While President Donald Trump may prefer burgers and soda, some senior figures in his administration have been swept up in a new diet craze.
Vice President JD Vance, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Transportation chief Sean Duffy are reportedly chowing daily on sauerkraut and other fermented foods to help them slim down and improve their overall health after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. started the eating plan over a year ago.
“There’s an extraordinary selection at Whole Foods,” Kennedy told The Katie Miller Podcast in January.
And while some of RFK Jr’s health crazes – from working out in jeans to eating roadkill and downing raw milk – may be questionable, there are many benefits of a diet heavy in fermented foods, registered dietitians Maddie Pasquariello and Jenna Volpe told The Independent.
Fermented foods, which also include yogurt and sourdough, are great for gut health because they are packed with probiotics: living organisms that balance the trillions of species of bacteria in the gut and keep the digestive system working well. A healthy gut can support weight loss by regulating the metabolism and it also supports brain, heart and immune health.
But while fermented foods have long-recognized benefits, experts say the foods should only be part of a healthy, well-rounded diet.
“The health secretary claims that he has lost 20 pounds in 20 days partly thanks to a diet of yogurt, kimchi and sauerkraut, but this action on its own is not a science-backed weight loss method,” registered dietitian Pasquariello told The Independent.
“A singular food, drink or supplement cannot cure or prevent disease (or cause weight loss). Nor will it help ‘ease aches and pains’ as RFK has claimed – a purposefully generic, but attention-grabbing, statement,” she continued.
Kennedy has claimed the diet has also helped to reduce aches and pains and eliminate irregular heartbeat, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“The full picture of your diet and lifestyle is what matters.”
Kennedy has said about “half the Cabinet is on the same diet,” and credited Dr. Sean O’Mara, according to The Journal. O’Mara is a private practice physician who says he treats “influential individuals” and charges $8,000 for a two-hour consultation.
The health secretary says the diet has helped him shed 40 percent of fat deep in his abdomen, which is easier to lose than the fat we can see, according to Ohio’s Cleveland Clinic.
O’Mara and Duffy talked about the importance of targeting visceral fat and a carnivore diet on FOX News’ “From the Kitchen Table: The Duffys” podcast back in 2023.
The former Wisconsin representative said he had cut carbs and maintained a keto diet while serving in Congress, but that he doesn’t think he was “doing it the right, healthiest way to do it.”
He also said he’d talk to then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy about having O’Mara talk to his conference. McCarthy is also on the diet, The Journal reported.
So what’s helping him to see these results? Well, the answer is pretty simple, Pasquariello says.
“Certain habits can make it easier to lose weight (like having access to exercise and walkable spaces, or having the time and energy to shop for and prepare nutritious food),” she said.
“Other factors, like getting enough fiber or consuming foods that add bulk and volume to the diet without adding excess calories, can also make weight loss easier.”
Sauerkraut and other fermented foods are low in calories and high in insoluble fiber, which helps us feel fuller longer, according to Harvard Health. A cup of sauerkraut has four grams of fiber and 27 calories and kimchi – another type of fermented cabbage – has 2.4 grams of fiber and 23 calories, federal data shows.
They’re also both excellent sources of vitamins C and K, which fortify the immune system and help blood to clot, the University of Rochester Medicine and Connecticut’s Hartford Hospital say.
“If you were to eat a cup of sauerkraut, that would give you roughly a quarter of the vitamin C you need for the day,” Cleveland Clinic registered dietitian Alexis Supan said in a statement.
Still, most experts recommend that people don’t start eating heaps of the stuff right away.
For one, fermented foods are often very salty. Made by soaking the foods in a salty brine, a cup of sauerkraut may have around 1,000 milligrams of sodium, according to Supan, or a little under half of peoples’ daily recommended sodium intake.
And not all fermented foods are made equal. Some pickles, for example, are made using vinegar instead of salt brine, Harvard Medical School warns. You won’t get probiotics with these products.
“Too much salt from fermented vegetables may be harmful for people with hypertension, kidney disease, kidney stones or other conditions impacted by sodium,” registered dietitian Volpe explained to The Independent.
”Staying within the range of 2,000 milligrams to 3,000 milligrams of sodium per day” should “be fine,” she noted.
Beyond sodium spikes, sauerkraut has a bit of a gassy reputation thanks to its sulfur compounds produced during fermentation.
Lastly, people with histamine intolerance, which is a compound that’s high in fermented foods, may experience some more serious symptoms.
Those symptoms may include migraines, dizziness, anxiety, chronic pain, diarrhea or even hives, Volpe says.
That’s why people should try to introduce fermented foods to the daily diet slowly. Moderation will ensure you can have your sauerkraut and enjoy it, too.
The greatest health boost comes when fermented foods are served alongside other nutritiously dense, lower sodium foods, including fibrous nuts, seeds, grains, beans, fruits and vegetables, Stanford Medicine says.
“Try to include some fermented foods daily, start with one per day and increase the number of portions slowly to have at least two servings per day and more as tolerated,” Stanford suggests.
Cooked sauerkraut is great with eggs on wholewheat toast in the morning, used in place of crunchy lettuce in a warm sandwich or served as a side with a protein at night.
It’s not clear what portions the administration members are consuming daily, but The Journal reported that Vance has been eating eggs, sauerkraut, pickles, blackberries and raspberries for lunch and beef or lamb with sauerkraut for dinner.
When asked for comment on the sauerkraut diet craze, the White House directed The Independent to the vice president’s office. The office did not immediately reply but the Department of Health and Human Services pointed The Independent to a June 16 video on X where the health secretary talked about the “carnivore diet.”
Kennedy has also talked with Fox News about eating sauerkraut and steak at 6:30 a.m.
His wife, actress Cheryl Hines, previously joked about him bringing his own sauerkraut to restaurants and asking her to keep it in her purse, telling The Cut: "People will say, 'Ew, what’s that smell?'"
"'Don’t worry about it, it’s my husband’s dinner,’” she said.
This year, Kennedy’s new and controversial Department of Agriculture dietary guidelines for Americans put meat at the top of the pyramid and recommended fermented foods for the first time.
Volpe said she’d discourage a diet that’s too high in red meat.
“Switch it up with other high-quality proteins like chicken, turkey, wild-caught fish, pastured eggs and some plant proteins,” she said.
