Foods to Prevent Cardiometabolic Disease: Moving from “Saturated Fat” to “Whole Foods”

Diet and lifestyle offer the potential for achieving a healthy lifespan by reducing risk for cardiometabolic diseases and cancer, as well as maintaining cognitive health and physical function. To facilitate translation and implementation of dietary practices, we have critically reviewed the justification of the current focus on single nutrients, most notably a 10% cap for dietary saturated fat intake and argue for a more holistic food-based approach. In the newly released Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030, the recommendation for selecting low-fat dairy foods has been changed to allow full-fat dairy food consumption in recognition of the evidence for their health benefits despite their high content of saturated fat. However, the 10% cap on total saturated fat intake has been maintained, which would require reduced saturated fat consumption from other food sources. Our analysis shows that there is considerable heterogeneity in the physiological and health effects of individual saturated fatty acids, and that the health effects of foods are determined by the food matrix and the overall nutrient profile rather than their saturated fatty acid content. We therefore conclude that the 10% cap on saturated fat intake should be replaced by food-based dietary guidelines.