Dietary Guidelines 2025-2030: what changed

By the DieticiansWorldwide.com editorial team · 18 October 2026 · Public health & global nutrition

What the new dietary guidelines are, and why they matter

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans are the federal government's official advice on what to eat and drink. US law requires the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA) to publish them jointly at least every five years, and requires each federal agency to promote them when it runs a food, nutrition or health programme. The Congressional Research Service describes how that mandate, set by the National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Act of 1990, makes the guidelines a policy document for programme operators, health professionals and educators as much as for the public (Congressional Research Service, April 2025).

The tenth edition arrived on 7 January 2026 and looks very different from the ninth. The 2020–2025 edition ran to 164 pages; the core 2025–2030 document is nine numbered pages plus a cover, built around a single message, "eat real food" (Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025–2030, PDF). The detail sits in two companion files: a 90-page Scientific Foundation report, and a table of daily servings by calorie level.

This guide walks through the full content of the new edition, section by section, with the key numbers and how each compares with what came before. For the inverted pyramid graphic and how it differs from MyPlate, see our explainer on the new food pyramid. For the wider context of nutrition policy and the dietetics profession in the country, see our United States country guide.

How the guidelines were made this time

Normally the departments set the scientific questions, an external Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) reviews the evidence and writes a Scientific Report, and the departments then draft the guidelines. The Congressional Research Service notes that the committee's report "is not a draft" of the guidelines but an independent review meant to inform them.

For 2025–2030, the committee met seven times and published its Scientific Report in December 2024. Its headline advice included more plant-based protein, such as beans and peas, and less red and processed meat. The departments then took a different route. The administration commissioned what it calls a supplementary, independent evidence review, run by experts selected through a federal contracting process, with peer review coordinated by the NIH Office of Nutrition Research and two independent reviewers for each scientific review. The result is The Scientific Foundation for the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025–2030, which the departments describe as "the evidentiary foundation" for the new edition (Scientific Foundation, PDF).

The Scientific Foundation explains why the committee's report was set aside. Its central objection is that the committee evaluated every question "through a health equity lens", and it counts the term "health equity" appearing more than 170 times in that report. It also says the committee "consistently advocated plant-based dietary patterns, deprioritized animal-sourced proteins, and favored high linoleic acid vegetable oils", and that it failed to set clear limits on highly processed foods. The document then lists each of the committee's recommendations with a mark showing whether it was implemented in full, in part or not at all. The full committee report remains available online alongside the appendices.

The Scientific Foundation also states that all the experts it used publicly disclosed their nutrition-related private interests. Replacing the committee's conclusions with a supplementary review is the part of the new edition that has drawn the sharpest criticism; we return to the reaction below.

The core recommendations, section by section

Eat the right amount, and drink water

The opening section ties calorie needs to age, sex, size and activity, asks people to watch portions, and names hydration as "a key factor in overall health", recommending water (still or sparkling) and unsweetened drinks. Our water intake calculator gives a starting estimate if you want a number.

Prioritise protein at every meal

Protein comes first among the food groups. The target is "1.2–1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, adjusting as needed based on your individual caloric requirements". Animal and plant sources are named together, and the text suggests swapping deep-frying for baking, grilling, roasting or stir-frying.

Dairy

"When consuming dairy, include full-fat dairy with no added sugars", with a goal of 3 servings a day on a 2,000-calorie pattern. The companion servings table defines a serving as 1 cup of milk, ¾ cup of yoghurt or 1 oz of cheese, and its footnote lists lactose-free products and fortified dairy alternatives as options (Daily Servings by Calorie Level, PDF).

Gut health

A short paragraph credits vegetables, fruits, high-fibre and fermented foods with supporting the microbiome, and says highly processed foods can disrupt it.

Vegetables and fruits throughout the day

The goal is 3 servings of vegetables and 2 of fruit a day at 2,000 calories. Whole vegetables and fruit "in their original form" are preferred; frozen, dried or canned versions "with no or very limited added sugars" also count; and 100% juice should be "consumed in limited portions or diluted with water".

Healthy fats

Healthy fats are described as plentiful in meats, poultry, eggs, omega-3-rich seafood, nuts, seeds, full-fat dairy, olives and avocados. For cooking, the advice is to "prioritize oils with essential fatty acids, such as olive oil", with butter or beef tallow listed as other options. The saturated fat limit is retained: "In general, saturated fat consumption should not exceed 10% of total daily calories." The document adds that more research is needed on which fats best support long-term health. Our evidence review asking whether seed oils are bad for you looks at that debate.

Whole grains

Whole grains get a goal of 2–4 servings a day, and the guidelines ask for a significant cut in refined carbohydrates such as white bread, packaged breakfast foods, flour tortillas and crackers. One serving is ½ cup of cooked oats, brown rice, barley, quinoa or buckwheat, one slice of bread or one tortilla.

Limit highly processed foods, added sugars and refined carbohydrates

This is the longest section. It asks people to avoid highly processed packaged, prepared and ready-to-eat foods that are salty or sweet, and sugar-sweetened drinks including sodas, fruit drinks and energy drinks. It also asks people to limit artificial flavours, petroleum-based dyes, artificial preservatives and non-nutritive sweeteners. On sugar, it says that "no amount of added sugars or non-nutritive sweeteners is recommended", adding that "one meal should contain no more than 10 grams of added sugars".

Alcohol and sodium

Alcohol advice is reduced to "consume less alcohol for better overall health", with a list of people who should avoid it completely. Sodium for everyone aged 14 and over stays at "less than 2,300 mg per day", with lower limits for children, and a new line saying "highly active individuals may benefit from increased sodium intake to offset sweat losses".

The key numbers in one table

The snack limits are tied to the FDA's updated "healthy" claim, which the agency announced in a final rule on 19 December 2024; its criteria table caps added sugars in grain products at 5 g per ¾ oz whole-grain equivalent and in dairy at 2.5 g per ⅔ cup equivalent (FDA, "healthy" claim). The previous edition's alcohol guidance allowed adults to drink "2 drinks or less in a day for men and 1 drink or less in a day for women" (Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025, PDF).

What changed about protein, and the evidence offered

The Scientific Foundation starts from the existing Recommended Dietary Allowance of 0.8 g per kg a day, which it describes as the lowest intake that maintains nitrogen balance in most healthy adults rather than the amount needed for optimal muscle mass. It notes that US adults already eat "on average about 1 g/kg/day", roughly 15% of energy, and that deficiency is rare. The question it sets itself is whether eating moderately more gives measurable benefits.

Its answer rests mainly on a systematic review of 30 randomised controlled trials comparing diets providing 1.2–1.6 g/kg with control diets of 0.8–1.0 g/kg, most of them in adults with overweight or obesity who were cutting calories. According to the report, 67% of trials found a significant improvement in at least one weight-related outcome, with a standardised mean difference of −1.31 kg in fat mass and +0.81 kg in lean mass, rated moderate-to-high certainty. It reports no adverse effects on kidney function, bone or metabolic markers within that range, and notes that no upper limit for protein has been set.

Two caveats follow from the report's own description: the trials were mostly in people losing weight, and the report frames higher protein as compatible with health and potentially useful, not as a fix for a widespread deficiency. Our guide to how much protein you need explains how to apply a per-kilogram target in practice, and our protein calculator works out the range for your weight. People with chronic kidney disease should not adopt a higher target without their renal team.

Do the new guidelines mention ultra-processed food?

Not by that name in the core document. The guidelines use the phrase "highly processed foods" throughout, and the Scientific Foundation explains why. It says "there is currently no consensus definition for highly processed or ultra-processed foods" and that a joint USDA and FDA effort to set a uniform definition is under way.

For its own analysis, the report defines highly processed foods as any food, drink or "engineered food-like item" made mainly from substances extracted from foods, such as refined sugars, refined grains or starches and refined oils, and/or containing industrially manufactured chemical additives. This is broader than the Nova classification's ultra-processed category: the report combines Nova group 2 (processed culinary ingredients such as sugar and extracted oils) with group 4 (ultra-processed foods). On that basis it estimates that highly processed foods supply about 60% of the energy adults eat and about two-thirds of what children and adolescents eat.

The report acknowledges limits in the evidence, including the lack of an agreed definition and the risk that Nova misclassifies some nutrient-dense foods, and calls its own definitions "provisional". Our guide to ultra-processed foods sets out how the main classification systems differ and what the research shows.

Life stages and special populations

The last four pages of the core document deal with particular groups, and much of this advice is new or newly explicit.

• Infants. Feed only breast milk for about the first 6 months, or iron-fortified formula when breast milk is not available; stop formula at 12 months and switch to whole milk; give a daily 400 IU vitamin D supplement to all breastfed infants and those having less than 32 oz of formula a day. Introduce allergenic foods such as nut butters, eggs, shellfish and wheat at about 6 months, and discuss earlier peanut introduction with a health professional for infants at high risk.
• Children aged 5 to 10. Full-fat dairy is described as important for energy needs and brain development; caffeinated drinks should be avoided; no amount of added sugar is recommended.
• Adolescents. Higher needs for energy, protein, calcium and iron, especially in girls, with adequate calcium and vitamin D "vital for peak bone mass".
• Pregnancy. Iron, folate and iodine are named as top priorities, with advice to discuss a daily prenatal vitamin. The Scientific Foundation adds that iron needs rise by about 50% and that pregnant women "should completely avoid alcohol".
• Older adults. Possibly fewer calories but equal or greater needs for protein, vitamin B12, vitamin D and calcium, with fortified foods or supplements "under medical supervision" where intake or absorption falls short.
• Chronic disease. People with a chronic disease are told to talk with their health professional about adapting the guidelines, and the document says some "may experience improved health outcomes when following a lower carbohydrate diet".
• Vegetarians and vegans. Advice to monitor iron, B12, vitamin D, calcium and iodine and to use targeted supplements where needed.

The reaction: awareness, support and criticism

Public awareness

The International Food Information Council's 2026 Food & Health Survey, an online survey of 3,005 Americans fielded from 22 March to 8 April 2026, found that 83% said they had seen the new food pyramid, higher than reported awareness of MyPlate in 2024 (76%). Knowledge lagged behind: 54% said they knew at least a fair amount about the pyramid, and 42% said they knew a lot or a fair amount about the guidelines themselves. Asked about the key messages, 50% said they had tried to eat vegetables and fruit throughout the day in the past year, 36% had tried to limit highly processed foods and 28% had tried to prioritise protein at every meal (IFIC 2026 Food & Health Survey, PDF). IFIC itself cautions that awareness of a symbol should not be confused with understanding or adherence.

What supporters point to

The departments' case is that the new edition is simpler and puts food quality and processing at the centre, with measurable limits on highly processed foods and added sugar that the committee did not propose. The Scientific Foundation also describes the edition as "a first, deliberate step" towards evidence standards based on the GRADE framework, with clearer separation between causal and associative evidence, and invites researchers to contribute to the next cycle.

What critics question

The professional criticism of the saturated fat, butter, tallow and protein advice, mainly from cardiology and nutrition research groups, is summarised in our pyramid explainer. A second line of criticism concerns the process. A commentary in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas, published online in February 2026 by a group of nutrition researchers led from the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil, argues that the guidelines' promotion of animal-source protein and full-fat dairy is inconsistent with their own 10% saturated fat limit, objects to the supplementary report replacing the committee's work, and says that report was written by experts with documented conflicts of interest with the beef, dairy and food industries (Neves and colleagues, Lancet Regional Health – Americas, 2026). The same authors welcome the processing-based language and hold up Brazil's 2014 guidelines, built around the degree of food processing, as the better model; our Brazil country guide describes that approach.

Both sides agree on more vegetables, fruit and whole grains, fewer sugary drinks and highly processed snacks, and unchanged limits on sodium and saturated fat. The disagreement is about fats, protein sources and how the evidence was assembled.

What it means for programmes and professionals

The guidelines matter most where they are written into rules. The Congressional Research Service notes that the DGA feeds into other federal resources and the Healthy Eating Index, the tool used to score diet quality, so programme standards and education materials will follow the new text over time.

For dietitians and nutrition educators, a few practical points follow:

1. Know the source of each number. The targets are in the core document and servings table; the reasoning, and its limits, is in the Scientific Foundation.
2. Translate "servings". The new units differ from the 2020–2025 cup- and ounce-equivalents, so older handouts may not match.
3. Keep the saturated fat limit in view. Full-fat dairy and other animal fats need to fit inside the 10% ceiling, which is easier with olive oil, nuts and fish as the main fats.
4. Address cost. Advice to cook at home and choose whole foods assumes time and money. Our article on food insecurity covers what that means for practice.
5. Watch the next cycle. The MAHA report that preceded these guidelines signals where federal policy may go next, and the departments have invited researchers to shape the 2030 edition.

Our free healthy eating check takes a few minutes and shows where your usual meals sit against these targets. If you have a medical condition and want to adapt the guidelines safely, you can book a session with a registered dietitian, and our weight management hub covers the protein and diet questions that come up most in practice.

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