As you've probably heard, we have a new food pyramid.

It was unveiled as part of the latest edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans,

and many of you have written to ask what I think of the new guidance

and whether it's a step in the right or wrong direction.

Honestly, it's not entirely one or the other. So let's try to sort it out.

Hello, I'm Monica Rineagle, and you are listening to The Nutrition Diva podcast,

a show where we take a closer look at the latest nutrition news, trends, and research,

and answer your food and

nutrition questions. And over the past couple of months, my inbox has been filling up with

questions from you about the new food pyramid that was rolled out by the USDA as part of the

most recent update to the dietary guidelines for Americans. Many of you wondered how this new U.S.

guidance aligns with dietary guidance from other countries around the world. Some of you asked

about the alternative guidance that was recently released by the American Heart Association,

which differs from the USDA advice in some important ways,

although, as we'll discuss, the differences may be more on the surface appearance than in the

underlying detail. And some of you were just curious about whether I think these new guidelines

are a step forward or back in terms of scientific validity or practical applications.

So now that the dust has settled a little bit, I thought I'd weigh in.

Historically, the dietary guidelines have been updated every five years

as the culmination of a years-long process involving dozens of high-level food and nutrition scientists who hash

through the ever-evolving body of evidence and they attempt to reach a consensus on key questions

about how we should eat. And in fact, the committee gets a list of specific questions to focus on

...