BECK NEWTON: If Australia is serious about reversing metabolic disease, we need to change

When the United States launched a dramatic reset of national dietary guidelines last week, I wasn’t surprised. I was relieved.

This return to “real food” comes at a time of rising metabolic disease, including type 2 diabetes, in our community. People are more confused than ever about what “health eating” actually means.

The new US guidelines finally acknowledge what many metabolic health practitioners have long understood: the old low-fat, high-carb model has failed.

Away from the glare of the public health policy debate, our patients are stabilising their blood glucose, improving metabolic markers and reclaiming their energy simply by returning to natural fats, quality proteins and whole, minimally processed foods.

What was once dismissed as fringe is now federal policy.

The most striking part of the US shift is its simplicity — prioritise whole foods, reduce ultra-processed products and stop fearing fat. Meat, eggs, dairy, seafood, vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds and natural fats are all promoted.

There’s also acknowledgement about the benefits of good gut health and fermented foods such as yoghurt, kefir and sauerkraut to support a diverse and resilient microbiome.

In addition, there’s an overdue shift toward personalised nutrition rather than a one-size-fits-all model. For metabolically healthy people, some starchy carbohydrates definitely have a place.

But with more than 60 per cent of Australians now living with some degree of metabolic dysfunction, we cannot keep pretending that a carbohydrate-heavy model works for everyone.

This is where Australia must pay attention. Our own dietary guideline review is underway. If the home of ultra-processing can pivot back to food our grandparents could actually recognise, surely we can too.

Of course, anything emerging from the Trump administration risks being dismissed as politically-charged and straight up whacky. On this one though, they’ve mainly got it right.

While the new pyramid shows examples of animal-based proteins and fats, the actual guidelines retain a cap on saturated fat intake.

I suspect these limits were retained to appease policy makers wedded to our long-held fear of saturated fats driving cardiovascular disease. Meat, eggs, dairy and seafood are nutrient-dense staples humans have eaten for millennia.

The idea that the fat in an avocado is “good” but the fat in an egg yolk is “bad” has never been logical. By encouraging people to eat real food, we can finally stop demonising the different types of fats that are part of these natural foods.

We often hear that people “don’t follow the guidelines”. But in clinic, I see the opposite.

Based on past public health campaigns, people are still throwing away the yellow part of their eggs because they’re terrified of cholesterol — a fear that should have died years ago.

They’re eating low-fat yoghurt full of sugar or choosing cereal over eggs because they’ve been advised it’s healthier, even though these foods are more likely to send their blood glucose soaring before 9am.

People are following the guidelines. The problem is that the local guidelines haven’t followed the evidence.

No set of guidelines can replace personalised nutrition. But these new guidelines will help the people who have been too scared to eat a whole egg, too confused to trust natural fats, and too conditioned to accept that an omelette might actually be a better breakfast than a bowl of cereal.

If Australia is serious about reversing metabolic disease, we need to change — an approach that acknowledges diversity of metabolic health across the population and stops pretending that one macronutrient distribution suits everyone.

If you need a cultural reference point for how overdue this is, remember that South Park mocked the old pyramid back in 2014 in its “flip the pyramid” episode. When a satirical cartoon gets it right before public policy does, you know something’s gone wrong.

As we finalise our own guidelines, we can either cling to outdated dogma or return to real food — the kind that nourishes, stabilises and heals.

Policy must also be paired with practicality — making whole foods more affordable, supporting local producers, and ensuring every community has reliable access to fresh, nutrient-dense options.

Bring back fat. Bring back meat. Bring back whole food. Australia’s metabolic future depends on it.

Beck Newton is an accredited practising dietitian, credentialled diabetes nurse educator and owner of EatLiveWell