On Wednesday, January 7th, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) jointly released the “2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans,” replacing the 2020-2025 version to provide official recommendations for the United States’ dietary and nutrition policies over the next five years.
The new guidelines have updated the visual model of the food pyramid by inverting it. The wider top section emphasizes meats, fats, fruits, and vegetables, while whole grains are positioned in the narrower bottom section.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attended the release event and highlighted the new guidelines’ focus on reducing ultra-processed foods, red meat, saturated fats, and added sugars.
Kennedy has made reforming the American food supply a focal point of his “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) initiative to address chronic diseases and childhood health issues. He believes that American dietary habits have been detrimental to the health of the population, leading to skyrocketing healthcare costs.
He emphasized that whole grains and nutrient-rich foods are the most effective way to improve health and reduce healthcare costs. Proteins and healthy fats are crucial, but previous dietary guidelines incorrectly discouraged their consumption, stating, “We are ending the attack on saturated fats.”
Kennedy strongly criticized refined carbohydrates, food additives, and added sugars, emphasizing the health risks associated with sugary beverages.
His core message was to “eat real food,” stressing that this not only impacts personal health but also national security.
He stated, “If foreign hostile forces want to undermine our children’s health, weaken our economy, and harm our national security, the best strategy is to get us addicted to ultra-processed foods.”
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins praised Health Secretary Kennedy’s work during the briefing, highlighting the role farmers will play in reviving American health.
She expressed, “We are finally placing real food back at the core of Americans’ diets, a shift based on the rich, affordable, and healthy foods provided by America’s outstanding farmers and ranchers. They produce milk, raise livestock, grow healthy fruits, vegetables, and grains, which are crucial in addressing our national health crisis.”
Dr. Marty Makary, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), emphasized that the old dietary guidelines have been detrimental to the health of the general American population, particularly with inadequate protein intake in American children.
He stated, “Currently, 40% of our children suffer from chronic diseases, which is the consequence of flawed recommendations by the government and medical institutions. They have been peddling research findings based on flawed models from the 1960s for decades, causing harm to children by adults. We need to address this issue.”
Mehmet Oz, Director of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, believes that the best way for the United States to reduce medication expenses is by focusing on diet and health, avoiding unnecessary medication intake.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt informed reporters, “The Trump administration is updating federal nutrition standards and guidelines to ensure that the American people receive the most accurate, data-driven, science-backed information, without being misled by special interests or partisan ideologies.”
She added, “If we want to lower the nation’s healthcare costs, we must make the nation healthier. A healthier America will lead to lower cost of living in the United States.”
(Information referenced from the report by FOX NEWS)