The updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans until 2030 were released on January 7 by the US Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture.
The document is accompanied by a redesigned “food pyramid” graphic that is flipped upside down and gives prominent visual space to foods such as steak, butter and full-fat milk.
In a statement announcing the update, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the guidelines are meant to push Americans toward “whole, nutrient-dense foods” and away from highly processed products, adding: “This is how we Make America Healthy Again.”
Federal dietary guidelines are updated every five years and are widely used as a reference point for public health messaging and for programs that shape food policy, including school meals and other nutrition assistance programs.
A central point of dispute has been the contrast between the graphic and the written recommendations.
While whole grains appear near the narrow end of the inverted pyramid, the text advises Americans to eat two to four servings of whole grains per day. The written guidance also keeps the long-standing recommendation that saturated fat should make up no more than 10 percent of daily calories.
Nutrition researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health said the visual emphasis on saturated-fat-rich foods could lead many people to assume limits have been relaxed, even though the cap remains in place.
Frank Hu, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard, warned that “mixed messages” around red meat butter, and beef tallow could increase confusion and contribute to higher saturated fat intake.
The new presentation has also been discussed in Poland, where medical commentators have noted that the guidelines still include plant-based protein sources. The document recommends a mix of animal and plant proteins, including beans, peas, lentils, nuts, seeds, and soy, alongside meat, eggs and dairy products.
Polish endocrinologist Szymon Suwała, who writes about obesity and metabolic health, said online enthusiasm from supporters of ketogenic and “carnivore” diets risks overstating the shift, because the written guidance continues to recommend vegetables, fruit, fiber and whole grains.
Dietitian Katarzyna Wolnicka of Poland’s National Institute of Public Health said a mismatch between visual and written guidance can make advice harder for consumers to interpret and may encourage overreading of the graphic.
(rt/gs)
Source: demagog.org.pl