For 46 years, the government has been trying to give us advice on how to eat better.
In 1980, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans were introduced, after lawmakers took notice of how some modern eating habits were fueling a rise in chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, strokes, high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity.
The very first guidelines looked like they were torn from a recipe book and were very basic principles.
The original guidelines from 1980 focused on ‘variety’ instead of categorizing foods:
The first guidelines didn’t give people any visual aids for how to plan their daily diet, only prioritizing that people eat a variety of nutritious foods, including fruits and veggies, whole grains, dairy, meat, eggs, and beans.
“You need about 40 different nutrients to stay healthy,” the guidelines said. “Most foods contain more than one nutrient. Milk, for example, provides proteins, fats, sugars, riboflavin and other B-vitamins, vitamin A, calcium, and phosphorus — among other nutrients.” But it doesn’t have much iron or vitamin C. “You should, therefore, eat a variety of foods to assure an adequate diet.”
12 years later, the first food pyramid was introduced, as a daily prescription:
In 1992, 34 years ago, the US released its first food pyramid, giving people more specific guidance about how much to eat each day:
Here, grains like bread, cereal, rice, and pasta were touted as the foundation of a balanced diet — the recommendation in the chart was six to 11 servings of grains per day.
The second priority, you were told, was to add in at least two to three servings of fruits and veggies each day.
Finally, layer on top some protein from meat, eggs, beans, and nuts, as well as dairy.
Fat and sugar, which comprise more than a third of the typical American diet, were a side note.
Nutrition experts widely agree that six to 11 servings of bread per day is too much, crowding out space in your stomach for other important nutrients. Plus, they say, it’s not just which food groups you eat, but the quality of each: whole grains are better than white bread, nuts and olive oil healthier fats than lard or bacon.
‘MyPlate’ was designed as a framework for how to think about every meal of the day
During the first Obama administration, in 2011, the government introduced “My Plate,” which was meant to simplify our nutrition advice, but only added confusion, with four incredibly generic quadrants of a plate.
The portions of “vegetables” and “grains” were slightly larger than those of “fruits” and “protein,” and a glass of “dairy” was served on the side.
Critics said this nutrition advice was oversimplified, with no mention of healthy versus unhealthy foods, no mention of portion sizes, and no room for diverse diets. After all, a “grain” could be a donut, or it could be some oatmeal.
Still, nutritionists say a more specific version of this kind of “plate method,” trying to make roughly half of your plate vegetables and the other half a solid mix of carbs and protein, is a halfway decent diet strategy.
Now, we have a ‘new’ and upside-down pyramid
The Trump Administration released its 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans on Wednesday, a document that will guide federal nutrition policy for schoolchildren and military cafeterias, and also serves as a consumer’s guide to healthier eating.
The big tagline this time is “eat real food,” a motto meant to encourage people to consume less ultra-processed foods, skip added sugar, and eat more whole foods.
“I agree entirely that we should eat real food,” Professor Joan Sabaté, a nutrition expert who was one of the independent scientific advisors for the former 2020-2025 edition of the Dietary Guidelines, told Business Insider.
“Eat real food is an outstanding message. Yes. Reduce or eliminate highly processed foods, I think, is a good message. Reduce sugar is a good message,” he said.
Sabaté is less thrilled with how the pyramid is designed to prominently favor red meat as the cornerstone of any healthy diet.
“Our eyes, when we have a document, or we have a screen in front of us, move from left to right and from top to bottom,” he said. “So the way this pyramid has been designed is that the first food that you see in the top left corner is beef.”
Meat can be part of a healthy diet, he said, but it shouldn’t be so prominent.
“The scientific consensus is that plant-based diets are the healthiest diets as far as preventing chronic diseases. And there is no new evidence saying that animal-based diets are better for health and preventing diseases. There is no evidence of that,” he said. “People can also consume animal products, but they shouldn’t be the majority of the energy on the plate.”
(The experts who helped draft these guidelines have disclosed ties to the beef and dairy industries.)
Olive oil is a healthier fat than butter or beef tallow. Nuts are a great snack. Sabaté has concerns about kidney issues and cholesterol if people shun healthy carbs like oats, whole-grain bread, or quinoa, in favor of more meat and dairy.
“This pyramid, it prompts the American public to eat more animal products,” he said.
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