New recently announced federal dietary guidelines are a sharp departure from previous such guidelines, including a specific focus on processed foods, an emphasis on red meat and full-fat dairy, and a softening of guidance about alcohol.

Dave Bridges is an associate professor of nutritional sciences at the School of Public Health. He is trained as a molecular biologist and biochemist and his research explores the regulation of macronutrient metabolism. He and his lab focus on obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease and seek to understand how individuals respond to changes in their diets.

“In my opinion, these guidelines are a mixed bag, including encouraging Americans to consume a variety of whole foods, while retaining data-driven limits to saturated fats and added sugars,” he said. “The recommendations take a strong stand against calorie-dense, highly processed foods, but the focus on additives rather than increased caloric consumption associated with these foods could hinder the ability of consumers to make healthy decisions.

“The increased recommendation of protein intake to 1.2-1.6 g/kg is above rigorously defined physiological requirements for protein, and there is limited high-quality evidence that protein intake at this level is associated with reductions in chronic disease in most contexts.”

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Eric Brandt is director of preventive cardiology at the U-M Health Frankel Cardiovascular Center. He is a cardiologist/lipidologist and assistant professor of internal medicine-cardiology at the Medical School.

Brandt studies the effects of nutrition policy on population outcomes. He is interested in evaluating the clinical and health care implications of current and planned nutrition policies at the federal, state and local level.

“The new guidelines represent a shift in how we think about food, and the focus on eating whole foods is important and backed by science. As we think about which food we should focus on, it is important to recognize the science that supports focusing on getting a larger proportion of food from whole plant foods,” he said.

“It is important to understand that although most Americans already consume enough protein daily, some key groups, including older adults and those with certain conditions, may need to have a specific focus on protein intake. As nutrition policies shift, it is important that we study the effect of policy changes on health. We must continue to adjust our guidelines and recommendations to those that decrease preventable illness.”

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Karen Peterson is the Stanley M. Garn Collegiate Professor and chair of nutritional sciences at the School of Public Health and associate director of the Michigan Nutrition Obesity Research Center. Her research disentangles the effects of chemical toxicants and their interaction with diet on the development of cardiometabolic disease risk in children and adults.

“Several aspects of the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines are poised to promote healthy diets and reduce disease risk—including compelling messages to ‘Eat Real Food,’ prioritize vegetables, fruits and whole grains, and reduce highly processed foods,” she said. “However, advocating consumption of red meat and high-fat dairy food without specific guidelines for portion size and servings can easily counter consumers’ efforts to simultaneously keep energy intake from saturated fats below 10%.”

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Jennifer Garner is the John G. Searle Assistant Professor of Nutritional Sciences at the School of Public Health. She conducts research on public health nutrition programs designed to improve food and nutrition security and reduce the public’s burden of chronic disease.

“The main message of the new guidelines—eat real food—is a compelling aim. It begs a variety of questions, though, related to the role the federal government will take in fostering its achievement via upstream investments,” she said.

Garner’s research group runs projects based in large part on collaborations with public, private and charitable sectors. The goal is to inform and improve the design and implementation of policies and programs so that they are effective and improve broader public health.

She questions how the recommendations will be funded and implemented, especially in light of funding cuts to other nutritional aid.

“For example, how will schools and other nutrition program settings be supported in achieving this aim given the implications for staffing, skills, equipment and budgets? It also begs questions about why programs that seem to align with this aim—such as SNAP-Ed, which funded culinary and nutrition education in communities, and farm-to- school grants—were either defunded or overhauled by this administration in a way that could limit their reach and impact.”

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Sarah Ball is the director of dietetics training for the U-M graduate program in nutrition and dietetics. Her work focuses on educating students to take current science and effectively translate it to the public.

“I applaud the effort to create concise, user-friendly guidance, but from a health professional’s perspective, the new pyramid falls short in helping consumers understand what is actually being recommended,” she said. “The traditional food pyramid was abandoned decades ago because it didn’t translate well to real-world eating, and unfortunately, the new pyramid repeats that same mistake.

“Effective nutrition guidance depends on visuals that communicate proportion and priority. While the new pyramid is aesthetically pleasing, it resembles a triangular picnic blanket more than a tool designed to guide healthier eating.”

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Anne Fernandez is an addiction psychologist and associate professor of psychiatry at the Medical School. She studies alcohol use and problematic use and can comment on the alcohol-related provisions in the guidelines.

“Alcohol is the leading cause of death among young adults in the United States, causing 1 in 4 deaths in this age group. In recent years liver disease from alcohol killed more people than motor vehicle accidents. Taking away clear alcohol limits from the U.S. dietary guidelines and only telling people to ‘limit’ drinking sends a confusing message. Alcohol kills about 20 people every hour in the United States. As a doctor who treats addiction, I see that people often disagree about what a safe amount of drinking is. Many people who are most likely to be harmed by alcohol believe regular and even heavy drinking is safe.”

“In the guidelines, Americans are given clear numbers for how much food from each food group they should eat each day. These numbers make the advice easier to understand and follow. Giving clear numbers and guidelines for alcoholic drinks would help people in the same way.”