Best Diets for Healthy Eating
The last thing you want from a diet is a risk to your health. Any diet should provide sufficient calories and not fall seriously short on important nutrients or entire food groups. The Best Diets for Healthy Eating rankings weigh nutritional completeness and safety, with particular emphasis on safety, based on ratings in those categories of 5 (best) to 1 (worst) by a panel of experts. (See how we did it.) Of the 25 popular diet programs ranked by U.S. News, the government-endorsed Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) plan stood at the top of the Healthy Eating list.
DASH Diet
The panelists applauded the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) plan for its nutritional soundness and safety—it racked up near-perfect scores in both categories. Endorsed by the federal government’s Department of Health and Human Services, the diet is packed with produce and light on saturated fat and salt.
TLC Diet
Developed by the National Institutes of Health, the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) diet is a healthy choice, panelists agreed. Doling out all 5s and 4s, experts approved of the fiber and calcium it generously provides as well as the saturated fat it doesn’t.
Mediterranean Diet
A Mediterranean diet-style buffet will showcase healthy foods like whole-grain pita and hummus, salads, fresh fruits and veggies, salmon, and beneficial fats like olive oil. The panelists concluded that diet meets the government’s nutrition recommendations and does not compromise compromising safety. True to its Mediterranean roots, a daily glass or two of red wine is encouraged. À votre santé!
Mayo Clinic Diet
You’re in good hands with this diet, developed by one of the country’s highest-profile medical centers. The experts liked the plan’s unique eating pyramid, which promotes foods with low energy density (you can eat more but take in fewer calories) like fruits and veggies. It took home all 4s and 5s save for one 3 in both safety and nutrition.
Volumetrics Diet
Another diet based on low-energy-density foods, Volumetrics menu items are large in volume but low in calories. That’s thanks to a whole lot of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nonfat dairy, and lean meat. Volumetrics fully or almost meets recommendations for the majority of necessary nutrients, making it a safe and healthy way of eating.
Weight Watchers Diet
All-you-can-eat fresh fruits and veggies? It’s got to be healthy. Dieters are allotted daily points that quickly run out if expended on fatty foods like sweets. Weight Watchers promotes a healthy, balanced approach to eating, concluded the experts, who largely felt that dieters would get adequate nutrients and would not lose weight too quickly, which could be unsafe.
Jenny Craig Diet
Dieters on this plan get appropriate amounts of fat, protein, and carbs, with lots of fiber and calcium. The program is “scientifically sound and safe,” said one of the experts. It garnered 3s, 4s, and 5s for both nutrition and safety.
Ornish Diet
Provided that you obey the limitations on what Dr. Dean Ornish calls “group 5” foods heavy on saturated fat and instead stick with groups 1 through 3 at the other end of his spectrum—fish, plants, whole grains—your menu will stay in line with the government’s recommendations and you won’t risk your health.
Biggest Loser Diet
The Biggest Loser diet’s solid nutrition and safety garnered plenty of ratings of 4 and 5. Although some experts were concerned that the diet is too salty and falls short on potassium and vitamin D, they still concluded that it’s a healthy diet.
Vegetarian Diet
A vegetarian menu isn’t automatically healthy or safe. But when the U.S. News experts analyzed a vegetarian menu adapted from U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines, with meals like buckwheat pancakes, vegetable soup, and tofu stir fry, they found the approach nutritious and gave it ratings of “very” and “extremely” safe.
Best Diets Overall
Best Weight-Loss Diets
Best Diabetes Diets
Best Heart-Healthy Diets
Easiest Diets to Follow
Best Commercial Diet Plans
