President Donald Trump’s Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced new dietary guidelines for the American people, focusing on unprocessed foods, proteins, and healthy fats.

Ultra-processed food is suspected to be behind many of the health problems afflicting a large part of the American population, such as obesity and diabetes. In many cases, the food is filled with various additives that are banned elsewhere in the world, such as in the EU.

To address the problem, Donald Trump appointed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary, and at a press conference this week the administration presented a new food pyramid with red meat, cheese, vegetables, and fruit at the top.

Limits are set for added sugar, and diets containing meat and dairy products are encouraged. Together with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, they call for a dramatic reduction in the consumption of highly refined foods full of refined carbohydrates, added sugar, excess sodium, unhealthy fats, and chemical additives.

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Kennedy describes the new guidelines as the most important restructuring of nutrition policy in the country’s history and calls for an end to policies that promote highly refined foods that are harmful to health.

– Protein and healthy fats are important and were wrongly discouraged in previous dietary advice. We are ending the war on saturated fats, he says.

70 Percent Overweight

It is hoped that the new guidelines and advice can improve the health of many Americans. Today, more than 70 percent of adult Americans are overweight, something that is attributed to diet but also a sedentary lifestyle.

Although the guidelines do not use the word ultra-processed, they stress that Americans should eat “real food that nourishes the body.” For children under ten, no added sugar at all is recommended.

Even though most Americans do not read or follow the dietary guidelines, they have a major influence on what is served in school meals and on military bases, as well as what is included in federal food aid to mothers and infants.

The entire press conference:

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