01/14/2026
In case you missed it 👀
The new Dietary Guidelines for Americans are out for 2025-2030 …and like every version before them, they’re a mix of helpful and confusing 😵💫
✔️ What the guidelines get right:
They push Americans toward more vegetables, fruit, protein, fiber, and nutrient-dense foods. It’s advice that still holds up well for most people. Also, I do appreciate that these guidelines feel more accessible (at less than 10 pages) than prior guidelines (over 150 pages) 🤔
⚠️ What’s confusing:
How does the new “upside down pyramid” that prioritizes steak and full-fat dairy account for also recommending saturated fat intake stay below 10%?! The overemphasis on single nutrients and mixed messaging around fats and carbohydrates continues to frustrate me.
❌ What continues to miss the mark:
One-size-fits-all recommendations don’t account for culture, budget, medical conditions, or how differently bodies respond to food.
👉 The takeaway:
Guidelines are meant to be a starting point, not a personalized plan. Nutrition is complex, evolving, and deeply individual. The idea that health can be reduced to a short list of “do’s and don’ts” (federal document or not!) feels improbable at best and problematic at worst.
If you’ve ever felt confused by nutrition advice, you’re not failing! The system in place tends to pray on that feeling of failure and be at the ready to sell you all sorts of “quick solutions” 😒💊
As a nutrition coach, I do my best to educate my clients so that they feel empowered to truly understand what works best for them in their current stage of life. We aim for progress, not perfection☝️
If you have any nutrition questions, pop them in the comments below ⬇️
