I Watched Mikhaila Peterson's Senate Speech So You Don't Have To

Plus more on the theatrics of this roundtable of so-called "experts" and what you can do in the age of digital disinformation

ICYMI, it’s a big week for health and nutrition. Wish I meant that in a good way, but sadly, I don’t.

That’s because we had the displeasure of witnessing yet another coordinated effort to undermine science, degrade trust in qualified experts, and platform people who are highly skilled at communicating certain things…it’s just that science-based facts about health and nutrition are not among them.

Screenshot from Mikhaila Peterson’s YouTube upload of her Senate speech

I’m talking about the roundtable discussion called, “Health and Wellness: A Second Opinion” which was organized and hosted by U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). A press release ahead of Monday’s roundtable claimed the purpose was to:

“…provide a foundational and historical understanding of the changes that have occurred over the last century within public sanitation, agriculture, food processing, and healthcare industries which impact the current state of national health.”

Which is all good and well, if it weren’t for the fact that not a single participant in the panel is an expert on any of those topics.

You can find a full breakdown of their respective claims-to-fame in this piece by

Dr. Andrea Love

:

The Congressional "American Health and Nutrition Roundtable" was an egregious display of anti-science disinformation

But you may recognize some familiar faces or names. They included:

• Jillian Michaels, celebrity personal trainer who might be best known for verbally assaulting contestants on The Biggest Loser while perched atop their treadmill

• Vani Hari, AKA The Food Babe, who we haven’t heard much from lately but continues grifting on the basis that all chemicals are bad, all the time

• Max Lugavere, podcast bro and author whose book was endorsed by Dr. Oz and Dr. Mark Hyman (should be an instant red flag, tbh)

• Dr. Jordan Peterson, who is indeed a doctor of the PhD sort, but is better known as a pseudo-intellectual who is massively popular among the alt-right

From Threads, where Derek Beres (co-host of the Conspirituality Podcast) provided some timely discourse about the event

But it’s Jordan Peterson’s daughter who I’m going to focus on. Both Mikhaila Peterson and her father were vocal proponents of an early version of the Carnivore Diet, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. It’s rather simple compared to other restrictive diets — eat your fill of meat, eggs, poultry, seafood, and dairy, but avoid all plants.

Yes, all of them. Zero fruits or vegetables. No whole grains, beans, or legumes.

This is (by her own admission) a “radical” and extreme approach, but one she took as an act of desperation. She opened her speech with a brief synopsis of the many health issues she’s experienced over the years, from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and joint replacements to chronic fatigue to long-term opiate and anti-depressant prescriptions.

What began as “removing processed foods” and eating “primarily meat” ended up as The Lion Diet, which consists of only beef, salt, and water. Mikhaila claims she’s been eating this way for seven years (although at some point she added lamb). Her introduction to the panel describes The Lion Diet as a “therapeutic and plant-free ketogenic diet” that can be used to treat “autoimmune and psychiatric disorders”. And indeed, Mikhaila shares a powerful testimony. She reports that her debilitating symptoms resolved within just six weeks of starting this extremely limited diet and she’s been in remission ever since.

Love that for her. But this does not qualify her as a nutrition or health expert.

It’d be one thing if the roundtable was meant to solicit personal testimonials or anecdotal experiences. But the panelists were positioned as “experts” which is generally defined as “a person who has a high level of knowledge, skill, or experience in a particular area or field of study.” In some ways, sure, Mikhaila is the expert of Mikhaila.

But it is extremely concerning that senators granted airtime to the same people who spew anti-science fearmongering across the internet to viral acclaim. Over the span of 4 1/2 hours, they disparaged vaccines, processed foods, “Big Food” and “Big Pharma”, MSG (you know I took that one personally) and more.

The statements they shared do not represent the views of actual experts in the fields of nutrition, medicine, or public health. They don’t even reflect the current standards of practice in these fields. For example, Mikhaila cited the Food Pyramid…which was phased out in 2011 and hasn’t been used since.

Setting that outdated and illogical defense aside, let’s use this as a case study for what we (digital consumers of nutrition and health information) can do about it.

But first…

Missing Nuance

What makes this all the more frustrating for me, a dietitian, is that Mikhaila brings up a few good points that I can generally agree with. This speaks to how much we need nuance and critical thinking in these conversations. I could go on an entire rant about how this makes it all the more confusing, as it legitimizes the other extreme and unproven claims.

But let me just share a few points that stood out to me:

1. Healthcare Avoidance and Lack of Holistic Treatments

Mikhaila says she “wouldn’t go into a hospital” for years due to her anger and frustration over being ignored or disregarded by doctors. Later, during the Q&A portion, she admits she was dismissed by her rheumatologist (I’m assuming because they did not endorse her plans to consume only beef, salt, and water).

Dietary intervention, as extreme as it was in her case, was helpful for her. But she claims it was never brought up or addressed as a possible alternative to medications and other ineffective treatments she underwent.

And you know, she kind of has a point.

Most physicians and specialists are not only not talking to their patients about personalized nutrition, but they aren’t referring to registered dietitians either. They don’t have the time or the training. But we do. Dietitians are an undervalued and underutilized resource. By the time most patients get a referral (if they ever get one at all), their symptoms can’t be cured or managed with nutrition or lifestyle. We’re forced into reaction mode vs. being able to focus on prevention.

Dismissive, ineffective, or traumatizing experiences in clinical settings deter people away from engaging with the healthcare system. Take weight stigma, for example. When providers disregard symptoms or refuse to listen to patients because of their size and instead dispense unhelpful advice to “just lose weight” many patients don’t come back.

Mikhaila felt entitled to be heard, believed, and supported. And so do you. Which brings me to my next observation:

2. Self-Advocacy Is For You, Not For All

Mikhaila’s testimony portrays how passionately she believes her self-advocacy saved her life. And I’m not here to invalidate her story, that’s not my place. She’s not the only person who has had to advocate forcefully for herself in order to find a treatment plan that works.

But here’s the thing. Self-advocacy doesn’t always translate to broader advocacy efforts. Yes, it’s a very compelling story. And yes, she appears to embody a version of “health” that many people strive for¹.

That doesn’t qualify her to sit in front of lawmakers in the Senate and suggest that what worked for her will work for others.

To her credit, she declares this is not meant to be advice for the average person. She instead advocates for research funding to investigate the role of a whole food, plant-free ketogenic diet for the treatment of autoimmunity and psychiatric disorders.

But it’s very clear to me that…

3. Science Literacy Is At An All-Time Low

Mikhaila, with her lack of expertise in nutrition, science, or medicine, wants to wave a magic wand and have a study that validates her claims plop down into her hands.

That is not how science works. It’s especially not how nutrition science works.

Nutrition science is a slow, arduous, expensive process that rarely (if ever) grants the type of consensus and confirmation we wish we had. That’s because unlike taking medications, people have to eat food. Like, that’s sort of non-negotiable. And it’s also really, really hard to control for all the potential variables and confounders that influence the outcomes of even the most carefully designed nutrition intervention trials.

There’s also the issue of medical ethics. We can’t design or conduct the type of trials that might give us more definitive answers because it simply would not be ethical. We can’t cause harm to other people (study participants) in our pursuit of confirming a bias.

And here’s one more thing about science…we can probably infer something significant about the lack of data on plant-free ketogenic diets Mikhaila cited in her speech: if there is no indicator that it would be beneficial, or there’s no proposed or potential mechanism of action, you probably can’t get the money to study something. Even if Congress agreed to fund new studies, good luck finding a researcher or lab who would take that on. Why would they? They could instead invest funding into something with much more potential.

Lessons We Can Take From This

In closing, I think there are a few things to keep in mind. It’s completely exasperating every time pseudo-experts are paraded around in public forums, but it’s going to happen again. Probably sooner rather than later.

Here’s what you can do:

1. Listen for the signals of false expertise. These rhetorical devices are subtle ways of trying to convey knowledge or experience that someone may not actually have. Mikhaila does this cleverly when she launches into a description of “leaky gut” (which is not a diagnosis, even if increased intestinal permeability is a thing in certain conditions). If you listen closely, she says, “One of the leading theories, to get a little bit nerdy”…before regurgitating some basic medical terminology. She hasn’t actually studied gut permeability. She’s not a trained expert in gut health or gastroenterology. But by framing it as a “leading theory” she grants it (and by proxy, herself) legitimacy. She elevates it and distances the concept from the general public’s understanding of gut health. “To get a little bit nerdy” suggests that she’s so informed and well-versed in the subject that she must dumb it down for the listeners. Start watching and listening for this in other videos and you’ll probably pick up on the way other wellness influencers try to do the same.

2. Stop engaging with content that promotes mis-and disinformation. There’s a reason each of the panelists ended up on the panel. They’ve amassed huge platforms with hundreds of thousands of followers, much of it built on social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter/X, TikTok, and Facebook. But the algorithms favor controversy and extreme, audacious claims. That turns into watch time. Likes, shares, comments, reposts…all of that is social media currency, and when you pay it towards this type of content, it gains momentum and goes viral. Stop doing that. Unfollow, block, report, or just keep scrolling.

3. Get civically engaged and stay informed on the issues that matter to you. This roundtable illustrates the dysfunctional way policymakers base policy decisions on bad information. Not to mention the way policymakers have their own agendas and biases. Don’t even get me started on the financial implications of campaign donors, lobbying, and other means of swaying their votes (Jillian Michaels actually said we need Citizens United out of politics and I nearly choked). But you have to get out there and vote. Pay attention to who is running in local, state, and national elections and get familiar with the ballot issues. Voting is not the cure, I want to make that abundantly clear. But I also want to make it clear that organizing and voting can replace some of these bad actors who are not acting on behalf of their constituents or the best interests of Americans.

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Thanks for reading, as always. I cover topics like these when I can, and offer weekly recommendations for What’s Worth Reading in the world of food, nutrition, wellness, and sustainability. If you’re into that kind of stuff, I hope you’ll stick around.

1. Reminder that “health” doesn’t have a look, you can’t tell how healthy someone is or isn’t based on their appearance, and we need to stop associating the beauty standard of being thin, white, young, and able-bodied with being “healthy”