A White House led by one of the most unconventional health secretaries in modern U.S. politics has now adopted an unconventional diet to match: sauerkraut, kimchi, steak, no alcohol and as little sugar as possible.
The latest nutritional trend among senior Trump administration officials is built around large servings of fermented foods. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the most visible advocate, but the diet has also been adopted by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Vice President JD Vance, who is currently involved in intensive U.S. efforts to reach an agreement with Iran.
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Vice President JD Vance and the sauerkraut diet
(Photo: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Madeleine Steinbach / Shutterstock)
The diet’s devotees say the health benefits outweigh the discomfort reportedly caused by its more pungent side effects, which have already become something of a White House legend after several awkward videos circulated on social media.
“I lost 20 pounds in 30 days,” Kennedy boasted this week at an event in Michigan. “JD Vance is also on the diet, and you can see how much he has changed.”
The man behind the trend is Dr. Sean O’Mara, a physician who advises his well-known clients to eat fermented foods such as sauerkraut and kimchi alongside grass-fed steak, while avoiding alcohol and high-sugar foods.
O’Mara says the diet reduces visceral fat, the hidden fat that accumulates around internal organs and is linked to a higher risk of diabetes, heart disease and metabolic syndrome. He also says it improves the microbiome and supports digestion.
For snacks, he recommends what he calls “Old World cheeses,” including blue cheese, gorgonzola and ungrated parmesan.
“I tend to work with older people because the return on investment is much greater,” O’Mara told The Wall Street Journal. “It’s like taking over a sinking ship or a company heading toward bankruptcy.”
Kennedy began the diet about a year ago after meeting O’Mara. Although he has sometimes been put off by sauerkraut’s sharp, sour taste, he says the diet helped him lose weight and reduced pain. He has also credited it with the disappearance of atrial fibrillation from which he had suffered.
Lutnick was among the first to follow Kennedy’s lead, after a conversation with him on a shared flight to Colorado in December 2025. He began preparing fermented vegetables at home instead of buying ready-made sauerkraut, and replaced Diet Coke with black coffee.
Vance initially joined the diet during Lent, the Christian fasting period before Easter, and then simply kept going.
His typical lunch now includes eggs, sauerkraut, pickles, blueberries and raspberries. For dinner, he eats beef or lamb with sauerkraut. On Air Force Two, he snacks on grass-fed beef jerky or a cheeseburger without the bun.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he met Sean Duffy at an event and told him he looked “glowing.” Duffy recommended that he meet O’Mara, and McCarthy is now part of the trend as well.
“He told me I was the worst case he had ever seen,” McCarthy said, adding that his waist has shrunk by about four inches. “But he was so positive, he said: ‘You have great potential.’”
Kennedy is so committed to the diet that he travels with his own supply of sauerkraut. His wife, actress Cheryl Hines, has made clear that there are limits.
“We’re sitting in the car, dressed nicely. I have one of my nice purses, which I rarely take out because I try to protect them,” Hines recalled in an interview on a podcast hosted by Katie Miller, the wife of senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller. “And he hands me a bag of sauerkraut and says, ‘Can you put this in your purse?’ No, I really can’t.”
One person who has not been persuaded is Trump himself. The president is expected to continue eating hamburgers and pizza, and drinking Coke, as usual.
O’Mara, who began advising politicians during the George W. Bush administration, now specializes in MRI scans designed to detect visceral fat. His clinic’s “optimization programs” begin at $8,000, while a direct consultation with him reportedly costs $18,000.
That, of course, does not include the sauerkraut.