Washington, D.C. – A health expert is standing up for better nutrition in the U.S. and backing the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement.
Eric Berg, also known as the “Knowledge Doc,” is one of the medical professionals and wellness advocates who’s rallying behind MAHA as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. begins his tenure as HHS secretary in the Trump administration.
Berg said MAHA aligns with what he’s been focused on for 35 years – “getting people to eat real food over ultra-processed foods.”
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The first thing that Berg hopes is addressed is the food pyramid, he said.
“It’s like 65% carbohydrates, and, unfortunately, this is what we use to fatten cattle,” said Berg. “So why do we have this as our food pyramid? It’s terrible.”
“The Knowledge Doc” Eric Berg is fighting for better nutrition for Americans. He’s rallying behind MAHA and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new secretary of Health & Human Services. (Fox News Digital)
Berg is a licensed chiropractor as well as a health expert who specializes in the keto diet and intermittent fasting.
“We really want to change the food pyramid to have nutrient-dense foods,” he said. “MAHA [means] making America healthy again, like we did in 1950, when people didn’t eat what they eat now,” he added.
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In 2011, the USDA launched MyPlate, a chart that features five food groups: fruits, proteins, dairy, vegetables and grains.
Berg said that in his view, grains today have no nutritional value.
“That’ll make a huge difference in our children’s health and adults’ health and teenage health, because most teenagers, for example, [get] 68% of all their calories [from] ultra-processed food,” said Berg.
Researchers found that ultra-processed food consumption at home rose from 51% in 2003 to 54% in 2018. (iStock)
New analysis done by the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins found that ultra-processed foods account for more than half of the calories consumed at home by adults in the U.S.
Researchers also found that ultra-processed food consumption at home rose from 51% in 2003 to 54% in 2018.
Berg said ultra-processed food or “junk food” is made up of three ingredients that Americans should stay away from: seed oils, sugar and starches.
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Seed oils, which are highly refined plant-based cooking oils, were recently linked to an increased risk of colon cancer, as Fox News Digital reported.
Berg said sugar found in most ultra-processed food today has changed and is not what one would consider “regular sugar.”
He added, “It’s industrial sugar. It’s synthetic sugar.”
RFK Jr. is shown during his swearing-in as President Donald Trump’s secretary of Health & Human Services. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is at left; Cheryl Hines, actress and Kennedy’s wife, is shown at right. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Berg said Americans should look for starches that might be listed under other terms on food labels.
“That would be like modified food – ‘starch, modified corn, starch, maltodextrin’ – and starches are basically hidden sugar. That’s all they are,” he added.
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“There’s no nutrition in them.”
After junk food is processed, flavors made of synthetic chemicals are added to “coloring to get people to eat it,” Berg said.
“We have to shine a big light and make people aware that this is actually not real food,” he added.
“We have to shine a big light and make people aware that this is actually not real food,” said medical professional and wellness advocate Eric Berg. (iStock)
Commonly used food colors are synthetic petroleum-derived chemicals, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a nonprofit organization that advocates for food safety and nutrition.
“Synthetic dyes often substitute for real, nutritious ingredients, such as fruits and vegetables, and are often used to make junk foods more attractive, especially those manufactured for and marketed to children,” the CSPI’s website states.
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Dyan Hes, an M.D. at Highline Modern Medicine in Chelsea, New York, is an expert in pediatric obesity medicine.
“There are so many factors contributing to the poor health of Americans, and food dyes are certainly a contributing factor,” Hes told Fox News Digital.
Wellness advocate Berg said today’s MAHA movement aligns with what he’s been focused on for 35 years – “getting people to eat real food over ultra-processed foods.” (Fox News Digital; iStock; USDA)
Hes added, “These dyes, in conjunction with an obesogenic diet, create a state of inflammation in the human body. Artificial colors also contribute to hyperactivity in children.”
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a ban on red dye, called Red 3, or Erythrosine, due to potential cancer risks, Fox News Digital reported.
Food manufacturers must remove the dye from their products by Jan. 2027, while drug manufacturers will have until Jan. 2028, the Associated Press reported.