01/08/2026
The food pyramid has been turned upside down.
Whole grains are now at the bottom.
Ultra-processed foods and added sugars are gone entirely.
And at the top? Real food: healthy fats, animal protein, fruits, and vegetables.
This isn’t a cosmetic change. It represents a quiet reversal of decades of official nutrition advice that shaped public health policy, medical training, and everyday clinical decisions.
As a board-certified psychiatrist and former FDA medical officer, what immediately stands out to me is not just the nutritional implications but the psychiatric ones.
Diet doesn’t only affect weight or blood sugar. It influences mood, cognition, impulse control, and how often everyday distress gets medicalized and treated with medication. When food-driven symptoms are overlooked, prescriptions often become the default response.
Removing ultra-processed foods and added sugar from the pyramid isn’t ideological. It reflects what we now understand about metabolic health, inflammation, and their downstream effects on the brain.
I break down what this new pyramid and why it matters far more than most people realize in my latest video.
Curious to hear your thoughts, does this change how you think about food and mental health?
