What the new guidance urges
The Trump administration released the 2025-2030 U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans on Wednesday, urging Americans to eat more whole foods and protein and to reduce highly processed foods and added sugar. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins issued the guidance, which the administration said provides the foundation for federal nutrition programs and policies.
At a White House briefing, Kennedy said, “My message is clear: Eat real food.”
The guidelines emphasize fresh vegetables, whole grains and dairy products, continuing long-running elements of healthy-eating plans. Officials also released a new graphic depicting an inverted version of the long-abandoned food pyramid, with protein, dairy, healthy fats and fruits and vegetables at the top and whole grains at the bottom.
The guidelines’ stance on highly processed foods
The administration’s most noticeable shift involves highly processed foods. The document urges consumers to avoid “packaged, prepared, ready-to-eat or other foods that are salty or sweet, such as chips, cookies and candy.”
In the AP’s description, that language functions as a different term for ultraprocessed foods—products that can be energy-dense and that have been linked in prior research to chronic conditions including diabetes and obesity.
Saturated fat guidance stays in place, with added options
On saturated fat, the new guidelines back away from revoking long-standing advice that Americans limit saturated fats. Instead, the guidance suggests people choose whole-food sources of saturated fat—such as meat, whole-fat dairy or avocados—and continue to limit saturated fat consumption to no more than 10% of daily calories.
The document also says “other options can include butter or beef tallow,” language that officials used while taking a less sweeping approach than the most aggressive signals Kennedy and Food and Drug Commissioner Marty Makary had previously given about the “war” on saturated fats.
Praise and criticism among nutrition experts
Some prominent nutrition and medical experts praised the updated emphasis on whole foods and limits on highly processed carbohydrates. Dr. David Kessler, a former FDA commissioner, said, “There should be broad agreement that eating more whole foods and reducing highly processed carbohydrates is a major advance in how we approach diet and health.”
Dr. Bobby Mukkamala, president of the American Medical Association, said the guidelines “affirm that food is medicine and offer clear direction patients and physicians can use to improve health.”
Other experts were more skeptical. Marion Nestle, a nutritionist and food policy expert who advised on previous editions, said, “Overall, if people eat the way these are recommended, they will be eating more calories, not less.” She and other critics said they were especially concerned about the guidelines’ focus on meat and dairy as primary sources of protein rather than plant-based sources.
School meals could be reshaped over time
The guidelines are required by law to be updated every five years and provide a template for federal nutrition programs. The AP report said the document is 10 pages and follows the administration’s pledge to keep the guidance simple and understandable, compared with the much longer versions issued in later years, including a 164-page document in 2020 that included a four-page executive summary.
The changes could have their most immediate, practical effect through federal school nutrition rules. The guidelines’ recommendations must be followed by the federally funded National School Lunch Program, which the AP described as serving nearly 30 million U.S. children on a typical school day.
The Agriculture Department will have to translate the dietary recommendations into specific requirements for school meals, a process that can take years, Diane Pratt-Heavner, spokesperson for the School Nutrition Association, said. Pratt-Heavner said the latest school nutrition standards were proposed in 2023 but would not be fully implemented until 2027.
What changes from earlier guidance: processed foods, protein and sugars
The new guidelines largely rejected the advice of a 20-member panel of nutrition experts convened by the Biden administration that met for nearly two years. The AP report said Kennedy had criticized the panel’s expertise and suggested that panel members had ties to the food industry that influenced the advice.
Instead, the administration relied on a new set of experts listed in supporting documents. Of 10 experts who led the new scientific review under Kennedy, the AP said five reported financial ties to beef, pork or dairy industries or to makers of infant formula or supplements. The AP also said the new group rejected more than half the recommendations of the previous panel’s work.
The new guidance does not make an immediate, hard-edged set of recommendations on “ultraprocessed foods” as a category with a fully finalized definition in the way some experts expected. The AP report said the FDA and the Agriculture Department are already working on a definition, a process expected to take time.
The guidelines also called for a higher protein target. They recommend 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, compared with a prior recommendation of 0.8 grams per kilogram. The AP report said previous guidance described protein as the “bare minimum” needed for health and that the new recommendation could mean more protein intake for many people.
On added sugars, the new guidelines advise avoiding or sharply limiting added sugars or non-nutritive sweeteners, saying “no amount” is considered part of a healthy diet. The document says no one meal should contain more than 10 grams of added sugars, about 2 teaspoons.
The AP report said previous federal guidelines limited added sugars to less than 10% of daily calories for people older than 2, with children younger than 2 told to have no added sugars at all. The report also said Americans on average consume about 17 teaspoons of added sugars per day, citing the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Alcohol limits rolled back
The new dietary guidance also removed prior recommendations to limit alcohol intake to one drink or less per day for women and two drinks or less per day for men. Instead, the document advises Americans to “consume less alcohol for better health.”
The guidelines said alcohol should be avoided by pregnant women, people recovering from alcohol use disorder and those who are unable to control the amount they drink.