CNN
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The gold medals are piling up. For the sixth year in a row, the Mediterranean style of eating won the title of best overall diet, according to the 2023 ratings announced Tuesday by US News & World Report. Meals from the Sunny Mediterranean also ranked first in the Best Diet for Healthy Eating and Best Plant-Based Diet categories, according to the report.
In two new categories added for 2023, Mediterranean tied for lower cholesterol TLC (Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes) and flexitarian diets as the best family diet, and with DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension).) for better bone and joint health nutrition.
We are always looking for more health issues than we can handle. But often there isn’t enough science looking at Diet X and Condition X,” said Gretel Schueller, senior health editor for US News & World Report, who oversees the annual food ranking.
“However, bone and joint health is an area where there is a fair amount of scientific literature,” Schueller said. “We also recognize that our population is aging, so focusing on diets that can improve quality of life for older adults is an important part.”
Another novelty this year: the examiners only ranked 24 diets instead of the approximately 40 diets analyzed in previous years. Five diets from the original list – vegetarian, vegan, Nordic, traditional Asian and glycemic index – were included by the judges in the Mediterranean and other diets because of their underlying plant-based principles.
“The take-home message here is the recognition that the Mediterranean diet is not just about foods around the Mediterranean,” Schueller said. “You can take the lessons and the approach of the Mediterranean food model and apply it to any cuisine in any country.”
This approach is reflected in two new schemes – The key to and Pritikine — which have been added to the review for 2023, Schueller said. (Yes. it’s Keyto with a Y.)
“We recognize that more and more people are eating some sort of plant-based or plant-based diet or at least trying to,” she said. “Keto with Diet Y is meant to be a flexible, low-carb Mediterranean plan.
“The Pritikin diet focuses on eating low-fat, high-fiber whole foods, and is quite flexible,” she added. “We’re seeing a push towards eating more whole, unprocessed foods, which I think is a good thing.”
Numerous studies have shown that the Mediterranean diet can reduce the risk of Diabetes, high cholesterol, dementia, memory loss, depression and breast cancer. The diet, which is more of an eating style than a restricted diet, has also been linked to stronger bonesa healthiest heart and Long life.
The diet includes simple, plant-based cuisine, with the majority of each meal focusing on fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans and seeds, with some nuts and a heavy emphasis on extra olive oil. virgin. Fats other than olive oil, such as butter, are eaten rarely, if at all, and sugar and refined foods are reserved for special occasions.
Red meat is used sparingly, usually only to flavor a dish. Consumption of healthy, fatty fish, rich in omega-3 fatty acids, is encouraged, while eggs, dairy products and poultry are eaten in much smaller portions than in the traditional Western diet.
Social interactions during meals and exercise are cornerstones of the Mediterranean style of eating. Lifestyle changes that are part of the diet include eating with friends and family, socializing around meals, mindful eating of favorite foods, and mindful movement and exercise.
Just as they did in 2022, the DASH and the flexitarian diet tied for second place for best overall diet. Similar to the Mediterranean eating style, these diets reduce or eliminate processed foods and stress packing your plate with fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils, whole grains, nuts and seeds.
The DASH diet emphasizes limiting salt intake as the goal of lowering blood pressure, while the flexitarian diettrue to its name, allows you to occasionally feast on meat or poultry.
A panel of 33 experts examined the best diets and classified them into several categories: did the diet include all food groups; was it evidence-based; are the necessary foods available in any supermarket; How easy is the diet to prepare and did it use any additional vitamins or supplements?
“We focused on quality over quantity,” Schueller said. “Our reviewers felt that there are diets so wacky they’re not worth spending time on, such as the Dukan Diet, which we no longer rate.”
The Worst Diet Award went to raw food this year, at least in part due to the lack of nutritional completeness, which raised safety concerns among reviewers. Because followers can only eat unprocessed foods that have not been cooked, microwaved, irradiated, genetically modified, or exposed to pesticides or herbicides, critics consider the diet nearly impossible to follow. .
The popular keto dietwith the modified keto diet, was ranked 20th out of 24 diets followed by Atkins, SlimFast and optavie. These diets emphasize eating high-protein or high-fat foods with minimal carbohydrates and receive low rankings because they are extremely restrictive, difficult to follow, and eliminate entire food groups.
Despite keto’s low overall rating, reviewers gave the keto diet the top spot for best short-term weight loss diet, Schueller said, quickly adding that such diets aren’t considered a healthy lifestyle.
“These are the diets for someone who has a wedding or an event they want to go to in the next few months,” she said. Will you lose weight in the short term? Absolutely. Are you going to keep it for the next two years? Probably not.”
In the category of best weight loss diets (long term), WW (formerly Weight Watchers) came in first, with DASH and TLC tied for second place. WW also took top honors in Best Diet Program (Commercial), followed by NOPE and Jenny Craig.
Flexitarian and TLC shared gold in the easiest diets to follow category, while the Mediterranean and DASH diets tied for third.
The DASH diet took top honors as the best diet for heart health and for people with diabetes, followed by the Mediterranean, Flexitarian and Ornish diets. the Ornish diet was established in 1977 by Dr. Dean Ornish, founder of the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute in California.
The Ornish diet is combined with stress management techniques, exercise, social support and smoking cessation, and according to Ornish is the only Program scientifically proven to reverse heart disease without drugs or surgery
Do you want to make the Mediterranean diet one of your goals this year? Subscribe to CNN Eat, but better: Mediterranean-style newsletteran eight-part series that guides you through a delicious food lifestyle supported by experts and good for your health.
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