What does Robert F. Kennedy Jr. eat?
It is not a question one would typically ask of prospective cabinet members, even those whose broad remit as secretary of health and human services — the post for which Mr. Kennedy was put forward, on Thursday, by President-elect Donald J. Trump — would include oversight of the nation’s food safety and the promotion of public health.
But a central component of Mr. Kennedy’s pitch, as a presidential candidate and later as Mr. Trump’s prospective public-health czar, is his personal emphasis on nutrition and exercise. He likes to talk about vitamins and has been known to post videos of himself lifting weights, shirtless. He has also been linked to a lot of dead animals, so the question seems like fair game, so to speak.
A review of Mr. Kennedy’s recent interviews, and conversations with people familiar with his eating habits, turned up general themes about what he consumes and how, though few specifics. The answer appears to be: almost anything you can find in nature. And only between noon and 7 p.m.
In a 2023 interview with Lex Fridman, a computer scientist who hosts a popular podcast, Mr. Kennedy said he engaged in “intermittent fasting” — a dietary protocol that calls for eating food only in a specific, brief window during the day.
Adherents say time-restricted eating helps with weight loss and other metabolic functions, such as reduced inflammation and improved heart and brain health. People love it, although recent studies have not substantiated major health benefits beyond more typical diet plans.
In his interview with Mr. Fridman, Mr. Kennedy said he ate his first meal around noon and tried not to eat after 6 or 7 p.m. He said he started every morning with a 12-step meeting, a three-mile hike with his dogs, meditation and about a half-hour at the gym — a routine that does not leave much time for breakfast. He eats very healthfully, friends say, and he has been known to throw scraps of leftover meat to a pair of ravens he is trying to befriend in his backyard.
