RFK Jr. makes food sound like a miracle drug. Researchers say he often overstates the science

In the Trump administration鈥檚 campaign to promote healthy eating, has not stopped at his slogan urging people to to prevent disease.

In recent speeches and podcast appearances, the nation鈥檚 health secretary also has claimed that diet can 鈥渃ure鈥� 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.

鈥淔ood is medicine, and you can heal yourself with a good diet,鈥� Kennedy said on comedian Theo Von鈥檚鈥淭his Past Weekend鈥� podcast in February.

The talking point aligns with an idea from Kennedy鈥檚 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鈥檚 exaggerations are in which he cherry-picks and , a tendency that he has regularly applied to vaccine science,

It is the latest example of Kennedy being 鈥渋ncredibly careless and irresponsible鈥� in talking about health issues, said Kayla Hancock, director of a public health project at the advocacy group Protect Our Care.

Dr. Theresa Miskimen Rivera, president of the American Psychiatric Association, fears the language could drive patients to self-medicate with food alone.

鈥淭he concern always is that people can have hope and they might interpret that as, 鈥榃ell, I don鈥檛 need medication. I do not need treatment. I just need to follow the diet,鈥欌€� Rivera said.

Kennedy oversteps the evidence on diet and psychiatric disorders

In an early February speech at the Tennessee Capitol, Kennedy cited the work of Dr. Christopher Palmer, a Harvard Medical School researcher who in 2019 wrote about who experienced remission of their symptoms following a high-fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet.

Kennedy said that Palmer had 鈥渃ured schizophrenia using keto diets.鈥�

Palmer has called that inaccurate. He told The Associated Press that 鈥渁s much as I wish we had cures for mental illness or other chronic diseases, it is important that we use more precise language.鈥� Palmer prefers the word 鈥渞emission.鈥�

During the same speech, and later on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Kennedy referred to studies 鈥渨here people lose their bipolar diagnosis by changing their diet.鈥� He said 鈥渢here鈥檚 a big paper about to come out” showing results.

Kennedy spokesman Andrew Nixon said those comments referred to a 鈥済rowing body of research鈥� on the issue, including a investigating the effect of a keto diet on teenagers with bipolar disorder.

That study is still recruiting patients and will not be completed until March 2027, according to a posting on a federal website. Any publication would come months after that.

Rivera, of the American Psychiatric Association, said Kennedy鈥檚 claims exaggerate the evidence. Studies testing the role of the ketogenic diet on mental health conditions have been small, anecdotal or pilot studies, she said. Many did not include a control group of patients following a regular diet.

鈥淎t this point, it鈥檚 premature. We cannot draw definitive conclusions,鈥� Rivera said. 鈥淭here is not enough evidence to recommend a specific diet or as a standalone, without medication such as antipsychotics or mood stabilizers.鈥�

It is true that research into the effects of ketogenic and other diets on psychiatric disorders is accelerating, Palmer said. He said 20 controlled clinical trials using the keto diet for severe mental illness are underway, with results of two trials set for publication within the next year.

Palmer said he is 鈥渧ery enthusiastic鈥� about diet as a promising therapy for serious psychiatric disorders, but that patients with mental illness should still talk with their doctors.

鈥淚 want to implore patients: Please do not stop your medications on your own,鈥� he said. 鈥淧lease do not even try a ketogenic diet on your own as a treatment for schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.鈥�

Diabetes experts are split on the impact of Kennedy’s words

Kennedy鈥檚 comments on Von鈥檚 podcast that 鈥渕ost diabetes can be cured through diet鈥� also have been scrutinized. Some experts say the health secretary overstated the role of diet.

Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disorder, cannot be cured by diet alone, said Dr. Willa Hsueh, an Ohio State University endocrinologist and researcher. A healthy diet and exercise are keys to managing Type 2 diabetes, but it can be difficult to use those tools alone to reverse the disorder, she said.

鈥淭he secretary is not wrong that it can work,” Hsueh said. “But it鈥檚 not common for people to cure themselves … by diet alone.鈥�

Others defended Kennedy鈥檚 claims about the disease that affects 40 million people in the United States.

Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University, said a healthy diet could help 鈥渕ost individuals鈥� with Type 2 diabetes lower their blood sugar levels, reverse symptoms and allow them to stop taking medications for the condition.

鈥淲hether you consider that a cure or remission, that鈥檚 medical speak, right?鈥� Mozaffarian said.

He acknowledged that Kennedy is not 鈥渁lways perfectly precise in the terminology and there could be risks to that.鈥� But he welcomed the high-level focus on the role of diet in improving chronic disease.

鈥淚鈥檇 rather exaggerate and get some attention and action than keep doing what we鈥檙e doing, which is have millions of Americans suffering from diet-related diseases,鈥� Mozaffarian said.

MAHA supporters want to see more focus on food

Mark Gorton, president of the Kennedy-aligned MAHA Institute, said he was not familiar with the studies Kennedy referenced, but that nutrition has been 鈥渁n incredibly overlooked area in our medical system for decades.鈥�

鈥淚 think to the extent that it is possible, we should be prioritizing focusing on diet and getting back to living healthy rather than taking sick people and medicating them forever, which is the current way our system works,鈥� Gorton said.

Kody Green, a mental health advocate with schizophrenia, said that he supports healthy eating, but that he needed psychiatric medications. He worries that Kennedy’s comments could deter schizophrenia patients from trying drugs that are already stigmatized.

鈥淔or some people, maybe food can help with the issues they have, but schizophrenia is a very serious mental illness,鈥� Green said. “Until further research is done, making claims like that can be really dangerous to people in my community.鈥�

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