From diets to medical practices, Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) aims to change how health and nutrition is seen and implemented in the lives of Americans.
One of the changes MAHA made is encouraging the removal of ‘low fat’ foods and encouraging ‘full fat’ foods.
“Typically, what they were adding back to it [low fat foods] was sugar and thickeners and chemicals to make up for not having the fat,” Donna Webb, licensed dietitian in Springfield, said. “So they had to replace it with something … that is now void of nutrition and then full of things that result in more inflammation in the body [and] more sugar in the body and sugar.”
Junior Luke Blevins said that his family can produce their own meat. Avoiding any additional products stores use when putting out meat.
“It’s easier for me because we butcher our own cows,” Blevins said. “I have meat available to me that we grew, so I’m not getting it from a supermarket or anything like that.”
Although MAHA has attempted to link seed oils as a “driver of chronic disease” some dietitians disagree.
“When I look at what science shows, seed oils are not inflammatory,” Missouri State University Athletic’s Team Dietitian, Natalie Allen said. “Now, certainly, I’m happy for people to eat more avocado and olive oil. Those are good for you, but olive oil has nine calories per gram, and generally liquid oil, so things that are unsaturated are better for the heart, and saturated fat certainly can fit in someone’s diet no problem. But we need to look at our total intake. What health factor, what health conditions are you possibly at risk for? Then make an educated decision.”
There have been several visual guides to proper eating throughout the years, including MyPlate which represents the amount an individual should consume per day. In 2026, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. created the inverted food pyramid, prioritizing meats and other nutrient dense foods.
“Foods that used to be considered very healthy – there’s a lot of great research that shows that maybe we got off track on some of that where the grains and high carbohydrate foods like pasta, rice and bread kind of still at the bottom of the pyramid,” Webb said. “Now we’re encouraged to eat less of that, and more of foods that are highly nutrient dense like meat, steak, vegetables, avocados.”
Health advice isn’t always black and white. Many factors like dosage affect the nutritional value foods have.
“I think it’s the dosage and in the product that they’re selling,” junior Cross Potts said. “It makes you want to eat more whenever you go to McDonald’s. It’s going to be really good … [but] it’s all those seed oils that pleases your body temporarily … it’s going to come back to kick you in the butt.”
Health advice can be difficult to rely on when it comes from social media. Allen said in order for anyone to achieve a new health goal, mapping out the proper steps for one’s goal is essential.
“Planning is key,” Allen said. “Meal planning, making a list of foods you like, keeping recipes handy, finding blogs or websites that you can follow and then sticking with that. So you’re not eating fast food every day, or you’re not skipping meals.”
