Are dietary guidelines relevant – and why should we care?
- Clem Cleave
- Aug 31
- 6 min read
'10 things that I will never eat as a nutritionist' is something you will never hear me say!
Why? Because it’s meaningless. Of course, not all foods are equal, and yes, some foods are less nutritionally interesting than others. But the dose makes the poison. So when I hear that 'seed oils are toxic', that 'ultra-processed foods need to be eradicated', or that 'turmeric is fending off cancer', my heart sinks.
Because what really matters is not what specific food we eat or avoid, or even what we eat in a day, but what we eat day-in, day-out, overall. It’s about the dietary pattern – and a dietary pattern is a beautiful and complex balance of nutrients, food matrix, timing, social interactions, culture and socioeconomic constraints, that come together to give us nourishment. Something unique to each of us.
But to help us find that balance, we need a little guidance. Not from influencers or biohackers, but from science! And that is where dietary guidelines come in. We (or at least a certain corner of the internet) love to hate them - but behind the noise, they remain one of the most trustworthy tools we have to support better health. At a population level, in the workplace, and at home.
And yet... most of us aren't following them.
So let me give you a little bit of background and some pointers to make the dietary guidelines work for you.
What are dietary guidelines, really?
First of all, they’re guidelines – not rigid rules. You don’t need to follow them at every single meal. They are principles to help you step back and check that your overall diet is working for you, to live the life you choose to the full.
These guidelines are developed by government-led bodies, based on recommendations from expert panels and large bodies of scientific evidence. They outline the types and proportions of foods that support long-term health and reduce the risk of chronic disease.
In the UK, we have the Eatwell Guide[1], but most countries have their own version – adapted to reflect local cultures, food systems, and agricultural priorities. Despite that, most of them give pretty similar advice, because they draw from the same open-access scientific evidence.
And since science is never static, dietary guidelines are updated regularly to reflect new research and emerging social and environmental priorities.
How dietary guidelines evolve – and what still holds?
Countries like Belgium, Germany, and the Nordics have recently updated their national food guides to reflect modern challenges: sustainability, cultural diversity, affordability.
The U.S. expert committee has recently submitted its 2025 report, placing strong emphasis on plant-based proteins, health equity, and real-world implementation[2]. We’re now waiting for the new administration to turn these recommendations into user-friendly guidelines – and it remains to be seen if any elements get lost in translation.
Meanwhile, the UK’s Eatwell Guide hasn’t been updated since 2016 – and in some areas, it’s starting to show its age. But even without an update, its foundations still hold. And new research continues to back its core messages.
UK Eatwell Guide recommendations:
Fruit and vegetables: At least 5 portions (≥400g) per day
Fibre intake: ≥30g per day for adults
Free sugars: ≤5% of total energy intake
Salt: ≤6g per day
Total fat: ≤35% of total energy intake
Saturated fat: ≤10% of total energy intake
Red and processed meat: ≤70g per day
Oily fish: At least one portion (≈140g) per week
Energy balance: Total energy intake within ±10% of estimated requirements
Are we actually following dietary guideline recommendations?
Not really. The latest UK data tells us we have a long way to go.
Key findings from the NDNS (2019–2023)[3]:
Only 17% of adults meet the 5-a-day target. For teenagers, it's just 9%.
96% of adults and teens fall short of the fibre recommendation (30g/day).
Around 85% of adults and children exceed the limit for saturated fat.
Only 9% of children and 19% of adults meet the ≤5% energy target for free sugars.
Micronutrient gaps remain, especially for folate and vitamin D.
These gaps need our attention - they’re serious public health issues, with consequences for long-term wellbeing, workforce productivity, and NHS demand.
Why good adherence to recommendations matters:
High-quality research shows that following dietary guidelines can have a powerful impact on health.
A UK analysis by Scheelbeek et al. (2020)[4] found that fewer than 1 in 1,000 people met all nine Eatwell Guide recommendations, and only 3 in 10 met at least five. But those with higher adherence had a significantly lower risk of death, with meeting the fruit and vegetable guideline (‘5-a-day’) linked to the greatest benefit.
A 2024 meta-analysis by Hao et al.[5], covering over 800,000 people, showed that those with the highest diet quality scores (based on the Healthy Eating Index-2015) had:
20% lower risk of death from any cause
19% lower risk of death from heart disease
19% lower risk of death from cancer
And even small improvements helped - every 1-point increase in diet quality score was linked to ~ 10% lower mortality risk.
A 2025 study by Tessier et al.[6], published in Nature Medicine, looked at data from over 105,000 participants over 30 years. It found that long-term adherence to healthy dietary patterns was associated with a significantly higher chance of reaching age 70 free from chronic disease and with intact cognitive, physical, and mental health.
Together, these studies show that good nutrition is not just about living longer - it's about living better.
What this means for our daily life
Whether you're trying to take better care of yourself, your family or support the wellbeing of your employees, dietary guidelines are still one of the best places to start.
For individuals:
Improving diet quality doesn't have to mean perfection. It could mean eating more plants, choosing whole grains more often, or paying attention to fibre - remember only 1 in 20 adults are eating enough (more info on fibre here).
For organisations:
Workplaces play a major role in shaping daily food choices. Providing nutritious options, creating supportive food environments, and running engaging wellbeing initiatives can help staff feel more energised, focused, and resilient, both short and long term.
For our society:
Eating according to dietary guidelines is still a privilege – not a given. As highlighted in The Food Foundation’s “Broken Plate” report (2025)[7], our current food systems make healthy choices unaffordable and inaccessible for many. If we’re serious about those guidelines, we need ambitious structural and economic change to support them.
We also need to consider the health of our planet. How can we nourish ourselves with healthy diets while protecting the planet’s resources and biodiversity – for today and for generations to come?
What are the next challenges for dietary guidelines?
They’re brilliant tools – grounded in decades of science and regularly reviewed in light of the latest research.
But we need to make them easier – or even possible – to follow. That means clearer communication, practical support, healthier food environments, and more sustainable food systems.
We also need their messages to resonate in people’s daily lives – to feel relevant and appealing. Right now, they often get drowned out by the constant noise of nutrition fads and “alternative truths” that distract us from what really matters.
And finally, dietary guidelines must be flexible and adaptable. Because here too, one size does not fit all. Nourishment is a complex and beautiful balance of caring for our body, our mind, and the way we inhabit this world.
Hello, my name is Clem.
I’m an award-winning, evidence-based nutritionist (MSc, RNutr) and workplace wellbeing specialist.
I help organisations and individuals make sense of nutrition so they can nurture their health and wellbeing with confidence.
If you want to know more about nutrition and health, subscribe to my newsletter or get in touch.
[1] NHS Eatwell Guide (2016) https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/food-guidelines-and-food-labels/the-eatwell-guide/
[2] 2025 U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. (2024). Scientific Report of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee: Advisory Report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and Secretary of Agriculture. https://doi.org/10.52570/DGAC2025
[3] National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) 2019–2023. UK Government, 2025. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-diet-and-nutrition-survey-2019-to-2023/national-diet-and-nutrition-survey-2019-to-2023-report
[4] Scheelbeek P.F.D. et al. (2020). UK adults’ dietary patterns and mortality risk: modelling study. BMJ Open, 10:e037554. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-037554
[5] Hao Y. et al. (2024). Adherence to the Healthy Eating Index-2015 and risk of mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Medicine, 22:91. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-024-03345-1
[6] Tessier A.J. et al. (2025). Long-term adherence to healthy dietary patterns and healthy aging: results from 30 years of follow-up. Nature Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-024-02919-2
[7] The Food Foundation (2025). The Broken Plate: The State of the Nation’s Food System. https://foodfoundation.org.uk/publication/broken-plate-2025
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