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SALT LAKE CITY — U.S. News & World Report has taken the yo-yo out of dieting, vetting popular diets from Atkins to the Zone diet and naming the best.
Depending on the motive — overall health, weight loss, heart health, diabetes prevention and ease of following — each of the 20 diets analyzed by a panel of 22 nationally recognized health experts has its own benefits and limitations, and each are listed in Wednesday's report.
The goal of the Best Diets rankings is to help consumers find authoritative guidance on healthful diets that will work for them over the long haul.
–Lindsay Lyon, U.S. News health editor
#lyon_q
Local registered dietician Dr. Katherine Beals said any healthy eating plan will work, participants just have to manifest a long-term commitment.
"Anybody looking to lose weight knows what they should be doing," she said. "They know they should eat more fruits and vegetables, more whole grains, low-fat dairy and limit high-calorie, high-energy foods. They know this."
Beals, a professor of nutrition at the University of Utah and participating expert in the U.S. News' six-month study, said being successful at dieting is more about finding motivation and overcoming obstacles than anything else.
"With any diet out there, the underlying basis is that you limit the calories you consume," she said, adding that the basics of healthy eating "are not exciting, not sexy, not complicated and don't require fancy technology to make it happen."
According to the magazine, the diets were ranked based on how easy they were to follow, the nutrition they provide and their effectiveness for weight loss and against diabetes and heart disease. Some are fad diets, others more tried and true, but overall, the diets that came out on top exhibited basic healthy eating habits, Beals said.
The top overall diet, according to U.S. News, is one developed by researchers at the government's National Institutes of Health and is geared primarily to battle high blood pressure. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet, or DASH, as it is called, is not too well-known but is as wholesome as they come, according to the panel of experts.
The fresh food-laden Mediterranean diet was ranked No. 2 overall, followed by another government design, Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC), and the "smart" Weight Watchers diet plan, according to U.S. News. The Mayo Clinic's take on health, which incorporates good habits, came in at No. 5. The magazine ruled the all-natural Raw Food, low-carb Atkins and caveman-inspired Paleo diets as the worst available eating plans — providing quick results, but are either difficult to maintain or proven to be unhealthy in the long run.
"You need to go on a diet that you can be on for a long time, to change your life," Cindi Wagner, of South Jordan, said Wednesday. "The crazy, crash diets, they're not going to work. I know, because I've done them."
There is no quick fix when it comes to weight loss. You need to eat right and be active, it is as simple as that.
–Dr. Katherine Beals, registered dietician
#beals_q
Wagner said she tries to eat healthy and go on daily walks. It's what works for her, but she acknowledged dieting is different for everyone.
Two-thirds of adults in the U.S. are overweight or obese and one in 12 Americans has diabetes, which is linked to excess weight and contributes to heart disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Given how hard it is for many Americans to maintain a healthy weight, U.S. News took on its latest study to go beyond the too-common focus that is often put on short-term weight loss and appearance.
"The goal of the Best Diets rankings is to help consumers find authoritative guidance on healthful diets that will work for them over the long haul," U.S. News' health editor Lindsay Lyon said.
As far as weight loss diets go, U.S. News gives highest marks to Weight Watchers, which gives members choices on what they eat, but assigns point values to each food. Jenny Craig, which markets its own meals, and the uncooked food craze that makes up the Raw Food Diet, tied for second-place in the rankings.
The Ornish Diet, a one-day-at-a-time, low-fat approach, was ranked No. 1 for heart health, while the TLC diet came in at No. 2 in the same category. The DASH diet rounded out the top three, proving again that it contains a viable approach to being healthy. The DASH diet was also given top marks for being a diet that helps to prevent or manage diabetes. Close behind it, in a three-way tie for second-place, were the Mayo Clinic, Ornish and the Vegan diets.
Some dieters seek the structure and social support provided by many brand-name programs, so the magazine's team also examined how eight commercially prominent diets stacked up. Weight Watchers came out on top, followed by Jenny Craig and Slim-Fast. Others in the commercial category included Nutrisystem, which experts neither favored nor faulted, as well as South Beach, Zone, Medifast and Atkins diets, all of which, the panel agreed, left a lot to be desired.
Regardless of what the U.S. News purports, Beals said eating healthy requires lifestyle changes and consistency. Her favorites included the DASH, Weight Watchers and Volumetrics diets, which encourage large portions of fruits and vegetables (similar to the new federal nutrition guidelines, outlined as MyPlate).
"There is no quick fix when it comes to weight loss," Beals said. "You need to eat right and be active, it is as simple as that."
A complete list of what each diet entails and how they stack up among the U.S. News panel of experts, can be found online at health.usnews.com/best-diet.
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Written byWendy Leonard with contributions from Nkoyo Iyamba.
