The New Year usually serves as an alert for people who want to be healthier after spending the holiday months enjoying some of their favorite foods.
With that in mind, the US News and World Report had a panel of experts who analyzed more than 40 diet plans and then rated the 20 best diets of 2021 to help people “lose weight and improve their overall health”. The Mediterranean diet came first, followed by the DASH and Flexitarian diets tied for place No. 2, followed by the WW, keto and Dukan diets.
Yahoo Life spoke to nutrition experts about the top rated eating plans – with some expressing surprise at how some diets were cut.
mediterranean diet
This heart-healthy, plant-focused eating plan was rated the best overall diet. The Mediterranean diet is rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds and olive oil, according to the Mayo Clinic. Fish, poultry, eggs and beans are eaten weekly along with a moderate amount of dairy, while red meat is limited. Unlike many diets, red wine is also allowed, in moderation.
The diet plan is designed to help stabilize blood sugar, improve cholesterol and triglyceride levels and reduce the risk of heart disease, according to MedlinePlus, but some people lose weight with the Mediterranean diet by making healthier food choices.
Leah Groppo, a clinical nutritionist at Stanford Health Care, is not surprised that this healthy eating plan has reached the top, telling Yahoo Life that “there are decades of research around this diet”. Groppo adds: “I love the idea of eating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds because they are rich in healthy fibers and fats and provide us with energy”.
Unlike trendy diets, the Mediterranean diet plan is not overly restrictive, which makes it easier to follow and more sustainable. “No food is off limits”, Keri Gans, registered nutritionist and author of The Small Changes Diet, tells Yahoo Life. “It encourages a very healthy and balanced diet that includes lots of healthy fats, 100 percent whole grains, nuts and seeds and lots of fish. Includes low fat dairy products. There are no tricks. There are no prohibited foods. Even red meat is included, but they say they eat more fish and birds. It’s comprehensive and that’s what I love. “
As Groppo says: “It is not even a diet – it is a lifestyle”.
DASH diet
This healthy eating plan tied for second place with the flexitarian diet (below). Like the Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet – which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension – also focuses on improving heart health.
The meal plan, which is based on studies sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), includes eating a variety of vegetables, fruits and whole grains, along with fat-free or low-fat dairy products, fish , poultry, beans, nuts and vegetable oils, according to the NHLBI. Foods high in saturated fat, including whole dairy products and fatty meats, are limited in the meal plan, along with sweets and drinks sweetened with sugar.
Although the DASH diet is considered a low-salt plan, Gans explains that you can consume up to 2,300 milligrams of sodium (about 1 teaspoon) a day, which is the same daily amount recommended by the government’s dietary guidelines for Americans. . (Americans average 3,400 milligrams of sodium per day, according to the Food and Drug Administration.)
By watching your sodium intake and eating a variety of healthy, whole foods, the DASH diet helps to reduce high blood pressure and improve cholesterol levels, which reduces the risk of heart disease, according to MedlinePlus.
Although the DASH diet is designed as a dietary approach to controlling hypertension, Gans explains that you don’t have to have high blood pressure to follow this healthy eating plan. In fact, she says that most people should eat anyway. “Overall, it is emphasizing all the foods that we were told to eat,” says Gans.
Flexitarian Diet
The flexitarian diet plan, created by nutritionist Dawn Jackson Blatner, consists of following a vegetarian diet most of the time – that is, eating a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains. However, you can still eat some meat-based foods occasionally, while limiting the addition of sugar and sweets.
Gans likes that “you don’t have to cut the foods you love – you just need to focus on being a vegetarian,” she says. By encouraging people to eat more vegetable meals and consume less meat, Gans says they can help decrease the risk of heart disease.
“This is a plant-based diet that allows for flexibility,” says Groppo, who notes that plant-based foods tend to be high in fiber and tend to have less calories, while meat tends to have more saturated fat. Groppo adds that eating a well-planned vegetarian diet is “globally better for our body and environment”.
WW Diet (formerly Weight Watchers)
The flexible and personalized weight loss plan of the WW myWW program came in fourth, after the DASH and Flexitarian diets. The program uses WW’s SmartPoints system, which assigns numbers to each food and drink based on the number of calories, as well as the amount of saturated fat, sugar and protein they contain.
According to the plan, no food is off limits. “Any diet that includes all the foods that I can’t really condemn,” says Gans.
While the other healthy eating plans are free, except for the cost of food, WW has membership fees, which start at $ 3.22 a week and go up to $ 13.85 a week. Gans says the food plan is not for everyone, but it can be useful for those who need more structure and guidance. “It’s also about the WW community,” says Gans. “Whoever does well is because of the community.”
Groppo says that “people can do really well in WW” and that, with their points system, they basically did all the “backend” calculations for you, “so you don’t have to count calories.” Groppo adds: “It helps you to reduce your calorie intake and have healthier options.”
However, experts were surprised by some of the other popular eating plans that made the US News and World Reportthe list of the best diets – that is, the keto and Dukan diets.
Keto Diet
The ketone diet has been a popular weight loss plan in recent years, but not every nutritionist is a fan. Gans calls it a “deprivation diet”, adding, “Atkins, overwhelmed, is really what he is.”
The high-protein, very low-carbohydrate diet aims to put a person’s body in ketosis – a metabolic state in which your body moves from using glucose as its primary fuel source to breaking down stored fat, explains Groppo.
Groppo told Yahoo Life that some research shows that the ketone diet can help with weight loss, along with lowering blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes (talk to your doctor before starting the ketone diet or any other diet) . But, Groppo says: “It is not a sustainable diet”, adding: “The diet is very restrictive. Usually, when you want to improve your health or lose weight, you want to do something that is sustainable. “
Although the protein-rich ketone diet may have some benefits, Gans says there is a “greater body of evidence” showing that “diets high in saturated fat” – which is found mainly in animal products, such as meat – “can cause heart diseases. “Gans adds:” The jury has not decided how long someone can maintain the ketone diet and what other health risks may be involved. We don’t know in the long run. “
Dukan Diet
Created by French doctor Dr. Pierre Dukan, the Dukan diet was launched into the spotlight after Kate Middleton allegedly followed her before marrying Prince William. The weight loss plan has four phases: Attack, Cruise, Consolidation and Stabilization. The high-protein, low-fat, low-carbohydrate diet allows followers to eat 100 foods (68 types of protein and 32 different vegetables), as well as a small amount of oat bran. Followers can add more food as they reach the different stages.
“Immediately, when I hear anything with ‘stages’, it should be a red flag because this, for me, is not a lifestyle,” says Gans, who calls the eating plan “so confusing”. Groppo also questions how healthy it is to cut whole food groups as required at the beginning of the diet. “You would probably lose weight,” says Groppo. “But is it sustainable? I think not.”
Whether you’d like to achieve a healthier weight or simply eat better, Gans says it’s important to focus on lifestyle changes that are sustainable, while looking at how much sleep you’re sleeping, how often you is physically active, and what are your stress levels. “We are not just going to look at our food intake, but our whole self,” says Gans.
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