The Latest US Nutritional Guidelines for 2025-2030 - February 2026 Newsletter
The Latest US Nutritional Guidelines for 2025-2030
Hello, this is Dr. Ellen. In this month’s newsletter, I want to address the recently released 2025-2030 U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs). New guidelines are released every five years. You may recall that in a previous newsletter [May 2025] I reviewed what were initially proposed as the new 2025-2030 guidelines; this newsletter reviews the new guidelines that were just officially released and compares them to the 2020-2025 DGAs. The new guidelines are important because they affect all federally-funded food programs, including school lunch programs.
By the way, if you haven’t had a chance to see my previous newsletters, you can find them on my website, www.drellencutler.com under ‘Free Resources’.
An Overview of the 2020-2025 US DGAs
The 2020-2025 DGAs were about 150 pages long. They were constructed using four primary guidelines(1):
Following a healthy dietary pattern at every life stage.
Customizing and enjoying nutrient-dense food and beverage choices to reflect personal preferences, cultural traditions, and budgetary considerations.
Focusing on meeting food group needs with nutrient-dense foods and beverages, and staying within calorie limits.
Limiting foods and beverages higher in added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium, and limiting alcoholic beverages.
The visual model used (“MyPlate”) featured abundant fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low fat dairy, and a mix of plant and lean animal proteins.(2)
The 2020-2025 GDAs recommended adult dietary protein sources include lean meats, fat free or low fat dairy, seafood, beans, peas, lentils, nuts, seeds, and soy. They emphasize choosing nutrient dense protein foods (e.g., lean meats and more plant-based options) and limiting processed meats and sources high in saturated fat and sodium. They advised limiting added sugars to <10% of calories, saturated fat <10%, specific limits on sodium intake, and alcohol moderation. There was no specific category of “ultra processed” foods.(1)
The Changes in the 2025-2030 US DGAs
The new 2025-2030 guidelines have been condensed to about 10 pages. The emphasis is placed on the main message: “… eat real food.” It replaces the “MyPlate” model with a downward pointing triangle that places protein (including steak, other meats, and full fat dairy) at the top left, vegetables and fruits at the top right, and whole grains at the bottom center. Overall, there appears to be a shift toward animal derived foods in the graphic.(3)
The 2025-2030 GDAs recommend “high quality, nutrient dense protein” at every meal, with the daily protein intake target as 1.2–1.6 g/kg/day (higher than previous recommendations from other organizations), with an apparent emphasis on animal sources including meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy. Although retaining the formal saturated fat cap of <10% of calories, the new DGAs encourage full fat dairy and the use of butter or beef tallow (or olive oil) for cooking or for adding fats. The new DGAs take a definite stance against highly processed foods, refined carbohydrates, and chemical additives, framing them as key contributors to poor health, instead recommending ‘real, minimally processed’ foods. It maintains limits on refined grains and gives a more prominent priority to decreasing added sugar. It again sets limits on salt intake and perhaps more strongly recommends limiting alcoholic beverage intake.(3)
Some Observations
The 2025-2030 GDAs continue to recommend several nutritional principles well-supported by years of nutritional scientific studies. These include increasing the intake of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains; limiting added sugars, salt, refined grains, highly processed foods, and sugar-sweetened beverages; and recommending further reduction of alcoholic beverages (though current research finds there is no safe level of alcohol consumption).(4)
There is some controversy about the heavy emphasis on protein. There is some evidence that supports the need for the increased daily protein intake target in the new DGAs. Some feel that this is necessary to maintain optimal health, especially in older individuals in order to support muscle protein synthesis. However, the need for prioritizing animal protein is not clear. Those consuming adequate calories from a whole food plant-based diet should be able to get adequate protein. Most whole plant foods contain all essential amino acids, and this requirement is enhanced with daily consumption of different categories of plant protein sources, especially from both whole grains and legumes. Adequate daily protein intake does not require consuming animal-derived protein.(4,5,6)
There is an abundance of evidence that protein from plant sources reduces risk of all-cause disease because it comes ‘packaged’ with an array of micronutrients and fiber not found in animal-derived foods. Indeed, the most obvious nutritional deficiency in the United States today is not protein, but fiber! Each additional serving of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains is associated with reductions in cardiometabolic disease risk, cognitive decline, and improved measures of well-being and quality of life. In particular, legumes have been found to be linked to longevity, reduced cardiovascular risk, improved metabolic health, and lower all-cause mortality.(4,6,7)
The guidelines continue to recommend limiting saturated fat intake to less than 10% of total daily calories. But following these recommendations while emphasizing animal-derived protein makes it easy to exceed saturated fat limits, especially in those individuals consuming red meat, full-fat dairy, butter, and/or processed animal products. This is important because of the extensive systematic reviews and large meta-analyses demonstrating that replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fats or whole-food carbohydrates significantly reduces cardiovascular disease risk. Also, the World Health Organization considers processed meats a class 1 carcinogen and red meat a class 2 carcinogen.(4, 8,9)
Ellen Cutler Method (ECM)
Over my years of practice, I have repeatedly found ECM energetic testing and clearing methods to be quite effective in mitigating and often ending many of my patients’ persistent problems as well as optimizing their health. Through ECM testing I determine the nature of their complaints and then test them to find if there are specific reactivities related to their complaints as well as to the reactivities themselves. It is this last step that is often necessary to make a definitively positive change. Reactivity testing includes reviewing various food groups and specific foods and supplements. Once discovered, I use ECM clearing methods to desensitize any identified reactivities, including those to specific foods. I also test for optimal lifestyle choices that support the treatment. Over and over again, I have found that moving toward a whole food plant-based diet is indicated in my patients. In many, this appears to be of great importance in achieving improvements in their overall health and quality of life. The dietary change is usually done in conjunction with having a full spectrum digestive enzyme at the beginning of each meal (such as Dr. Ellen’s Way ‘Digest Supreme’)(10). I have seen many great successes using this approach, and have yet to find a patient in whom the addition of animal-based foods was needed.
Please be well, be healthy, but remember…
“We welcome the inclusion of several important science-based recommendations, including a focus on eating whole fruits and vegetables; [and] limiting added sugars, highly processed foods, saturated fats and sugary drinks…”
― American College of Cardiology Comments on New Dietary Guidelines for Americans (Jan 07, 2026) https://www.acc.org/About-ACC/Press-Releases/2026/01/07/22/59/American-College-of-Cardiology-Comments-on-New-Dietary-Guidelines
Dr. Ellen
References:
“Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025” at https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8713704/
“MyPlate” at https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/sites/default/files/2021-03/DGA_2020-2025_StartSimple_withMyPlate_English_color.pdf
“Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025–2030” at https://cdn.realfood.gov/DGA.pdf
“What the Dietary Guidelines Get Right, Get Wrong, and Miss Entirely” at https://plantrician.org/library/articles/scott-stoll-2026-dietary-guidelines/
“8 Key Takeaways on Protein Intake from Rhonda Patrick” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVuIdqThxZY
“Why Plant Proteins? – August 2025 Newsletter” at https://drellencutler.com/newsletter-archive/why-plant-proteins-august-2025-newsletter
“One of the Most Effective Single Pieces of Advice for Weight Loss” at https://nutritionfacts.org/video/one-of-the-most-effective-single-pieces-of-advice-for-weight-loss/
“New dietary guidelines underscore importance of healthy eating” at https://newsroom.heart.org/news/releases-20260107-6915862
“Understanding the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans” at https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/understanding-the-new-dietary-guidelines-for-americans/
“ECM Digest Supreme” at https://drellencutler.com/digest-supreme
* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, mitigate, or prevent any disease.
