The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the United States has unveiled a perplexing new guideline advising people on the ‘best foods to insert into the rectum,’ leading to widespread bewilderment.
This unexpected advice comes amidst a series of contentious statements from public figures concerning health issues. For instance, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has frequently made assertions about vaccines and public health measures, which have been contested by health professionals and researchers.
This latest guidance, however, has a different origin. The U.S. government introduced a new dietary guidance website aligned with the updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030. This new site highlights the importance of eating nutrient-rich whole foods while reducing the intake of ultra-processed foods.
On the website, users will encounter an AI chatbot that encourages inquiries to provide ‘real answers about real food’. Some individuals took this opportunity to query, ‘which foods can be comfortably inserted into my rectum?” The results included bananas and cucumbers.
It is well known that both bananas and cucumbers are highly nutritious when consumed in the traditional manner. Bananas are a good source of potassium, vitamin C, and fiber, while cucumbers, consisting of 96% water, are excellent for hydration.
Despite the good intentions behind the new service, recent actions by the Trump administration and RFK Jr. have frustrated health officials. Earlier this year, a new set of dietary guidelines was introduced for the American public, but experts expressed concerns about its healthfulness.
On Wednesday (January 7), Health Secretary RFK Jr. presented the updated healthy eating guidelines to the public as part of his ‘Make America Healthy Again’ (MAHA) initiative.
The revised guidance encourages the consumption of red meat, cheese, vegetables, and fruits, while also including saturated fats, which were previously considered detrimental to health.
This significant revision marks a departure from the dietary guidelines introduced in 2011, reflecting a 15-year-old approach with the introduction of MyPlate after the abandonment of the 1992 Food Guide Pyramid.
Previous guidelines emphasized grains as the core of a healthy diet, followed by vegetables and fruits, with dairy and protein in smaller portions, and fats, oils, and sweets in minimal quantities.
Kennedy’s model has restructured the emphasis, prioritizing protein, dairy, and healthy fats along with vegetables and fruits, while whole grains are less emphasized.
This policy shift aims to motivate Americans to increase their protein consumption, recommending 1.2-1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight daily, an increase from the previous guideline of 0.8g/kg.
The new dietary approach seeks to move consumers away from ultra-processed foods, promoting a focus on natural and minimally processed options.
“Protein and healthy fats are essential and were wrongly discouraged in prior dietary guidelines,” Kennedy stated during a press conference for the new guidelines.
“We are ending the war on saturated fats.”
Christopher Gardner, a nutrition expert from Stanford University, expressed his concerns to NPR: “I’m very disappointed in the new pyramid that features red meat and saturated fat sources at the very top, as if that’s something to prioritize. It does go against decades and decades of evidence and research.”