My thoughts on the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans

You’ve probably seen the new food pyramid that’s based on the newly updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans. These guidelines change every five years.

The new messaging is this:

Eat real food.

 

 

That’s a pretty good start, but based on the actual data, the messaging should be and should have always been:

Eat whole plant foods.

But who was holding their breath for that? Not me!

I’ve never made my food choices based on government guidelines because I’ve never eaten meat, I haven’t eaten dairy in over 16 years, and I’m generally informed about nutrition.

But it’s not just about our personal choices. These guidelines set the nutrition standards that guide major federal food programs, like public school meals and nutrition assistance programs, so they aren’t some little suggestions that don’t have consequences. They strongly influence what federal institutions buy and serve, and ultimately, what millions of people eat every day.

And according to the new guidelines, that’s going to be a whole lot more meat, dairy, and eggs.

When you consider that eight of the nine people sitting on the scientific review panel for the new guidelines have financial ties to the meat and dairy industry, it becomes clear who these new guidelines serve. And it certainly isn’t the health of Americans or the welfare of animals.

There’s a really informative episode of The Exam Room™ Podcast all about the new guidelines. It’s a must-listen.

Despite mountains of science-backed evidence showing the positive impact of a whole-food plant-based diet on human health, it’s always been an uphill battle to get the masses to eat more plants.

And these new guidelines make that hill even steeper.

But my fellow plant-powered advocates and I are not deterred. I, for one, will keep doing what I’ve always done: help one person, one plant-powered meal at a time, and trust that the ripple effect will span beyond administration terms, guideline cycles, and even, possibly, maybe, hopefully, generations.

If the new guidelines have you wondering if you should eat meat, dairy, or eggs, just know that the science hasn’t changed—if anything, there has been more evidence in the past five years showing the positive benefits of eating fiber-filled whole plant foods and the negative effects of eating animal-based foods.

So keep cool and keep munching those veggies, fruits, beans, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds—the new food guidelines have nothing on you!

Molly

Study references:

This major 2023 meta-analysis of more than 2 million people found higher adherence to plant-based diets, especially those rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains, is associated with significantly lower risks of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and early death.

For more studies that show the benefits of a plant-based diet and the risk of a diet heavy in meat, dairy, and eggs, please read the book How Not To Die by Dr. Michael Greger. Here’s a list of the citations that were used for the book if you want to dive into the science.