Washington — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other top administration officials on Wednesday announced new dietary guidelines for Americans, recommending against highly processed foods and emphasizing protein and healthy fats. 

Kennedy called it "the most significant reset of federal nutrition policy in history," saying that following the recommendations will boost Americans' overall health and decrease U.S. spending on health care. The new dietary recommendations are a part of the president's "Make America Healthy Again" agenda. 

"Today marks a decisive change in federal nutrition policy, made possible by President Trump's leadership and the work of MAHA moms and public health advocates who demanded reform," Kennedy said. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the updates will "ensure that Americans have the most accurate, data-driven information supported by science and hard facts, not special interests or partisan ideology."

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the U.S. is "in the middle of the worst chronic health crisis in our nation's history." She said over 40% of children in the U.S. are experiencing at least one chronic health condition, and she said the vast majority of health care spending goes toward treating people with chronic diseases. 

Rollins said the new guidelines will encourage households and schools to prioritize "more protein, more dairy, more healthy fats, more whole grains, more fruits and vegetables." 

"For decades, decades, under both Republicans and Democrats, federal incentives have promoted low-quality, highly processed foods and pharmaceutical interventions instead of prevention," Rollins said. "... Thankfully, the solution is simple and should be noncontroversial — eat real food."

It's not yet clear how the guidelines will be implemented in schools, prisons and other government facilities. 

"There is a lot of work to do," Rollins said. "Nothing changes overnight." 

Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said the new dietary guidelines, if followed, could allow Americans to work a year longer and "jazz up" the American economy because of that. 

Instead of providing specific limit guidelines on alcohol, as past guidelines did, the new language says to decrease alcohol consumption. 

"Alcohol is a social lubricant that brings people together," Oz said Wednesday. "In the best case scenario, I don't think you should drink alcohol. But it does allow people an excuse to bond and socialize and there's probably nothing healthier than having a good time with friends in a safe way." 

"The implication is, don't have it for breakfast," Oz added.

The dietary guidelines come days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is overseen by Kennedy's health department, has scaled back recommended childhood immunizations. That decision was met with concern by those in the medical community who fear fewer vaccinations will lead to more illnesses and deaths. 

"We want to maximize the uptake of the vaccines by making sure that Americans know that we are making recommendations that are science-based, that are common sense, that are grounded in science," Kennedy said Wednesday. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said earlier this week that it will no longer recommend vaccinating children against against hepatitis A, hepatitis B and rotavirus, despite the CDC's own publications saying the vaccinations have prevented more than 90,000 deaths and almost 2 million hospitalizations across the last three decades.