, Columnist
The New Food Pyramid Is a Mess. It’s Still Better Than the Old One
Turning nutrition advice on its head.
Photographer: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg
The new US dietary guidelines are distorted by politics and tainted by the influence of the meat and dairy industries — but they may still improve Americans’ health because they reverse previous nutrition standards that were themselves politicized and unduly influenced by the sugar industry.
The biggest change is a clear-cut recommendation to avoid added sugar and junk food. While nutrition is a contentious field, there’s a rare consensus that eating too much sugar is harmful to our health.