Make America Healthy Again - Trump populism comes to health regulation (1 Viewer)

[superchuck500]

This is going to need a thread as we move forward - there are now clear signs that Trump supports a new, critical if not dubious approach on vaccination, and his HHS nominee RFK Jr. regularly espouses eating raw milk and raw meat . . . dietary components most experts agree are more dangerous than their heated counterparts.

Health is certainly one of those areas were anti-institutionalism and turning to popular influencers over medical science comes with genuine risk of harm.

Today Trump provided his most clear indication that he is a vaccine skeptic - claiming (falsely of course) that the USA doesn't "do as well" as other nations that use no vaccines at all.

 

[Optimus Prime]

For Mikyla Page, keeping a three year-old daughter healthy is serious business. Before eating anything, the stay-at-home mom reads an ingredients list, staying away from artificial colors, flavors, dyes, and excess sugar.

She doesn’t support vaccination, instead believing that “bathing in sunlight” will keep her family healthy, making sure her family gets outside every day to soak up vitamin D.

At first, Page felt alone in her choices. “You’re called crazy for even questioning the medical field,” she said. “My intuition was telling me one thing, but the world was telling me something else. My husband was like, ‘Are you sure this is where you want to go?’ I just went with my gut.”

Now, with Robert F Kennedy Jr tapped by Donald Trump to oversee the Department of Health and Human Services, Page, who is 26 and lives in Utah, feels vindicated.

Kennedy is well known for his history of pushing baseless health claims that sometimes veer into tinfoil hat territory – he’s said that chemicals in the water supply affect a child’s gender identity, and that Covid was “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jewish and Chinese people.

He has also long advocated against vaccines, repeating the debunked claim made by the discredited British doctor Andrew Wakefield that the vaccines cause autism.

Kennedy’s supporters include an army of self-identified “crunchy moms” like Page, who are especially drawn to one proposal in particular: improving Americans’ diets and reeling in the processed food industry. In November, he accusedmajor manufacturers of “poison[ing]” kids.

Moms on social media adopted the hashtag #MAHA, which has been used in over 224,000 TikTok videos (Kennedy has promised to “make America healthy again” – a play on Donald Trump’s trademark slogan that’s often shortened to Maha).

Anyone can consider themselves Maha, but mothers in particular have become its fiercest evangelists online, where they post videos explaining their politics while cooking dinner or resting a swaddled baby in their arms.

Maha can be seen as the alliance of multiple health-focused subcultures. Along with crunchy moms, there are influencers and entrepreneurs who use the movement to peddle supposedly non-toxic brands of baby wipes or moisturizers.

There are the chronically ill, who feel failed by the medical establishment. There are the yogis and wellness bros who believe that it’s possible to optimize your way to a better life, to heal oneself without the help of mainstream medicine.

And then there is Trump – famously a McDonald’s lover, and not exactly the picture of health – and his supporters, who politicize Maha as a rallying cry against science-based elites………

Rise of the Maha moms: the momfluencers embracing RFK’s push for a ‘healthier’ America

Experts condemn his conspiracist thinking as dangerous – but some ‘crunchy’ Trump backers feel vindicated by the health secretary pick

www.theguardian.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

Seed oils are in many foods. They are usually cheap and easy to cook with, and their inoffensive taste means they can be used in a huge variety of things.

Go on any social media platform, though, and you will find self-appointed health influencers blaming them for everything from inflammation to the obesity epidemic.

Politicians do it too: the man Donald Trump wants for his health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, has claimed that Americans are being “unknowingly poisoned” by them.

But is any of this true, and should it change how you buy or cook your food?………

Robert F Kennedy Jr claims seed oils are ‘poisoning’ us. Here’s why he’s wrong

Like a host of online influencers, the man likely to be the US’s next health secretary has denounced the vegetable oils used in countless foods. The science is not on their side

www.theguardian.com

 

[MT15]

You can just reliably take anything RFK Jr says and go with the opposite as the truth.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Politicians do it too: the man Donald Trump wants for his health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, has claimed that Americans are being “unknowingly poisoned” by them.

\

I am sure seed oils are what killed Rfk's brainworms.

 

[SaintRob]

I am intimately involved with MULTIPLE children that are living this confused life. I am intimately involved watching these boys being influenced to find their femininity.

I don't believe this for a second. I think this is a blatant lie to attempt to justify your position.

 

[horse2H5]

I don't believe this for a second. I think this is a blatant lie to attempt to justify your position.

private message sent

 

[superchuck500]

What is beef tallow? Is it good for me? - Mayo Clinic Press

Beef tallow is making an unexpected return to households - marketed as a wellness superstar.

mcpress.mayoclinic.org

 

[MT15]

The Steak and Shakes in my town are doing horribly.

Honestly, this is probably the least harmful thing he promotes, as long as people aren’t eating this every day. His campaign against “seed oils” doesn’t seem to have any basis in reality, but eating fries fried in beef tallow every now and then won’t hurt anyone, most likely.

 

[bird]

The Steak and Shakes in my town are doing horribly.

Honestly, this is probably the least harmful thing he promotes, as long as people aren’t eating this every day. His campaign against “seed oils” doesn’t seem to have any basis in reality, but eating fries fried in beef tallow every now and then won’t hurt anyone, most likely.

I always liked their fries. Their burgers weren’t bad either. There was one near us but it closed and became a Slim Chickens. There was already a KFC. Then a Canes chicken opened and then a Popeye’s. Have only had the KFC once or twice. Generally, I don’t eat fast food anymore.

 

[MT15]

I always liked their fries. Their burgers weren’t bad either. There was one near us but it closed and became a Slim Chickens. There was already a KFC. Then a Canes chicken opened and then a Popeye’s. Have only had the KFC once or twice. Generally, I don’t eat fast food anymore.

yeah, for some reason we never go to either of the steak and shakes in our town, but we don’t often go to any of those other chains either. I don’t have anything against them, just feel no desire to go there.

 

[Optimus Prime]

It’s January, season of resolutions and virtue, when Americans collectively decide to throw out the butter and sugar and booze and embrace grain bowls and bone broth.

Most of these resolutions – 80%, according to some studies – will fade by February, Super Bowl Sunday at the latest, so advertisers pushing dietary health trends have to strike fast.

Earlier this month, for example, the salad chain Sweetgreen unveiled a new January menu that is completely free of “seed oils”.

“Our country is having a long-overdue conversation about food,” Jonathan Neman, Sweetgreen’s co-founder and CEO, announced in a post on X.

“And it’s about time. From ultra-processed ingredients to artificial additives, there’s a lot on our plates that isn’t doing us any favors.”

Neman is wrong. Our country is always having a conversation about food. In particular, which food that we’ve always eaten has suddenly become“bad” for us.

The latest culprits are seed oils, liquid fats extracted from vegetables that are used in cooking. The anti-seed-oil conversation began seven or eight years ago in the corners of the internet where legitimate concerns about diet and nutrition mix with dubious health claims.

Eaterhas traced it to 2017, when an ophthalmologist named Chris Knobbe published a paper arguing that vegetable oils, along with white flour and sugar, are the primary cause of macular degeneration, a chronic and incurable eye disease that’s the leading cause of blindness in the US.

Knobbe subsequently went further and concluded that these foods contributed to all “diseases of civilization”, including type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, cancer and stroke, and recommended a return to “ancestral foods”, primarily meat and fish.

Gradually, the conversation was taken up by “hetrodox” influencers who like to say they’re “just asking questions” about government policies like mandatory vaccines.

In 2020, the podcaster Joe Rogan chatted for three hours with Paul Saladino, a physician and proponent of the carnivore diet, who told Rogan and his approximately 15 million listeners that “there’s a direct correlation between incorporating these processed seed oils and terrible health results”.……

Enter Sweetgreen, the largest salad chain in the US, which could have chosen to emphasize that they were switching to avocado and extra virgin olive oil in their new menu (and 10 years ago they might have – when those oils’ health benefits were being regularly touted). But by focusing on having “no seed oils” in the marketing, they’re giving red meat (or beef tallow) to the likes of Rogan and Saladino.

It didn’t matter that the FDA, the American Heart Association and most other medical associations had said that seed oils were not only OK, but healthier than solid animal fats, which have been proven to lead to high cholesterol, insulin resistance and inflammation.…….

Salad chain Sweetgreen is caving to conspiracy theories about seed oils. Why?

RFK, Joe Rogan and other powerful voices have launched a crusade against the oils, saying they’re terrible for you. But nutrition experts disagree

www.theguardian.com

 

[bird]

It’s January, season of resolutions and virtue, when Americans collectively decide to throw out the butter and sugar and booze and embrace grain bowls and bone broth.

Most of these resolutions – 80%, according to some studies – will fade by February, Super Bowl Sunday at the latest, so advertisers pushing dietary health trends have to strike fast.

Earlier this month, for example, the salad chain Sweetgreen unveiled a new January menu that is completely free of “seed oils”.

“Our country is having a long-overdue conversation about food,” Jonathan Neman, Sweetgreen’s co-founder and CEO, announced in a post on X.

“And it’s about time. From ultra-processed ingredients to artificial additives, there’s a lot on our plates that isn’t doing us any favors.”

Neman is wrong. Our country is always having a conversation about food. In particular, which food that we’ve always eaten has suddenly become“bad” for us.

The latest culprits are seed oils, liquid fats extracted from vegetables that are used in cooking. The anti-seed-oil conversation began seven or eight years ago in the corners of the internet where legitimate concerns about diet and nutrition mix with dubious health claims.

Eaterhas traced it to 2017, when an ophthalmologist named Chris Knobbe published a paper arguing that vegetable oils, along with white flour and sugar, are the primary cause of macular degeneration, a chronic and incurable eye disease that’s the leading cause of blindness in the US.

Knobbe subsequently went further and concluded that these foods contributed to all “diseases of civilization”, including type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, cancer and stroke, and recommended a return to “ancestral foods”, primarily meat and fish.

Gradually, the conversation was taken up by “hetrodox” influencers who like to say they’re “just asking questions” about government policies like mandatory vaccines.

In 2020, the podcaster Joe Rogan chatted for three hours with Paul Saladino, a physician and proponent of the carnivore diet, who told Rogan and his approximately 15 million listeners that “there’s a direct correlation between incorporating these processed seed oils and terrible health results”.……

Enter Sweetgreen, the largest salad chain in the US, which could have chosen to emphasize that they were switching to avocado and extra virgin olive oil in their new menu (and 10 years ago they might have – when those oils’ health benefits were being regularly touted). But by focusing on having “no seed oils” in the marketing, they’re giving red meat (or beef tallow) to the likes of Rogan and Saladino.

It didn’t matter that the FDA, the American Heart Association and most other medical associations had said that seed oils were not only OK, but healthier than solid animal fats, which have been proven to lead to high cholesterol, insulin resistance and inflammation.…….

Salad chain Sweetgreen is caving to conspiracy theories about seed oils. Why?

RFK, Joe Rogan and other powerful voices have launched a crusade against the oils, saying they’re terrible for you. But nutrition experts disagree

www.theguardian.com

So, why is this happening?

Two reasons…

1) None of these “researchers” actually know. Like supplements that tout “clinically tested” without actual double blind testing and following rigid protocols they put out piles of alleged data and then try to both convince people that they and they alone know the “secrets” which are being kept from The People by (insert bogeyman here) and to make piles of money.

2) Humans are stupid. They want to believe in magic. They want to believe that there must be simple answers or answers that support anything that they believe. And they will hand over money for those magic beans.

 

[Dragon]

One thing we always notice whenever we’re in the U.S. is the sheer size of the portions at restaurants. Sometimes it feels like a single plate could feed an entire family!

At first, it felt wrong not to finish everything on the plate, but now we simply eat the amount we normally would and leave the rest.

Interestingly, the story here at home is the complete opposite. Restaurants are focused on promoting polyunsaturated fatty acids, sustainable meats, and locally sourced vegetables.

 

[Lapaz]

The withdrawal from WHO, coupled with the pausing of new regulations until Trump’s appointees review them, and the difficulty that will add to passing regulations, will make it more likely to allow a pandemic to take hold.

Withdrawing The United States From The World Health Organization – The White House

WITHDRAWING THE UNITED STATES FROM THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the

www.whitehouse.gov

Regulatory Freeze Pending Review – The White House

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order all executive departments and

www.whitehouse.gov

It will cause many other problems as new technologies that need regulations, like AI, that can help with identifying disease trends and help developing pharmaceuticals, but could make us less safe without proper regulations. Also, without the data from WHO, we will struggle to develop vaccinations. The Gates Foundation is the 2nd largest funder of the WHO, so maybe US labs may still get the data, but we may encounter some limits to data sharing, which will endanger the U.S.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Shades of “Roe is settled law”
======================
Robert F Kennedy Jr built a following online by questioning the scientific consensus and casting doubt on the use of vaccines in the U.S., but under his new boss — President Donald Trump — the failed presidential candidate is suddenly shifting his stance.

Kennedy is Trump's pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services. Ahead of his new potential role in the Trump White House, he's reportedly been assuring the Republican senators who have to vote him in that he's "all for" polio vaccines, and that he isn't going to ban any vaccines, according to a report by Politico.

According to lawmakers who spoke to Politico, Kennedy has been telling them that he just wants to make safety and efficacy data easier to access.

This lighter touch is a change from Kennedy's previous commentary on vaccines. He previously suggested that the measles vaccine causes autism and that the polio vaccines may have killed "many, many, many, many, many more people than polio ever did."

Neither of those claims represent the scientific consensus.

He is perhaps best known for his comments on the Covid-19 vaccines, which he called the "deadliest" ever created. At one point he even suggested that somehow the virus had been engineered not to affect Ashkenazi Jewish and Chinese people.

“He told me he is not anti-vaccine. He is pro-vaccine safety, which strikes me as a rational position to take,” Senator John Cornyn told Politico.

When asked about Kennedy's history of vaccine skepticism, Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville replied that he doesn't "keep up with all that."………

RFK Jr is telling senate Republicans that he’s actually ‘all for’ vaccines

Kennedy has suggested, contrary to scientific consensus, that certain vaccines are connected to childhood autism, asthma and developmental impairment

www.independent.co.uk

 

[superchuck500]

HHS official halts CDC reports and health communications for Trump team review

The pause in "public communications" through Feb. 1 includes new guidance and regulations, according to a memo obtained by NBC News.

www.nbcnews.com

There will be no public communication from US health agencies until the Trumpers get in and take control.

 

[Dragon]

HHS official halts CDC reports and health communications for Trump team review

The pause in "public communications" through Feb. 1 includes new guidance and regulations, according to a memo obtained by NBC News.

www.nbcnews.com

The delay could include several reports on bird flu that were set to be released Thursday by the CDC, one official said. That potential gap in reporting comes during an escalating outbreak of bird flu, also called H5N1.

So a repeat of 2019 if those reports contain bad news about the Avian flu?