Speaker 1 (00:00):
Real food is back at the center of the American diet. Real food that nourishes the body, that restores health, that brings back energy and that builds strength. This is what it takes to make America healthy again. Under the leadership of President Trump, we are reclaiming the food pyramid and fixing a system that's been broken for far too long. Today, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins introduced the most significant change to federal nutrition guidance in the history of this nation. This is the new pyramid, Dietary Guidelines for Americans, a national reset built on real food.
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya (02:07):
Good morning. Good morning. Who is hungry for a new food pyramid? Well, how about it? It's time to talk about school lunch programs, not just putting six-year-olds on Ozempic. We announced this yesterday at the White House Briefing Room and already at 24 hours have had a tremendous response, a national conversation about what kids eat at school boards, in houses of worship, military bases, and in the SNAP program. And we want this conversation to keep going. Today is day two, we want it to keep going.
(02:43)
I want to thank all of you who are here, a lot of familiar faces, who are here because you believed in Secretary Kennedy's vision to put food back in the center of our healthcare system. This is health reform. This is a component of health reform and a powerful one. It's been ignored for a long time. If you haven't noticed, American nutrition has had a rough last 50 years, driven by bad advice and misinformation from medical dogma, from the establishment and from the United States government. Today and yesterday, we are setting the record straight, telling people the truth about food. The last 50 years has been dominated by medical dogma, really around one concept, the myopic focus that there was one boogeyman in the food supply, natural saturated healthy fats. And if you avoided them, that was the secret to better health. Well, as we kept saying this, the entire food supply moved to refined carbohydrates, ultra-processed foods. And what did the medical establishment do? Double down, avoid more fat, consume less fat. And it was the same message, as we watched a ballooning epidemic that now affects 40% of American kids. Obesity, diabetes, other health problems.
(04:33)
You know the propagators of this dogma tried to prove their theory correct. In the 1960s, the colleagues of Ancel Keys tried to do the end-all study that was going to once and for all prove that it was saturated fat that was causing our problems in health. A randomized control trial of over 9,000 people, randomizing them to a low-fat diet. And in the end, the low-fat group had higher rates of coronary heart disease and heart attacks. Wait a minute, it's the opposite of what they were finding. They suppressed the data for 16 years. Two other large studies failed to show an association.
(05:19)
Finally, the study trickled out in the medical literature, nobody noticed it. Those on the low-fat group had higher rates of heart attacks. Why? Maybe because when you avoid fat, you have to pound food with carbohydrates and often ultra-processed carbohydrates stripped of fiber and chopped up at functions like sugar. We created a generation of children with low protein, high carbohydrates, sugar addiction, and burdened with ultra-processed foods. And what did we do as a medical field? Drug them at scale. Those days are over. We are telling people the truth about food. It's not right.
(06:04)
And when the senior author was asked, "Why did you wait 16 years to publish the largest end-all randomized trial on saturated fat?" He said, "We were just so disappointed in the way it turned out." That's not the way science is supposed to work. We're supposed to seek the truth and ask questions, not except dogma. But nowhere in my medical education was I actually taught the truth. Same for Jay Bhattacharya, Mehmet Oz, and the other physicians, Brian Christine. I was never taught the truth that you can make some forms of skin eczema disappear by changing what you eat, that you can cure most type 2 diabetes by changing what you eat, then you can improve your gut health and mental clarity and memory by changing what you eat. Those are principles that we know to be true that clinicians have observed that we just don't hear about.
(07:07)
Today, we are setting the record straight. The old system that a pill for everything that's going to solve our health problems is no longer the framework. We are getting back to the root causes of our healthcare, chronic disease epidemic, insulin resistance, general body inflammation. We are addressing the low-protein recommendations, increasing those by 50% to 100%, but we shouldn't be having protein recommendations and the dietary guidance, as we found when we came to office, that prevent muscle wasting and withering away. We're not trying to prevent kids from withering away. We want American kids to thrive and we're going to give them the protein recommendations.
(07:55)
We really wouldn't be here talking about this with such national support. Even the critics are saying, "This is one thing they got right." Getting away from the corporate interests. We have a charge from President Trump, "Do what's medically right and don't worry about the lobbyists," and that's what we did. That's what we did. People of all different political persuasions, all say, "When it comes to Bobby Kennedy, I love what he's doing on food." And Bobby, we love what you have done to lead us on food. Thank you for being the leader.
(08:37)
At a time when social media and affirming news tries to divide us, there's a topic that unites every mom and dad out there in the United States, everyone trying to take care of their parent, everybody who looks at this topic with any degree of objectivity, and that is we need to right the ship when it comes to our dietary guidance and literally turn the food pyramid upside down.
(09:09)
Brooke Rollins, you have been the perfect partner in this and I believe you'll go down in history as one of the great leaders in reforming our food supply in the United States of America. USDA is a huge part of this, so I want to thank everybody who's here. You're going to hear from a bunch of folks, but most of all, I want to thank everybody who [inaudible 00:09:40] this message and has broadcast it before we even took this on [inaudible 00:09:46]. That's why we're here today.
(09:47)
So, with that, I'll introduce our Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Thank you, Bobby.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Welcome, everybody. And I want to start by thanking my friend and colleague, secretary of agriculture, Brooke Rollins, who you're about to hear from. Brooke understands that good food policy is good health policy and good farm policy. Our partnership represents a historic collaboration between HHS and USDA, one that finally aligns the prosperity of our agricultural system with the health of the American people.
(10:40)
And when we were sitting backstage here, Brooke was talking about all the great publicity that we've gotten on this announcement yesterday, which has been extraordinary. And she said, "It's the first time I've had good publicity. I don't really know how to handle it psychologically." But it has been wonderful. One voice against us, the American Heart Association. And interestingly, Marty Makary wrote a book about the war on saturated fats, and I urge people to go and read that chapter to his book, which is called Blind Spots.
(11:19)
It is an extraordinary… and it is a template for how scientific consensus often orients around one bad study that then becomes the dogma. And that it is something that's really bad for you. And yet, a scientific establishment… There's a big difference between established science and the scientific establishment. And we all know that trusting the experts is not a feature of science, it's not a feature of democracy, it is a feature of tyranny and a feature of religion, but not science. In science, you question everything.
(12:10)
And we were told for three years during COVID, "Trust the experts," but that is not science. Science is eternal skepticism towards all orthodoxies, understanding that people in authority lie and that there's all kinds of conflicts of interest that drive the creation of orthodoxies and dogmas around bad ideas. And that in a democracy, we have the responsibility to become the CEOs of our own health, to take charge of it. It's a big responsibility. It's a responsibility people maybe in other countries don't have, but it's something that is a burden that's put on each of us, and we all need to question what we're told.
(12:53)
And this war on unsaturated fats is a really good example. And again, I urge people to read Marty's book, but one of the big villains in that chapter is the American Heart Association, which it was and continues to accept millions of dollars from the biggest processed food makers in this country. And they've given us supported and fortified dogma that vilified and demonized good food. And [inaudible 00:13:29] bolstered the economics of American [inaudible 00:13:36], of the processed food makers that were providing this funding. And these are the conflicts of interest. All of us, Marty and Jay, Oz and everybody in this agency came in to end those conflicts and to expose them. And it's important that the American people know sometimes they're getting medical advice from people who have an economic stake in that advice and we have responsibility to question that.
(14:04)
I'm also grateful for all the people attending today, including the FDA administrator, Kelly Loeffler, national advisor for nutrition, health and Housing, Dr. Ben Carson, USDA secretary of agriculture, Stephen Vaden, member of the MAHA Caucus, Senator Ron Johnson, a huge advocate for us and Chairman of the House Committee on Agricultural, Glenn Thompson, MAHA Caucus chair, Senator Roger Marshall, another great friend and advocate, House MAHA Caucus chair Republican Lloyd Smucker, and Vern Buchanan, chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, Representative Kevin Hern, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, Representative August Pfluger, chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Andy Harris, and Representative Nick Langworthy, and the many executives of the food companies and major associations who are here with us today.
(15:13)
Today marks a revolutionary change in federal nutrition policy, made possible by President Trump's leadership and the work of the MAHA moms and public health advocates who demanded reform. Today, we are here to celebrate the release of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025 to 2030, the most significant reset of federal nutrition policy in history. The stakes are measurable and severe. United States has the highest obesity in type 2 diabetes rate in the developed world. We spend three times more per capita than the European Union on healthcare, yet our life expectancy is five years shorter, largely due
Speaker 2 (16:00):
… diet-related chronic disease. Our childhood obesity rates are five times higher than obesity rates among children in France. One-third of US teens have pre-diabetes. When I was a kid, juvenile diabetes was practically unknown. A typical pediatrician would see one case over a 40 or 50-year career. Today, one out of every three children who walk through this office is diabetic or pre-diabetic. A 35% [inaudible 00:16:36] over-weight of our teens are obese. 20% of young adults have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, 20%. 77% of military-aged children cannot qualify for military service because of diet-related chronic disease. If a foreign adversary sought to destroy the health of our children, cripple our economy, weaken our national security, there would be no better strategy than addicting our nation to ultra-processed foods. It's shocking that our own government helped to drive the cataclysmic changes in our diet. A Johns Hopkins analysis estimates that 48% of federal tax dollars now go to health care. The CDC reports that 90% of healthcare goes to chronic disease that is related to diet. That means that more than 40 cents of every dollar collected in taxes is going to treat diet-related chronic disease.
(17:39)
If the United States reduce obesity and type 2 diabetes and heart disease and Alzheimer's to the level that the Japanese have achieved, we would save $600 billion a year, about 50% of Medicare's projected long-term deficit, or $5,000 per family per year. Current policy work worsens the problems. 42 million Americans rely on the SNAP, or common purchases, including sugary drinks, candy, and chips. 78% of SNAP recipients are enrolled in Medicaid, and 90% of Medicaid costs goes to chronic disease. So we're giving the kids chronic disease in the first place in diabetes, and then we're paying for it at the back end in Medicaid, and we're hurting the poorest people in our country, the people who can least afford medical care. The damage is real and it's preventable. President Trump has ordered it to end.
(18:40)
The dietary guidelines [inaudible 00:18:42] three pillars: protein, healthy fats, vegetables and fruits, and whole grains. These guidelines replace the corporate-driven assumptions with common sense, gold standard scientific integrity. These new guidelines will revolutionize our nation's food culture and make America healthy again. For decades, Americans have grown sicker, while healthcare costs have soared. The reason is clear: our government has been lying to us and protect corporate profit-taking, telling us that these food-like substances were beneficial to our health. Federal policy promoted and subsidized, highly-priced food and refined carbohydrates, and turned a blind eye to the cataclysmic consequences. Today, the lies stop. The new guidelines recognize that whole, nutrient-dense food is the most effective path to better health and to lowering healthcare costs. Protein and healthy fats are essential today. And today, we end the 65-year-old war on saturated fats. Diets rich in vegetables and fruit reduce the risk of disease much more effectively than medical interventions or pharmaceutical interventions. Whole grains help refine carbohydrates. Added sugar, especially sugar-sweetened beverages, drive metabolic disease epidemic in our country.
(20:15)
And today, our government declares war on added sugar. Highly-processed foods loaded with additives, added sugar, and excess salt damage health, and they should be avoided. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, my message is clear: eat real food. If it doesn't come from the ground with water, or the air, don't eat it. If it comes wrapped in a package that is clear that the whole thing is a package, don't eat it. Nothing matters more for health outcomes, economic productivity, military readiness, and physical stability. The first time the guidelines directly address ultra-processed food and set firm sugar limits in federal procurements, driving significant reduction in added sugar in school meals.
(21:21)
I thank President Trump for his leadership, and the partners committed to ensuring federal food dollars that support real food and better health. I also want to thank all the extraordinary scientists who I got to meet as a whole group for the first time this morning, and the top universities around this country who work day and night to make this report happen. They really made miracles happen in a record amount of time.
(21:52)
The dietary guidelines shift dozens of federal feeding programs, including Head Start. These standards affect 45 million school lunches every day, meals for 1.3 million active duty service members. Food served 9 million veterans in VA hospitals. Head Start and a lot of other federally-subsided food programs. Today begins the work of aligning these programs with affordable, whole, nutrient-dense food. I'm working with Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and Marty Makary to fund and prioritize rigorous nutrition research at the NIH, in collaboration with the FDA. I'm also working with my fellow cabinet secretaries across the government to deliver results. This administration is extending an open hand to any stakeholder who wants to work together and fix this problem. I want to thank the many health organizations, not the American Heart Association, but the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, which does not agree with me in a lot of issues. We're suing each other on other stuff, but on this issue, they agree. There's a consensus. And I want to thank them all for partnering with us on this effort.
(23:12)
I also want to thank the entire USDA team led by Kailee Buller, Jennifer Tiller, and the HHS team led by Assistant Secretary of Health, Dr. Brian Christine, Kyle Diamonis, Joe Pruinza, Rachel Amarrow, Arthi Fink, and Michael Bose, who are all indispensable to these guidelines. And I also want to thank my deputy, Stephanie Spiro, who worked day and night to make sure that this product got out. And Heidi Overton and Callie Nanes, and a bunch of other people who gave their lives to this effort over the past six or eight months. So I want to thank you, and I'm going to bring up my partner, my friend, and my collaborator for [inaudible 00:24:22] the greatest USA secretary [inaudible 00:24:22].
Brooke Rollins (24:24):
Wow, they have cool music over here at HHS. I like it. There he is. I think we all need to rise to our feet and give this man, my dear friend, Bobby Kennedy. There he is behind me the most rousing round of applause, and love, and respect, and appreciation, and support, and just thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. I just don't think it can be overstated what a difference-maker this man behind me is. I think we're in an administration of difference-makers, but I think he is a giant, and we were all standing on his shoulders. The sacrifice that he has, in so many ways, that he has endured to get to this point, to literally change the course of history for this country is true and it's real, and we owe him such a huge [inaudible 00:25:53] of gratitude. So thank you, Bobby Kennedy. Thank you.
(26:01)
Just so grateful. A couple of quick things I want to say, and then I know we have quite an amazing set of speakers, so I don't want to take too long. I just want to say how grateful I am. What an incredible team this has been. [inaudible 00:26:16] Christmas Day, there was some back and forth on New Year's Day. This team has worked seven days a week all month since the beginning of last year on these dietary guidelines, down to what color the back of the upside-down triangle should look like, up until the very last minute. How big the ribeye should be on the triangle. What is actually in the bowl? It's rice and beans, everyone. Just all up until the last minute, this has been the work of so many hands. The vision and the leadership of Secretary Kennedy and his incredible team, I'm just so grateful for.
(26:57)
Talked about the amazing USDA-ers, my crew over at USDA. Kailee is up here, our incredible chief of staff, with our three little kids, including my best friend, Conrad, right there. It makes me so proud. When I was joking with Bobby, I said, "Wow, there weren't many naysayers yesterday," which is unusual in both of our worlds, and it just goes to, I think, how extremely important this is, and just what a joy it is. Many reasons it's so joyful to me, I'm a ma-ha mom of four teenagers. A little bit different than the live phase of where the team behind me is, but nevertheless have been really working on this and battling this in my own family for a really, really long time. So to be able to be even a small part of this fundamental change just means so much to me personally as mom. But secondly, to be able to put the farmers and the ranchers of this country back in the middle of what we will do to save America and save America's health is just beyond description.
(28:10)
I have a couple of them here today. I just want them to stand. I normally wouldn't do this, but Dave Fisher, a beef farmer from Indiana is here. Dave, I don't know where you are. He works with 35 farms. They sell to their local school. The school kids get locally-produced food. I mean, this is the way, everyone. Ben Rexing, a dairy farmer from Indiana. How about whole milk back in schools, GT Thompson. I don't know, Roger Marshall, yes. Whole milk back in schools. So a big shout-out to our dairy farmers. I think we're going to be talking a little bit more about that from the White House soon. And finally, Edward Baird, a hog and beef farmer from my amazing state of Texas.
(28:57)
It is just beyond, again, my ability to describe in words what today means, what yesterday meant, the opportunity and the blessing of a lifetime to be a part of this effort to fight for our great American farmers and ranchers. And again, like I say, to put them back in the middle of the policymaking, to get real food out to America. And listen, I talk about me and my four teenagers and the struggles to ensure that that happens. And the beautiful families behind me, including my sister, Riley Gaines. I see you back there, Riley. Amazing Riley Gaines and her beautiful new baby girl. But that's a struggle, and there's no doubt. But listen, when you think about the vulnerable communities around this country, those who are living on the margins of their community, those who are just hoping that they can have heat for the winter and air for the summer, and that they can potentially get a healthy meal or two on the table, it is now within reach, having this sort of dietary nutrition will change, again, the course of American health, and the course of American history.
(30:10)
But the next step is making sure that these foods are accessible to all Americans, not just Americans with a certain bank account. In closing, I'll say this: it's really important as we prioritize this to note that these foods are affordable, that you can have a meal with pork, or chicken, or fish, and ground beef is coming down, ground beef, everybody, with a vegetable, with a whole grain piece of bread, with a corn tortilla. You can have all of that on average for $3 a meal, which is much less than what a fast food meal could be, or a certain amount of packaged foods. But what we have to fix is how we make these foods accessible.
(30:59)
And one big announcement coming from USDA, for every retailer in America that takes a SNAP dollar, our food stamp money, which is 250,000 of them, everyone. So while we do have food deserts, there is opportunity amongst these 250,000 retailers across America, starting almost immediately, we are doubling what's called the stocking standard, making sure that if they're going to take a tax dollar on behalf of those with the least among us, that they will have twice as many healthy alternatives to choose from wherever those SNAP dollars are accepted off of this dietary [inaudible 00:31:40].
(31:45)
So again, I want to thank my incredible partner, Secretary Bobby Kennedy. I want to thank the incredible HHS team, Callie and Stephanie, and the whole team. Dr. Marty Makary, Dr. Bhattacharya, all of the incredible teams that have worked so hard to get to this
Brooke Rollins (32:00):
… Today and know that while we are moving forward, this is really just the beginning for a new day in America, the best is yet to come. God bless you. Thank you all in joining me here.
(32:09)
I was so excited. I forgot to introduce the next speaker. So, here she is. Y'all, there's just no one better in the cabinet. Administrator Kelly Loeffler, who herself is a farm girl, the 28th Administrator of the SBA, grew up on a farm in Illinois. Kelly Loeffler, everybody.
Kelly Loeffler (32:51):
Thank you, Secretary Rollins for your kind introduction, you're such a dear friend. And of course, to Secretary Kennedy for the tremendous work you're doing on behalf of the Trump Administration and MAHA. Long live MAHA. Thank you so much, Bobby. It's an honor to serve together, to serve the American people every single day in this administration, we're fighting every day to make America great and healthy again.
(33:12)
We took office with very clear eyes and a sense of urgency. Healthcare was more expensive than ever. Americans were sicker than ever. For decades, politicians responded by doing the same thing over and over but demanding more money to do it. Spending more, subsidizing, more funding the same entrenched interests while outcomes got worse. That is why it's a new day. Under President Trump and under Secretary Kennedy's leadership, we are pursuing an all-of-the-above, America first, all-hands-on-deck approach to make our nation stronger and healthier.
(33:45)
On day one, President Trump delivered on his promise to lower drug prices. He struck dozens of deals with pharmaceutical manufacturers that have already brought drug prices down in this country, and they're going to continue to fall. And then, through the Working Families tax cut, he expanded health savings account, which puts families, not bureaucrats, in control of your healthcare. He's ending a broken welfare system that hands healthcare dollars to illegal aliens and fraudsters that protect programs, instead to protect programs for those who need it and deserve it. President Trump has made historic commitments to innovation, including AI, which is going to improve diagnostics, reduce waste in the healthcare system, and deliver better health outcomes for all Americans.
(34:35)
And with the leadership of Secretary Kennedy, our public health priorities are now focused on prevention and science, no longer politics, and delivering healthier longer lives. So, whether through revised… thank you. So, whether through revised vaccine schedules, better autism research, or much-needed new dietary guidelines, this administration is focusing on standing with Americans, not big pharma or with big food. The new food Pyramid is common sense, it's science-based. It prioritizes whole minimally processed foods, that's pretty common sense, and confronts the role that highly processed foods have in making our families, our children, and everyone sicker, not healthier.
(35:25)
So at the SBA, we're excited to support the small businesses that help deliver on MAHA to help consumers make healthier choices and more affordable. Small generational family farms, like the one I grew up on, make up roughly 97% of all farms in America. So I want to thank our farmers and ranchers, because you are the best of America. These producers, along with America's small food producers, distributors, grocers, restaurants, are essential to delivering healthy choices for Americans. So when we align healthcare policy, when we align dietary guidance and economic policy, we're redefining wellness for the future of this country. And the SBA is ensuring that small businesses at every turn have a chance to support a healthier nation.
(36:18)
So, we're expanding access to capital, strengthening local food supply chains, removing regulations. That's a big part of the SBA's remit, is to support deregulation that prevents healthy food from getting into the hands of our families, and removing regulations that have favored big food for far too long. Because making America healthy again is not a single policy. It's a movement committed to accountability, transparency, data, facts, and freedom. And we're also confronting a system that profits from making America sick. At SBA, we're proud to empower the entrepreneurs, farmers, and small businesses who will make America healthy again. We're proud to invest in those who grow affordable, nutritious food for this country. And we're so proud to join Secretaries Kennedy and Rollins and President Trump in making our country healthy again.
(37:16)
It is now my distinct honor to introduce my friend, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya. He is the Director of the National Institute for Health. Thank you, and God bless you.
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya (37:36):
I don't think I've ever had walkout music before, it's amazing. This is a huge day. Let me just start with a very quick story about a research paper I wrote 15 years ago, with the most obvious thing, result ever, which is that if you take sugar-sweetened beverages out of SNAP, kids get healthier. Okay, I wrote the paper 15 years ago and I forgot about it, because no one did anything about it.
(38:11)
This administration for the first time under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Kennedy is doing something about it, and not just on sugar-sweetened beverages, but on the whole food pyramid. Fundamentally changing the direction of this country with the new dietary guidelines. It is one of the most significant resets of new federal nutrition policy I've ever seen. And I'll tell you, those 15 years were frustrated, because the data were there and no one was acting. The difference in this administration is that we are now acting on the information that's there and changing it because we care deeply about the health of Americans. This moment reflects a restoration of common sense, scientific integrity and accountability, much of it supported by research at the National Institute of Health. And they represent a clear break from decades of guidance that failed to improve the health of Americans.
(39:05)
For too long, Americans were told to avoid protein, avoid healthy fats, rely on carbohydrates, and accept highly processed foods unavoidable. I spent my youth scared of eggs, and then my family introduced egg whites because I guess those were better. Now, eggs are a superfood. You can see where, they're on the pyramid somewhere. [inaudible 00:39:30]. Nearly 90% of healthcare spending goes toward treating chronic disease. More than 70% of adults are obese or overweight, and nearly one in three adolescents are on a path toward diabetes. We can't go on like this. And with this new food pyramid, we are making a real dent.
(39:49)
These outcomes are not inevitable. They're the predictable result of poor policy choices and nutrition guides disconnected from real-world health. NIH research has consistently shown that nutrition is a central driver of chronic disease risk. Dietary patterns influence inflammation, insulin resistance, blood pressure, and are at the root of so many problems and diseases, including cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, liver and kidney disease, cancer, cognitive health. If you want to make America healthy again, you have to address the food that we eat in this country. And for the first time in decades, you're seeing real change.
Audience (40:35):
Thank you.
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya (40:42):
I'm very pleased to announce also a cooperation into an agreement that we were doing with the Food and Drug Administration for NIH research to work, because it's not enough just to say, "The science has spoken." There is no such thing as the science speaking. We have to keep doing excellent gold standard science. And so as this change is happening, we're going to make sure that it actually is working to make American healthy again, through excellent gold standard research.
(41:11)
In this administration, what we want to do is use science for the good of the people and keep doing it, and challenge dogmas in ways that fundamentally transform health, and that's exactly what we're doing with these new dietary guidelines. The dietary guidelines reflect science directly and clearly. They prioritize real, nutrient dense food, including high quality protein at every meal. Full fat dairy without added sugars, vegetables, fruits, healthy fats, fiber-rich whole grains, and yes, even eggs. Yeah, thank you. They take a firm stance against highly processed foods, added sugars, refined carbohydrates, and sugar-sweetened beverages. For the first time, the guidelines state plainly that no amount of added sugar or non-nutritive sweeteners is recommended as a part of healthy diet, and the young children to avoid sugars altogether.
(42:07)
Under President Trump's leadership and Secretary Kennedy's direction, these guidelines recognize that healthy fats are not the enemy. Adequate protein is essential for growth in metabolic health, and that certain individuals with chronic disease may experience improved outcomes with lower carb diets. This is not ideology, it's evidence-based common sense science.
(42:28)
Finally, the guidelines matter, because they inform nutrition standards across a whole wide range of federal policies, including school meals, military food systems, SNAP, WIC. The NIH's role has been to generate the rigorous scientific evidence that helps policymakers understand how diet influences health, and we'll continue to do that with continued gold standard research. The science is strong, and it continues to demonstrate that improving diet quality is essential to improving the health of Americans, and thank you for your time.
(42:59)
Before I go introduce secretary, I want to introduce Dr. Ben Carson, who is the National Nutrition Adviser who came out of retirement so that he could help the health of this country. Dr. Carson, please, welcome.
Dr. Ben Carson (43:27):
Thank you, thank you very much.
(43:27)
Well, this is so wonderful because this is the first time in my knowledge that we've had separate departments, agriculture, HHS, willing to work together. We had Marty Makary also, we met Oz. A whole bunch of people who are willing to just settle and work together, not looking for preeminence, but looking for a solution to the problems that we have today. And I just am finding it very wonderful to be able to work with people who are that dedicated, because it's going to make a difference.
(44:08)
It was 45 years ago that the first dietary guidelines for Americans was put forth. 45 years to get our health into the right place based on the foods that we eat. Unfortunately, we lost our way. And in those years, now we see spiking of chronic diseases in adults, obesity in children, and a whole host of chronic conditions that are secondary to the fact that we've forgotten about real food. We've forgotten about how valuable it is and even what it is. The dietary guidelines were there to point people in the direction of the right kinds of foods. And instead, for the sake of convenience and pricing, we've allowed the nutrition to be taken out of our food and replaced it with empty calories. And now, we see all these fat kids running around. It's not their fault, it's our fault, because we are in charge and we need to be putting the right things in front of them.
(45:17)
I love it when people say, "I don't really eat that much. I just have a gland problem." Have you heard that? They do have a gland problem, it's the salivary gland. We need to deal with that as well, as well as the empty calories.
(45:34)
But as a pediatric neurosurgeon, I was very concerned about the nutrition of the patients, because the brain begins to develop from the moment of conception. And millions of neurons are added every day later on, billions of neurons a day. Think about that. And the brain continues to develop right into the mid to late 20s. So, what are we giving it to develop on, empty calories or highly nutritious real food? And I think we're seeing the result of that. Sometimes I wonder about some of these kids we see, they're on these man on the street interviews and they ask them the simplest questions and they have no idea what you're talking about. You could say, "Who wrote Mozart's 40th Symphony?" And they wouldn't know. I think that has something to do with brain development. So, we need to be thinking about how are we going to change that? And that's what's happening right now with this group of people, not only the principals, but really outstanding staff who have dedicated themselves to getting this done. I've never seen such dedication before, and I'm sure it will pay for us.
(46:53)
But when I think about the body, the body that God gave us, it was meant for high performance, not low performance. And if we put the right things in it, it will perform well. It's sort of like a high-powered race car. What are you going to fuel it with? Probably premium gasoline. You're not going to come along and say, "Well, maybe if I mix it half and half with water, it'll do well. It'll still go, but it won't perform highly. And then you say, "I don't like the way it smells. Let's put some maple syrup in it." What's going to happen over the course of time? It's going to stop working, you're going to have to replace the whole engine. The cost of not providing the appropriate nutritious meals for our people does the same thing. It costs us a lot at the end because of the diabetes and all the other things that are going on.
(47:50)
I have a very good friend, had a very difficult case of diabetes, very difficult to manage. He went to Italy, and within
Dr. Ben Carson (48:00):
Within two weeks, it was gone. He was staying at a villa. All the fresh foods were grown right there, the dairy products, no processing. Within two weeks, the diabetes was gone. He stayed for three months. He came back here. Within two weeks, it was back. And I don't think that's an exceptional case. So it tells us what we need to do. I am praising God that we have the clarity and the leadership to get it done. And with that, I want to thank all the supporters. You've noticed there hasn't been a lot of people on the other side or on any side. This is not a Democrat or Republican issue. This is a matter of health for America. And I want to introduce Jim O'Neill, who is the Deputy Secretary for HHS. As a former cabinet secretary, I can't even begin to tell you how important the deputy secretary is, and he's also the acting director of CDC, Jim O'Neill.
Jim O'Neill (50:27):
When parents drop their kids off at school, they will know that the right-side-up pyramid will be hanging in the classroom. And that was just the beginning. Last summer, we started meeting with medical schools and residency programs and accreditors, and we've had very good conversations with them. And because of that, next fall, medical students and residents will finally be taught at the core basis of health, which is nutrition. We also need better science around saturated fat. We've ended the war on it, but there's still more to learn. That's why I'm so delighted that as Jay just announced, he's launching an aggressive new research agenda with randomized controlled trials to unlock the final secrets of metabolism.
(51:22)
To close, I have an announcement. Yesterday at lunch, I heard Secretary Rollins and Secretary Kennedy kind of compete to see who had the best food stories. It was very close. And this morning, getting ready to welcome our peers from the Department of Agriculture over to the Hubert Humphrey building, it occurred to me I should really challenge them to a friendly competition. Now, the obvious sport that in which we should compete with USDA, of course, is pull-ups, but we already have that going in the Department of War. So then I thought, how about bull riding? But the Aggies grew up riding bulls. That's not quite fair either. But now looking around this beautiful hall, I have the solution. I would hereby like to challenge the Department of Agriculture to a very vigorous game of dodgeball. Please welcome my valiant friend, the Assistant Secretary for Health, Admiral Brian Christine.
Brian Christine (52:25):
Thank you, Jim. And thank you to everyone who joins us here today or online to celebrate these new and improved dietary guidelines, because this is a celebration. Let me be direct. Let me be very clear about what has been accomplished. We have flipped the script on establishment nutrition and we have turned the pyramid upside down. And let me be equally clear, these dietary guidelines will help make America healthy again. Every five years, the federal government releases dietary guidelines that shape what millions of Americans consume, from children in schools to our war fighters. And believe me, these dietary guidelines do matter. Unfortunately, the old guidelines were corrupted by special interest groups and junk science into something that was neither healthy nor thoughtful. Sugary cereal for breakfast in the morning, ultra-processed fast foods for lunch, maybe a pizza for dinner, and then in the middle of the day, throw in a bag of salty chips.
(53:43)
When you look at the previous food pyramid, that's what we were told to eat. The system was not just flawed, it was nonsensical. As a physician and a surgeon with over 30 years of practice experience, I can tell you with absolute certainty that prior guidelines sacrificed best medical practice and abandoned the care of Americans. For years, my colleagues and I treated patients with chronic disease, with obesity, with cardiovascular disease, and all of these were made worse due to the previous dietary guidance. Every time that I took an obese patient to the operating room, I knew that there would be a greater risk of death and a greater risk of complications because of that obesity. And I knew that that obesity, at least in part, was based on highly processed, sugary fake food. We healthcare professionals have been waiting for dietary recommendations that truly promote health and longevity. We've been waiting for better dietary guidelines. We've been waiting for the kind of leadership that we get from Secretary Kennedy and Secretary Rollins. And today, we can all celebrate that that wait is over.
(54:59)
Following the bold leadership of President Trump, of Secretary Kennedy and Secretary Rollins, we are flipping the pyramid upside down. We have abandoned the old approach and put the health of Americans first by reclaiming what the guidelines were meant to be, and by eliminating the special interest that controlled them. We have replaced vague language with radical clarity. We have replaced lies with truth. Our guidelines are driven not by an economic or political agenda. Our guidelines are driven by gold standard outstanding science, because that's what Secretary Kennedy demands. At the very core of these new guidelines is an emphasis on whole and minimally processed foods. We recommend prioritizing high quality, nutrient-dense protein from both animal and plant sources. And these are the types of foods that we've always been meant to eat. These are the types of food that will make men, women, and their children stronger and resistant to chronic disease.
(56:02)
These are the foods that will make America healthy and great. Everything that we do at the Department of Health and Human Services is a team effort. Then I want to echo what Secretary Kennedy and Secretary Rollins said, we've all worked together. The collaboration that we see here at the Department of Health and Human Services is like nothing that's ever been seen in federal government before. Look at these guidelines. We've all come together. I want to thank members of my team at the Office of The Assistant Secretary for Health, and all of the individuals who have worked to make these guidelines happen. I look out in the audience and I see you. I know the hours that you've put in. Late nights, early mornings, times away from your family. And I want to say that I'm incredibly proud of you. Well done.
(56:46)
As we work relentlessly to make America healthy again, I urge everyone here, read these guidelines. Share them with your family, share them with your friends, and reclaim control over you and your children's health. Together, we can reverse decades of health decline, and we can build a healthier future for generations to come. God bless all of you that are here. God bless all on this stage. God bless the amazing farmers that grow great food here in America. God bless our mom, moms and dads who have demanded a better future. God bless the healthcare practitioners, doctors, nurses, dietitians who are going to carry forth and proclaim the gospel of these new dietary guidelines. And God bless RFK Jr. Thank you. It was great pleasure that I welcome the Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods, Mr. Kyle Diamantas.
Kyle Diamantas (57:49):
All right, thank you Dr. Christine. Look, I'm the last speaker. I know it's been a long hour, so I'll also be short. But I want to say thanks to all of our tremendous speakers here today. Let's give them a round applause. Today would not be possible without them. Thank you. Also want to thank our members of Congress, Senator Marshall, Representative Smucker here today who have been just tremendous allies for us. Look, as all of you heard today, for the first time in modern history, the United States government is united in its efforts to tackling nutrition with a whole-of-government approach. Whether that be through the MAHA movement, spearheaded by Secretary Kennedy, the tremendous work of Secretary Rollins leading the USDA, our work with Administrator Loeffler, and investments in nutrition research at NIH to improving our meals at schools, veterans facilities, and military bases around the world. We have full alignment across this entire administration to address the drivers and root causes of diet-related chronic disease and reverse the decades-long trend of diminished healthcare outcomes in this country.
(59:06)
So as we close today's event, I want to make clear that today is not the end of the mission. It's a historic moment. It's a historic release of these dietary guidelines that should be celebrated. But today is just the beginning. It's the beginning of a new approach to nutrition, to empowering parents, to investing in gold standard science and research, to recapturing our own health by making better informed choices for ourselves and our youth, and to unite and work across the political aisle to tackle these issues, because improving our collective nutritional outcomes and investing in research in our children's health simply cannot wait any longer.
(59:45)
So today begins a year-long push throughout the entirety of 2026 to celebrate nutrition, to tackle reforms and unite together to address the drivers of diet-related chronic disease. Today's event is the kickoff of a series of events that all of today's speakers will participate in throughout the course of the next year, and that starts in earnest next week with a series of events led by Secretary Rollins in Pennsylvania and other states. That will follow by numerous events throughout the country at schools, VA clinics, farms, hospitals, and many other locations as we kick off a 2026 Dietary Guidelines for America Roadshow.
(01:00:24)
More details to come. And with that, I want to thank everybody for coming today. But before we do that, we're going to call everybody, all of today speakers back to the stage. We're going to ask everyone to stand here, and we're going to do one last picture as we close out the celebration of these new dietary guidelines for Americans. Thanks everyone.