Robert F. Kennedy is facing significant pushback from medical professionals over federal dietary guidelines.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.‘s dietary advice based on red meat, raw milk, high-fat beef tallow and butter has sparked a rebellion among the nation’s heart doctors.
The American Heart Association (AHA), which represents a nationwide network of cardiovascular professonals, released dietary guidelines of its own this week in a sharp rebuke.
They include plant-based proteins, low-fat dairy and low-fat olive, soybean and canola oils.
The recommendations are a stark contrast to the Trump administration, which essentially inverted the long-established food pyramid to reflect RFK Jr’s preferences.
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Since his appointment as Health and Human Services Secretary last year, Kennedy has been on a rampage rewriting a wide range of recommendations on vaccines and even over-the-counter drugs.
Before this year, the federal government has largely followed the advice of medical groups, such as the AHA, which includes more than 30,000 health care professionals among more than 35 million volunteers and supporters.
Kennedy’s actions as HHS Secretary have faced intense opposition, lawsuits, and condemnation from major medical groups. They include the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Medical Association (AMA), and the American Public Health Association (APHA).
Critics argue his policies against vaccines, water fluoridation, and established public health guidelines are based on “pseudoscience” and endanger public health.
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Kennedy fired all 17 members of the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) last June, and filled those spots with anti-vaccine advocates.
Among the more controversial actions:
COVID-19 Guidance: In July 2025, several medical groups sued Kennedy for unilaterally changing federal guidance to advise against COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children and pregnant people, contrary to established scientific evidence.
Childhood Vaccine Schedule: In early 2026, a federal judge temporarily blocked Kennedy from cutting the number of vaccines recommended for children, following a lawsuit regarding his plans to end broad recommendations for vaccines against measles, polio, and other diseases.
Hepatitis B & Aluminum: Critics warned that recommendations supported by Kennedy to limit the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine and scrutinize aluminum-based vaccines could lead to preventable deaths and diseases.
Water Fluoridation: Kennedy has advocated for removing fluoride from public water supplies, asserting it harms children’s IQ. Major health organizations maintain that community water fluoridation is safe and effective.
Dietary and Chronic Disease: Kennedy has promoted unproven links between Tylenol, vaccines, and autism, and suggested that keto diets can cure schizophrenia, claims that experts have strongly refuted.
AHA President Stacey Rosen, who is a cardiologist and a senior vice president of women’s health at Northwell Health in New York, said the group’s recommendations are “based on decades of science.”
Encouraging people to eat red meat and full-fat dairy products “has been shown repeatedly to be a not healthy way to eat,” she said.
Diets higher in beans, peas and lentils—and lower in red and processed meat—are associated with a lower risk of heart disease, the group says.
People sould also maintain a healthy weight, choose whole grains over refined grains, foods low in sodium and meals with little or no salt. It also advises to limit or refrain from alcohol.
Kennedy had criticized the grop, saying it was beholden to corporate interests.
Editor’s note: Artifical Intelligence (AI) was used to conduct research for this article.