6 biggest changes to know

The new U.S. dietary guidelines, unveiled Wednesday, make notable changes to the country’s previous healthy eating guidelines, placing more emphasis on protein and full-fat dairy while advising people to avoid sugar and highly processed foods.

“My message is clear: Eat real food,” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Wednesday at a White House press briefing, adding that he was “ending the war on saturated fat.”

Kennedy, who has pledged to combat rising rates of chronic disease among children, touted the guidelines as a way to reduce high levels of obesity and diabetes.

The guidelines, published jointly by the departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services every five years, are not a radical overhaul. They reiterate previous recommendations to eat nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables, as well as healthy proteins such as meat, poultry, seafood, nuts and seeds. However, they reverse the food pyramid used in the 1990s and 2000s to favor meat and dairy products rather than whole grains.

Here are six of the most significant changes from previous recommendations.

Protein with every meal

The new guidelines suggest prioritizing protein at every meal, aiming to get about 1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilogram of a person’s body weight each day. The government recommends protein from animal sources such as eggs, poultry, seafood and red meat, as well as plant sources such as beans, peas, lentils, legumes, nuts, seeds and soy.

“The old guidelines had such a low protein recommendation that we’re increasing it from 50% to 100%. Children need protein,” FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said at the briefing.

However, several nutrition experts have stated that protein deficiencies are not a problem.

“I really don’t think children in the United States are lacking protein,” said Dr. Ronald Kleinman, chairman emeritus of pediatrics at Mass General Brigham.

“We need about 7 or 8 percent of our calories in the form of protein. And in the United States, most children [get] More than 15 percent protein in their diet,” he said.

Full-fat dairy products are in fashion, low-fat products are excluded

While previous guidelines recommended fat-free or low-fat milk and yogurt, the updated version prioritizes full-fat dairy products without added sugars. The new version recommends three daily servings of dairy, while the previous version recommended three cups per day.

This change could impact school feeding programs, through which children are currently offered fat-free or low-fat milk.

Some research suggests that high-fat dairy products may reduce the risk of obesity, perhaps because they are more filling and therefore people eat less. Studies have also shown that it may improve heart health, or at least not increase the risk of heart disease.

However, Kleinman said there is no compelling evidence in favor of one type of milk over another.

“We think too hard about whether foods should be high fat or low fat,” he said. If someone is overweight, he added, “then there is no need to consume the extra calories provided by whole milk and dairy products.”

Drink less alcohol, but without limits

While previous dietary guidelines said alcohol consumption should be limited to one drink per day for women and two for men, the new ones simply recommend limiting alcohol consumption “for better overall health.”

The guidelines were weaker than some experts had expected, given a federal report released in January 2025 that suggested at least one drink daily could increase the risk of liver cirrhosis, esophageal cancer and oral cancer. Around the same time, Dr. Vivek Murthy, surgeon general under President Joe Biden, called for cancer warning labels to be placed on alcoholic beverages.

“The alcohol industry is a big winner here,” said Marion Nestlé, professor emeritus of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University. “What does “borderline” mean for someone who drinks alcohol? Less than he currently drinks, but how much less?

Asked about the vague language on alcohol at the briefing, Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said alcohol can be consumed “in small amounts” and that “there’s never been really good data to support” previous daily limits.

“The implication is that you shouldn’t have it for breakfast,” he said.

Avoid highly processed foods

Kennedy has often blamed ultra-processed foods for contributing to chronic disease, and studies have linked them to obesity, heart disease and cancer. In a report released in May, Kennedy criticized the dietary guidelines at the time for not explicitly mentioning these foods.

The new recommendations advise people to avoid packaged and ready-to-eat, salty or sugary foods (such as chips, cookies and candy) and to limit foods and drinks containing artificial flavors, colors, preservatives and sweeteners.

The American Medical Association applauded new guidelines aimed at emphasizing ultra-processed foods.

The updated guidelines don’t specifically refer to processed meat like hot dogs, sausages and cured meats — which previous guidelines found were associated with “adverse health outcomes” — although they do say to eat meat without added sugars, refined carbohydrates or starches.

No added sugar for children and strict limit for adults

No amount of added sugar is healthy, according to the new guidelines, and adults should limit their intake to no more than 10 grams per meal.

The previous recommendation was to limit added sugars to less than 10% of daily calories. (School meal programs must limit added sugars to less than 10% of calories per meal by January 2027). Children under the age of 2 have also been advised to avoid foods and drinks with added sugars.

The new guidelines go a step further, saying to avoid added sugars completely during infancy and early childhood, with no amounts of added sugar recommended for children ages 5 to 10.

A change in fats used for cooking

The new guidelines recommend cooking with “healthy fats,” citing as examples olive oil, butter and beef tallow — rendered cow fat that Kennedy has repeatedly described as superior to some cooking oils (a claim disputed by many experts). Butter and beef tallow are high in saturated fat, which is known to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and weight gain.

“The implications that butter and beef tallow are ‘healthy fats’ have no scientific basis and are simply a figment of RFK Jr.’s imagination,” Elizabeth Jacobs, an epidemiologist and member of Defend Public Health, a volunteer network of public health advocates, said in a statement.

Previous dietary guidelines recommended limiting saturated fats to less than 10 percent of daily calories and replacing them with olive oil or canola, corn, soy or sunflower oils. Kennedy claimed that these so-called seed oils are “one of the leading causes of the obesity epidemic.” There is little evidence to support this – nutrition experts say the biggest concern is ultra-processed foods cooked in these oils.