{"id":420897,"date":"2026-02-12T01:18:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T01:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/420897\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T01:18:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T01:18:14","slug":"rfk-jr-says-americans-need-more-protein-his-grok-powered-food-website-disagrees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/420897\/","title":{"rendered":"RFK Jr. Says Americans Need More Protein. His Grok-Powered Food Website Disagrees"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 30-second Super Bowl<\/a> ad featuring boxing legend Mike Tyson and paid for by the nonprofit MAHA Center encourages viewers to avoid processed foods and visit Realfood.gov<\/a>. The government website, which Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is promoting<\/a>, provides resources on the administration\u2019s new dietary guidelines<\/a>, released in January, and encourages people to use Elon Musk\u2019s AI chatbot Grok to \u201cget real answers about real food.\u201d<\/p>\n

I decided to see how Grok\u2019s advice aligns with the administration’s recommendations, particularly around protein intake. The new guidelines say to get 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day\u2014more than what was previously advised\u2014while the new inverted food pyramid prominently features steak and other animal products.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are ending the war on protein,\u201d Realfood.gov states, echoing similar declarations by Kennedy.<\/p>\n

Most Americans are already eating enough protein<\/a>\u2014and Grok agrees. In fact, so does the administration\u2019s own \u201cScientific Foundation for the Dietary Guidelines for Americans<\/a>,\u201d which is linked on Realfood.gov. It says that US adults consume on average about one gram of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, or roughly 15 percent of total energy\u2014the midpoint of the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range, or ADMR\u2014\u201dsuggesting that deficiency is rare.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the website\u2019s encouragement to ask AI for advice, I initially asked Grok how much protein I should eat based on my age, height, and weight. (Grok, it should be noted, frequently does not return answers to prompts, instead citing high demand and encouraging users to sign up for an account.) It recommended 0.8 grams per kilogram per day\u2014the long-standing recommended daily allowance, or RDA, developed by the National Institute of Medicine. When I refined my question, saying that I do 30 minutes of strength training four days a week, Grok\u2019s response was more in line with the administration\u2019s new guidelines.<\/p>\n

The recommendation of 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram per day is the minimum amount needed to prevent a protein deficiency for a sedentary lifestyle, which describes a significant portion of the American population. Nutritionists I spoke with agree that the new recommendations are more appropriate for people who exercise regularly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I think the administration is trying to do is to target the metabolically unhealthy people who may need a little more protein to feel full and satisfied to build some muscle. But that nuance is lost with their single message,\u201d says Lindsay Malone, a clinical dietician at Case Western Reserve University. \u201cThen you go to this AI tool, and it\u2019s almost too much information for the average person.\u201d<\/p>\n

While eating more protein can make you feel fuller so that you avoid snacking, she says, eating more protein on its own doesn\u2019t build muscle, which is primarily built through resistance or strength training.<\/p>\n

Michelle King Rimer, a clinical assistant professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee\u2019s Zilber College of Public Health, says eating too much of any macronutrient\u2014protein, fats, or carbohydrates\u2014can lead to weight gain. \u201cConsuming excess protein can still be converted into fat, which can lead to weight gain,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The administration\u2019s messaging also says to \u201cprioritize protein at every meal\u201d with a mix of protein from animal and plant sources. Last week, Kennedy spoke about the \u201cimportance of meat protein\u201d at the nation\u2019s largest cattle trade show, declaring that \u201cbeef is back on the menu,\u201d according to an HHS statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When I asked Grok which protein sources are healthiest, it listed plant-based proteins, fish and seafood, lean poultry, and eggs. The chatbot said to limit or minimize red meat and processed meats. That all reflects advice from major health organizations such as the American Heart Association<\/a> and growing evidence that eating plant-based proteins and fish are associated with better health outcomes than diets high in red meat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 30-second Super Bowl ad featuring boxing legend Mike Tyson and paid for by the nonprofit MAHA Center…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[733,995,102,6636,9568,56,54,55,7540],"class_list":{"0":"post-420897","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-artificial-intelligence","9":"tag-elon-musk","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-nutrition","12":"tag-robert-f-kennedy-jr","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom","16":"tag-xai"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}