January 07, 2026
Sergey Kotenev/UNSPLASH.COM
New dietary guidelines released by the Trump administration advise Americans to prioritize protein at every meal by consuming a variety of eggs, poultry, red meat, seafood, nuts, beans, lentils and legumes.
Full-fat dairy products and meat top the list of the Trump Administration's dietary guidelines released Wednesday.
"The new Guidelines deliver a clear, common-sense message to the American people: eat real food," a fact sheet released alongside the federal government's 2025-2030 guidelines states.
Now, the wide bottom of the food pyramid that Americans have been used to seeing since the early 1990s is upside down. The wide part of the pyramid now is at the top and includes beef, poultry, cheese, whole milk and eggs – alongside vegetables and fruits. The former apex of whole grains is now at the bottom of the food pyramid.
The guidelines also recommend avoiding highly-processed foods, added sugars and refined carbohydrates. They call on parents to remove all added sugars from their children's diets. These have been major talking points for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Kennedy also has advocated for the consumption of full-fat dairy products, a recommendation taken up in the new guidelines and a major change from past guidance to eat low-fat foods. The guidelines advise people on a 2,000-calorie diet to get three servings of dairy each day, including full-fat dairy.
"Some saturated fats found in full fat dairy including yogurt, cheese and milk are less inflammatory than other types of animal fat such as beef or beef tallow," Bethany Doerfler, a registered dietitian from Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, told CNN in an email. "But they are higher in calories. Full fat dairy isn't better than low fat dairy – it is simply not as dangerous as we once thought. But having full fat dairy can add an additional 200 or more calories each day which increases obesity risks further."
The guidelines recommend prioritizing protein at every meal by eating a variety of eggs, poultry, red meat, seafood, beans, lentils and nuts, seeds and legumes. They call for eating fruits and vegetables throughout the day, and for consuming healthy fats.
The updated guidelines might be used to promote high intakes of red meat and dairy products and would "not lead to optimally healthy diets or a healthy planet," Dr. Walter Willett, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, told CNN.
Additionally, the guidelines omit specific recommendations about alcohol limits, saying generally that people "consume less alcohol for better overall health." The previous guidelines recommended that men limit alcohol consumption to two or less drinks a day and women to one drink a day.
"Alcohol is a social lubricant that brings people together," Dr. Mehmet Oz, who heads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said at a briefing about the updated guidelines. He said the message was, "Don't have it for breakfast," the New York Times reported.
The American Medical Association endorsed the new guidelines.
"The Guidelines affirm that food is medicine and offer clear direction patients and physicians can use to improve health," AMA President Bobby Mukkamala said in a statement.
