The “Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee”, a group of top nutrition scientists from all over the country, recently issued their final recommendations on what Americans should eat. And the winner is: BEANS! That’s right, as part of a five-year update, they reviewed the “Dietary Guidelines for Americans” to see if any changes are warranted. After 22 months of study, they came up with only one substantial change. They recommend diets that “emphasize dietary intakes of beans, peas, and lentils while reducing intakes of red and processed meats”.
This is big news! The “Dietary Guidelines for Americans” (maybe you have heard of the “food pyramid” or “my plate“) describe what to eat and drink to promote health and prevent diet-related disease. They are used widely by health professionals, policy makers, governments, and the public.
The Advisory Committee looked at everything from snacking, beverages and who eats what, to relationships between eating and coronary heart disease. Significantly, the Committee noted “compelling evidence” showing “dietary patterns that had higher levels of beans, peas, and lentils (often presented in the literature as “legumes”) were associated with beneficial health outcomes.” In other words, beans are good for your health and longevity!
In fact, beans are so good for you that the Advisory Committee recommended moving Beans, Peas, and Lentils to the “Protein Foods Group to align with evidence to encourage plant sources of Protein Foods. The Committee also proposes reorganizing the order of the Protein Foods Group to list Beans, Peas, and Lentils first, followed by Nuts, Seeds, and Soy products, then Seafood, and finally Meats, Poultry, and Eggs.” What that means is they recommend moving Beans, Peas and Lentils to the front of the class – even ahead of meat, poultry and eggs!
And reading the fine print, they are not only talking about a reclassification and reordering of words. They also advocate modifying the Dietary Guidelines to increase the number of calories from Beans, Peas and Lentils and reducing those from Meat, Poultry and Eggs. Incredible, long overdue news for lowly beans.
The Advisory Committee also highlighted the vast underconsumption of dietary fiber by Americans. The new emphasis on beans, peas, and lentils will go a long way in providing badly needed fiber. – much further, in fact, than the emphasis on whole grains. The comparison is not even close. For example: a one ounce serving of whole wheat bread provides 1.7g fiber. Whereas a mere 1/4 cup of black beans contains 4.2 grams. In other words, if you eat lots of beans, you can eat all the white bread you want!
Many hoped that the Advisory Committee would come up with recommendations regarding “Ultra-processed foods” (UPFs). However, they did not, citing the lack of a unified definition of “ultra-processed”. Personally, I think this is wise given that “ultra-processed food” has been defined as everything from cookies and French fries to bread and canned fish. (See more at our blog about UPFs.) Besides, “ultra-processed food” is often high in salt, sugar and/or saturated fat – all of which have been on the dietary guidelines no-no list for a long time. The committee made this clear saying: “…sodium, added sugars, and saturated fat are nutrients of public health concern due to overconsumption.”
So, what happens next? The recommendations of the Advisory Committee are currently open to public comment. Anyone can comment. If you would like to congratulate the Committee for recognizing the awesomeness of beans, click here. Tell them you support the recommendations of the Advisory Committee to emphasize consumption of beans. The more people who comment favorably, the more likely it is that beans will become the rightful stars of the Dietary Guidelines for 2026-2030! And next, get your hands on some Beans, Peas and Lentils! I think you know where to get some really yummy ones – ready in 6 minutes!
Q&A:
What is the big news?
The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, after reviewing nutrition science to update the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, has recommended eating more beans, peas, and lentils and less meat, poultry and eggs.
Why did they do that?
The Advisory Committee cites compelling evidence that showed eating beans, peas, and lentils (often called “legumes”) are associated with better health. The recommendation is also to “align with evidence to encourage plant sources of Protein”.
What is the next step?
The USDA and HHS will decide how they will incorporate the Advisory Committee’s recommendations into the final Dietary Guidelines for Americans for 2026-2030. The recommendations are open for public comment. To comment click here.
