Some of the most prominent names in Trump’s inner circle may be approaching bathroom breaks a little differently than much of the country.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Vice President JD Vance are reportedly among the high-profile officials drawn to a buzzy eating regimen that touts weight loss, healthier-looking skin and, in its most headline-grabbing promise, “nearly orgasmic” bowel movements.
The striking bathroom claim comes from Dr. Sean O’Mara, the physician behind the diet, who argues that the right gut-focused approach can lead to trips to the toilet that are quick, low-odor and may not even require wiping.
“When you start eating healthy, you don’t need toilet paper,” O’Mara told the New York Times Magazine. “Animals in the wild have no residual stool on their anus.”
O’Mara, an emergency medicine doctor who has rebranded himself as a health optimization specialist, says he has spent the past 10 years following what he calls a “living carnivore diet” — a lifestyle he claims has overhauled his health, right down to his bathroom routine.
“I could have a bowel movement behind a sheet at a dinner party in the corner of the room,” he said, “and nobody would know.”
At the center of the diet is a hard break from sugar, alcohol and ultra-processed foods, replaced instead by grass-fed meat and fermented foods such as sauerkraut and kimchi.
The plan also leans on eggs, pickles, yogurt and berries, while O’Mara points snackers toward what he calls “old world cheese,” including varieties like Gorgonzola and Parmesan.
The physician claims his signature diet improves digestion, boosts the gut microbiome and melts away visceral fat — the deep abdominal fat that surrounds internal organs.
Kennedy, 72, reportedly adopted the diet last year after meeting O’Mara and has credited it with helping him lose 20 pounds, ease chronic aches and pains and eliminate symptoms of atrial fibrillation.
Vance later joined in at Kennedy’s recommendation. The vice president adopted the diet for Lent earlier this year and, according to the health secretary, has stuck with it ever since.
Other converts in Washington include Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the Wall Street Journal reported in June.
The growing list of devotees comes as gut health has become a leading wellness trend, with foods like sauerkraut enjoying a major resurgence. The tangy fermented cabbage — long relegated to hot dogs and deli sandwiches — has reclaimed a starring role on dinner plates thanks to its mix of prebiotics and probiotics.
“I could have a bowel movement behind a sheet at a dinner party in the corner of the room and nobody would know.”
Dr. Sean O’Mara
Those beneficial compounds are produced during fermentation, when bacteria break down the natural sugars in cabbage.
Working alongside cabbage’s prebiotic fiber, probiotics and their byproducts help support a diverse gut microbiome, which plays an important role in digestion, nutrient absorption and immune function.
Experts say regularly eating fermented foods like sauerkraut may support digestive health, weight management and reduced inflammation.
But it’s not all slim waists and perfect poops.
These gut-friendly staples can also trigger gas — a side effect the Wall Street Journal reported has caused some “domestic friction” in Washington households.
And despite O’Mara’s devotees swearing by his regimen, outside experts question whether it really delivers the odorless, wipe-free bathroom experience he promises.
For one, they say, people would need to consume copious amounts of fiber-rich plant foods to balance a meat-heavy diet, or they could be setting themselves up for constipation.
“Fiber adds bulk and holds water in stool, which is what keeps things moving; without it, transit time slows and stools tend to become harder and less frequent,” Dr. Saurabh Sethi, a gastroenterologist and hepatologist in Fremont, California, told HuffPost.
He said others on high-meat diets sometimes report the opposite problem, with frequent loose stools that may signal fat malabsorption or a bile acid response to a large fat load.
“Neither extreme is a marker of good colon health,” Sethi said. “Frankly, if your bowel movements are changing dramatically after a major diet shift, that’s your gut telling you something’s off-balance, not optimized.”
Other experts have warned about health concerns associated with diets heavy in red meat and animal fat, which have sent some followers to the hospital with serious conditions. One man following the carnivore diet developed such dangerously high cholesterol that it began seeping out of his hands.
If you do plan on adopting the eating style embraced by some of the federal government’s top brass, it’s best to ease into it.
O’Mara, whose direct consulting services cost $18,000, encourages patients to gradually add small amounts of fermented foods to their diets, starting with a taste and working up to a full serving of about a half cup.
“Eventually they start colonizing, and eventually they tolerate it, and eventually they like it, and soon they start loving these microbes,” he told Business Insider.
