The Trump-Vance administration recently released the Dietary Guidelines for 2025 to 2030, recommending a reduction in highly processed foods with added sugar and excess sodium and endorsing whole, nutrient-dense foods and products like whole milk, butter, and red meat.
Every five years, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS) update and release the Dietary Guidelines for Americans to reflect current nutrition science. While the average person probably doesn’t think about the Guidelines, they affect millions of people every day, says Marion Nestle, Professor Emerita of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University.
The Dietary Guidelines form the basis of dozens of federal nutrition programs, including school meals consumed by nearly 30 million children, and inform medical advice, and national disease prevention efforts. They also help shape meals for 1.3 million active-duty service members and food served to 9 million veterans in Veterans Affairs hospitals, says HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr..
The Guidelines’ core advice has remained consistent since they were first published in 1980, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest. But Kennedy claims the update constitutes the most significant reset of federal nutrition policy in U.S. history, with the goal of revolutionizing the country’s food system and culture.
The 2025-2030 Guidelines suggest avoiding highly processed or packaged foods, and “other foods that are salty or sweet, such as chips, cookies, and candy that have added sugars and sodium (salt).”
They do not change the long-standing recommendation to limit saturated fats to less than 10 percent of daily calories but call for more research on which dietary fats best support long-term health. “We are ending the war on saturated fats,” Kennedy explained at the press conference unveiling the Guidelines.
The recommendations also encourage full-fat dairy, a shift from decades-old guidance to opt for lower-fat dairy products. When cooking with or adding fats to meals, the Guidelines suggest options like olive oil, butter, or beef tallow.
The update prioritizes protein at every meal, from animal sources, including red meat, eggs, poultry, and seafood, as well as plant sources. Previous Guidelines recommended 13 to 56 grams of protein per day. The new Guidelines suggest the equivalent of 81.6 to 109 grams for a 150-pound person.
Some experts have welcomed the recommendations. American Medical Association (AMA) President Dr. Bobby Mukkamala applauded the updates for spotlighting foods, like those with added sugar and sodium, that fuel heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and other chronic illnesses. The recommendations, Mukkamala says, affirm that food is medicine. And Dariush Mozaffarian, Director of Tufts University’s Food Is Medicine Institute, described the suggestion to limit processed foods as a ground-shaking change.
Others, like Neal Barnard, President of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, say the Guidelines have “unjustly condemned highly processed foods and exonerated meat and dairy products,” when they should have done the opposite.
While the Guidelines are right to limit saturated fat, Barnard explains, meat and dairy products are the leading sources of saturated fat in the American diet. A new report in the Annals of Internal Medicine and guidance from the AMA Presidential Advisory affirm that saturated fat raises cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease.
And not all processed foods are equal. Certain plant-based and vitamin-fortified processed foods can reduce the risk of birth defects, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, according to Barnard. For example, a Harvard University study showed that animal-based products were associated with a 44 percent increased risk of diabetes, while ultra-processed cereals were associated with 22 percent reduced risk.
Dr. David Seres, director of medical nutrition and professor of medicine in the Institute of Human Nutrition at Columbia University Medical Center, agrees with limiting processed foods, but hopes the public understands that there is nuance.
Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia
