U.S. News & World Report, the global authority in rankings and consumer advice, released its annual assessment of the year’s Best Diets.
In addition to rankings, the online portal offers a collection of critical data and information about diet plans to help the estimated 45 million Americans who diet each year – and millions more globally – achieve healthier lifestyles.
To calculate the rankings, U.S. News convened an expert panel of the country’s top nutritionists, dietary consultants and physicians specializing in diabetes, heart health and weight loss.
Through an in-depth survey, each panelist considered the 38 diets across several dimensions, including ease of compliance, likelihood of losing significant weight in the short and long term, and effectiveness against cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
“There is a clearly established theme of healthful eating, relevant across generations, geography, and health concerns that could add years to lives, and life to years,” said expert panelist David Katz, MD, Director, Yale University Prevention Research Center. “By profiling diverse diets, this important, annual report can help reaffirm the fundamentals of better eating for all, while empowering people to make well-informed, personalized choices. The ‘best’ diet, like the best exercise, is the one you actually manage to practice and maintain.”
The ranking drew on the expertise of a panel of dietitians and nutritionists, but didn’t account for any costs associated with the diet plans, or how exercise fit into the programs.
But first, the worst-performing diets.
Of the 38 plans US News & World Report looked at, a few numbers weren’t up to snuff. The Whole30 diet, in particular, was the lowest ranked diet overall for the second year in a row. The Dukan and Paleo diets were also toward the bottom of the list, which US News attributed to the diets being too restrictive. The diets didn’t have the same staying power long-term as others that ranked higher.
No. 10 (TIE) Vegetarian diet
Vegetarian diets cleared the top 10 in the 2017 ranking, up from #13 in 2016. The diet is simple: no meat allowed. Ideally, the meat will be replaced with more vegetables which could help you feel more full.
No. 9 (TIE) Ornish diet
Developed by Dr. Dean Ornish, this diet looks at food on a “spectrum,” with some things being more healthy than others (essentially the less processed the better). The diet emphasizes whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and some fat if it contains omega 3 fatty acids. The diet was also ranked one of the highest for heart disease.
No. 8 (TIE) Jenny Craig diet
Known for its celebrity spokespeople including Kirstie Alley and Mariah Carey, Jenny Craig uses weight-control counseling and prepared meals that can either be delivered or picked up at a Jenny Craig location.
No. 7 (TIE) Volumetrics diet
Volumetrics is a diet developed by Penn State University nutrition professor Barbara Rolls. It categorizes foods based on density, with less dense foods (vegetables high in water, soups) being preferred over pizza, cookies, and butter.
No. 6 (TIE) Fertility diet
The aim of the fertility diet is to help women who are having problems getting pregnant. Developed by Drs. Jorge Chavarro and Walter Willett of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the fertility diet includes 10 science-backed steps to help boost fertility in women. The steps emphasize vegetable proteins and oils, and drinking a glass of whole milk. The plan also suggests taking a multivitamin that contains folic acid. The diet was also named the easiest diet to follow.
No. 5 (TIE) Weight Watchers diet
Weight Watchers rose through the US News & World Report’s rankings in 2017 because of the company’s switch to its “Beyond the Scale” program. “The way we think about it is that we used to have a very narrow focus on weight, and now weight is one of things we focus on but it’s not the only thing,” Weight Watchers chief scientific officer Gary Foster explained to Time magazine in late 2015. “The consumer sentiment is, ‘I still want to lose weight but I’m thinking about in a more holistic way.” Weight Watchers still uses its signature points system. The Weight Watchers diet also ranked as the best weight lost diet.
No. 4 (TIE) TLC diet
The Flexitarian diet, developed by registered dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner, is geared toward those interested in going vegetarian that don’t want to give up meat entirely. It asks dieters to add “new meat” to their diets, which includes protein-packed tofu, beans, lentils, nuts, and eggs. But if you’re craving meat once in a while, that’s not a big deal either.
No. 3 MIND diet
The MIND diet, which claimed the #2 spot last year, focuses on foods meant to help your brain, specifically preventing neurological diseases including Alzheimer’s. It’s a hybrid version of the Mediterranean and DASH diets, focusing on the aspects of those diets that have to do with the brain.
Berries, olive oil, nuts, and dark leafy greens are staples of the diet picked based on large-scale studies of cognitive decline.
No. 2 Mediterranean diet
The Mediterranean diet is modeled off of foods commonly eaten in countries on the Mediterranean Sea. It’s typically high in fruits and vegetables, fish, and whole grains like whole wheat and brown rice.
US News & World Report also named the diet the best plant-based diet of the 38 considered, and it was among the easiest to follow.
No. 1 DASH diet
For the seventh year in a row, the DASH diet was named the best. DASH stands for “Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.” Hypertension, otherwise known as abnormally high blood pressure, is an incredibly common condition in the US. It relies on lowering your sodium intake to no more than 2,300 milligrams a day, along with eating a diet filled with vegetables, fruits, and whole grains (For reference, a single slice of pizza contains about 640 milligrams of sodium, roughly a quarter of that sodium limit).
“The DASH diet is really a safe plan for everyone,” Angela Haupt, assistant managing editor of Health at US News & World Report, told Business Insider in 2016. “There’s nothing exciting about it and that’s what makes it a good plan. It’s not some fad diet making outlandish claims that you can’t rely on.”
In addition to being crowned overall best diet, the DASH diet was also deemed the best diet for healthy eating, the best diet for diabetes, and the best diet for heart disease.
