Breaking Down The NEW Food Pyramid

For decades we were told the same thing: base your diet around bread, cereal, rice, and pasta… and don’t you dare touch too much fat.
Well, the new 2026 Food Pyramid just flipped that entire idea on its head.
In this episode we break down what actually changed, why protein recommendations have nearly doubled, and why fats are no longer the villain they were made out to be in the 80s and 90s.
We also talk about:
• Why whole, minimally processed foods are now the foundation
• The truth about protein intake and metabolic health
• Why “low-fat” foods exploded with sugar
• Whether foods are actually good or bad… or if nutrition is more of a spectrum
• How small, actionable changes can lead to real health results
We also dive into the bigger question: how do you help people unlearn decades of nutrition myths?
Because the truth is, health isn’t black and white. It’s context, goals, and small habits stacked over time.
If you’ve ever wondered what you’re actually supposed to eat, this episode will help you make sense of the new food pyramid and how to apply it in real life.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome into the Oh Health Yeah podcast brought to you by Healthy is Wellness. As you all know, our mission is to empower you to take control of your health and elicit a little bit of curiosity in your life when it comes to the world of wellness. Thank you so much for tuning in today. And if you have loved ones or friends that you think would benefit from this, share it with them. Let's get this thing going. Today we're going to jump really deep into the food pyramid pool. So if you've been paying attention to any form of wellness social media, you've probably been hearing about the new food pyramid that just came out. And honestly, it completely flipped health on its end. And the crazy part about it is it's the majority of things are things that we've been talking about for years. But I'm going to dive into it a little bit more in depth. We're going to talk about the old food pyramid, how the changes kind of occurred, what those changes actually entail. And then what does that mean for you? Like, what am I supposed to eat? What am I supposed to do? There's a cool article that I found, and the title of the article is New Food Pyramid emphasizes whole, minimally processed foods over refined carbs and added sugars. Now, it doesn't mean that refined carbs and added sugars are the devil, but what it means is that this food pyramid actually has a basis of whole, minimally processed foods, including things like meat, dairy, which can be beneficial for the body as long as you don't have intolerances to those things. The 2026 food pyramid updates prioritize whole minimally processed food, increased protein intake, almost doubling the recommended protein intake that we previously had, which is freaking crazy to think about. Signaling a significant move away from the old food pyramid's grain-heavy approach. Not the grains of the devil, but what this food pyramid does is it prioritizes protein intake, which is something that we've been talking about for years. We talk about it a lot with people's first meals of the day. Can you have protein and fat for the first meal of the day? But we know how beneficial protein is for the body, and there's significant ways to get it in your diet from things like meat, fish. We talk sometimes about protein shakes as well, eggs, cheese. There's ways to get protein. I love that this new food pyramid actually doubled the recommended amount that you're wanting to get. The new framework is centered around not only doubling the protein intake, but increasing healthy fats in the diet. So they made it to where fat was not the devil. We all thought the fat was the devil for the longest time, or at least modern media wanted you to think the fat was the devil. Fat is not the devil. What they did in the late 90s is they took fat out of everything and they pumped it full of sugar, and then they sold it to you as low fat. That's why they have low fat yogurts, that's why they have low fat everything that just has a ton of sugar in it. This pyramid shows that fat is not the devil and it's literally upside down from what we've had in the past. Question.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

So how do we get our people to break away from these wives' tales and what we're now learning are myths? Like, too much ripe meat's bad for you. Eggs are bad cholesterol, like too much fish is mercury poisoning. Like, I feel like especially people that are over the age of like say 45, 40, have these preconceived notions that have been taught to them their entire lives. Like, oh, you have high blood pressure, cut out the red meat. Is that true?

unknown 3:30

No.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

Like, so like how would how do we break the stereotype of those things and help people understand that protein, protein, protein? And that doesn't necessarily mean actually, um I know you're not on social media, but I saw Gray's post about it. I thought it was interesting. I don't fully agree with her, but I do love the premise. But she posted a story about how yes, we're pushing protein now, but that doesn't mean putting protein in everything that we eat. Protein pancakes, protein waffles, protein oatmeal. You know, that doesn't have to be extra in protein pasta. For some people, I think those are great options, especially people that have aversions to eating meat or eating uh different types of stuff or have a hard time getting that protein in. However, you can get it in, good. Obviously, in a perfect world, eat your meat, get your protein in, get it as as whole as you can, but we're not in a perfect world. So anyway, I'll let you take the floor now. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 4:33

So to answer your first question of how do you get people to believe that these things are beneficial for their body, I think there's kind of two levers that we have to pull. We have to make the changes small and actionable, which we do. We have small actionable changes that people can deploy in your life. Can you have no sugar flour for breakfast? Can you eat this list of genius foods? Can you prioritize protein, like little tiny, actionable items? We have to make it small and attainable. And then the second thing that we have to do is allow people to see the changes that occur when they opt into those healthy habits. So, like, for example, we do lipid panels, we do A1C, like, okay, take this on and let's test your lipids again in six months, or take this on and let's test your A1C again in six months. I know that not everybody has the ability to do a blood panel or to do a finger poke, but I think the way that we uh help people to be able to do these things is by making it small and actionable, and then by allowing them to see, okay, do my lipids change, or does my energy change, or am I gaining strength? Like those type of things to be able to measure success. Because I think that honestly, what's so interesting in America is where marketing money goes, is usually what we're pushed as healthy. Like I use the example today with a client I was talking to them about Wheaties and how the Kelsey brothers are on the Wheaties box. Like, of course, Wheaties are so dang good for you. Like they're amazing. They have to be. The Kelsey brothers are on it, they're in the NFL. They've been like an Olympic cereal for 50 years. And then you actually look into what Wheaties do for your body if you have them for breakfast. They spike your blood sugar, they stop your body from metabolizing fat. But that still doesn't mean that they're bad for you. No, definitely not.

SPEAKER_00 6:03

That's like it's it's not this. That's what I want so many people to understand. Health and wellness is not black and white.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

Yeah, it's not good or bad.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

Is it great to eat in the mornings? No, to break your fast, it's not great. But that doesn't mean it can exist at the same time. Doesn't mean that it's bad for you. It's still a whole food, it's a single ingredient food. Wheaties don't have sugar, right? Other than it's natural sugar because it's carbohydrates, right?

SPEAKER_01 6:30

Well, it's based around your goal too. Like not only is it good or bad, like, okay, if you're gonna go exercise or have to have a bowl of weeds, cool, go for it. But if you're gonna go like the majority of us and sit at the desk or sit in front of a computer all day, if your goal is to metabolize fat or to keep your energy levels high or to gain muscle mass, the wheez aren't necessarily helping you propel towards that goal. So it's not just are they good or bad because there's not a good or bad. It's okay in the context of your life with the way that you're going to implement X, Y, or Z, does it help you achieve your goal? Or is it not?

SPEAKER_00 7:03

You're so right. It's so imperative. I watch um the uh Noel. Their name is Noel on social media. Um, triathlete. Gotcha. Good I mean, not good friend, but we we know each other mutuals through social media. And I think I want to say they've done like 10 or 15 Ironmans at this point. But like it's common for people that are triathletes and marathon runners, they'll just get a coke because it's instantaneous sugar in their bloodstream because they need that energy. People that are that high of a level of an athlete are basically operating on exactly what they need or in a deficiency. So, you know, if you're 25 miles into a bike ride and you feel like you're gonna pass out, that coke will get you to where you need to go. But does that mean that it's good? Is does that mean it's bad for them? What's your opinion?

SPEAKER_01 7:57

No, it's not necessarily bad for them. It's all based off of the context of life and what your goals are to achieve, yeah. Yeah, it's not black and white. It's the same reason they're coming back to the food pyramid. Like the food pyramid is gonna give everyone suggestions. General guidance. Okay, here's general rules, general things that you can live off of, and it's not even general rules, it's like a general huge splatter on a wall of like, here you go, here's a little bit of advice, do whatever you want with it. And what we're trying to do as a business is take things like this that are science-backed, put them into little digestible, actionable items, and then help our clients deploy them in their life when the time is right. Like when it's time to take on X, Y, or Z based off of what science has shown is beneficial for you, do it. So that's kind of where my mind goes with that. Not that not that anything is necessarily good or bad, it's always context of life, is where I'm at there.

SPEAKER_00 8:47

So you think it's it's just a spectrum. Every everything when it comes to the nutrition side of things is a spectrum. Yeah, just like like alcohol, like if you were to put it on a scale of one to ten, alcohol, obviously, it's a one. If you're looking at it from a black and white lens, it's a one. But if you look at it from a spectrum, just like you talk about all the time, for your health, like for your blood, it's a one, but for your social connections, it's a ten.

SPEAKER_01 9:14

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 9:15

If you're doing it in moderation, right? Yep. So, um what what I was about to say before I let you continue is in cons in in what's the word? Oh my gosh, I'm blanking. Conclusion? In conclusion to what you were just about what you were just describing. The way that we break those stereotypes is to get people to take a nibble so they see result, because that's the most the fastest way for someone to buy into something is for them to see slash feel a difference from that thing. Absolutely, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:54

Okay, cool. Yeah, and they gotta take the jump first. Yeah, the scariest part is the jump. Kind of that's the same thing with our program. Like, you gotta believe the small changes can have big impacts in your life with the food pyramid. You can look into these studies. Like now it's pretty dang cool, but it's not just healthy as well. I'm just talking about these things. It's like American Medical Association's talking about it. Obviously, RFK is pushing all this stuff out. It doesn't really matter where you're standing on politics, but go look into these things and look at the benefits that whole foods can have on your life. And I love some of the biggest things that I think, like pulling from this that really stick out to me. The rationale behind these updates with the food pyramid reflects years of emerging nutrition research questioning the effectiveness of low-fat, high carbohydrate diets. Now, just like Zach said, the effectiveness is based off of your goals, but studies increasingly suggest that adequate protein supports muscle mass, metabolic health, and satiety. Well, fats play an essential role in hormone regulation, cognitive performance, and nutrient absorption. The revised protein recommendations of 1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight per day far exceed the previous of 0.8 grams per kilogram. It's almost double. It is pretty much double. So basically, what this food pyramid is telling us is eat single ingredient items when you can, prioritize protein, don't be afraid of fat. And these are all things that we've been talking about throughout our program for years. Another thing that I wanted to share that I recently learned in Genius Foods, a book by Max Blue Devere, is that on average, it takes about 17 years for scientific studies to get into clinical practice. And I think that's the same way the things like this run. Like it takes a while for these things to catch up. And so now in 2026, having this food pyramid that actually ties into a lot more of our beliefs, I think is due to the fact that science is slowly starting to catch up. And if you have a chance as a listener right now to just go look up the old food pyramid versus the new one, go do it because you're gonna see that like protein, dairy, healthy fats, vegetables, and fruits are the basis of this pyramid. Whereas in the previous one, the basis was bread, cereal, rice, and pasta. Now, this isn't a, hey, you sh need to do this or you should do that. But what this shows is how as a society we're starting to change and realize how important single ingredient items are, not only proteins and fats, but also vegetables, fruits, things that you hunt, pick, or gather. And a healthy is we're not about perfection, it's about progress. So can you eliminate a few processed things and incorporate these single ingredient items? Great. You don't have to be perfect with it. But when you get a chance, look into this new food pyramid, it's pretty dang cool to see the changes that are coming down the pike. And I think if you've been into CS, you'll see that a lot of the things on this food pyramid are based around a lot of things that we've been talking about for a long time.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

Quick question to clarify you keep saying healthy fats. Saying healthy fats would imply that there are non-healthy fats. Can you quickly dive into what a healthy fat is as opposed to what an unhealthy fat is?

SPEAKER_01 12:54

I think for me, a healthy fat is something that comes from a minimally processed item too.

SPEAKER_00 12:58

Avocados, nuts, stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 13:00

Extra version olive oil.

SPEAKER_00 13:01

As opposed to things like margarine, which are like trans fats, right? That's what that's what you're telling people to stay away from the fats that the oils they use to fry fast food in. I just want to clarify that for our listeners of what we're talking about, like healthy fats versus bad fats. It's it's unfair how much the word fat got a bad rap in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, because fat is not your enemy. Fat is full of energy. I mean, that's what fat is energy, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:27

Yeah, absolutely. It's essential for the body. Like you think when I think healthy fats, I think of fats that come from single ingredient items as much as you can. So, like elk meat, there's fat that comes with that. Great.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

Very small amount of fat.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

And that's here, like avocado is a healthy fat. Extra virgin olive oil, I consider. I mean, it's an oil, but I also almost put that in a healthy fat category.

SPEAKER_00 13:46

I 100% agree. It's I mean, the the the fat in an avocado is the oil. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:51

So avocado oil is great. And then you think avoiding inflammatory fats and oils, when we're thinking that, we're thinking like sunflower oil, peanut oil. And it's not necessarily you have to avoid them all the time, but the more that you can opt for those healthier fats, those healthier oils, the better off you're gonna be when it comes to color levels.

SPEAKER_00 14:08

I think for another episode we should talk about the inflammatory oils as a subject in itself, because I have seen other health experts talk about how processed oils like sunflower oil and sapphire oil actually help your body with its amino acids. So maybe that's something that we can dive into. You could do a little bit of research on, we can kind of come together in a little bit of a friendly debate on it. We can we can come to that. So that's all I got for this one.

SPEAKER_01 14:33

I love it. Sweet. Heck yeah, it sounds like a plan. That sounds like a fun episode. It does. I like that idea. Thank you guys very much for tuning in. When you get a chance, go check out the new food pyramid. It's pretty dang cool. And if you can compare it to the old one, I think you'll be surprised and shocked to see the differences. Thank you so much for tuning in and listening. We appreciate you so much.