June 30, 2025 — Within a month, we expect that U.S. Dietary Guidelines will come out of the MAHA machine, looking like nothing that came before. Speculation is rife and the expectations are low that this new incarnation will be tethered to nutrition research. Writing in The Atlantic about HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. and the imminent issuance of […]
June 3, 2025 — New research at Nutrition 2025 used blood markers to measure linoleic acid levels and their relation to cardiometabolic risk. The results add to the evidence that this omega-6 fatty acid may help to lower risks for heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Annoyingly, the facts of these findings challenge deeply held beliefs that seed oils […]
May 31, 2025 — Artificial intelligence sometimes produces artificial information that has no connection to reality. The term of art for this phenomenon is AI hallucinations. This week we learned that at least some parts of the MAHA report might have sprung from such hallucinations. It listed references that don’t exist and conclusions for other references that were not […]
May 23, 2025 — The new MAHA (Making America Healthy Again) report on the health of American children is out and, in a word, things are terrible. In the words of the report, “it presents the stark reality of American children’s declining health.” We have a whole generation at risk because of toxic chemicals, ultra-processed food, unnecessary medical treatments, […]
April 17, 2025 — The author of some of the most compelling scientific research on ultra-processed foods, Kevin Hall, is leaving NIH because of censorship of his science at the agency. “I experienced censorship in the reporting of our research because of agency concerns that it did not appear to fully support preconceived narratives of my agency’s leadership about […]
April 8, 2025 — We find ourselves wondering, as Marion Nestle does, about the unlikely alignment of RFK’s MAHA concept with some of the ideas about food policy she has been advocating for decades. We do not always agree, but we have long admired Nestle’s convictions in taking on problems with food systems and the business model of the […]
April 6, 2025 — Get ready. A few months have passed since the Scientific Report of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Committee became final. But honestly, it seems like another lifetime when that was published. That was before the installation of the MAHA regime at HHS that is de-emphasizing vaccines, firing scientists, and promoting cod liver oil and “healthy” fries. […]
