a high-quality version, the cost is north of $40 a steak.
That’s not so challenging if you are the health secretary earning $250,000 per year, but not quite the same for the average American.
Drawbacks aside, I found this diet invigorating, exciting and even educational about my body.
I would definitely try it again. Just not yet.
