A new global study suggests they might not be, with health and nutrition professionals perceiving nuts and legumes to be among the foods most frequently under-represented in dietary guidelines (1).

Researchers based in Germany explored the factors that influence health and nutrition professionals’ ability to translate food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG) into practice.

As part of the broad-ranging study, professionals were asked which foods they felt were under- or over-represented in current dietary guidelines.

The three foods most frequently identified as under-represented were:

• Legumes (62.7%)
• Plant-based milk alternatives (47.5%)
• Nuts and seeds (42.4%)

The study combined qualitative interviews and a quantitative survey involving health professionals across six continents, including Australia.

It provides a global perspective on how dietary guidelines are implemented in practice, including the barriers and facilitators health professionals encounter in their day-to-day work.

Did you know? Nuts and legumes account for just 13% of the total servings consumed by the average Australian from the ‘Lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds, and legumes/beans’ food group in the 2013 ADGs (2,3).

Similarities with Nuts for Life’s health professional survey

Interestingly, these findings align with our own Australian research insights.

As part of a wider survey (4), conducted in 2026, we asked 163 Australian health professionals about the representation of nuts in the Australian Dietary Guidelines (ADGs).

There was broad agreement across dietitians/nutritionists, GPs and practice nurses that nuts are under-represented – with around three-quarters of respondents holding this view, rising to 82% among dietitian/nutritionists.

Only around one in five considered the current representation of nuts to be adequate.

The bottom line:

Together, these findings point to a need for greater emphasis on core plant protein foods, such as nuts and legumes, in future dietary guidelines.

For nuts specifically, the evidence base supports a daily 30g serve.

The question now is not simply whether these foods belong in dietary guidelines, but how their nutritional value and role in healthy dietary patterns can be better represented within them.

Nuts are ‘hidden’ in the current (2013) Australian Dietary Guidelines. They sit within the ‘Lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds, and legumes/beans’ food group, often referred to as the ‘lean meat and alternatives’ group. The ADGs also state that ‘nuts are to be used occasionally, as a substitute for other foods in the group’.