New Federal Guidelines: Wyoming, Keep Your Steak—But Ditch the Junk!

Americans should eat more whole foods and protein and cut back on highly processed foods and added sugars, according to the newly released 2025–2030 U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans issued Wednesday by the Trump administration.

The guidelines, released by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, emphasize “eating real food,” including fresh vegetables, whole grains and dairy, while urging people to avoid salty or sweet packaged foods such as chips, cookies and candy. The advice reflects Kennedy’s broader “Make America Healthy Again” agenda to reform the U.S. food supply.

For the first time, the federal guidance takes a stronger stance against highly processed foods—often called ultraprocessed foods—which make up more than half of calories in the U.S. diet and are linked to obesity and diabetes. At the same time, the guidelines stop short of overturning long-standing advice on saturated fat. They continue to recommend limiting saturated fat to no more than 10% of daily calories but say it should come from whole foods like meat, whole-fat dairy or avocados, with butter and beef tallow listed as options.

The updated guidelines also recommend significantly more protein than before—1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight, up from the previous 0.8 grams—arguing that higher intake may help replace processed carbohydrates in the diet.

Added sugars receive stricter limits. The guidelines say no amount of added sugar is considered healthy and recommend no more than 10 grams per meal, far below previous daily limits. Most Americans currently consume far more than that, federal data show.

Alcohol guidance was also loosened. Instead of specific daily limits, the new advice simply encourages Americans to drink less for better health, while avoiding alcohol altogether during pregnancy or for people with alcohol use disorder.

The document, trimmed to just 10 pages, is intended to be simpler than past editions and will shape federal nutrition programs, including school meals for nearly 30 million children. However, some experts note that the recommendations go beyond what a scientific advisory panel formally endorsed, particularly on highly processed foods, and that translating the guidance into policy—especially for schools—will take years.