JD Vance admits he is following RFK Jr-approved ‘crazy' Lenten diet: ‘An act of sacrifice’
WASHINGTON, DC: As the pressures of serving as the United States vice president continue to mount, JD Vance appears to be taking his health more seriously, even if it means embracing a diet he openly admits is a little “crazy.”
The 41-year-old vice president recently confessed that he has been following a diet that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr recommended during Lent.
A Lenten diet is rooted in the 40-day Christian fasting period leading up to Easter and usually involves giving up meat as an act of discipline and devotion.
Depending on religious tradition, the practice can range from avoiding red meat on certain days to following a strict plant-based diet that cuts out all animal products for the entire season.
JD Vance says RFK Jr approved diet made him healthier
Unlike most penitents, who return to their previous ways after Lent, Vance admitted to NBC that he has continued the diet by eating according to an inverted food pyramid recommended by RFK Jr.
It involves “a lot of protein,” he said, and “fermented foods writ large, so, you know, yogurt, cheese, and things like that.”
“I think it definitely made me feel healthier, and it’s something I’ve continued with,” Vance, an adult Catholic convert, admitted before adding, “So, you know, that’s one of the cool things about Lent, is sometimes you do these things as an act of sacrifice, and you realize that not indulging yourself is maybe a very good thing.”
Vance had previously undergone a dramatic physical transformation during his Ohio Senate campaign, shedding more than 40 pounds in an effort to improve his health and stamina on the campaign trail.
RFK Jr’s 'crazy diet' explained by JD Vance
Kennedy first introduced his unconventional inverted food pyramid in January this year, placing less emphasis on whole grains while elevating meat, dairy, fruits, and vegetables as the foundation of his dietary philosophy.
“Protein and healthy fats are essential and were wrongly discouraged in prior dietary guidelines,” Kennedy said. “We are ending the war on saturated fats.”
Kennedy also called for a “dramatic reduction” in “highly processed foods laden with refined carbohydrates, added sugars, excess sodium, unhealthy fats, and chemical additives.”
By placing red meat and animal fats at the center of the new model, Kennedy’s pyramid marked a sharp break from the traditional food pyramid that guided American nutrition advice from the early 1990s until its phaseout in 2011.
That system was later replaced by Michelle Obama’s “MyPlate” initiative, a simpler, plate-based nutrition guide, before Kennedy introduced his own revised version.
JD Vance quits X during Lent break
Vance’s focus appears to extend beyond just physical fitness, with the vice president also paying closer attention to maintaining his mental well-being.
During the interview, the VP confirmed that he had given up something else at the start of Lent: X, previously known as Twitter.
Vance admitted that uninstalling X made him much more “productive” but acknowledged that he will reinstall it soon. “I live in such a crazy bubble,” he said. “I travel with Secret Service all the time. If you think about how many unplanned interactions I have in a given week, it’s close to zero, because I live in such a bubble.”
“And I think one of the good things about social media is that it actually exposes you to unfiltered raw opinions, and that’s one of the things that I need to hear as a political leader. So I will definitely reinstall it, but I’ve enjoyed my little break from it,” he continued.
