Dietary guidelines set to change in the United States (and maybe here too)

Americans likely to be advised not to follow the President’s own preferred food choices…

You might be forgiven for missing a small development in the US late last year. It seems like a lot has been going on in the good old USA since the beginning of this year and so there have been other things getting in the news instead.

But this little bit of news might seem a bit out of alignment with the country that mainly seems to live on burgers, steak and fried chicken…

Back in November the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee released information on their 2025-2030 US Dietary Guidelines with a few important changes to previous editions, based on the findings of their committee of twenty nutrition and public health experts, who employed ‘a scientifically rigorous multi-year process to examine the relationship between diet and health across all life stages.’

The new guidelines recommend three main changes…

1. Adding more nutrient dense plant-based meal (and dietary recommendation) options
2. Plant-based sources of protein to be listed ahead of animal-based protein sources, as well as recognising the benefits of beans, peas and lentils as protein sources
3. Recommending that plain drinking water be regarded as the ‘primary beverage’ for people to consume, replacing the previous recommendation of milk

The committee was motivated by the need to address the role of poor nutrition as a major risk factor for a range of conditions, from people being overweight or obese to type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers.

Stats they quoted in the guidelines included the fact that 73% of all adults aged 20+ in the country were either overweight or obese.

Apart from the advisory nature of the committee’s recommendation, an important part of the new guidelines is that they set budgeting priorities for any US government investments in food-related programs.

These new guidelines should not be a surprise to anyone who is remotely interested in diet and nutrition in any way! The surprise – or maybe not – is how long it takes government bodies to recognise the weight of scientific evidence before making a change.

And whereas in the past the adoption of this sort of report would not be seen as a ‘political’ action, under the current government in the US anything could happen.

However the ‘MAHA’ (Make America Healthy Again) commission looks as if it will support the recommendations in the guidelines. The official version of the guidelines will be released later this year.

This news out of the US prompted a quick check on what the current official dietary guidelines are in Australia. It may surprise you to know that these have not been updated since 2013, however there is a similar review of these guidelines happening right now which should result in a revised version being issued in the next 6-12 months (our guess).

Mind you, a quick check of the 2013 Australian guidelines indicates it is already ahead of the proposed new US guidelines – and it clearly involves not eating the standard Australian diet any more with this exhortation…

Most Australians need to eat less:

• Meat pies, sausage rolls and fried hot chips
• Potato crisps, savoury snacks, biscuits and crackers
• Processed meats like salami, bacon and sausages
• Cakes, muffins, sweet biscuits and muesli bars
• Confectionary (lollies) and chocolate
• Ice-cream and desserts
• Cream and butter
• Jam and honey
• Soft drinks, cordial, energy drinks and sports drinks
• Wine, beer and spirits

And replacing it all with veg. That’s going to take a big PR campaign.

FYI here’s I.O.Shen’s ultimate vegetable knife…