There’s a new occupational hazard wafting through the upper ranks of the Trump administration, and it’s not policy disputes — it’s the lingering scent of fermented cabbage, according to a new report.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Vice President JD Vance have all bought into a sauerkraut-and-kimchi-heavy diet pushed by physician Dr. Sean O’Mara, who promises weight loss and a healthier gut microbiome in exchange for daily helpings of fermented food and a steady diet of grass-fed steak, reported the Wall Street Journal.
“They all apparently have determined the health benefits outweigh the slightly sulfurous odors that have been the cause of some domestic friction,” the newspaper reported.
Sauerkraut doesn’t exactly travel well, and officials around them have apparently noticed.
The diet’s devotees, however, have decided the tradeoff is worth it.
Kennedy, who has been on the regimen for about a year, has said he initially found the tangy, pungent flavor off-putting before warming to the results, and his wife Cheryl Hines says he wakes up at 6:30 every morning to cook steak and eat sauerkraut.
“We’ll be in the car, dressed up. I’ll have my little clutch, right?” Hines recalled in an interview on Katie Miller’s podcast. “One of my good bags that I only take out every once in a while, because I want to keep them nice, and he’ll hand me a bag of sauerkraut and say, ‘Can you put this in your bag?’ and I’ll say, ‘I actually cannot.’”
Lutnick, meanwhile, has leaned into the lifestyle at home, fermenting his own vegetables rather than relying on store-bought jars, while Vance reportedly snacks on pickles and fermented sides even while traveling on Air Force Two. Duffy’s commitment to the diet was apparently visible enough that former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy noticed his glowing skin and asked about it directly, leading McCarthy to become a convert himself.
For now, the cabinet’s fermented-food faithful seem unbothered by the social cost. O’Mara, who has built a private practice around the diet — with consultations running as high as $18,000 — argues the benefits to appearance and energy are worth any lingering odor.
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