RFK Jr. makes food sound like a miracle drug. Researchers say he overstates science
ABC News
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is promoting food as medicine, but experts say he's overstating what diet can do for serious illness
In the Trump administration’s campaign to promote healthy eating, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has not stopped at his slogan urging people to “eat real food” to prevent disease.
In recent speeches and podcast appearances, the nation’s health secretary also has claimed that diet can “cure” schizophrenia and diabetes and allow people to rid themselves of bipolar disorder diagnoses. Researchers say the comments overstate current evidence about the real and promising role that food can play in managing illness.
“Food is medicine, and you can heal yourself with a good diet,” Kennedy said on comedian Theo Von’s “This Past Weekend” podcast in February.
The talking point aligns with an idea from Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” allies that has gotten some bipartisan support: The role of food in health deserves more attention.
Scientists agree that diet can contribute to some diseases and also can be valuable in treating them. But public health advocates say Kennedy’s exaggerations are part of a pattern in which he cherry-picks and misrepresents scientific research, a tendency that he has regularly applied to vaccine science, enraging doctors.
Major League Baseball’s experiment of a robot umpire technology system allowing challenges to checked swing calls is moving from Class A to Triple-A
Climbing stairs has been increasingly ingrained in exercise guidance, but it can sometimes be hard to find a place to do it
A former Colorado funeral home owner who helped her ex-husband hide nearly 200 decomposing bodies in a building is asking for leniency ahead of her sentencing in federal court
Conductor Juanjo Mena, former principal conductor of the Cincinnati May Festival, says he will retire this year because of Alzheimer’s disease
As the U.S. flu season winds down, health officials say the flu vaccine didn’t work very well
Thousands of snow geese touch down at a Pennsylvania reservoir each spring, turning sunrise into a loud, swirling liftoff that draws big crowds
Cambodia has drafted its first law to crack down on online scam centers that fuel fraud and forced labor
The United States is getting slammed by a stretch of weather extremes, from flooding rain to record heat and late-season snow
Newly revealed incendiary messages in which a Live Nation employee mocks customers as “so stupid” and says the company is “robbing them blind, baby” are gaining public attention during an ongoing antitrust trial
Pro-Iranian hackers are targeting sites in the Middle East and starting to stretch into the United States during the war
After about a month of hearing from addiction experts, therapists, platform engineers and executives, including Mark Zuckerberg, a jury will listen to closing arguments before heading to the deliberation room to decide whether social media companies sh...
Rural school districts say the Trump administration’s visa changes are jeopardizing a key source of teachers
Cuba is grappling with a fast-growing wave of synthetic drug use that is hitting young people hard