As both a physician and a certified culinary medicine specialist, I know firsthand how a nutritious diet can prevent and treat diet-related diseases. Diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and other conditions are becoming increasingly more common. Over and over, the science tells us that a low-fat vegan diet, rich in fruits and vegetables, can help patients suffering from these conditions. Physicians can do our part to help patients use the power of healthy eating to improve their own lives, but how do we harness that same power at a national level? Physicians need backup from public policies that encourage healthier eating.
Luckily, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — and the Trump Administration — can easily improve the diets of millions of Americans with revised Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). The DGA serves as the nutritional basis for many federal food programs, including meals served in schools participating in the National School Lunch Program, which reaches over 30 million students each school year. With an improved DGA, we can improve the nutrition of school lunches to set up our nation’s youth for a lifetime of healthy eating.
The DGA are revised every five years, but much of the work has already been done. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, tasked with making scientific recommendations on the guidelines, spent the past two years examining the latest nutrition science. In December 2024, the Advisory Committee recommended in its Scientific Report that the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines “include a more nutrient-dense plant-based meal and dietary recommendation options,” prioritize plant-based protein over animal protein, and make plain drinking water a preferred beverage. The Scientific Report is not a draft of the next DGA, but merely recommendations to the federal agencies that will be releasing the revised guidelines by the end of the year.
The Advisory Committee rightly put plants and healthy beverages first. In particular, members recommend rearranging the DGA “protein group” to put beans, peas, and lentils – foods packed with protein and fiber and not saturated fat — as a primary choice for protein sources ahead of meat, eggs, and dairy. And, in a recommendation that reflects actual human health requirements, the Advisory Committee recommends centering drinking water, rather than fatty dairy milk or sugary soda, for Americans to drink. These are two recommendations that should be included in the next DGA.
It’s now up to the federal agencies to accept the recommendations of the Advisory Committee in the next revision of the DGA. Physicians can only see one patient at a time to recommend a better diet. With policy changes like an improved DGA, millions of Americans can enjoy the benefits of better eating.
Ronald Quinton is a cardiothoracic surgeon and certified culinary medicine specialist.
