The DGA provides advice on what to eat and drink to meet nutrient needs, promote health, and prevent disease. It is jointly developed and published by the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services every five years, dating back to 1980. The ninth edition, the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans was released in December 2020. The Departments' recommendations are based on a review of scientific evidence by an independent panel of experts, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee.

The DGA provides the scientific underpinning for many federal, state, local, non-profit, health professional, industry, and other programs, policies, guidelines, educational materials, and practices, including:

• The National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program
• The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
• Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)
• Thrifty Food Plan, the basis for the benefit amount for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
• Food Service Guidelines for Federal Facilities, which are adapted for use in military installations, government office buildings, and other public facilities
• Older Americans Act congregate and home-delivered meal programs
• MyPlate and other nutrition education resources used by dietitians, physicians, teachers, and others
• Local and state health department programs and education

The DGA is designed to be used by a professional audience, including policymakers and nutrition and health professionals, to help the general public follow a nutritionally adequate, health-promoting, and disease preventing diet. 

Until 2020, the DGA advice applied to Americans aged 2 and older. The 2020-2025 DGA took a life stage approach and for the first time included dietary recommendations for pregnancy, lactation and birth to 24 months of age.

Making it easier to eat healthfully can lower the risk of disease, early death, and healthcare spending. How we eat plays a key role in the prevention and management of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers.

The DGA can tell us what is healthiest to eat and drink, but many people in the United States face profound structural and socioeconomic barriers that put a healthy diet out of reach. As a result, the average individual does not eat in accordance with the DGA. For people to be able to follow the DGA's advice, policies are needed that address our food environment and the social and racial inequities that affect access to healthy food.

Correcting misinformation about the Dietary Guidelines

The 2020-2025 DGA recommends limiting added sugars to less than 10 percent of calories per day starting at age two, and avoiding foods and beverages with added sugars for those younger than age two. 

However, the DGA goes on to explain that recommended limits for added sugars are based on several assumptions, including overall calorie needs. According to the DGA, an individual who needs 2,000 calories per day has less than seven percent of total calories for added sugars. 

Six percent of a 2,000 calorie diet translates to 35 grams or about 8 teaspoons of added sugar, less than the amount in a 12-oz can of Coca-Cola. In fact, sugary drinks, including soft drinks, fruit drinks, and sport or energy drinks, are the largest source of added sugars in the diets of Americans aged one and older.

The 2020-2025 DGA recommends limiting sodium to less than 2,300 mg per day--and even less for children younger than age 14. 

The average intake of sodium for Americans age 1 and older is much higher than recommended, at 3,400 mg per day. Most of the sodium that Americans consume is added during commercial processing, including food preparation at restaurants, so you can start to lower your sodium intake by eating fewer highly processed foods and restaurant meals.

The 2020-2025 DGA recommends limiting saturated fat to less than 10 percent of calories per day starting at age two.

To achieve this goal, foods and ingredients high in saturated fat such as high-fat meat, full-fat dairy, butter, coconut oil, and palm oil should be limited and replaced with polyunsaturated fats found in seafood, nuts, legumes, and non-tropical vegetable oils.

The 2020-2025 DGA recommends eating at least 8 ounces of seafood per week. Pregnant or lactating women are encouraged to eat at least 8 and up to 12 ounces of seafood each week, choosing varieties that are lower in methylmercury, which can be harmful to the developing child.

CSPI recommends that all individuals, especially women of childbearing age, select seafood choices that are lower in methylmercury and higher in healthy omega-3 fatty acids such as salmon, mussels, and shrimp. With those considerations in mind, CSPI’s Recommended Seafood Choices provide clear guidance on which seafood to eat and which to avoid.

The 2020-2025 DGA encourages eating a variety of protein foods, including leans meats, poultry, eggs, seafood, beans, peas, lentils, nuts, seeds, and soy products.

“Lean meat” presumably includes lean beef and pork. However, elsewhere in the report, the DGA states that dietary patterns characterized by lower consumption of red and processed meats are associated with health benefits, including reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer. This inconsistency leaves room for confusion about how lean meats fit into a healthy diet. 

Other health authorities take a plainer view of the science: CSPI, the American Heart Association, and the American Institute for Cancer Research recommend limiting red and processed meat, including the lean varieties, in favor of more legumes, nuts, seeds, seafood, and poultry.

The 2020-2025 DGA recommends exclusively feeding infants human milk (i.e., breast milk) for the first six months of life. When human milk is unavailable, iron-fortified infant formula is the only appropriate substitute. By six months of age, caregivers should begin introducing nutritious foods from all food groups, including protein foods, fruits, vegetables, and grains, while continuing to provide human milk or infant formula through the first year of life.

The DGA also advises that infants less than one year of age should not consume any cow’s milk, plant-based milk alternatives, fruit juice, or foods containing added salt or sugar. Toddler drinks (e.g., products labeled “toddler milk” or “transition formula”) are not necessary for young children, as they often contain added sugars and do not offer any nutritional benefits that cannot be obtained from ordinary foods.

According to the 2020-2025 DGA, adults of legal drinking age can choose not to drink, or to drink in moderation by limiting intake to two drinks or less per day for men and one drink or less per day for women, when alcohol is consumed. 

That summary makes it clear that drinking less is better for health than drinking more. The report goes on to advise additional caution based on emerging evidence: “even drinking within the recommended limits may increase the overall risk of death from various causes, including several types of cancer and some forms of cardiovascular disease. Alcohol has been found to increase risk for cancer, and for some types of cancer, the risk increases even at low levels of alcohol consumption (less than one drink a day)."