For nearly half a century, Americans have made dietary choices guided by well-intentioned but dangerously flawed myths. We were told to run on a treadmill to earn a brownie, to fear the fat in milk and eggs, and to buy processed “low-fat” products to stay lean. This expert advice—enshrined in previous dietary guidelines issued by the federal government—has been a catastrophic failure. Bad advice has created a broken food supply and fueled epidemics of chronic disease and obesity.
That era is officially over. The new Dietary Guidelines for Americans, developed by the Donald Trump administration, represent a fundamental and long-overdue course correction. We have incorporated the best scientific research and common sense to say clearly what many Americans have known all along: We should eat more real food—high in micronutrients and derived from good sources—and less highly processed food.
The new guidelines, which inform school lunches, meals at military bases, and other government programs, incorporate several significant changes for all Americans to consider.
First, the new guidelines emphasize the critical importance of protein and raise its recommended daily intake by between 50 percent and 100 percent. For years, protein recommendations were based on flawed studies that used urine nitrogen measurements, which underestimate total body protein. Ensuing recommendations were set at a bare minimum to prevent deficiency, not to promote thriving.
