So Long Sugar, Hello Steak
by Dennis Sun
On Jan. 7, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services released the 2025-30 Dietary Guidelines (DGA). This is the 10th iteration of the report, and it contains a lot of common sense and good information on what we should be eating in our daily lives.
It is mandated by law a DGA be released every five years, and it always makes the news as some criticize the recommendations and some support them.
The last 20 years have been more controversial as politics have played a major role in developing the report. It all boils down to who is on the developing committee.
The 2025-30 DGA is really important, as it forms the basis for foods used in all federal and food assistance programs such as those found in schools, hospitals, the military, etc. Therefore, one can see why it has such far-reaching effects.
In past years, the DGA committee was all for plant-based and/or processed foods, and meat products were off the table. Climate change reasoning was more important than consuming proper proteins requirements. Americans were overfed and undernourished.
The big argument was over saturated fat consumption, which hurt meat. While the new DGA report keeps the previous recommendation for saturated fat consumption at 10 percent of the diet, it also recognizes it is hard to reach total protein needed per day with just 10 percent saturated fat.
I think saturated fat has taken a bad rap for heart disease and cholesterol. For years, we’ve all heard it is bad for us, but now some are saying there isn’t data to support the 10 percent cap.
The current DGA report doesn’t include an amount for alcoholic drinks per day or week. It does away with old numbers for men to limit consumption to two drinks per day and for women to limit to one drink.
I like how the current report gives us the basics on food but leaves the decision of how much up to the individual. We don’t want some vegan Harvard professor telling us not to eat meat and what to drink.
We’ve all been told to eat fake meat products which are highly processed. People with common sense realize all foods are to be consumed in moderation.
Some key points of the guidelines are having “real food as the foundation of health, urging people to eat more whole foods and fewer highly-processed products.”
For the first time, the guidelines recommend avoiding highly-processed foods and added sugars, while also limiting artificial flavors, dyes and preservatives.
The new guidance increases daily protein targets, relaxes restrictions on healthy fats from whole-food sources and simplifies alcohol advice to “consume less.”
The guidelines emphasize high-quality protein, healthy fats, fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Also, fresh meat, whole milk, butter, cheese and beef tallow used to cook with are all in now. Even pizza made with the right ingredients is considered good.
These guidelines are going to take some time to get into our schools, but it will be good when it does.
