Smart Nutrition: Fed's new Dietary Guidelines send mixed messages on saturated fats, sugar, alcohol

By Tom Hall,

Published January 27, 2026 at 12:06 PM EST

Beef prime rib dinner plate, with demi glace, broccoli, horse radish and a bottle of wine in background. New government dietary guidelines recommend that people include meats, full-fat dairy, butter and beef tallow in their diets; some nutritionists say the recommendations are too high in saturated fats. Michael J. Bennett, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons — Beef prime rib dinner plate, with demi glace, broccoli, horse radish and a bottle of wine in background. New government dietary guidelines recommend that people include meats, full-fat dairy, butter and beef tallow in their diets; some nutritionists say the recommendations are too high in saturated fats.

Today, it’s another edition of Smart Nutrition with the "Nutrition Diva," Monica Reinagel.

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Monica Reinagel, MS,LD/N, CNS, is a licensed nutritionist, professionally trained chef, and opera singer. She hosts the popular Nutrition Diva podcast as well as the Change Academy podcast. Monica joins us regularly on Midday's "Smart Nutrition" series.

Monica is a licensed nutritionist and the host of the popular Nutrition Diva podcast, where she explores the latest food and nutrition research, headlines, and trends. She presents at food and nutrition conferences around the country, and she works with international organizations on health and wellness initiatives.

Earlier this month, the US Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture issued their new Dietary Guidelines for Americans, or DGAs, as the cognoscenti call them, for the years 2025-2030. We’ll talk about how they’ve changed from the last batch of guidelines issued five years ago, especially when it comes to areas like protein, saturated fats, sugar, and alcohol.

In this new year, are you making any changes to the way you eat, or the sources of your protein? Are you doing Dry January, or have you adjusted the amount of sugar you’re allowing your kids to consume?

Monica Reinagel joins us Zoom with insights on better nutrition...

We’d love to hear from you with any and all questions and comments about nutrition.
Give us a call at 410.662.8780, or email us at [email protected]