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A prominent low-carb diet influencer and alternative medicine proponent has been mentioned in the Epstein files.
Peter Attia, an author, podcaster, and former researcher, was named in the newest batch of documents related to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Read more: How Media Trends Are Rewriting Public Health – And What You Can Do About It
Attia describes himself as a medical doctor focused on longevity science, but it has previously been reported that he dropped out of his residency program to become a consultant. Fans can pay USD $19 per month to get “premium access” to his site.
Attia has received criticism from scientists and medical professionals over the years for the high price of his longevity advice and low-carb diet plans, lack of nuance in interpreting research, and commercial ties to unscientific companies and products.
As reported by Variety, the Epstein files include more than 1,700 mentions of Attia so far, with evidence of a friendly relationship with Epstein, a serial rapist and child sex offender, from 2010 until his death in prison in 2019. Epstein was first charged with soliciting underage sex in 2008 and arrested for sex trafficking minors in 2019.
‘Got a fresh shipment’
In a 2015 email thread titled “Got a fresh shipment,” which included a redacted photograph, Attia told Epstein, “You [know] the biggest problem with becoming friends with you? The life you lead is so outrageous, and yet I can’t tell a soul…”
Speaking to Epstein’s assistant via email in 2016, Attia wrote, “I go into JE withdrawal when I don’t see him.” Also in 2016, Attia told Epstein, “P—–y is, indeed, low carb. Still awaiting results on gluten content, though.”
Attia’s book, Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, includes a description of his son’s 2017 cardiac arrest. According to the book, Attia’s wife, Jill, spent several days alone with their child in the ICU while he continued working. The newly released Epstein files indicate that Attia arranged to meet Epstein less than 48 hours later.
Health misinformation in the US
Attia was hired as a CBS News contributor a few days before the Epstein revelations.
Editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, who was recently hired herself by David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount Skydance and a billionaire ally of US President Donald Trump, hired Attia along with several conservative commentators and so-called health influencers.
These include “wellness bro” Andrew Huberman, and low-carb “pegan” diet inventor Mark Hyman, MD. Hyman has previously claimed that cod liver oil can treat autism and that the nutritional supplements he sells can reverse Alzheimer’s and dementia.
He has been described as a “germ theory denialist” who “flirts heavily with anti-vaccine views.” Hyman is also, notably, a close ally of health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr (RFK Jr), who holds similar views on healthcare and medicine.
Attia has previously featured as a guest on Hyman’s YouTube show, The Doctor’s Pharmacy, as well as multiple episodes of Huberman’s podcast, Huberman Lab.
According to a 2025 report, a group of just 53 social media “super-spreaders” expose up to 24 million vulnerable users to harmful health advice online. Much of this advice “directly contradicts” public health guidelines, and 96 percent of those influencers financially benefit from misinformation by selling products and diet plans.
Read more: Meat-Heavy US Nutrition Guidelines Will Require Millions Of Acres Of New Farmland
