On January 7, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins released America’s new dietary guidelines, emphasizing a return to the basics. The guidelines begin, “The message is simple: eat real food.” This mean prioritizing nutrient-dense, no-additives proteins in every meal and regularly consuming sugarless dairy products, whole fruits and vegetables, healthy fats, and whole grains. The guidelines emphasize that “no amount of added sugars or non-nutritive sweeteners is recommended or considered part of a healthy or nutritious diet.”
The new guidelines aim at reducing food-related chronic diseases and obesity rates in America. According to the “Message from the Secretaries” included in the new guidelines: “The United States is amid a health emergency. Nearly 90% of health care spending goes to treating people who have chronic diseases. Many of these illnesses are not genetic destiny; they are the predictable result of the Standard American Diet—a diet which, over time, has become reliant on highly processed foods and coupled with a sedentary lifestyle.”
According to a fact sheet from the Trump Administration: “The United States faces the highest obesity and Type 2 Diabetes rates (OECD) in the developed world.” Additionally, the U.S. spends 2.5 times more per capita than the average of developed countries (OECD) on health care. Despite the high healthcare spending, U.S. life expectancy is 4 years lower than the average among developed countries. The Trump Administration identifies unhealthy eating habits as a primary driver of these statistics.
Secretary Kennedy calls on Americans to “prioritize whole, nutrient-dense foods—protein, dairy, vegetables, fruits, healthy fats, and whole grains—and dramatically reduce highly processed foods. This is how we Make America Healthy Again.”
Alaskans wrestle with unhealthy eating behaviors similar to the rest of the country. According to the “Alaska Physical Activity, Nutrition and Obesity Facts Report” published by the Alaska Department of Health in August 2025: over 70% of Alaskan adults are overweight or obese, 85% of Alaskan adults do not consume the recommended amount of vegetables, over 90% of Alaskan high schoolers do not consume the recommended amount of fruits and veggies, and 43% of Alaskan high schoolers report engaging in unhealthy eating behaviors such as trying to lose weight via unsafe methods and/or binge eating.
With economic strain and high costs of fresh foods contributing to unhealthy choices, America’s new dietary guidelines cannot solve the whole problem. However, the guidelines inform Americans about healthy eating and the dangers of unhealthy eating, encourage healthier personal choices, and drive food system policies based on “common-sense, science-driven” nutrition.
I’m all for it!
What we eat, whether healthful or not, is no business of the government.
It’s a suggestion Anchor Point, not a mandate.
It’s about time some common sense was put into dietary guidelines. Mom was right all along, and the government was wrong. And, you can thank the government for allowing companies to put all that crap in food. That is changing, finally. For once, we have an administration that actually cares about US citizens and is doing something about it. It is not at all surprising that libtard heads are exploding.
Michael Pollan’s advice is to eat food, not too much and mostly plants.
Suddenly, the leftists will demand more processing, more salts, more sugars, and more additives in their food. And, if you say they should exercise more, they will resist, because… Trump.
Hey, remember when this very same government recommended no or low fat diets and replaced the healthy fat in foods with sugar and other sweeteners? That was epic!! Next thing you know they’ll tell us a new flu vaccine is tested, safe and effective. You can study history or you can trust government, but no sane person can do both.
There’s nothing “new” about these guidelines at all, save for the fact that they put red meat and full fat dairy at the top of the pyramid, thanks to the meat and dairy lobbyists who now how the HHS Secretary’s ear (and wallet). There is nothing groundbreaking here but the MAHA crowd thinks that people will be too stupid to notice, which may very well be an accurate assumption.
HEart disease from eating too much meat and dairy is the #1 killer in America…..Kind of wild huh….
“…thanks to the meat and dairy lobbyists who now how the HHS Secretary’s ear (and wallet).”
And, everything else you said is now meaningless.
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You actually were making valid points, right up until you said that. Now, it is a total fail.
Please point out how what I said was innacurate and be specific. Four of the seven people on the council that came up with this “new” pyramid are lobbyists for the meat and dairy industry. Do you think it’s just a blind coincidence that their interests are best served by this new scheme?
You cannot read minds. Neither can I. You have no idea why they took the action they took, and the assumption you made destroyed your argument.
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Now, I will admit I am not a nutritionist, or a medical professional, but this “food pyramid” makes a lot more sense from a holistic health approach than the previous ones did. That the new guidance aligns with an industry’s interests is proof of nothing.
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In fact, looking at this new pyramid, I will have to change my eating habits in no way whatsoever. It aligns with the recommendations my Drs. have been providing for ages..
But… because apparently are incapable of actually acknowledging this administration did something good (or so it seems from your comments on MRAK), you keep on finding conspiracies. You do you.
You’re adorable CB. You probably also think Renee Good tried to run over Jonathon Ross.
I do not think that at all.
I know it. There is ample evidence. Video, eyewitness accounts, and medical evidence. Even the most left leaning of the news outlets acknowledge it.
You want to know how I know for a fact that the meat and dairy industry are in the pockets of the FDA? Because right on the site where this new pyramid is presented, they say “ we’re ending the war on protein”. Are you kidding me? When was there ever a war on protein? Protein has been added to almost everything You can possibly imagine in this country and there’s never been an issue with protein deficiency in the United States. What this really is is a way to try to get Americans to eat more beef and dairy, which goes against decades of nutritional science research.
The hippies had this pyramid wrong since the 60s (the start of our demise)
I used to chuckle at big butt hippy momas that never ate meat, but PLENTY of carbs, comfort food & pie.
I switched to no bakery, more fat & dairy after retirement & lost 40 pounds.
My new diet is the opposite of the one recommended by 1960’s, JFK liberals.