125: The New Food Pyramid 2026 Looks Better… But It’s Still Not Good Enough

MK: Every five years or so, the government updates the dietary guidelines, and usually my reaction is some mix of frustration, disbelief, and deja vu. This time I was actually surprised, not because they suddenly nailed human attrition, but because for the first time in a long time, the guidelines moved slightly closer to reality.

Real food, less processed chunk, and a food pyramid that's basically been flipped on its head. Who would've known that said better than before, doesn't mean great, and it definitely doesn't mean optimal. So in this episode, I want to walk you through the new dietary guidelines, give credit where it's due, and then point out where they still fall short, especially if you care about metabolic health, fertility, pregnancy, breastfeeding, and raising resilient kids.

Welcome to the Primer Shift Podcast. The big picture here is. It's a step in the right direction, and I'm so glad this happened. In fact, I would've never thought, had you asked me a year ago that we would see dietary guidelines like we have right now in this country. So let's start with the positives.

There is a stronger emphasis on whole foods and less or no ultra processed garbage. That alone. A win. If someone followed these guidelines instead of the standard American diet as we had known it, they would probably see improvements in weight, blood sugar, and overall metabolic health. No question about it.

I'm also generally surprised. A little amused to see the old food pyramid essentially flipped upside down for decades. We were told to base our diet on grains and starches with animal foods as a tiny afterthought, and that narrative is finally cracking, and I love it. So yes, progress has been made, but progress towards what?

That's the real question. And. One of the most glaring issues when I looked at the guidelines, not just at the food permit, but at the dietary guidelines that come with it, that one of the, those issues that showed up immediately was the recommendation for lactating women. You know, the guidelines emphasized vitamin A rich vegetables.

Here's the problem. That category doesn't actually exist in the way people think it does. Plants don't contain vitamin A. They contain betacarotene and other carotenes, which your body has to convert into retinal AKA. They're real vitamin A, and that conversion is highly variable. Some people convert poorly, others barely converted all, especially during times of high demand like pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Retinol. The form of vitamin A humans actually use comes from animal foods, liver, egg, yolks, dairy, in some cases seafood, but especially liver. And yet there is zero mention of organs, not for lactating women, not for anyone. And this is where guidelines reveal their bias. 

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Now back to the episode. You know, instead of recommending the most nutrient dense foods known to humans that default to plants that might convert into what the body needs.

And I get it. You know, at the end of the day, those dietary guidelines are a political compromise. It, it's something that everyone had to agree on, or at least the ones, the powers that be, and not all of them really agree on what one person might think. So they needed to find something that, you know, a common denominator that it.

Appeals to everyone that appeases, everyone that has nothing in there that could be potentially, you know, controversial to a degree. And so I get it. I get it. Um, you know, there are reasons why, you know, eat more liver is probably never gonna end up. I might be surprised, but maybe in future dietary guidelines, who knows?

But you know, from an evolutionary and physiological standpoint, you know, omitting those foods makes no sense, you know? And especially because. Organs are nutritional powerhouses loaded with bioavailable vitamins and minerals that are hard or impossible to get elsewhere in a vitamin A, B12 folate, choline, copper, iron, zinc, if you're serious about nutrient density, organ should be front and center, especially for women of childbearing, age growing kids and anyone trying to recover metabolic health.

You know, and you could argue is there, you know. Absence and oversight, or is it ideological? I think it's just political at the end of the day, and that's fine because those guidelines are just meant to be guidelines. They should not remove your willingness to think and make your own decisions. The other issue that I found, and one could argue that's maybe even a bigger issue because it applies more generally, is treating different sources of proteins as equal things.

Animal and print proteins are treated as interchangeable. They're not poultry and red meat are treated as roughly equivalent. They're not either protein quality matters, amino acid profiles matter. Bioavailability matters, micronutrients matter. You know, a gram of protein from beef is not the same as a gram of protein from beans and chicken breast does not offer the same nutritional value as red meat, especially when it comes to certain micronutrients and carnitine to just pick out one example.

And when guidelines flatten these distinctions, you know, they give people the illusion of adequacy while quietly setting them up for deficiencies. Dairy, I would argue, is a half win with some missing context. You know, ibl. Cautiously appreciate the inclusion, the prominent inclusion of dairy in the guidelines.

Even though personally I think whether or not you should have dairy in Canif dairy is, you know, is a personal thing. Some people do well, some people don't do well at all. But what really bugged me the most is that they. There was no nuance. There was no mention of raw versus pasteurized. No discussion of processing.

No acknowledgement that pasteurization fundamentally changes the structure of the food. And from my perspective, raw dairy when sourced responsibly is categorically superior. Better enzymes, better digestion for many people. And the food humans have consumed in traditional cultures for generations and lumping all dairy together, glosses over important differences that actually affect health outcomes.

You might be able to consume raw dairy and not d well on pasteurized dairy, or some people don't do well on raw dairy either. You know? So it really, there is a a little bit of nuance missing, just saying that, Hey, dairy is fine. You should consume dairy because a great source of protein and micronutrients is missing context.

And another thing that. I didn't really like too much. Is that statement of, or that the recommendation of eat fruits and vegetables throughout the day, it might sound harmless. It's another example of how language matters. You know, eating fruits and vegetables throughout the day is a polite way of endorsing constant snacking.

Humans didn't evolve grazing all day long and metabolically constant feeding, especially carp heavy foods keep insulin elevated and prevent the body from ever fully switching into repair and fat burning modes. You know, you can eat fruits and vegetables without turning your day into a perpetual snack fest.

You know, meal meals matter, structure matters. Metabolic rest matters, and the guidelines ignore that completely instant formula is another thing because you know, our son was born prematurely and he was on formula for a while because it appeared to be. Reasonable at the time. But now thinking back, I mean, we kind of knew at the time, but the, the fact of the matter is that even though the guidelines said that formula may be the only alternative to breast milk, you know, technically that is true.

Uh. The part that I don't say out loud is formula is a highly processed industrial product. It's chunk food. It's not breast milk. It's not close, and it's certainly not optimal. Sometimes it's necessary. Sometimes there are no other option. That doesn't mean we should pretend it's anything other than a last resort substitute, and calling it an alternative without context, massively understates the trade-offs, even though I should argue.

I should point out that the dietary guidelines do encourage breastfeeding for at least six months, but they even say for two years or longer if you know, if possible. And I, I, I really like that aspect because I do firmly believe that you should be breastfeeding for as long as possible. You know, breast milk is the best source of nutrients for infants, period.

Nothing else comes close. Let's go back to some of the things that, in my opinion, are missing that could have been, that could have PO been pointed out. Maybe not as part of the food pyramid, because there only so much space to add context and nuance. But in the written portion of it, I think there are a couple of things that are, that should have been mentioned at least.

You know, briefly, and one is antinutrients. You know, all plants have antinutrients to varying degrees. There is no discussion around that. How that affects you personally depends on a lot of factors, metabolic health sensitivities, et cetera, et cetera. Amount of, you know, antinutrients you consume on a daily basis, all of that.

But there is no mention whatsoever. And that I think is a problem because it can negatively impact, it. Impact negatively impacts gut health for so many people. You know, there is also no discussion of food preparation techniques on how to mitigate some of those antinutrients, like soaking and sprouting.

Yes. Fermentation is mentioned. Fermented foods are mentioned for gut health, but not in the context of what you should be doing to food that is full of antinutrients. There is also no distinction between organic and conventional foods. I know. You know, it's also a pricing question. We cannot tell everyone, Hey, eat only organic, because some people, many people cannot afford it.

I get it. But at least people should be aware that there is inherent danger with consuming conventionally grown foods that are full of glyphosate and pesticides and herbicides and all other, and other chemicals that are absolutely harmful to human health. Over time, not if you have them once or twice, but if you consistently every day consume those, those chemicals, there's also no conversation about water quality, you know, plastics or chemically exposure.

There is no encouragement to eat seasonally and buy locally. You know, all of these factors influence nutrition, absorption, hormone health, gut health, and long-term resilience and ignoring them creates guidelines that look good on paper. But that fall apart in real life. You know, my bottom line here is that overall, I think these guidelines are a step in the right direction.

Again, I, I would've never envisioned seeing dietary guidelines in the form that were published just a year ago. It's incredible that we've gotten to a point where the food pyramid have been flipped upside down, and people are encouraged to consume more protein and make every meal centered around protein.

That's absolutely great. I love that. And that's not something I say lightly. You know, they've certainly moved away from the worst dogma of the past. You know, they acknowledge real food. They're significantly less hostile, uh, to animal products. I love that they still encourage, you know, limiting your saturated fat intake, which is like so old school with, with, with, you know, know, been over this, you know, we are over this, you know, saturated fat clocks, arteries.

And they still, still leave a massive amount of potential on the table. I think they are without overcomplicating. It just adding a little bit of nuance and a little bit of, Hey, think for yourself, you know, maybe this is, you know, what's out there. And do some research for yourself. Don't just blindly follow everyone and, and, and, and do what the government says, kind of, you know?

Um, and the whole avoidance of, of nutrient density. The whole avoidance of bioavailability and ancestral context. You know, the avoidance of uncomfortable truth about processing quality in modern food systems. You know, here's the thing, if you treat these guidelines as starting point, not a finish line, you'll be, you'll be way better off.

You know, if you're willing to go beyond them, you know, prioritize animal foods, organs, properly sourced dairy, if you can handle it, structured meals and minimize. Processed food as the guidelines suggests. You know, that's I think where real health starts and you'll be on a, in a much better place. So to sum it up a step in the right direction, but there are still don't, you know, those guidelines will make it into school lunches and into areas where, you know, you might not have direct control over if you send your kids to school, for example.

You know? So know that you're probably gonna be better off. About better might still not be good enough if you then your kids then get fed in a VE aladin with glyphosate and pesticides and all those things because you know, organic is not part of the equation and discussion. That's still problematic. So keep thinking for yourself.

Keep making decisions, keep doing what's right for you regardless of what someone else tells you, including me. And with that, we're gonna wrap it up. I hope I will see you and hear you in the next episode where we talk about more about food categories versus how the food was grown. You know, so we're not gonna talk about, you know, animals versus plants or, you know, protein versus carbs.

We're gonna talk about. What to look out for in those individual categories that will help you improve your health and make better choices instead of just following dogma. See you next week.