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Following last week’s announcement of updates to the food pyramid, nutrition experts continue to weigh in on how the new recommendations could change Americans’ eating habits.
The new pyramid, which was announced by HHS officials on Jan. 7, puts a greater emphasis on red meat, such as beef, pork and lamb, as well as other protein-rich foods.
The guidelines call for more focus on “real food” and a move away from ultraprocessed foods, added sugar and refined carbs.
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“These guidelines return us to the basics,” Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said during the announcement. “American households must prioritize whole, nutrient-dense foods — protein, dairy, vegetables, fruits, healthy fats and whole grains — and dramatically reduce highly processed foods. This is how we Make America Healthy Again.”
Celebrity fitness trainer Jillian Michaels, who recently released her new Fox Nation special, “Toxic: America’s Food Crisis,” spoke with Fox News Digital about her support of the updated recommendations.
“The food pyramid has been effectively inverted. This is wonderful. This is long overdue,” she said during an on-camera interview.
The ‘demonization’ of red meat
The food pyramid guides “hundreds of billions of dollars” of tax money for things like public school lunches, food for the military and nutrition assistance programs like SNAP, according to Michaels.
“This is the reason that the food pyramid, prior to Kennedy inverting it, was recommending things like refined grains and sugary cereal — and famously, sugary cereal was considered healthier than things like beef,” she said. “And at the same time, red meat and saturated fats were demonized.”
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The red meat itself wasn’t the problem, Michaels suggested — it was about the saturated fat in the red meat. “So now, the conversation comes down to: Is saturated fat good for you or bad for you?”
The expert emphasized that saturated fat is “unquestionably better” than refined vegetable oils, due to the extraction process that exposes the oils to unhealthy chemicals.
If there was a “continuum of fat,” ranging from good to bad, olive oil and omega-3 fatty acids would be at the top, due to their disease-fighting capabilities and their benefits for heart health and brain health, according to Michaels.
“Along this continuum, saturated fat is a little further down,” she said. “And then at the bottom, you have the refined oils.”
How much saturated fat is too much?
There is still some controversy about whether consuming large amounts of saturated fat is healthy, Michaels acknowledged.
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One thing that hasn’t changed in the new guidelines is the recommended maximum intake of saturated fat, which remains at 10% of total daily calories.
That would mean in a 2,000-calorie-per-day diet, the saturated fat limit would be 200 calories, or around 22 grams of fat.
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“You would be hard-pressed to find any M.D. or any Ph.D. in nutrition science who’s going to warn you away from 200 calories a day of saturated fat,” Michaels said. “And is it better than the refined oils? 100%.”
“The concerns come when you’re eating huge amounts of saturated fats — let’s say you’re carnivore, you’re keto, and your entire 2,000-calorie-a-day diet is all saturated fat.” In that case, Michaels recommends talking to a doctor.
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“Based on the recommendations of the existing food pyramid put out by Kennedy and his HHS, you’re perfectly fine eating 200 calories of saturated fat from animal protein a day — and it is far better than the previous alternative,” she reiterated.
“You’re perfectly fine eating 200 calories of saturated fat from animal protein a day.”
Ultimately, however, the healthy level of saturated fat intake depends on the individual, Michaels said.
“It has to do with your individual lipid profile, and this is something that you can get to the bottom of with your doctor,” she advised.
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The expert pointed out that there are genetic tests that can calculate a calcium score, which can indicate whether someone has cholesterol deposits in the arteries.
The importance of protein
The new pyramid’s focus on red meat and other proteins is warranted, according to Michaels, as she claims that Americans haven’t been getting enough of it.
“We were getting way too many refined grains and added sugars and not enough protein,” she cautioned. “This causes things like sarcopenia, osteopenia and osteoporosis, especially as we age.”
“So in a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, getting more protein and more fiber is the best recommendation you can make.”
Beyond its protein and fat content, beef is also rich in other kinds of micronutrients, Michaels noted.
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Overall, she said, the most important takeaways of the new guidelines are to eat whole foods and to avoid overeating.
“You don’t need to get crazy with fad diets,” she added.
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