New U.S. Diet Guidelines Push Whole Foods, Meat and Dairy

THURSDAY, Jan. 8, 2026 (HealthDay News) — The federal government has released new dietary guidelines that shift how Americans are urged to eat.

The new focus? Whole foods, protein and healthy fats.

At a news conference Wednesday, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. introduced a new food pyramid.

At the top: Red meat, cheese, fruits and vegetables, suggesting a move away from earlier advice that discouraged saturated fats. Along with the new pyramid, the U.S. reversed its position on alcohol use.

Kennedy called the dietary update the biggest change to U.S. nutrition policy in decades.

“Protein and healthy fats are essential and were wrongly discouraged in prior dietary guidelines,” he said. “We are ending the war on saturated fats.”

The new guidance includes limits on added sugar and urges Americans to eat fewer highly processed foods.

More than 70% of U.S. adults are overweight or obese, Kennedy and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins pointed out, blaming diets high in processed foods and low physical activity.

“This approach can change the health trajectory for so many Americans,” they stated.

Along with the new pyramid, health officials dropped long-standing advice to limit alcohol to no more than one drink a day for women and two for men — a major shift in federal messaging. During the Biden administration, the U.S. surgeon general pushed for adding cancer warnings to alcohol products, The Washington Post reported.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said during the news conference that people should drink judiciously.

“There’s probably nothing healthier than having a good time with friends,” he said, describing alcohol as a “social lubricant that brings people together.”

The guidelines say pregnant women, those in recovery from alcohol use disorder and people on some medications should avoid it altogether.

Not all nutrition experts agree with the government’s new recommendations on food and drink, however.

“I”m very disappointed in the new pyramid that features red meat and saturated fat sources at the very top, as if that”s something to prioritize. It does go against decades and decades of evidence and research,” Christopher Gardner, a Stanford University researcher who previously served on a federal dietary advisory committee, told NPR.

Others were more supportive, especially of the focus on eating fewer ultra-processed foods.

“The American Heart Association welcomes the new dietary guidelines and commends the inclusion of several important science-based recommendations, notably the emphasis on increasing intake of vegetables, fruits and whole grains while limiting consumption of added sugars, refined grains, highly processed foods, saturated fats and sugary drinks,” a spokesperson for the group said.

The organization did, however, express some reservations.