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When it comes to nutritional advice, it can be hard to sort through quantity to find quality. A quick glance at TikTok, Instagram, or Yahoo News will recommend a different nutritional approach each time you visit — a supplement to better your gut health here, a recommendation for drinking more raw milk there, a keto diet somewhere else. For those seeking trustworthy advice, all the contradictions aren’t reassuring.
Updated every five years, the newest edition of Dietary Guidelines for Americans, published by the Department for Health and Human Services (DHS), includes its own set of recommendations to bring to the table. Many people are probably familiar with the MyPlate model that has been in use since 2010 and enjoyed a 15-year run. But now, DHS has drastically changed the so-called “food pyramid.” Or so it seems.
“The difference in the graphic of the upside-down pyramid and MyPlate is how the information is presented,” says Carol Ann Dietz, a registered dietician at Memphis Nutrition Group. “While an emphasis on eating whole foods has always been a focus of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the new graphic leans on specific images of foods to eat more or less of.”
The new guidelines (realfood.gov) emphasize consuming more protein, fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, and dairy. Specifically, they recommend markedly higher servings of protein (1.2–1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day) and full-fat dairy products (3 servings per day), while significantly lowering the intake of whole grains (2-4 servings per day).
There are positives to these guidelines — particularly, their recommendation of more servings of whole milk. “Whole milk is the only milk my family has been drinking for years, and it’s the type of milk I recommend to my clients of all ages,” says Blair Mize, a registered dietician and owner of Memphis Nutrition Group. “Dairy milk provides many of the nutrients essential for early brain development, such as protein, iodine, zinc, choline, vitamin B12, selenium, and vitamin A, and the fat in whole milk promotes the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins like vitamins A, D, E, and K.”
These nutrients contribute to the wide variety of benefits gained overall from drinking whole milk, including improved bone health, blood sugar stabilization, and of course, inclusion of said nutrients in one’s diet. Plant-based alternatives, on the other hand, don’t contain the same amount of nutrients as dairy milk. In addition to the fact that milk alternatives offer only one or two grams of incomplete protein, Mize calls attention to their long ingredient lists, which often include added sweeteners, but are absent essential amino acids.
Regarding added sugars, Mize warns how “food deprivation often leads to food preoccupation and ultimately backfires; therefore, efforts to exclude sugar entirely may actually drive children to desire and consume more of it in the long-run.”
Regarding the rest of the adjusted guidelines, Dietz cautions that these recommendations are less clear-cut. Notably, they may lead to confusion about what to eat, resulting in an unbalanced intake of protein and fiber.
“Heavily skewing recommendations towards fats and proteins and away from carbohydrates means it may be harder for people to meet their needs and eat a balanced diet,” she explains. “Extensive research has shown that protein intake in the 1.2–1.6 g/kg body weight is appropriate for those who are weight training, have a medical condition that requires higher protein intake, and older Americans who need more protein to maintain muscle mass. For people not in those categories, excess protein may be used inefficiently for energy.”
Similarly, decreasing consumption of whole grains may result in a lower intake of fiber in one’s diet. Furthermore, while the recommendation of 10 percent of one’s daily calories coming from saturated fats remains in the guidelines, Dietz adds that “this is now in conflict with the overall increase in suggested servings of protein and dairy. New guidelines also do not favor lean meats, unprocessed meats, or fats from plant sources.”
The new Dietary Guidelines for Americans also purport to respond to reported increases in ultra-processed food, added sugars, and other additives in our food system, as well as to the rise in chronic illness and diabetes. While excess consumption of these foods and ingredients do carry health risks, Mize, Dietz, and Julia Noel, another registered dietician with Memphis Nutrition Group, advise that, in moderation, they play important roles in the average diet. Correlation versus causation, too, is important to remember.
“The use of additives in foods is not inherently bad or unhealthy,” Noel says. “There are many foods that have food additives to support individuals who may be at risk for nutritional deficiencies. … For example, some cereal grains may contain vitamins, minerals, or prebiotic fibers that do not naturally occur in these foods and provide nutrients that support health and essential functions in the body.”
As parents and caregivers, we have an opportunity to model a healthy, flexible relationship with all foods.
— Blair Mize, Memphis Nutrition Group
Likewise, Dietz and Mize agree that processed foods and foods with added sugars, too, can fit into a balanced diet. While whole foods are always recommended, Dietz points out, “There are many instances where processed foods of all kinds may be helpful or even necessary depending on individual circumstance.”
This can include mothers using baby formula, athletes consuming electrolyte drinks, or professionals — or journalists — grabbing protein bars for a quick snack. She says it is also important to remember that some people, depending on individual circumstances, may not always have reliable access to whole foods.
Regarding added sugars, Mize warns how “food deprivation often leads to food preoccupation and ultimately backfires; therefore, efforts to exclude sugar entirely may actually drive children to desire and consume more of it in the long-run.” She herself is a certified eating disorder specialist and cautions about the possible development of disordered eating patterns when singling out certain foods as “forbidden foods.” Instead, she encourages helping your family learn about how to balance — not exclude — sugars with regular meals and a nutritious diet.
Overall, Mize, Dietz, and Noel advise discretion before directly associating reported rises in chronic illness and diabetes with diet and lifestyle. “While research has shown that both diet and lifestyle factors do contribute to chronic disease risk to an extent, there are several other factors that also need to be considered,” Noel explains. “For example, both adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) make up a significant portion of the factors that contribute to chronic disease risk throughout the lifespan.”
Adverse childhood experiences, according to the CDC, are potentially traumatic events that occur during ages 0-17; Social Determinants of Health, according to the World Health Organization, are conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age — affecting their access to power, money, and resources. Both can have an impact on health inequities, lifestyle, and diet.
“This means, for instance,” Noel says, “that if high-quality research and systematic reviews indicate that high intake of ultra-processed foods is associated with chronic disease risk, that doesn’t necessarily mean that ultra-processed foods cause chronic disease.”
What’s the takeaway from all this? “While I do agree with the messaging that whole foods should make up the bulk of one’s nutrition,” Dietz says, “I also believe that all foods can fit into a balanced diet and individual nutrition needs vary.” These are not strict guidelines, she says, though they will eventually be rolled out across schools, government nutrition programs, and other institutional settings. For those with more specialized dietary needs, Noel emphasizes that it is best to work with their healthcare professionals rather than rely solely on the guidelines.
Mize especially highlights the importance of parents in determining what’s best for their children. “As parents and caregivers, we have an opportunity to model a healthy, flexible relationship with all foods,” she says. “And modeling variety and balance — without labeling foods as ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ ‘healthy’ or ‘unhealthy’ — creates neutrality that allows children to trust their internal cues and develop a more intuitive sense of balance based on what feels best in their busy little bodies.”
