Written by Kate Stanley
After 22 months, seven public meetings, and many subcommittee discussions, the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC)—a group of 20 nutrition and public health experts—has released its advisory report. The Scientific Report of the 2025 DGAC outlines evidence-based recommendations for the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA) to consider in developing the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). These recommendations stem from lengthy and detailed examinations of existing evidence, including data analyses, systematic reviews, and food pattern modeling exercises, conducted by the Committee. The resulting report reiterates many of the dietary principles outlined in the 2020-2025 DGA, while recommending updates to future guidelines based on the latest evidence and the Committee’s focus on health equity across the life span. Below are key DGAC-recommended changes, in case reading the full 421-page report is not at the top of your 2025 bucket list.
Before we dive in, it’s important to note that while the Scientific Report is an insightful and resourceful tool, the recommendations outlined in this report may or may not be translated into nutrition policy. HHS and USDA will review the DGAC recommendations, in addition to public comments and input from federal agencies, to develop the next iteration of the DGA. With a new Administration headed to DC, it’s unclear how the future DGAs may be affected by their nutrition and health policy priorities.
What’s New
Nutrition In Demand (NID) has closely followed each DGAC public meeting, so we eagerly read through the Scientific Report. Here’s a few recommendations that stood out to us:
- Moving toward one inclusive dietary pattern
Consolidate the Healthy U.S.-Style, Healthy Vegetarian Style, and Healthy Mediterranean Style patterns into one pattern called “Eat Healthy Your Way.” This pattern is flexible based on individual needs and preferences and inclusive of diverse ways of eating. The Committee calls for the DGAto illustrate how this pattern can be adapted to culturally diverse foodways.
- Elevating plant-based proteins
Move the Beans, Peas, and Lentils subgroup from the Vegetables Food Group to the Protein Food Group and list these and other plant-based protein sources (i.e., nuts, seeds, and soy products) ahead of animal-sourced proteins.
- Prioritizing smaller portions and cutting discretionary calories
Encourage HHS and USDA to explicitly recommend that U.S. children and adults consume smaller portions of energy-dense food and beverages, with the exception of fruits and vegetables in children. The Committee also recommended removing “calories for other uses”, which includes discretionary calories for added sugar, alcohol, and saturated fat sources. Like previous Committees, they encourage a focus on consuming the most nutrient-dense sources of foods from each food group to meet calorie needs.
- Elevating saturated fat concerns
Reinforce existing saturated fat recommendations and emphasize replacement of saturated fat sources with plant-based food sources, including beans, peas, and legumes; whole grains; vegetables; and mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acid-rich oils and spreads, for cardiovascular health.
- Clarifying beverage consumption recommendations
Specifically recommend that plain water be the primary beverage consumed, rather than listing “calorie-free beverages” more broadly. The recommendations also clearly state that children and adolescents should limit intake of sugar-sweetened beverages.
- Calling for food system reform
Emphasize the need for smaller portion sizes for retail foods and beverages sold and for more research on portion sizes and their relationship to growth and health outcomes across the life span. During the 7th public meeting, DGAC members discussed how the U.S. food industry and overall food environment impact Americans’ capacity to maintain a healthy diet, and they emphasized the need for a systems approach to address U.S. diet and health challenges.
A Call for More Evidence
In the Scientific Report’s introductory letter to the HHS and USDA Secretaries, the DGAC Chair and Vice Chair outline how a lack of available data presented challenges the Committee faced in answering some of the proposed questions. They then flipped this challenge into an opportunity to strengthen research for future DGAs based on research priorities outlined throughout the Scientific Report. For instance, the 2025 DGAC encouraged future Committees to re-review the evidence on ultra-processed foods and growth, body composition, and obesity risk, and to expand the questions to consider their relationship to other health outcomes. Will this call lead to greater research funding in priority areas? Only time will tell.
Paving a Path for Future Reports
Beyond their recommendations for the forthcoming DGA, this Committee included an entire chapter that details recommended future directions for the DGAC process, including key considerations to:
- Prioritize health equity;
- Emphasize behavioral science and implementation strategies, research, and expertise;
- Prioritize critical scientific questions for future evidence reviews, while de-prioritizing questions that were less useful to the Committee in developing dietary advice, or for which substantive changes to the research base are unlikely in the next five years;
- Strengthen the nutrition surveillance system that provides key data to inform the DGAC process; and
- Encourage the research community to adopt consistency in research study terminology (e.g., how certain foods and food groups are named) and replicate international studies in U.S. populations.
One Last Chance to Weigh In
USDA and HHS opened a 60-day comment period for the public to provide feedback on the Committee’s advice to the Departments encapsulated in their Scientific Report and implications for updating DGA policy. These comments are due by February 10. If you’re interested in submitting a comment, you can do so here.
Additionally, the public can present their comments orally to the departments at a virtual meeting on Thursday, January 16, from 1:00pm-4:30pm ET. If you’re interested in listening, you should register here. NID will be tuning in and taking notes! This is the last chance for public input before the final Guidelines are released in 2025.
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