Latest news with #GoodEnergy:TheSurprisingConnectionBetweenMetabolismandLimitlessHealth
Hindustan Times
18-05-2025
- Health
- Hindustan Times
Who is Dr. Casey Means? Trump picks Stanford-educated surgeon to lead Make America Healthy Again agenda
Donald Trump has proposed Dr. Casey Means to be surgeon general, guaranteeing her position as a key spokesperson for his government's Make America Healthy Again agenda. Dr. Casey Means is a surgeon, wellness advocate, best-selling author, and vaccination skeptic who attended Stanford. Taking to Truth Social, Trump praised Means for having 'impeccable 'MAHA' credentials,' who will be the go through Senate confirmation hearings in the upcoming weeks. Trump named the 37-year-old as his new nominee after his initial choice, Janette Nesheiwat, resigned from the position. When asked why he chose Means to warn the public about the finest health guidelines, Trump told media, 'Bobby thought she was fantastic.' This indicates that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of health and human services, has endorsed Means. In the past, Means has expressed support for RFK Jr.'s agenda without specifically identifying herself as a member of the MAHA movement. Reacting to Trump's decision, Means praised the HHS secretary's activism for health and the environment on social media. Also Read: 'I'm angry that…': Palm Spring explosion suspect called himself 'pro-mortalist' and 'anti-life' in chilling confession After growing up in Washington, D.C., Means relocated west to study at Stanford, from where she received bachelor's degree in human biology as well as a medical degree, the university told The Independent. She lost faith in the medical industry after observing a recent increase in chronic conditions like obesity, diabetes, and dementia. Last October, she told Joe Rogan that she had decided to 'put down her scalpel forever' at the age of thirty. Means then made the decision to concentrate on the underlying issue of Americans becoming ill, which she believes is metabolic health. To address the issue, she wrote a book Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health with her brother Calley Means. The 2024 New York Times best-seller focuses on making tiny changes to one's health. She co-founded a firm called Levels, which monitors maintaining an active lifestyle, eating well, and getting more sleep. Users can track their metabolic health insights using data such as nutrition, glucose levels, sleep, and activity for $199 per year or $40 per month.
Newsweek
12-05-2025
- Health
- Newsweek
Casey Means and MAHA Remove the 'Public' From Public Health
On Wednesday, Donald Trump nominated Casey Means, a holistic doctor and wellness influencer, to be the next U.S. surgeon general. If confirmed, Means will be the first surgeon general who openly practices alternative medicine. She is an unusual candidate for surgeon general but an unsurprising one. Under an administration that is senselessly gutting science and research funding, "MAHA" priorities largely put the wellness dreams of the wealthy before public health. The Office of the Surgeon General is responsible for communicating scientific information to the public and addressing public health issues. Means' record would normally be considered antagonistic toward this fundamental goal, but Trump has praised the nominee as having "impeccable 'MAHA' credentials." Means describes herself as someone who left "traditional medicine," and has expressed health beliefs that flirt with pseudoscience and closely align with those of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Co-author of Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health and co-founder of Levels (a company that sells continuous glucose monitors), Means has peddled health claims that are questionable at best and dangerous at worst. Like other wellness influencers, she has dabbled in some Goop-esque activities, like consulting with a spiritual medium and taking part in a full moon ceremony, which are a little woo-woo but don't harm anyone else. Of greater consequence to public health is Means' skepticism of vaccines. She has also called birth control use "disrespect of life" and endorsed the supposed health benefits of raw milk. The prospect of having a surgeon general who believes such things is terrifying. Beyond the pseudoscience, Means' general orientation toward health is out of touch with the needs of average Americans. She has built her career and reputation on promoting lifestyle choices such as healthy eating and exercise. From afar, her takes may appear sensible, and at times, even compatible with sound medical advice. A healthy diet and exercise are important, but they alone do not translate to good, humane policies. Means has suggested that health issues like "depression, anxiety, infertility, heart disease, erectile dysfunction, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's dementia, [and] cancer" are "under our control and simpler than we think." Simpler for whom? An emphasis on lifestyle ultimately assigns structural and institutional problems to individual Americans to solve for themselves. In a country where wealth buys health, how many Americans can afford to insulate themselves and their families from risks of disease and disability? The federal minimum wage has been stagnant at $7.25 since 2009. Meanwhile, the cost of necessities like housing, food, and child care have increased precipitously. WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 12: U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks alongside President Donald Trump during a press conference in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on May 12,... WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 12: U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks alongside President Donald Trump during a press conference in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on May 12, 2025, in Washington, DC. MoreIn her "health wishlist" for the Trump administration, Means says we need leaders who will "inspire people to care about their health, the food they eat, and their fitness." Americans do not need inspiration. Americans need access. It is cruel to push the idea that people are unhealthy simply because they do not care. Our most urgent public health problems cannot be solved with personal empowerment and lifestyle choices. For instance, 7.2 million children live in food-insecure households. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives is planning to cut $12 billion from federally funded school meal programs. Health care is also inaccessible to many Americans because, unlike many of its peer countries, the U.S. does not offer universal health coverage. Even for those who do have health insurance, coverage is often insufficient, causing many to accrue medical debt. The Trump administration has added new public health problems: the Food and Drug Administration recently suspended quality control for milk, the Department of Agriculture withdrew a proposal to reduce Salmonella in raw poultry products, and the Environmental Protection Agency has loosened restrictions on mercury pollution. Meanwhile, Kennedy continues to fuel vaccine hesitancy amid a national measles outbreak. MAHA priorities are misaligned with public health needs. Means' sunny website—where she promotes her book, recipes, and newsletters—frames good health as an individual project. Means' wish list to the Trump administration proposes actions that would address processed foods, "Big Pharma," vaccine safety, alternative medicine, and paternalistic restrictions on SNAP. It is apparent that her and Kennedy's health concerns reflect the airy worries of the rich. Their brand of health care is for people who can choose to be healthy, people with the time and money to pursue health optimization, and people comfortable enough to be fussy over food dyes. Pandering to the desires of the upper class, MAHA pushes products and services that are out of reach for the average American. The surgeon general is supposed to be the nation's doctor. Means is just an entrepreneur who peddles an expensive lifestyle. Catherine Tan is an Assistant Professor in Sociology at Vassar College. She is the author of Spaces on the Spectrum: How Autism Movements Resist Experts and Create Knowledge, published by Columbia University Press. The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Trump's surgeon general pick exposes cracks in MAHA movement
President Trump's second choice for U.S. surgeon general has set off a wave of infighting within the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. Casey Means is a prominent health influencer and ally of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., but she is seen as insufficiently skeptical of vaccines by some of his prominent supporters — and a 'total crack pot' by others in Trump World. Trump chose the Stanford-educated doctor-turned-chronic disease entrepreneur to be surgeon general after withdrawing his first pick Janette Nesheiwat, a former physician and Fox News host. Means, like Kennedy, has focused much of her health advocacy on diet and nutrition. 'Bobby really thought she was great. I don't know her. I listened to the recommendation of Bobby,' Trump said of Means. 'I met her yesterday and once before. She's a very outstanding person. A great academic, actually. So I think she'll be great.' Nesheiwat's nomination was withdrawn the day before her Senate confirmation hearing, after media reports called her credentials into question and conservative figures attacked her for praising the COVID-19 vaccines. Like Kennedy, Means has expressed skepticism about vaccines, promotes food as medicine and is critical of the current health care system. But the pick was unpopular with other health influencers aligned with Kennedy. 'I can't help but think this is a very carefully groomed and selected person. Just about no clinical experience. Talks a great game about everything but vaccines. Feels all wrong,' said Suzanne Humphries, a medical researcher who, like Means, has appeared on Joe Rogan's podcast. 'She's not a health freedom advocate,' Mike Adam, who goes by Health Ranger, wrote on social platform X. 'She's not a vaccine truther. She'll never recommend natural cancer cures or remedies. She's basically cosplaying as a MAHA champion.' Means became a key influence in the MAHA movement last year along with her brother Calley Means, who works as an adviser to Kennedy in Department of Health and Human Services. They co-wrote the book 'Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health' about the connection between metabolism and personal health, and they promoted their ideas across conservative media, including a hit episode of Tucker Carlson's podcast. The blowback to her nomination reflects the broader tensions within the MAHA movement, as different factions vie for influence in the Trump administration. The surgeon general serves as the public health face of the administration and wields a powerful bully pulpit, but has little actual authority. Richard Carpiano, a professor of public policy at the University of California, Riverside, researches social factors affecting vaccine uptake and the anti-vaccine movement. He said Casey Means seems to have failed the purity test among some Kennedy supporters, but that public infighting also reflects the realities and limits MAHA. 'This is really kind of showing or pointing to questions of, you know, to what degree is it really like a movement or is it really just this kind of like brand that that Kennedy is really just trying to push,' Carpiano said. MAGA influencer Laura Loomer in a series of posts on X accused the president's advisers of poorly vetting the new nominee for surgeon general. She called Means a 'total crack pot' and 'Marxist tree hugger,' in the post, pointing to various alternative practices Means has written about, including communicating with spirit mediums and using hallucinogenic mushrooms as medicine. Kennedy's former running mate, Nicole Shanahan, has also criticized Means's nomination, writing in a post on X that she was told neither of the Means siblings would work at department if she supported Kennedy. 'With regard to these siblings, there is something very artificial and aggressive about them, almost like they were bred and raised by Manchurian assets,' she wrote, adding that she suspected Kennedy was being controlled. Kennedy has vehemently defended Means's nomination. 'The absurd attacks on Casey Means reveal just how far off course our healthcare conversations have veered, and how badly entrenched interests–including Big Food and its industry-funded social media gurus–are terrified of change,' he wrote Thursday on X. Calley Means on Friday shot back at Loomer, writing on X, 'Just received information that Laura Loomer is taking money from industry to scuttle President Trump's agenda. @LauraLoomer if that's incorrect, sue me and let's do discovery.' Loomer responded by calling him a 'PR spin master' and accused him of being 'threatened' by her 'access to President Trump.' Casey Means left a five-year residency program at the Oregon Health & Science University after 4 1/2 years due to anxiety and feeling she wanted to do something different, the Los Angeles Times reported. She has since cultivated a large following online and is the co-founder of Levels, a health technology company that focuses on tracking health information through devices like continuous glucose monitors. Those who've worked with Means describe her as someone with a genuine concern for public health, particularly when it comes to young people. Soh Kim, executive director of the Stanford Center for Innovation and Design Research, worked alongside Means at Stanford University, teaching a food, design and technology course. 'She is very rare in terms of, like, her rigorous medical knowledge but also, she is somebody who can, you know, talk to anyone in the class with their level,' Kim said. But others questioned her qualifications for such a high-profile public health role. Former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams noted, shortly after Means was nominated, that the surgeon general position has historically been required to be held be a licensed physician. 'As the Senate is considering confirmation, it is important that historical precedent, the ability to effectively lead the USPHS, and the law, are all taken into consideration,' he wrote, referring to the U.S. Public Health Service, which the surgeon general oversees. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
11-05-2025
- Health
- The Hill
Trump's surgeon general pick exposes cracks in MAHA movement
President Trump's second choice for U.S. surgeon general has set off a wave of infighting within the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. Casey Means is a prominent health influencer and ally of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., but she is seen as insufficiently skeptical of vaccines by some of his prominent supporters — and a 'total crack pot' by others in Trump World. Trump chose the Stanford-educated doctor-turned-chronic disease entrepreneur to be surgeon general after withdrawing his first pick Janette Nesheiwat, a former physician and Fox News host. Means, like Kennedy, has focused much of her health advocacy on diet and nutrition. 'Bobby really thought she was great. I don't know her. I listened to the recommendation of Bobby,' Trump said of Means. 'I met her yesterday and once before. She's a very outstanding person. A great academic, actually. So I think she'll be great.' Nesheiwat's nomination was withdrawn the day before her Senate confirmation hearing, after media reports called her credentials into question and conservative figures attacked her for praising the COVID-19 vaccines. Like Kennedy, Means has expressed skepticism about vaccines, promotes food as medicine and is critical of the current health care system. But the pick was unpopular with other health influencers aligned with Kennedy. 'I can't help but think this is a very carefully groomed and selected person. Just about no clinical experience. Talks a great game about everything but vaccines. Feels all wrong,' said Suzanne Humphries, a medical researcher who, like Means, has appeared on Joe Rogan's podcast. 'She's not a health freedom advocate,' Mike Adam, who goes by Health Ranger, wrote on social platform X. 'She's not a vaccine truther. She'll never recommend natural cancer cures or remedies. She's basically cosplaying as a MAHA champion.' Means became a key influence in the MAHA movement last year along with her brother Calley Means, who works as an adviser to Kennedy in Department of Health and Human Services. They co-wrote the book 'Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health' about the connection between metabolism and personal health, and they promoted their ideas across conservative media, including a hit episode of Tucker Carlson's podcast. The blowback to her nomination reflects the broader tensions within the MAHA movement, as different factions vie for influence in the Trump administration. The surgeon general serves as the public health face of the administration and wields a powerful bully pulpit, but has little actual authority. Richard Carpiano, a professor of public policy at the University of California, Riverside, researches social factors affecting vaccine uptake and the anti-vaccine movement. He said Casey Means seems to have failed the purity test among some Kennedy supporters, but that public infighting also reflects the realities and limits MAHA. 'This is really kind of showing or pointing to questions of, you know, to what degree is it really like a movement or is it really just this kind of like brand that that Kennedy is really just trying to push,' Carpiano said. MAGA influencer Laura Loomer in a series of posts on X accused the president's advisers of poorly vetting the new nominee for surgeon general. She called Means a 'total crack pot' and 'Marxist tree hugger,' in the post, pointing to various alternative practices Means has written about, including communicating with spirit mediums and using hallucinogenic mushrooms as medicine. Kennedy's former running mate, Nicole Shanahan, has also criticized Means's nomination, writing in a post on X that she was told neither of the Means siblings would work at department if she supported Kennedy. 'With regard to these siblings, there is something very artificial and aggressive about them, almost like they were bred and raised by Manchurian assets,' she wrote, adding that she suspected Kennedy was being controlled. Kennedy has vehemently defended Means's nomination. 'The absurd attacks on Casey Means reveal just how far off course our healthcare conversations have veered, and how badly entrenched interests–including Big Food and its industry-funded social media gurus–are terrified of change,' he wrote Thursday on X. Calley Means on Friday shot back at Loomer, writing on X, 'Just received information that Laura Loomer is taking money from industry to scuttle President Trump's agenda. @LauraLoomer if that's incorrect, sue me and let's do discovery.' Loomer responded by calling him a 'PR spin master' and accused him of being 'threatened' by her 'access to President Trump.' Casey Means left a five-year residency program at the Oregon Health & Science University after 4 1/2 years due to anxiety and feeling she wanted to do something different, the Los Angeles Times reported. She has since cultivated a large following online and is the co-founder of Levels, a health technology company that focuses on tracking health information through devices like continuous glucose monitors. Those who've worked with Means describe her as someone with a genuine concern for public health, particularly when it comes to young people. Soh Kim, executive director of the Stanford Center for Innovation and Design Research, worked alongside Means at Stanford University, teaching a food, design and technology course. 'She is very rare in terms of, like, her rigorous medical knowledge but also, she is somebody who can, you know, talk to anyone in the class with their level,' Kim said. But others questioned her qualifications for such a high-profile public health role. Former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams noted, shortly after Means was nominated, that the surgeon general position has historically been required to be held be a licensed physician. 'As the Senate is considering confirmation, it is important that historical precedent, the ability to effectively lead the USPHS, and the law, are all taken into consideration,' he wrote, referring to the U.S. Public Health Service, which the surgeon general oversees.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
RFK Jr. Confronted With Surgeon General Pick's Lack of Cred
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and President Donald Trump were forced to defend their new pick for surgeon general after their own base attacked her. Trump announced Wednesday that he would nominate Dr. Casey Means as America's top doctor, replacing Fox News contributor Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, whose nomination got pulled due to questions over her medical credentials. But the same questions over medical credentials that plagued Nesheiwat have come for Means, too. Though she received a Stanford education, Means dropped out of her residency at age 30 and has an inactive medical license. When quizzed directly by Fox News' Bret Baier on the fact the she doesn't currently hold a medical license, Kennedy listed Means' apparent achievements that to his mind are key to undertaking the role, claiming she was at the 'top of her medical class' and 'won every award that she could win' during her residency. 'Casey Means, we felt, was the best person to really bring the vision of MAHA to the American public,' Kennedy told Special Report on Thursday. 'She has this unique capacity to articulate it. She's written a book that really mobilized, galvanized the movement,' Kennedy added, referencing Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health, the book she wrote with her influencer brother, Calley. Means, also a wellness influencer, grew her following by advocating for alternative approaches combining science and spirituality over traditional medicine. She and her brother were the brains behind Kennedy's Make America Healthy Again movement. Kennedy said Means walked away from traditional medicine because she felt that she was just 'billing new procedures' instead of actually curing patients. 'We actually have to figure out new approaches to medicine, and that's the kind of leadership that she's going to bring to our country,' he said. MAGAworld, led by firebrand Laura Loomer, branded Means a 'Marxist tree-hugger.' Kennedy's own former running mate, Nicole Shanahan, said Means' nomination was 'strange' and 'doesn't make any sense.' Trump, for his part, pointed the finger at Kennedy when faced with questions over Means' credentials. 'Bobby thought she was fantastic,' he told reporters. 'Bobby really thought she was great. I don't know her. I listened to the recommendation of Bobby. I met her yesterday, and once before, she's a very outstanding person, a great academic, actually. So I think she'll be great.' In the wide-ranging Fox News interview, Kennedy was flanked by Food and Drug Administration chief Marty Makary, Medicare and Medicaid administrator Mehmet Oz, and National Institutes of Health director Jay Bhattacharya. The health officials rehashed dubious claims that the COVID-19 pandemic was 'lab-generated,' food products are 'loaded with chemicals that's gonna poison your children,' and the U.S. is the 'sickest country in the world.' 'You got sitting here four people who were all canceled during COVID,' Kennedy said. 'The entire leadership of this agency is renegades who are, you know, who are juggernauts against convention, and are trying to look for truth, no matter what the cost.'
