Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2026 Feb 6:104614. doi: 10.1016/j.numecd.2026.104614. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
AIMS: To critically evaluate the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), a key policy instrument shaping dietary advice in United States and influencing food production, healthcare, and global nutrition policy.
DATA SYNTHESIS: Overall, the DGA remain consistent with previous documents for the recommended consumption of several food groups and limits for saturated fat, added sugars, and sodium. A welcome innovation is the strong emphasis on limiting ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and sugar-sweetened beverages, supported by their association with obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. However, several aspects of the Guidelines raise substantial concern. Most prominently, the recommendation to increase protein intake-largely from animal sources-appears unjustified, as it already exceeds requirements in economically developed populations. Moreover, it disregards long-standing evidence on increased cardiometabolic and cancer risk associated with high consumption of red and processed meat. Conversely, the scientific literature strongly supports plant-based dietary patterns, particularly the Mediterranean Diet, for health promotion; this diet has been shown to significantly reduce cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes incidence in randomized controlled trials. Further scientific inconsistencies include presenting foods rich in saturated fats (butter and beef tallow) as interchangeable with healthier fat sources (olive and seed oils), and proposing an unsubstantiated new food pyramid that downplays cereal consumption, including whole grains, in favor of animal foods. Finally, the DGA completely ignore the environmental impact of dietary choices, despite their 30% contribution to global greenhouse gas emission.
CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these Guidelines have more weaknesses than gains compared with those from Scientific Societies and WHO.
PMID:41714215 | DOI:10.1016/j.numecd.2026.104614