It’s the new year, and for many of us, that means diets. But which diet to choose? What to eat? What works for our unique systems? US News And World Report has jumped into the breach with its annual diet rankings, and there are some surprising winners, at least in the details.
First off, sorry, but if you were hoping to avoid your veggies — that’s not happening. The top two diets were the veggie-forward Mediterranean Diet and DASH Diet. The latter is a diet designed by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute while the former is nominally based on the diet followed by the Mediterranean peoples (though it fudges with regard to how much lamb the Greeks eat and home much cheese the Italians take in). Both diets prioritize veggies, whole cereals, moderate amounts of dairy and fish, and generally encourage you to avoid refined sugar, red meat and added fats. They both topped the list because they’re less strict regimens and more “eating patterns.” Instead of having to eat specific recipes or avoid a huge list of foods, you’re simply asked to eat more of some foods than others. Calories and the like, the nitty-gritty, are left up to you and your doctor.
Conversely, US News found diets like Keto and Whole30 to be overly restrictive, hard to follow, and basically, they didn’t work for most of us. Keep in mind, the ketogenic diet has its roots in an old fad diet that turns out to be helpful in treating specific medical conditions. It’s really for those circumstances more than a day-to-day eating plan, so unless a doctor puts you on it, it’s probably not worth it. For the rest of us, time to learn to enjoy roasted vegetables and a nice tuna steak. Which legit sounds delicious, so we should all be fine.
(via US News And World Report)
