Guidelines also change because of politics. Often, guidelines like these can feel like contorted descriptions of intuitive dietary principles. That's because, as Vox and Slate have pointed out, science is only one part of the process to formulate the guidelines—lobbyists and food industry representatives exert a lot of influence. The authors of the guidelines are forced to use euphemisms and linguistic contortions to talk about foods we shouldn't eat--"sugary drinks" instead of sodas, "saturated fat" instead of red meat--in order to tiptoe around big industries. Because the dietary guidelines influence things like school lunches, food stamps, and doctors' recommendations to patients, they can have a tangible economic impact for these industries. That sort of sway might explain why the guidelines feel like they're written in legal-ese, and why recommendations for red meat or sodium didn't change from the 2010 guidelines, despite growing debate and awareness of their negative heath effects.