Uncle Sam Wants to Change Your Diet (for the better)

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture under Trump plans to upend the food pyramid of recommended dietary guidelines. Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. has definite ideas about what constitutes healthy food. It seems like every few years public health officials decide to change dietary recommendations. Usually, it’s about eating more salad, but Kennedy has other ideas. 

What does Kennedy recommend? The overarching message is to consume “real food.” Read more about it at Eat Real Food. It entails:

• More protein, including plant protein but also red meat.
• Healthy fats such as butter and olive oil, less seed oils.
• Fewer carbohydrates, such as those that come from refined grains.
• Less ultra-processed foods (lay off the Doritos)
• Less sugar, including sugary drinks.
• Less alcohol

I personally have nothing against these recommendations. They mirror what my wife and I already eat. These guidelines are somewhat consistent with latest trends (or fads) such as the Keto Diet, which emphasizes protein and fat and eschews carbohydrates and refined sugars. The new dietary recommendations move away from fads like the Mediterranean Diet, which included only a small amount of meat protein. The Mediterranean Diet is mostly a diet for poor people in poorer regions. It too is about real (cheap) food, but in moderation.

Do USDA recommendations really matter? Yes and no. Changing the food pyramid changes dietary guidelines. This will have a strong influence on federal food programs, such as SNAP. It will also influence school lunches which in turn will influence the food industry that supplies school lunches and federal food programs. The newer recommendations will alter earlier public health messaging that de-emphasized meat protein and animal fat. New guidelines highlight the dangers of ultra processed foods, which are calorie dense and often dense with chemical food additives. As an aside, I have often thought food scientists must be paid by the ingredients they add. Too many food items have a list of ingredients that reach into the dozens. The idea is to control the presentation of the item when opened. I recall as a child crossing into Canada and discovering that the oil in Canadian peanut butter could separate, unlike Gif or Peter Pan peanut butter I was used to.

It remains to be seen how these new recommendation will influence the average American. I suspect it will give more people an excuse to overindulge in steaks and burgers, while still eating potatoes french-fried in seed oil, Doritos, Hostess Twinkies, Pop Tarts, etc. As Jerry Seinfeld joked, “they don’t go bad because they were never fresh.”

On balance the new recommendations are positive if people do not forget that moderation is key. I eat marbled steaks three or four times a week, but I generally only eat about four ounces at a time. Almost everything I eat is cooked in butter with some olive oil. At home we also steer away from foods with an ingredient list that is a paragraph long. The healthiest advice is to portion control.  

Read more at USDA: Kennedy, Rollins Unveil Historic Reset of U.S. Nutrition Policy, Put Real Food Back at Center of Health

Also WSJ: Here’s What New Federal Dietary Guidelines Mean for Your Meals