Experts: Dietary Guidelines Backed By Poor Science, Millions of Industry Dollars

The Exam Room by the Physicians Committee

Physicians Committee

Health & Fitness, Medicine, Nutrition

4.9 • 3.3K Ratings

🗓️ 13 January 2026

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The new Dietary Guidelines for Americans will shape how the U.S. eats for the next five years — but are they based on science or industry influence?

In this episode of The Exam Room Podcast, host Chuck Carroll is joined by Dr. Neal Barnard, Dr. Hana Kahleova, and registered dietitian Anna Herby to break down the good, the bad, and the troubling truths behind the newly released guidelines.

In this episode, you'll learn:

- Why eight of nine panelists had major industry conflicts
- How meat and dairy ended up at the top of the new food pyramid
- Why protein recommendations were nearly doubled
- The hidden risks of saturated fat, red meat, and dairy
- Why whole grains and legumes were minimized
- What this means for heart disease, diabetes, and cancer risk
- Why a legal petition has been filed to challenge the guidelines

📕 Read the legal petition challenging the guidelines
👉 https://bit.ly/DGAPetition

🥦 Apply to become a Food For Life instructor
👉 https://bit.ly/FFLApply2026

- About Us -
The Physicians Committee is dedicated to saving lives through plant-based diets and ethical and effective scientific research. We combine the clout and expertise of more than 17,000 physicians with the dedicated actions of more than 175,000 members across the United States and around the world.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today, on the exam room.
0:05.7	There are laws about how federal nutrition policy is supposed to be devised.
0:11.5	They are supposed to come up for revision, free of bias.
0:16.5	So fast forward, 2026, the guidelines come out.
0:20.0	Nine people were involved in writing them.
0:21.6	Eight of them had huge conflicts, which they had to declare.
0:25.6	The National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the dairy industry.
0:29.6	Three of them had low-carb industry ties.
0:32.6	And when you put it all together, you can read the industry influence coming through, saying Americans should be eating more meat benefiting the livestock industry, more dairy, benefiting the dairy industry.
0:45.0	They specifically talk about low carbohydrate diets as a gift to that kind of industry.
0:58.2	Welcome to the exam room podcast, brought to you by the Physicians Committee. Hi, I'm Chuck Carroll, raising health IQs coast to coast and around the world.
1:03.1	Hi to the exam room.
1:04.5	He's listening in St. Augustine, Florida, Bend, Oregon, and Queensland.
1:10.7	Wherever you are, we appreciate you helping to make the world a healthier place.
1:14.6	This is episode 3 of season 9, number 702 overall.
1:19.6	You know, the dietary guidelines for Americans are out, the brand new ones,
1:25.6	and these recommendations will be shaping how this country eats
1:29.1	for the next five years. But are they really shaping us toward a better future, a healthier
1:35.5	future, or are they serving someone else's interests? Well, today we are going to be dissecting
1:41.7	the good, the bad, and the very concerning realities
1:45.4	behind these guidelines. From an inverted food pyramid that puts steak and cheese front and
1:50.7	center to nearly doubling protein recommendations to a panel that is loaded with industry
	...

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