Overview:
The sweeping overhaul of federal nutrition guidelines urges Americans to “eat real food,” but experts warn the advice oversimplifies obesity, clashes with rising food costs, and overlooks issues Black Americans face.
Earlier this week, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins unveiled what experts say is perhaps the most visible component of the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative: dietary recommendations that turn the familiar “food pyramid” on its head.
The longtime base of whole grains and fruits — what nutritionists say is the foundation of a healthy diet — has been demoted to the narrow end of the pyramid. In its place: meat, poultry, and other “healthy fats,” including whole-fat, unpasteurized milk, butter, and even beef tallow.
“My message is clear: Eat real food,” Kennedy said at a White House briefing on Wednesday, announcing the plan.
But while some applauded the changes (including Kennedy’s emphasis on avoiding sugar and highly processed food), others say the new dietary guidelines turn back the clock on healthy eating, contradicting the Trump administration’s own budget priorities and ignoring the health issues affecting Black Americans.
Obesity Oversimplified
Though Kennedy insists the most sweeping overhaul of federal nutrition guidelines seen in decades will help address the nation’s obesity crisis, the new food chart “does not reflect the modern scientific understanding of obesity as a chronic, complex disease,” said Jacqueline M. Stephens, president of The Obesity Society.
“While nutrition is an important foundation of health, she says, the guidelines “place too much emphasis on individual behavior and calorie-based approaches, without sufficient recognition of the biological, metabolic, and genetic drivers of obesity.”
The food guidelines arrive amid a sustained wave of diet-related diseases that affect Black Americans most frequently, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity. Experts worry that the new advice oversimplifies the treatment of obesity and overlooks the potential costs households will face when following the dietary recommendations.
[The guidelines] take us back to the diets of the 1950s, when everyone was eating lots of meat and dairy and not worrying much about vegetables, and heart disease was rampant.
Marion Nestle, Nutritionist
To be clear, the new guidelines do include widely-accepted, common-sense guidelines. It emphasizes, for example, eating fresh vegetables, whole grains, and dairy products, long-standing advice for healthy eating.
Compared with previous guidelines, Kennedy’s recommendations take a firmer stance against refined carbohydrates and packaged foods that are “salty or sweet” — a category that overlaps with ultra-processed foods linked to diabetes and obesity.
‘Mad Men’ Diet
But the new food pyramid inverts the older one by putting protein, dairy, healthy fats, and fruits and vegetables at the top, and placing whole grains on the smallest tier.
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The recommendation is to “prioritize nutrient-dense foods and home-prepared meals.”
But data issued in December show that food prices went up last year—and that includes food eaten at home or eaten out.
In 2025, food prices rose 2.6% on average. And fresh fruits, vegetables, and high-quality proteins are often the first items families cut when grocery budgets get tight.
Federal estimates suggest that nearly one in five Black households is in a food-insecure area. Data also indicates Black people are significantly more likely than whites to live in neighborhoods without a full-service grocery store.
Fewer Whole Grains, More Saturated Fats
At the same time, the new food pyramid under Kennedy walks back previous limits on saturated fat. Americans are still advised to keep saturated fat under 10% of daily calorie intake, but Kennedy’s recommendations encouraging Americans to eat more red meat and whole-fat dairy have given the American Heart Association palpitations.
The recommendations “could inadvertently lead consumers to exceed recommended limits” for saturated fats, which are primary drivers of cardiovascular disease, the organization said in a statement. “While the guidelines highlight whole-fat dairy, the Heart Association encourages consumption of low-fat and fat-free dairy products, which can be beneficial to heart health.”
Supporters argue the changes are overdue, but several health and nutrition experts warn that there’s no scientific evidence to support the new, simplified guidelines. Meanwhile, there are concerns that Kennedy’s emphasis on meat and dairy over plant-based proteins could mean Americans consume more calories, not fewer.
Marion Nestle, an esteemed nutrition policy expert, said that Kennedy’s diet is a recipe for an increase in heart disease.
Aside from the “excellent” advice to avoid highly processed foods, the guidelines “take us back to the diets of the 1950s, when everyone was eating lots of meat and dairy and not worrying much about vegetables, and heart disease was rampant,” Nestle said. “I’m all for eating whole foods, but these guidelines dismiss 75 years of research favoring diets higher in plant foods.”
Obesity by the numbers
Those concerns resonate sharply in Black communities, where obesity rates are persistently higher than for other groups.
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, almost 50% of Black adults were obese in 2017–2018, compared with about 42% of white adults. Severe obesity—defined as a body mass index of 40 or higher—was also more common among Black adults.
The numbers improved by 2023, when around 40% of adults were obese. But the CDC also found that 55% of Black women are obese, a rate that’s been persistent since 2020.
And diet alone isn’t the solution.
Research published during the past five years underscores how social determinants of health worsen the problem. The effects of stress, lack of access to fresh food, limited access to health care, sleep disruption, and the long-term effects of structural racism can’t be addressed by a one-size-fits-all dietary message.
“Unscientific” approach to treating obesity?
That disconnect has led public health professionals to warn that the new pyramid “does not reflect the modern scientific understanding of obesity as a chronic, complex disease,” said Stephens.
“The guidelines risk reinforcing outdated assumptions that diet alone is sufficient to treat obesity and do not align with evidence-based clinical care,” she adds. “This framing lacks the clinical nuance required for treating obesity as a chronic disease and fails to meaningfully integrate evidence-based medical care, including obesity medications, metabolic solutions, and bariatric surgery, which are standard and often necessary components of treatment for many patients.”
That framing, the society said, risks reinforcing stigma and the false idea that diet alone can “fix” obesity.