The Pyramid Turned Upside Down
On January 7, 2026, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins released the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025-2030, marking the most dramatic reset of federal nutrition policy in decades. The familiar MyPlate visual guide has been retired, and the food pyramid has returned, but inverted. At the top, in the largest section, sit protein, dairy, healthy fats, and produce. At the narrow bottom tip are whole grains like bread and rice.
Kennedy's message was blunt: eat real food. The guidelines declare war on added sugar, highly processed foods loaded with additives, and excess salt. Among the most significant changes is the emphasis on full-fat dairy with no added sugars, reversing years of government advice favoring low-fat or no-fat dairy products. The new recommendations call for 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day from animal sources including eggs, poultry, seafood, and red meat, alongside plant proteins like beans, lentils, nuts, and soy.
RFK Jr.'s Personal Diet Raises Eyebrows
Adding fuel to the debate, Kennedy recently revealed that he personally follows a carnivore diet, eating exclusively meat and fermented foods. While the official guidelines are more moderate than his personal eating habits, critics argue that the inverted pyramid sends a misleading signal about the role of animal products in a healthy diet. Much of the dietary advice circulating on social media and promoted by the Make America Healthy Again movement has been questioned by nutrition scientists.
Christopher Gardner, a nutrition expert at Stanford University who served on the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, expressed deep disappointment. He noted that featuring red meat and saturated fat sources at the very top of the pyramid goes against decades of evidence and research. The American Heart Association expressed similar concerns, warning that recommendations regarding red meat could lead consumers to exceed recommended limits for saturated fats and sodium.
Where Experts Agree and Disagree
Not everything in the new guidelines has drawn criticism. The American Medical Association applauded the spotlight on highly processed foods, sugar-sweetened beverages, and excess sodium as drivers of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. The American Heart Association commended several science-based recommendations, including eating more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains while cutting back on added sugars.
Notably, despite Kennedy's rhetoric about ending the war on saturated fats, the guidelines did not actually change the long-held guidance to limit saturated fat consumption to 10 percent of daily calories. The gap between the messaging and the fine print has created confusion about what the guidelines truly recommend.
Environmental and Practical Concerns
Beyond health debates, environmental scientists have flagged a significant consequence. If Americans increase their consumption of animal products as the inverted pyramid suggests, it could require roughly 100 million additional acres of agricultural land per year, an area approximately the size of California. This tension between nutritional messaging and environmental sustainability adds another dimension to an already heated national conversation about what Americans should eat.
This article is based on reporting by MIT Technology Review. Read the original article.
