(May 22, 2025) British Indian cardiologist Dr. Aseem Malhotra has taken a significant leap onto the American stage with his appointment as Chief Medical Advisor to ‘Make America Healthy Again‘ (MAHA), a public health movement spearheaded by President Donald Trump. Within weeks of taking office, the U.S. President established the Make America Healthy Again Commission, tasked with investigating and addressing the root causes of America’s escalating health crisis.
In this high-profile role, Dr. Malhotra, who was born in New Delhi, will focus on reforming national dietary guidelines and tackling the proliferation of ultra-processed foods in the United States, along with other key health initiatives.
The announcement, made via MAHA’s official social media handle, reflects the magnitude of the appointment. “We are honored to announce that Dr. Aseem Malhotra has joined MAHA as our Chief Medical Advisor… We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Malhotra to the MAHA team and look forward to the invaluable expertise and passion he brings to our mission of Making America Healthy Again,” the post stated.
Meanwhile, a White House statement reinforces the movement’s broader vision, highlighting that “President Trump has pledged to build the healthiest and most vital communities anywhere in the world,” with MAHA positioned as the health mission’s spearhead. In light of this vision, Dr. Malhotra’s appointment stands out as vital.
Internationally recognized medical professional
A consultant cardiologist trained by the UK’s National Health Service, Dr. Malhotra is internationally recognized for his work in preventing and treating heart disease. He has served as an Honorary Council Member at Stanford’s Metabolic Psychiatry Clinic and as Visiting Professor of Evidence-Based Medicine at the Bahiana School of Medicine in Brazil. A public health campaigner, he was the founding president of the Public Health Collaboration and co-founder of Action on Sugar, the two organizations that have driven UK’s national strategies to reduce sugar consumption and promote low-carbohydrate dietary guidelines for managing type 2 diabetes.
His three bestselling books; The Pioppi Diet, The 21 Day Immunity Plan, and A Statin-Free Life have become cornerstones for a global audience seeking alternative approaches to health. Dr. Malhotra has played a key advisory role for the UK government in linking obesity with poor COVID-19 outcomes. With an Altmetric score, an indicator of research impact exceeding 10,000, his rank is among the highest globally for a clinical doctor.
A cardiologist who changed course
Graduating from the University of Edinburgh in 2001, Dr. Aseem started his medical career performing interventional cardiology, “essentially keyhole heart surgery,” as he described it at the 2023 Metabolic Health Summit in Santa Barbara. But it wasn’t long before he noticed something amiss. Despite the sophisticated interventions, heart disease remained the leading cause of premature death in the West.
“I realized we hadn’t made great inroads into curbing heart disease,” he told CrossFit Health. “I wanted to understand why.” That introspection led to a major shift in his career from surgery to prevention. “Eighty percent of heart disease is preventable through lifestyle and environmental changes. Yet, the system was ignoring that,” he remarked.
What began as a professional pivot soon evolved into a mission. Dr. Aseem Malhotra’s crusades have targeted sugar-rich diets, misleading medical research, and what he calls the over-medicalization of society. “We have a pandemic of misinformed doctors and misinformed patients,” he said, citing biased research, media distortion, and commercial conflicts of interest as the root causes.
India to the NHS
Born in New Delhi in 1977, Aseem Malhotra moved to the UK as an infant when his father, Dr. Kailash Chand, took up a clinical attachment in Liverpool. Both parents later became general practitioners in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester. It was a family deeply steeped in medicine and public service. His father went on to become the first Asian honorary vice-president of the British Medical Association and was awarded an OBE for services to the NHS.
Dr. Aseem’s personal and professional convictions were shaped early. His older brother Amit, who had Down’s syndrome, died of heart failure at age 13. “That tragedy inspired my ambition to become a cardiologist,” he later said. His mother’s passing away which he termed a ‘premature and painful death’, made him deeply reflective about the complexities of diet and health.
An unconventional public voice
Dr. Aseem Malhotra is a popular figure in British media. His campaigns against sugar led to his appointment as the first Science Director of Action on Sugar in 2014. He was named among The Sunday Times’ 500 most influential people in 2016, and twice recognized as a top 50 BME pioneer in the NHS.
A prolific writer and speaker, and author of three bestsellers, Dr Aseem’s writing has appeared in outlets like The Guardian, The Telegraph, and BBC Online, while his high Altmetric score indicates that his work is amongst the most impactful in the world for any clinical doctor.
Among his policy successes was leading the UK campaign for a sugary drinks tax. “We threw everything at it and got it through,” he recalled in his CrossFit Health interview. “The way to move the mountain is with knowledge, grassroots movements, and political pressure,” he remarked.
Championing evidence-based medicine
Central to Dr. Aseem Malhotra’s philosophy is what he calls “real evidence-based medicine.” Unlike conventional practice, which he believes is distorted by commercial interests, his approach relies on three pillars, which are clinical expertise, best available evidence, and patient values.
“Most patients taking statins don’t know that for those at low risk, the benefit of taking them for five years is only about one percent in preventing a non-fatal heart attack or stroke,” he said. “They’re not told that clearly, and that undermines informed consent.”
Instead, he advocates tackling heart disease through nutrition, exercise, sleep, and stress management. “You can halt or potentially reverse heart disease through intensive lifestyle changes,” he asserts. This approach, however, often clashes with the pharmaceutical model that emphasizes medication.
Nutrition, stress, and the societal context
The doctor’s nutritional advocacy is underpinned by his support for low-carb, high-fat diets, such as the Pioppi Diet. While it received praise from public figures like MP Tom Watson, the British Dietetic Association panned it as one of the “top 5 worst celebrity diets to avoid.”
Still, Dr. Aseem Malhotra maintains his stance. “The traditional Mediterranean diet has been misrepresented,” he said. “We need to shift the focus from saturated fat hysteria to tackling ultra-processed foods.”
His broader thesis is that health outcomes are not merely individual choices but shaped by environmental factors. “If you’re in a high-demand, low-paid, low-control job, it’s effectively a death sentence,” he warned. Corporate practices, from low wages to junk food marketing, create what he describes as an “obesogenic environment.”
Controversies and criticism
With his increasing prominence, Dr. Asee Malhotra has also become a lightning rod for criticism, particularly for his outspoken skepticism about statins and, more recently, COVID-19 vaccines.
Although an early proponent of COVID-19 vaccination, he later reversed course, calling for a moratorium on mRNA vaccines. His claims were widely criticized by experts and debunked by outlets like Full Fact and AFP. A group of UK doctors even petitioned the General Medical Council (GMC) to investigate him for spreading what they termed “misinformation.”
The doctor remained unfazed. “I believe in transparency. I believe in democracy,” he told his interviewer. “Most doctors don’t realize the data they rely on is corrupted by commercial influence.”
In January 2023, during a BBC interview about statins, he made unsolicited claims linking cardiac deaths to COVID vaccines. The claims that were not challenged on air, later prompted an apology from the broadcaster. The British Heart Foundation and noted immunologists refuted his statements.
Still, Dr. Aseem Malhotra has supporters. Renowned figures like Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, noted that while his presentations can descend into “unreason,” they also reveal the power of personal narrative and calls for transparency.
A health activist with global resonance
Despite or perhaps because of his polarizing views, Dr. Malhotra’s influence cannot be ignored. His message resonates with millions frustrated by what they perceive as a medical system captured by industry interests.
He frequently draws analogies with the tobacco industry’s historical denial of harm. “It took 50 years for regulation to follow science on tobacco. Big Pharma is using the same playbook,” he warned. “This isn’t just about science; it’s about power and transparency.”
His move to Washington under MAHA marks not just a geographical shift, but a strategic escalation. “We need a revolution,” he had said in a past interview. “A health revolution rooted in truth, transparency, and patient empowerment.”
A voice for reform
“My father was a trailblazer,” he once said, referring to OBE Dr. Kailash Chand. “He fought for the NHS. I’m continuing that battle, not just in Britain, but globally.”
In an age of misinformation and polarizing narratives, Dr. Aseem Malhotra stands at a complicated crossroads, respected by many, criticized by others, but impossible to ignore. Whether as a cardiologist, campaigner, or contrarian, his commitment to reforming health discourse is unequivocal. “The ultimate purpose of knowledge is to reduce human suffering,” he believes.
As Dr. Aseem Malhotra takes on his new role at MAHA, he steps into a significant space where health advocacy meets policy reform advancing President Trump’s promise to not just make America great again, but to make it healthier than ever before.
- Follow Dr Aseem Malhotra on Twitter
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