The new annual best diets list from “U.S. News & World Report” was released Tuesday. Ranked by a panel of experts in diet, nutrition, diabetes, weight loss, and heart health DASH diet won the “best overall” category over 31 other diet plans. Why? Because of its “overall nutrition, safety, and ability to control or prevent diabetes and help heart health.”
DASH stands for “Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension” and started out as a cure to prevent high blood pressure developed by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
WebMD recommends following these steps to incorporate the DASH diet into your lifestyle:
- Eating more fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy foods
- Cutting back on foods that are high in saturated fat, cholesterol, and trans fats
- Eating more whole grain products, fish, poultry, and nuts
- Eating less red meat (especially processed meats) and sweets
- Eating foods that are rich in magnesium, potassium, and calcium
“The DASH diet is an excellent diet because it focuses on eating a wide variety of foods that provide the proper balance of nutrients,” says Tanya Zuckerbrot, a registered dietitian and the creator of the F-Factor diet. “The DASH diet works well because in addition to promoting healthy eating habits it helps users find healthy alternatives to processed foods.”
If weight loss is your main goal, it’s Weight Watchers you should go for, according to the list.
In general the “greener” diets won over the protein approaches and together with other meaty diets, the caveman-style Paleo was ranked last because it – surprise! – is unfeasible for modern times, according to experts.
The diets were evaluated in 8 categories:
- Best overall
- Best weight loss
- Best diabetes
- Best heart-healthy
- Best for healthy eating
- Best commercial
- Best plant-based
- Easiest to follow
See all of the “best diet” rankingshere.
