TV host and actress Jenny McCarthy claims in a new interview that going from a full vegan diet that almost “killed” her to a carnivore-eating regimen has dramatically improved her health and wellness.
Why It Matters
Dieting and health in the United States have a renewed focus for multiple reasons, including the widespread use of injectable drugs like Ozempic to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. taking over the major food and drug agencies in the federal government.
Kennedy’s appointment as secretary of Health and Human Services has been met with simultaneous praise and skepticism based on his many beliefs. A staunch opponent of ultra-processed foods found in grocery stores across America, the former independent presidential candidate has also made dubious statements regarding vaccines, fluoride, and raw milk, to name a few.
All 50 U.S. states had an obesity rate of over 20 percent in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—with about 17 of them at the time having an obesity rate over 35 percent. The Southern U.S. had the highest prevalence at 36.3 percent.
Things have become direr over time. According to studies conducted by the National Institutes of Health since the 1960s, obesity rates nationwide have tripled, while morbid obesity has increased some 10 times throughout the same period.
More recently, Ozempic has become a health-based phenomenon and not for the reason it was initially intended. The prescription drug developed and manufactured to manage blood sugar levels in patients with Type 2 diabetes has been widely used for quicker weight loss.
Last May, McCarthy and her spouse, Donnie Wahlberg, endorsed Kennedy for president.
What To Know
McCarthy, the actress, author, and one of the hosts of FOX’s The Masked Singer, spoke about her health on the Heal Squad podcast hosted by Maria Menounos.
McCarthy, 52, spoke of her battle with celiac disease, discussed oral health, and also discussed how she went from a vegan to a carnivore.
“I tried vegan and I almost died,” McCarthy told Menounos. “I literally almost died.”
“What do you mean?” Menounos asked.
“I became so ill, like I was literally dying,” McCarthy said. “I was exhausted, fatigued, I was a mess. So, I went on a low histamine diet; I went on every one of ’em. Finally, my functional medicine doctor said to me last year, ‘It’s time for you to go full carnivore.’
“And I’m like, ugh, OK. I’m from Chicago so I can handle it, but it just felt very low vibrational heavy for me. I was kind of a more eating salmon [type of person] and doing light things like this. But [I felt] I might as well give it a try; it was like my last resort diet. It has been f****** incredible for me, and I stress for me.”
In 2023, McCarthy told People that she is a “gym rat” and “not an Ozempic person.”
Vegan diets consist only of grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts and seeds. Food coming from animals is not part of the diet, so eggs and dairy products are also eliminated.
Health experts encourage those who primarily eat vegan to eat at least five portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables each day, in addition to food like bread, potatoes, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates.
Dairy alternatives could mean soy drinks and yogurts, while proteins can be found in foods like beans. Nuts and seeds are rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
What People Are Saying
Dr. Robert H. Shmerling, senior faculty editor of Harvard Health Publishing, highlighted research in 2019 from the U.K. that showed that while vegetarians and vegans are at a lower risk for heart disease, they may be at an increased risk of stroke, saying, “If confirmed, these findings will complicate the way we look at plant-based diets…Are there serious and underappreciated downsides to these diets that should make us think twice about choosing them?”
While Katharina Wirnitzer, sports scientist at the Universtiy of Innsbruck, in 2019 touted veganism as the diet of the gladiators, Tammy Tong, researcher at the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Population Health, in 2020 said, “Vegans are also at a higher risk of B12-deficiency, since the nutrient is only naturally available from animal foods…Low B12 levels may be linked to raised blood levels of homocysteine, which may be linked to higher risk of stroke.”
Shawn Baker, former orthopedic surgeon and advocate of the carnivore diet, said in 2024: “My experience has been all win and very little loss. At 53, I feel 20 years younger than I am…When we eat certain foods, it opens those passageways up and stuff can get past our defenses so to speak, and that can cause autoimmune and inflammatory issues. We also know that eating a meat-based diet is profoundly stabilizing our glucose level, particularly if you’re eating a high-carb diet and you’re eating very frequently. Those people see rapid oscillations in their glucose numbers, and that can be physiologically problematic for people and we see that in mood dysregulation, too. Some people are very anxious and they’re emotionally labile, and after a few weeks of the carnivore diet, they just kind of get chilled out. They get calm. They call it the carnivore calm.”
What Happens Next
On Thursday, Kennedy, Jr. announced that approximately 10,000 jobs will be slashed from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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