Nutrition Education

Nutrition coaching offers a resource folder with a variety of educational handouts, recorded presentations, cooking videos and newsletters (OSU email required).

Key Takeaways from the Dietary Guidelines (2025–2030)

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA’s) emphasize a simple, foundational message: focus on eating real, nutrient-dense foods while limiting highly processed options.

Build Your Plate with Whole Foods

• Prioritize foods like protein, dairy, vegetables, fruits, healthy fats, and whole grains.
• Reduce intake of highly processed foods that contain added sugars, excess sodium, and refined carbohydrates.

Focus on Balanced Nutrition

• Include a variety of protein sources, both animal and plant-based.
• Choose nutrient-dense options and pay attention to portion sizes and overall calorie needs.
• Stay hydrated by choosing water or unsweetened beverages. 

Support Overall Health

• Promote gut health by eating fiber-rich foods, fruits, vegetables, and fermented foods.
• Eat a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables daily, aiming for consistent intake throughout the day.

Choose Healthy Fats and Grains

• Incorporate healthy fats from foods like nuts, seeds, seafood, and oils (e.g., olive oil).
• Prioritize whole grains and limit refined grains and processed carbohydrates.

Bottom line: A healthy eating pattern centers on whole, minimally processed foods, balanced variety, and mindful choices to support long-term health.

Schedule a Nutrition Appointment to support your health and well-being while exploring your eating habits, identifying imbalances, and building strategies that work for your needs.

Statement from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

The Academy for Nutrition and Dietetics provided the following statement about the Dietary Guidelines.

What the Academy Supports

• Encouraging nutrient-dense foods, including fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
• Recommendations to limit highly processed foods and added sugars.
• Maintaining a limit of no more than 10% of total calories from saturated fat, while prioritizing healthier fats.
• Increased attention to fiber and microbiome health.

Where the Academy Has Concerns

• Saturated Fat: Emphasis on butter, beef tallow, red meat and full fat dairy is inconsistent with the recommendation of limiting saturated fat to 10% of total calories. Evidence shows that these foods are high in saturated fat, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Dairy: The new guidelines do not consider individuals who cannot or choose not to consume dairy products.
• Low-calorie non-nutritive sweeteners: The guidelines emphasize moderation even though evidence to date indicates they are generally considered safe within acceptable intake limits.
• Synthetic food dyes: Consistent with the Academy’s Nutrition Fact Check, research suggests a small subset of children may be sensitive to synthetic food dyes. However, findings are inconsistent, and additional research is needed to better understand the relationship between diet, food additives and behavior.

"Some of the recommendations in the DGAs are not aligned with the current body of evidence and will create challenges for implementation, particularly across federal nutrition programs that serve millions of Americans," said Academy President Deanne Brandstetter, MBA, RDN, CDN, FAND. "Registered dietitian nutritionists and nutrition and dietetics technicians, registered, play a critical role in applying the DGAs in ways that protect public health and meet the needs of a broad spectrum of populations. However, elements of this version of the guidelines will make that work difficult."