The Trump administration has flipped the national food pyramid as part of its campaign to “Make America Healthy Again,” and once again the new dietary guidelines recommend Americans change their food habits.

The main takeaway: don’t get takeaway. Eat more protein and fats. Scale back on breads and pastas.

“We are ending the war on saturated fats,” said Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The villains of the new food pyramid are “highly processed foods laden with refined carbohydrates, added sugars, excess sodium, unhealthy fats, and chemical additives.” The upside-down pyramid looks like the inverse of the 1992 guidelines that recommended bread, pasta and cereals make up the largest serving sizes to be consumed per day.

Congress requires HHS and USDA to jointly update dietary guidelines every five years. The major shift this time is carbohydrate consumption. RFK Jr.’s guidance recommends two to four servings a day of “whole grains,” compared to the six to 11 servings of the “Bread, Cereal, Rice and Pasta Group” recommended in the 1990s. Protein recommendations have been adjusted to reflect body weight, and fruit and vegetable servings have stayed roughly the same.

Government has been issuing food guidelines for decades, and sometimes the conversation feels more political than scientific. Any government decree about what is “healthy” will give politicians nannying ideas about what to tax, restrict or wrap red tape around. The reality is that taste and cost affect how people eat much more than what bureaucrats tell them. It is especially odd for the Republican Party to get into the habit of telling citizens what to eat, considering their history of touting the merits of personal freedom.

At the same time, there is a nutritional knowledge gap. Over 80 percent of Americans claim to have at least a “somewhat healthy” diet, and 49 percent say they’re “very” or “extremely confident” they know what foods are healthy for them. Yet almost 75 percent are estimated to be “overweight.” In fact, the obesity rate climbed from 12 percent in 1990, when the law requiring updated guidelines passed, to 37 percent now.

National guidelines for food and nutrition can only be effective when they are nonpartisan and nonbinding, and they would have more credibility if they didn’t change so frequently. In a truly free society, adults should be free to eat and drink whatever they please.

But given that this government intervention won’t go away anytime soon, it’s still worth celebrating sensible changes. The most pleasant update is the removal of advice for men to limit their daily alcohol consumption to two drinks and women to one drink.

“Alcohol is a social lubricant that brings people together,” said Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “I don’t think you should drink alcohol,” he noted, but he sensibly acknowledged the health benefits to socializing with friends. He added that it is best to avoid alcohol at breakfast, following up the next day to make an exception for brunch.

Cheers to that sensible, balanced public policy.

— Washington Post