The Food Pyramid Is Back, and Beefier Than Ever. Is That a Good Thing?
What is beefy, V-shaped, and obsessed with protein? We’re talking about the new—and notably, inverted—food pyramid that the Trump administration just unveiled as part of its updated dietary guidelines for Americans.
The fact that we have new guidelines is not a surprise. They’re updated every five years, so a change was due. What’s notable this time around is that the government-backed recommendations go far beyond the minor tweaks we’ve become accustomed to in recent updates. And while some shifts are welcome—like limiting added sugars and avoiding highly processed foods—others fly in the face of well-established and ongoing research, leaving some nutrition experts scratching their heads.
What do these guidelines mean for you?
It’s worth clarifying right off the bat that these updated guidelines probably won’t impact your life very much, if at all. Nobody is coming for your Crunchwrap Supreme. “The dietary guidelines exist to inform what a healthy eating pattern should look like for your average healthy American,” says Gabby Headrick, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health.
That said, there are some important downstream effects of these updated guidelines that will inevitably impact a lot of people who depend on government programs. “They help determine school nutrition programs, as well as nutrition benefits—for example, the SNAP program—and where dollars get spent in terms of agriculture bills and things like that,” says Dr. Dana Ellis Hunnes, PhD, MPH, RD, senior clinical dietitian at UCLA Health. “Generally speaking, they are attempting to make Americans healthier in terms of what they’re eating, but most Americans are not going to sit down and read the dietary guidelines.”
Nonetheless, the guidelines are an official resource that people could theoretically turn to for guidance, so we felt it was worth distilling the key changes with the help of some experts. Here’s everything you need to know.
Yes, the pyramid is confusing
If it’s been a while since you last heard anyone talking about the food pyramid, that’s because the food pyramid as we know it was decommissioned over a decade ago. “This was because, when you look at the pyramid, it’s actually very challenging to understand,” says Dr. Headrick. The confusing visual was replaced in 2010 by a much more intuitive plate graphic that clearly illustrated how much protein, grains, fruits, and vegetables to eat with each meal.
In these latest guidelines, the food pyramid is back in all its ambiguous glory—except it’s inverted. Protein and dairy are at its large top. And grains are now at the narrowest tip, the bottom. Still with me? Me neither. The USDA has gone full Missy Elliott on this one.
Double the protein, for some reason
There’s a fairly long list of nutrients that Americans are deficient in (fiber and vitamin D come to mind), but protein is certainly not one of them. And yet, the updated guidelines call for a literal doubling of your daily protein intake, increasing from 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight to 1.6 grams. “I was a little bit shocked when I saw that,” says Dr. Hunnes. “Generally speaking, almost any person living in the United States has no difficulty getting enough protein into their diet.” Of course, if your goal is to build muscle, or if you’re recovering from an injury, piling on the protein can be a good thing. But again, these guidelines are supposed to be the lowest common denominator for all Americans.
