What the New Dietary Guidelines Mean For You

The Department of Health launched their 2025-2030 dietary and nutrition guidelines and as with every new update, these guidelines are generating a lot of conversation — even some confusion about what people should be eating to support their health.

What Does “Eat Real Food” Mean?

It’s a focus on choosing foods that have been minimally processed and have no added preservatives, artificial flavors, sugars, and oils.

Think: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, eggs, fish, poultry, and healthy fats, rather than heavily packaged or ultra-processed foods.

The guidelines continue to emphasize many long-standing principles, prioritizing dietary patterns rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and unsaturated fats, while limiting added sugars, sodium, and ultra-processed foods. Overall, these guidelines are directionally helpful at a population level, particularly for public health messaging and disease-prevention frameworks.

However, as with previous editions, they are inherently broad and not designed to fully account for the metabolic complexity, medical conditions, socioeconomic factors, food access limitations, or medication-related considerations. Factors that are very real for many of our members. For individuals with conditions such as diabetes, CKD, NAFLD, thyroid disease, or those on GLP-1 medications, rigid interpretation of generalized recommendations may be insufficient or, in some cases, counterproductive without individualized tailoring.

What do these guidelines mean for our Gloria Gates CARE members?

These guidelines do NOT fundamentally change how we practice nutrition care at Gloria Gates CARE. Our approach has always been patient-centered, flexible, and rooted in medical nutrition therapy rather than one-size-fits-all guidance. We will continue to use the Dietary Guidelines as a reference framework, not a prescriptive rulebook, integrating them when appropriate while prioritizing personalized goals, lab values, appetite cues, sustainability, and quality of life.

In practice, this means we will follow the spirit of the guidelines (balanced intake, nutrient adequacy, long-term health) while adapting the application to each patient’s medical needs, preferences, and real-world barriers. This individualized approach remains the most effective and ethical way to support meaningful, sustainable health outcomes for the patients/members we serve.

Are Processed Foods Completely “Off Limits”?

No. The focus is reducing ultra-processed foods overall. Context, quantity, and individual health needs matter.

Are These Guidelines Mandatory? 

No, again these are federal recommendations that are used to inform public health programs for messaging but are not rules for individuals must follow explicitly.

Have questions about how these dietary guidelines apply to you? Reach out to your Gloria Gates CARE team for individualized guidance, tailored to your health needs.

Written by our head Registered Dietitian McKenna Elder, MS, RDN, LDN.