The federal government of the United States has announced a historic shift in its nutritional policy with the publication of the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines, which officially dismantle the 1992 food pyramid and reverse decades of recommendations that, as the official reports themselves now acknowledge, coincided with an unprecedented deterioration of American public health.
The decision, driven under Donald Trump's administration, represents a radical change: red meat is once again considered an essential nutritious food, natural fats such as lard are no longer demonized, refined grains are now discouraged and ultra-processed foods are explicitly identified as harmful. For many experts who are critical of the previous model, this is a long-awaited correction.
Since the food pyramid was introduced by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1992, health indicators have worsened alarmingly.
In that period, obesity in the United States has more than doubled, diabetes has tripled, and today more than 70% of adults are overweight or obese. Only 12% of the adult population is considered metabolically healthy.
The new report acknowledges that the previous model did not reflect an optimal human diet. On the contrary, it promoted an eating pattern with no historical precedent, based on large amounts of refined grains, industrial vegetable oils, and highly processed products. Currently, these foods account for nearly two-thirds of the calories consumed by Americans.
The roots of the mistake go back to the 1950s, when President Dwight Eisenhower's heart attack triggered a national panic over heart disease. In that context, physiologist Ancel Keys led a campaign to blame saturated fats, based on studies that, over time, were harshly questioned for selecting data favorable to his hypothesis and ignoring contradictory evidence.
Subsequent research, including large randomized clinical trials, showed that replacing animal fats with vegetable oils did not reduce cardiovascular risk and, in some cases, was associated with higher mortality. However, these results were concealed or downplayed for years, while the anti-fat narrative became entrenched in public policy.
