Dietary Guidelines changed

[AION]

The US dietary guidelines underwent a radical transformation - literally flipping the food pyramid upside down after 40+ years of grain-based recommendations.

Key Changes:

• Ultra-processed foods now identified as primary driver of 90% of chronic disease
• Protein recommendations dramatically increased: from 0.8g/kg to 1.2-1.6g/kg body weight (65g → 98-131g daily for 180lb person)
• Focus shifted from grains/carbs (old: 6-11 servings daily) to real, high-quality foods and animal protein
• Moved away from calories-in/calories-out model

What's Missing:

• No mention of insulin resistance (the root cause of most chronic disease)
• No discussion of meal frequency or intermittent fasting
• Saturated fat still capped at 10% (problematic since restricting it pushes people toward seed oils)
• Definition of "food" remains legally-based (anything edible with shelf life) rather than biologically-based (sustains life, repairs tissue)

Implementation Challenge: Over 50% of current calories come from ultra-processed foods - entire supply chains built around them will need restructuring.

Bottom line: Major win in targeting ultra-processed foods and increasing protein, but incomplete without addressing insulin resistance and eating frequency.

Edited 2 hours ago by AION

[AION]

@Emerald

She always loved to quote the dietary guidelines, she is going to have a seizure 🤣

The Old vs. New Pyramid Structure:

Old Guidelines (pre-2026):

Foundation/base = grains and carbohydrates (6-11 servings daily)

The entire pyramid was built on carbs being the largest food group

Recommended low-fat, low-cholesterol, low saturated fat

Protein recommendations were minimal (0.8g/kg body weight)

New Guidelines (2026):

• Literally inverted - what was at the bottom is now minimized, what was at the top is now prioritized
• Real, whole foods (not processed) are now the foundation
• High-quality animal protein (specifically mentioned: red meat) is emphasized - not plant-based alternatives
• Carbohydrates/grains are no longer the dietary foundation
• Ultra-processed foods explicitly targeted as harmful
• What This Means Practically:

Instead of building meals around pasta, bread, rice, cereals (the old base), you now build around:

• Meat, fish, eggs (animal proteins)
• Whole, unprocessed foods
• Dramatically less processed carbohydrates
• The speaker emphasizes they didn't just "tweak numbers" - they fundamentally changed which foods form the foundation of a healthy diet. After decades of "eat more grains, less meat/fat," they've essentially reversed that recommendation.

[Natasha Tori Maru]

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