By Dr. Asnat Raziel, bariatric surgeon specializing in obesity treatment, metabolic health and healthy longevity; Director of the Multidisciplinary Center for Obesity Treatment, Assia Medical, Assuta Ramat HaChayal, Tel Aviv
Real food at the heart of the new dietary guidelines
Real food is the core message of the new US dietary guidelines. On January 7, 2026, the US Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture published the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030. The document, released under President Donald Trump’s administration, presented an inverted food pyramid. Few government documents spark a professional and cultural storm on the very day they come out.
This is not just another technical update of recommendations. In fact, it is a sharp statement of ideas that challenges decades of nutrition education. In this article, I will focus on the heart of the real food message in the dietary guidelines: the war on processed food, and what the science says about it.
An inverted pyramid: what moved up and what moved down
The new pyramid is inverted not only in shape, but also in thinking. In the past, grains, bread, pasta and rice formed the base. Now, by contrast, the wide part belongs to protein, dairy, natural fats, vegetables and fruit. Whole grains take up the narrow tip. Meanwhile, industrial foods, with shiny packaging and long ingredient lists, get pushed out.
In addition, the guidelines include numerical targets. For example, they call for 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight a day. They also recommend three servings of dairy, three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit a day, on a 2,000-calorie menu. Whole grains appear at two to four servings a day. I wrote about the role of protein in weight loss in my protein intake guide.
The main problem: ultra-processed food
The message of the guidelines is sharp and clear. The main problem in the Western diet is not fat, and perhaps not calories alone either. Rather, the problem is ultra-processed food. This is food that has gone through many industrial steps, with added sugar, sodium, flavorings, colorings and stabilizers. Moreover, manufacturers design it to be addictive, available and cheap.
The data are worrying. According to an August 2025 report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 55.0% of the calories Americans aged one and older eat come from ultra-processed food. Among children and teens, the rate is 61.9%. It is no coincidence that the United States also faces especially high rates of obesity and diabetes. I have written at length about the link between fast food and obesity trends.
Research also supports the message. In a controlled trial at the US National Institutes of Health, 20 adults ate an ultra-processed menu for two weeks and an unprocessed menu for two weeks. On the ultra-processed menu, they ate 508 extra calories a day and gained 0.9 kg. In addition, an umbrella review in the BMJ found a link between high intake of such food and 32 of the 45 health outcomes examined. These included death from heart disease, type 2 diabetes and anxiety. However, most of the evidence in the review is observational, and its quality is low to moderate.
Real food versus food products in the dietary guidelines
In this sense, the real food dietary guidelines do not praise steak and butter just to provoke. Instead, they draw a line between food that nourishes the body and products that mainly nourish the food industry. Fruits and vegetables in their natural form, eggs, meat, fish, cheese, yogurt, legumes and whole grains are the everyday foundation. On the other hand, the guidelines advise staying away from snacks, sweetened breakfast cereals, sugary drinks and industrial baked goods.
According to the US Department of Health and Human Services announcement, the goal of the dietary guidelines is to put real food back at the center of health. That is why they also call for limiting artificial additives. I wrote about the effect of processed food on the brain, and about policy around the world, in my article on processed food, the brain and regulation.
Ten grams of sugar per meal
One of the most intriguing changes in the guidelines is the language. Instead of complicated percentages, they set a simple target: no more than 10 grams of added sugar per meal. Not per day, but per meal. Furthermore, the guidelines state that there is no recommended amount of added sugar at all. For the public, this is a significant shift.
Suddenly, it becomes easy to see how a soft drink, a snack bar or a supposedly “healthy yogurt” exceeds the recommendation from the very first bite. Keep in mind that natural sugar in whole fruit and unsweetened dairy products is not included in the limit. You can read about the link between sugar, insulin and nutrition in my article on insulin sensitivity through diet.
Full-fat dairy and saturated fat
The approach to dairy and fat has changed, too. After years of fear around whole milk and butter, the guidelines encourage full-fat dairy without added sugar. Supporters argue that recent studies challenge the simple link between saturated fat from natural food and heart disease. In their view, the overall dietary pattern matters more than any single nutrient. For a closer look at dairy as a protein source, see my article on dairy protein and weight loss injections.
Still, it is important to be precise. The guidelines continue to limit saturated fat to 10% of daily calories. In other words, real food in the new dietary guidelines is not a license for large amounts of butter and fatty meat.
The scientific debate: what heart organizations say
This is exactly where the controversy sharpens. In late March 2026, the American Heart Association published its own dietary guidance for heart health. The association agrees with limiting saturated fat, choosing whole grains and cutting back on processed food. However, it recommends favoring plant protein, fish and seafood over red meat. In addition, it continues to favor low-fat dairy, and vegetable oils instead of butter and animal fat.
So even if processed food is the main enemy, traditional organizations are not giving up decades of epidemiological research. The result is a heated debate, not only about what to eat, but also about how to translate science into policy. Interestingly, broad agreement has formed precisely around processed food. Even critics of the guidelines see the explicit call to reduce it as a meaningful step.
Real food dietary guidelines in Israel: what we can adopt
For Israeli readers, the guidelines are not a call to adopt an American menu. Rather, they are a chance to pause and ask deeper questions. How far have we drifted from real food? Have we grown used to thinking only about calories and fat, instead of quality, degree of processing and cultural context? And how easily do we confuse healthy eating with a well-marketed product?
In practice, you can start with simple steps:
- Read the ingredient list, and choose products with a few familiar ingredients.
- Check the amount of added sugar, and aim for less than 10 grams per meal.
- Build every meal around a protein source, vegetables and natural fat.
- Swap snacks and sugary drinks for fruit, nuts or water.
- Cook at home often, even simple meals.
Similar principles also appear in my article on nutrition for healthy longevity.
Bottom line: real food starts on your plate
Ultimately, the greatest contribution of the new dietary guidelines may lie not in what they tell us to eat, but in what they ask us to stop eating. That means less industry, less packaging and fewer additives. Instead, the focus is on food that comes from the field and the kitchen. Even if the pyramid changes again, the message of real food dietary guidelines is already here: real food, not counting, is the foundation of health. So it is worth building a personal menu with a doctor or dietitian, based on your own health and needs.
The information in this article is general and does not replace personal medical advice.
References
Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030
Ultra-processed Food Consumption in Youth and Adults: United States, August 2021-August 2023
