The U.S. Dietary Guidelines are published every five years and serve as the foundation for federal nutrition programs, including school meals, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, federal education guideline programs and food served at federal buildings.
The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is a group of 20 nutrition experts and federal scientists that holds meetings for two years before the release of the federal nutrition guidelines every five years, based on the latest science. The 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans were released in January by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental attorney, not a scientist or nutrition expert. This column is about what the experts are saying about the new guidelines.
Center for Science in the Public Interest:
This organization publishes “Nutrition Action” six times a year. President Peter Lurie, M.D., M.P.H., states that CSPI is “committed to defending the role of science in public policy and to ensuring that nutrition guidance serves the public interest, not special interests.” In the current edition of “Nutrition Action,” Dr. Lurie states that now, for the first time, the guidelines can’t be trusted. Secretary Kennedy put the guidelines’ scientific review in the hands of nine scientists, seven with ties to the meat, dairy and/or supplement industry.
The good part of the new guidelines, according to Dr. Lurie, is that they “recommend fruits, vegetables, and unprocessed foods and that people use plain water as a primary beverage.” However, they “contradict the evidence-based recommendations of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee report” and “are at best confusing and, at worst, damaging.” For example, on the one hand, they recommend limiting saturated fat to 10% of calories, but at the same time push high-saturated-fat foods, including animal protein, butter, full-fat dairy and beef tallow.
JFK Jr., who eats a carnivore diet himself, says “we are ending the war on saturated fats.” The No. 1 killer of Americans is cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks and strokes. There is no question that LDL, or bad cholesterol, is a major cause not only of cardiovascular disease but also diabetes and several types of cancer. And there is overwhelming evidence that saturated fat — present in all animal products, including full-fat dairy, plus palm and coconut products — raises LDL. The healthiest populations are those that eat little to no saturated fat. Of course, the beef, dairy and egg industries try to muddy the waters by doing studies that compare their products with other unhealthy products, such as ultra-processed carbs.
PCRM (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine)
PCRM publishes “Good Medicine” quarterly. The spring edition has an article about the new food guidelines that notes “the day after the guidelines were released, the Physicians Committee filed a petition with the Offices of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture asking that the guidelines be withdrawn and reissued due to rampant industry influence.” In an article in the New York Post, PCRM President Neal Barnard, M.D., wrote that “industry’s pernicious promotion of beef, pork, milk, and cheese is the reason so many Americans are sick today.”
U.C. Berkeley School of Public Health Wellness Letter
In the April edition, there is an article titled “Eat More Meat? Not So Fast!” — an interview about the new guidelines with Marion Nestle, Ph.D., “a leading public health advocate, nutrition scholar, and food policy authority.” She points out that the positive part of the guidelines is that they recommend vegetables, fruits and whole grains, and limit sugar, salt, saturated fat and highly processed foods. “But then things get weird regarding the recommendation for protein, [and] dairy fat …”
She goes on to note that Kennedy eats a carnivore diet, along with fermented foods, “so the guidelines express his ideology.” She mentions Michael Pollan’s summary of his book “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” She summarizes the message in the new food guidelines as: “Eat food. As much as you like. Mostly meat.”
She doesn’t agree with Kennedy’s opinion that “seed oils are poison.” She also takes issue with doubling the previous recommendation for protein intake, pointing out that Americans generally already eat plenty of protein and deficiency is not a problem. She also notes that plant sources of protein are healthier. She is concerned that whole grains are at the bottom of the new food pyramid, “which is carnivore ideology.” In a nutshell, Dr. Nestle says that with the new guidelines “we are dealing with ideology, not science.”
Conclusion:
The title of a recent article in Slate suggests that MAHA, or Make America Healthy Again, now stands for Make Arteries Hard Again. These new non-evidence-based food guidelines will result in needless sickness, suffering and deaths.
Dr. Greg Feinsinger is a retired family physician who started the non-profit Center For Prevention and Treatment of Disease Through Nutrition. For questions or to schedule a free consultation about nutrition or heart attack prevention contact him at gfmd41@gmail.com or 970-379-5718.
Dr. Greg Feinsinger is a retired family physician who started the non-profit Center For Prevention and Treatment of Disease Through Nutrition. For questions or to schedule a free consultation about nutrition or heart attack prevention contact him at gfmd41@gmail.com or 970-379-5718.
