New Dietary Guidelines: Focus on Whole Foods, Limit Processed Foods & Sugars

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, intended to translate the latest nutrition science into practical advice and guide federal policy, are generating more questions than answers, according to some experts. The newest version, released on January 7, 2026, has sparked debate about what constitutes a healthy diet.

As a physician with over 35 years of experience studying nutrition and chronic disease, and having served as a scientific advisor for these new guidelines, I wanted to offer some perspective. My involvement stemmed from a desire to ensure a scientifically rigorous review process, particularly concerning areas where the evidence is strongest: food processing, added sugars, and sugary beverages – all central to my research. My role, alongside colleagues, was to synthesize the evidence and clarify areas of strong scientific consensus.

What’s Different in the New Dietary Guidelines?

The dietary guidelines, first published in 1980, are updated every five years. This latest version marks a significant departure from previous iterations. Notably, the report is considerably shorter – nine pages compared to the previous 400 – and offers simpler, more direct advice to the public, rather than primarily targeting policymakers and nutrition experts.

Perhaps more importantly, the new guidelines reflect a shift in how we define a healthy diet. For decades, dietary advice has focused on general dietary patterns and specific nutrient targets, such as protein, fat, and carbohydrate intake. The 2025-2030 guidelines, however, emphasize overall diet quality.

While some health and nutrition experts have criticized specific aspects of the guidelines – including the development process and recommendations regarding saturated fat, beef, dairy, protein, and alcohol intake – these points risk overshadowing the strongest, least controversial, and most actionable conclusions derived from the scientific evidence.

Our scientific assessment revealed that relatively straightforward dietary changes – reducing highly processed foods and sugary drinks, and increasing whole grain consumption – can significantly improve health outcomes.

What the Evidence Actually Shows

My research team and I evaluated studies on sugar, highly processed foods, and whole grains, assessing their methodological rigor and potential for bias. We graded the quality of the findings as low, moderate, or high based on standardized criteria, including consistency and plausibility.

We found moderate to high-quality evidence linking higher consumption of processed foods to an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, and death from any cause.

Similarly, we found moderately solid evidence that increased consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with a higher risk of obesity and Type 2 diabetes. There is conclusive evidence that children who drink fruit juice have a higher risk of obesity. Consuming beverages containing artificial sweeteners also raises the risk of death from any cause and Alzheimer’s disease, based on moderately good evidence.

Conversely, we found high-quality evidence that increased whole grain consumption is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and death from any cause. People who consume more dietary fiber, abundant in whole grains, have a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes and a lower risk of death from all causes, based on moderate-quality research.

The research we evaluated indicates that it is excessive consumption of highly processed foods and sweetened beverages, coupled with insufficient whole grain intake, that is significantly contributing to the epidemic of chronic diseases like obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and heart disease – not protein, beef, or dairy intake.

From Scientific Evidence to Guidelines

Our report was the first to recommend explicitly mentioning decreasing consumption of highly processed foods in the guidelines. Research on the negative health effects of sugar and processed foods, and the beneficial effects of whole grains, has been building for many years and has been noted in previous reports.

However, research on the strength of the link between protein, red meat, saturated fat, and dairy and chronic disease risk is much less conclusive. Yet, the 2025 guidelines encourage increased consumption of these foods – a change from previous versions.

The inverted pyramid imagery used to represent the 2025 guidelines further emphasizes protein – specifically, meat and dairy – by placing these foods prominently. Whole grains are positioned at the bottom, and beverages, with the exception of milk, are not represented. Scientific advisors were not involved in the design of this imagery.

Making Small Changes That Can Improve Your Health

A key takeaway from our research was that even small dietary changes can meaningfully lower chronic disease risks. For example, reducing caloric intake from highly processed foods by just 10% could lower the risk of diabetes by 14%, according to one of the lead studies we reviewed. Another study showed that eliminating one daily serving of highly processed foods lowers the risk of heart disease by 4%.

This can be achieved by simply swapping highly processed packaged bread for a less processed alternative or replacing one fast-food meal per week with a home-cooked meal. Alternatively, choose brands of everyday staples – tomato sauce, yogurt, salad dressing, crackers, and nut butter – with fewer added sugars, sweeteners, emulsifiers, and preservatives.

Reducing sugary beverage consumption – soda, sweet teas, juices, and energy drinks – had an equally dramatic effect. Consuming just one less can per day lowers the risk of diabetes by 26% and the risk of heart disease by 14%.

Adding just one serving of whole grains per day – for example, switching to whole grain bread – results in an 18% lower risk of diabetes and a 13% lower risk of death from all causes combined.

How to Adopt ‘Kitchen Processing’

Another approach is to reclaim basic food processing from manufacturers and return it to your own kitchen – what I call “kitchen processing.” Humans have always processed food through chopping, cooking, fermenting, drying, or freezing. The problem with highly processed foods isn’t the processing itself, but the addition of chemicals to enhance taste and shelf life.

Kitchen processing, however, can be optimized for health and personal preferences, and is easily achievable without extensive cooking. Here are some examples:

• Instead of flavored yogurts, buy plain yogurt and add your favorite fruit or homemade fruit compote.
• Instead of sugary or diet beverages, flavor plain sparkling water with citrus or a splash of juice.
• Start with a plain whole grain breakfast cereal and add your own fiber and/or fruit.
• Make your own trail mix with nuts, seeds, and dried fruit instead of packaged “energy bars.”
• Make a simple salad dressing at home with olive oil, vinegar or lemon juice, mustard, and other flavorings.

You can adapt this approach to the foods you eat most often, making similar swaps. These small changes can have a significant impact on your health over time.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.