Make America Healthy Again: One Year In Review

And joining us now to discuss is Jennifer Ghilardi. She's a Senior Policy Analyst for Restoring American Wellness in the Heritage Foundation's DeVos Center. Jennifer, thank you so much for joining us. You were actually at the event today. Give us a sense, what was the energy like in that room? You know, there's been a lot of talk about this. Is it becoming more bipartisan? I wish it was becoming more bipartisan. It does seem to be solely kind of supported by people on the right. But the funny thing is, it really is people on the that kind of came over like Kennedy did, saw a bigger goal, a more important goal than politics, and joined forces. I just wish some of our friends on the left would kind of join in this party. It's been really fun. You asked about the energy in the room. At every Maha event, it's almost electric. And having Secretary Kennedy there, live and in person, I think really brought the energy up a little bit more. And maybe, you know, as you're a year into a project, sometimes the momentum can get stalled, but we just seem to be having win after win after win. And having him there to affirm those wins and declare them publicly in front of, you know, a room of hundreds of people and then thousands of people online was really exciting. It's always great for all of us to come together to celebrate and then to plan the next steps forward. And Health Secretary Kennedy is saying today, processed foods don't just have a physical impact. He's highlighting a spiritual realm and that we could lose our country. Talk to us about that from your own work at Heritage. What are the areas of concern and what's being done about it? I mean, when you don't have a healthy society, you can't have a healthy country. I know from, you know, working with clients that when you're overweight and you're obese, there is a mental toll. Depression goes up. You're kind of, your brain is running on sugar. We're doing a lot of work with groups that are studying and doing research on the correlation between the microbiome, metabolic health, meaning how your cells produce energy and run energy, just like your car runs on, you know, a good engine and good fuel, how that affects your mental state. And there's really good research that a ketogenic diet or a low-carb diet or a diet reduced in carbohydrate and sugars and insulin is really what we're looking at, a glucose and insulin response here, that those kinds of diets can have a positive impact on mental health, everything from schizophrenia to bipolar to depression. And I don't think, though, it requires a PhD to know, like, when you feel healthy, your mood is better. You have more energy to do things. You're more involved. You're more energetic. So it's definitely multifactorial. There's some definite, like, real biological, physiological impacts of our diet, but there's also just the general, you know, attitude of how you feel when you eat better and you take care of yourself. It's kind of the self-respect, the idea of the body as a temple. I think almost all religions and philosophies have that idea of that our physical body is kind of the vehicle for our soul. And so it's all interconnected, and we can't treat these things as separate. And when we do, we miss the mark on how to really treat people. And we're only at that point kind of playing whack-a-mole and treating symptoms as opposed to the whole person. And it's been a year, and it does seem Maha is getting more focused. You had Mike Tyson's Super Bowl ad yesterday. You have changes to Snap, Red 40 ban, so much more. Looking back, though, what have been the areas that have seen the biggest changes so far? I think the biggest change, you know, all of the policy changes are great, but I really think it's the messaging, that they are really out there promoting these ideas. You know, when Michelle Obama came up with the MyPlate, nobody really knew about it. Nobody knew what it was. They are putting so much attention on marketing and messaging and getting out there in front of the consumers. Super Bowl ads. I mean, who thought that, like, you know, a government policy, the food pyramid, and tackling obesity would be in a Super Bowl ad? Having Mike Tyson in there talking about eating real food and a very, I thought, emotional plea with his story and his sister. You know, celebrities coming out and supporting this despite the politics of it. I think that's huge. I think the visuals of the new food pyramid are excellent. There's something really simple and kind of beautiful about it. Your eye is attracted towards it, and it's not dogmatic. It's, you know, eat real food. I think that is such a simple but powerful message that we've been missing from leadership in government. It's always just felt so complicated. And Kennedy and his team have really simplified the message. And that's not always easy for people. They are addicted to processed food at this point. So we're not saying it's easy, but people at some point have to make those decisions. But I think the messaging is spot on and the education is there. So I'm looking forward to kind of hoping to push that further, maybe into schools, getting nutrition programs into schools, bringing a little bit of, like, home ec back to schools, cooking classes, that kind of thing. Well, Jennifer Ghilardi, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks. Have a great night.