The US government is telling you to eat foods doctors say will kill you, and it involves reversing decades of advice on saturated fats

The US government is gearing up for a major nutritional overhaul, as Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to release new dietary guidelines this Wednesday that recommend Americans eat more saturated fats, as per The Hill. We have spent our entire adult life hearing that saturated fats are the enemy, so this expected reversal of decades of public health advice is truly shocking.

Secretary Kennedy has been vocal about his intentions to dramatically shift the country’s approach to food. While we don’t have the specific details of the new plan yet, the HHS did state that the recommendations are “rooted in rigorous science.” That’s a bold claim, especially considering how many doctors and dietitians are probably reeling from this news right now, especially ones who have been trashed by RFK Jr. before.

Kennedy emphasized his vision at an event in November, stating that the new approach is long overdue. “We’re ending the war on saturated fats in this country,” Kennedy said. “So, we’re going to publish dietary guidelines that are going to stress the importance of protein and saturated fats.” He thinks this move will genuinely revolutionize the food system and the food culture in the country. The announcement was reportedly pushed back slightly, landing right before the holiday season.

This proposed guidance flies directly in the face of what has been the public health orthodoxy since the 1950s

For decades, health authorities have linked high saturated fat intake to serious issues like elevated cholesterol and heart disease. The current advice from the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) suggests that saturated fats should make up less than 10 percent of an individual’s total diet. The American Heart Association is even stricter, recommending that people keep saturated fats below six percent of their daily intake.

Nutrition experts have repeatedly confirmed this older guidance. They point out that subsequent investigations over the years have only strengthened the connection between high saturated fat consumption and higher LDL cholesterol levels, weight gain, heart disease, and diabetes. It’s hard to imagine the rigorous science that could suddenly overturn decades of established wisdom on heart health.

So, what exactly are we talking about when we discuss saturated fats? These are the fats that stay solid at room temperature. Think about the delicious things we’ve been told to limit: butter, lard, cheese, coconut oil, beef tallow, and palm kernel oil. If these new guidelines suggest increasing consumption, you can expect a massive shift in how home cooks and restaurants approach meal prep.

Currently, Americans are already consuming a fair amount of these fats. Data from 2017 to 2018 shows that the average American consumes about 28 grams of saturated fats daily. This data included toddlers and infants, who naturally consume a higher percentage of fat, but it’s still significantly higher than the ODPHP’s general advice of keeping intake below 20 grams a day.

It sounds like we’re about to witness a truly seismic shift in nutritional policy after the massive shift in terms of pediatric vaccines. If Secretary Kennedy’s rhetoric holds true, Americans might soon be told to embrace the very foods that health organizations have warned against for almost 70 years. I’m eager to see the actual science behind this move. It’s going to take some seriously compelling evidence to convince the medical community that butter is suddenly back on the menu without limitation.