The presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has been unique in modern American history in a number of ways. For one, he has campaigned on issues that most politicians don't touch, including our nation's health and nutrition, his primary focus.

While many pundits highlight his controversial stance on vaccines, his own emphasis has been the rise of chronic illness among Americans, particularly the young. When identifying causes, he points a finger at what our nation eats. He argues that our dependence on processed foods and sugar and other harmful foods like seed oils has led to a health crisis of catastrophic proportions.

I think RFK is right to highlight our poor nutrition and its impact on our physical health, but I would go further. I would argue that our modern American diet also has dire consequences in both the political and spiritual realms.

Political Consequences

First, let's consider the political world. To maintain the common good our modern American system of government requires a constant "pushback" by the people toward the government. A too-compliant people will inevitably give rise to a more authoritarian government—exactly what our founding fathers wanted to avoid.

This is the reason for the first two amendments in the Bill of Rights. The first—freedom of speech—gives citizens the freedom to voice their discontent, and even contempt, for their government leaders without fear of political persecution. The second—the right to bear arms—gives the first amendment some teeth, acknowledging that citizens have a concrete way to resist government tyranny.

So what does this have to do with our modern diet? Our overdependence on processed foods and sugar impacts our bodies—and our brains—in a myriad of negative ways, making us more prone to brain fog, listlessness, and sloth which result from the insulin spikes and drops as well as from the excess weight these substances promote.