Every week there is a new fad or trend, invariably being plugged by a celebrity and yet rarely backed up by any credible scientific evidence of effectiveness.
There is no diet that can be a “one size fits all” so how can you figure out what might suit you?
Nutritionists and diet experts from around the world have recently collaborated, giving their verdict on the diets that can help you lose weight.
Their conclusion was published in the US News and World Report’s 2020 ranking of the best diets. These experts (nutritionists, cardiac, weight management and diabetic specialists) compared a list of 35 popular diet plans, also including some of the trendy fad diets which have featured on the internet and social media.
The diets were marked on seven categories on a scale of 1-5 by the panel:
The top diet, for the third year running, was the Mediterranean diet – it was best overall for weight management, easiest to follow, best at preventing diabetes and the best plant-based diet.
This diet emphasises less red meat, sugar and saturated fats. It encourages healthy fats, unrefined carbohydrates (nuts and whole grains), fruit and vegetables.
The flexitarian diet came in second because it promoted good weight loss and was found to have heart benefits and reduce diabetes. This diet is more flexible than vegetarian or vegan diets in that it allows some meats, but the diet is predominantly plant based.
The DASH diet was acknowledged as being a contender – it includes low fat dairy, fish, poultry and meats recommends limiting red meats, sweets and sugary drinks. It has been shown to help reduce high blood pressure by reducing saturated fat and sodium in the diet – hence the origin of the name Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension.
The other noteworthy diet MIND (Mediterranean-Dash Intervention Neurodegenerative Delay) is a combination of the Mediterranean and DASH diets. It aims to prevent cognitive decline by boosting the intake of brain health food (green leafy vegetables, nuts, olive oil, fatty fish and wholegrains)
At the other end of the ranking scale, there was some surprise for the Keto fans – this diet was ranked as the worst diet plan – mainly because of its restrictive nature. It was shown to be difficult to sustain in the long term - effective for a quick fix perhaps but difficult to stick to eating less than 30g carbohydrates per day. Other diets that were not rated highly were the raw food diet and the whole 30 diet – mainly because they were not easy to follow, somewhat antisocial and also excluded many healthy food groups.
The Temple Vie Maintenance Stage is based upon the Mediterranean diet and also advocates incorporating this into a healthy active lifestyle for the best and most enduring results.
Find out more about our weight loss programme and how it can help you.
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