Diets aren’t simply about losing weight. While modifying your food is one of the most effective strategies to lose weight, it may also serve as a springboard to bettering your habits, concentrating on your health, and leading a more active lifestyle.
However, the sheer quantity of diet programs available may make it tough to start. Different diets will be more appropriate, sustainable, and prosperous for various people.
Some diets seek to suppress your hunger to minimize your food consumption, while others recommend limiting your calorie, carbohydrate, or fat intake. Some people prefer to focus on certain eating patterns and lifestyle modifications rather than restricting specific foods.
Furthermore, many have health advantages in addition to weight loss.
Here are the top 9 diet plans for improving your overall health.
1. The Mediterranean diet
The Mediterranean diet has been regarded as the gold standard for nutrition, illness prevention, wellbeing, and longevity for many years. This is due to its nutritional advantages and long-term viability.
How it works
The Mediterranean diet is based on foods that have historically been eaten by people in countries such as Italy and Greece. It is abundant in:
- vegetables
- fruits
- whole grains
- fish
- nuts
- lentils
- olive oil
Poultry, eggs, and dairy products should be consumed in moderation, while red meat should be consumed in moderation.
Furthermore, the Mediterranean diet restricts:
- refined grains
- trans fats
- processed meats
- added sugar
- other highly processed foods
Health benefits
This diet’s emphasis on minimally processed foods and plants has been linked to a lower risk of several chronic illnesses and an enhanced life expectancy. According to research, the Mediterranean diet can help avoid some malignancies (1).
Though the diet was created to reduce the risk of heart disease, multiple studies show that its plant-based and high unsaturated fat eating pattern can also help with weight loss (2).
A comprehensive assessment of five distinct trials discovered that the Mediterranean diet resulted in better weight loss after one year compared to a low fat diet. It had comparable weight loss effects to a low carb diet (3).
One 12-month research of over 500 people indicated that better adherence to a Mediterranean diet was related to double the chance of weight reduction maintenance (4).
Furthermore, the Mediterranean diet promotes the consumption of antioxidant-rich foods, which may aid in the fight against inflammation and oxidative stress by neutralizing free radicals (5).
Other benefits
Recent research has also linked the Mediterranean diet to a lower risk of mental diseases such as cognitive decline and depression (6).
Eating less meat is also related to a more environmentally sustainable diet.
Downsides
Because the Mediterranean diet does not place a high value on dairy products, it is critical to ensure that you obtain adequate calcium and vitamin D in your diet.
2. The DASH diet
DASH, or Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, is an eating regimen meant to help treat or prevent high blood pressure, sometimes known clinically as hypertension.
It stresses the need to eat enough fruits and vegetables, nutritious grains, and lean meats. It has little salt, red meat, added sweeteners, or fat.
While the DASH diet is not a weight loss plan, many individuals claim to have lost weight while following it.
How it works
The DASH diet suggests specified portions of specific food categories. Your daily calorie consumption determines the number of servings you should consume.
For example, a typical DASH diet follower would consume approximately:
- five veggie servings
- five fruit servings
- seven servings of whole grains and other healthy carbohydrates
- Two servings of low-fat dairy products
- two servings of lean meats or less
Furthermore, it is advised to ingest nuts and seeds twice to three times weekly (7).
Health benefits
The DASH diet has been demonstrated to lower blood pressure and other risk factors for heart disease. It may also help reduce your chance of developing breast and colorectal cancers (7, 8, 9, 10, 11).
According to research, the DASH diet can also help you lose weight. For example, a study of 13 research showed that persons on the DASH diet lost more weight over 8-24 weeks than those on a control diet (12).
Another 12-week trial in persons with obesity indicated that the DASH diet reduced total body weight, body fat percentage, and absolute fat mass while retaining muscular strength (13).
Other benefits
Aside from weight reduction, the DASH diet may assist with depressive symptoms (14).
Research over eight years discovered that even moderate adherence to the DASH diet was associated with a decreased incidence of depression (15).
Downsides
While the DASH diet may help people lose weight and decrease their blood pressure, there is conflicting research about salt and blood pressure.
A low sodium diet isn’t for everyone, and eating too little salt has been related to increased insulin resistance.
A low sodium diet, such as the DASH diet, is better suited for those with hypertension or other health disorders that benefit from or require salt restriction (16).
More study is needed to understand how a low salt diet affects insulin resistance in those who do not have hypertension.
3. Plant-based and flexitarian diets
The most common plant-based diets are vegetarianism and veganism, which limit animal products for health, ethical, and environmental reasons.
However, more adaptable plant-based diets, such as the flexitarian diet, are available. This is a plant-based diet that permits the occasional consumption of animal items.
How it works
Typical vegetarian diets limit all types of meat but allow dairy items. Vegan diets typically exclude all animal products, including dairy, butter, and occasionally other byproducts such as honey.
Because there are no hard and fast rules or guidelines for calories and macronutrients, the flexitarian eating plan is more of a lifestyle than a diet. Its principles are as follows:
- ingesting plant protein rather than animal protein
- consuming a lot of fruits, veggies, lentils, and entire grains
- eating the least processed and most natural meals
- restricting sugar and sweets
Furthermore, it permits the occasional consumption of meat and animal products.
Health benefits
Numerous studies have indicated that plant-based diets can lower your chance of acquiring chronic illnesses, such as improved metabolic health indicators, lower blood pressure, and a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. They can also assist you in losing weight (17).
Flexitarian diets have also been demonstrated to lower the risk of type 2 diabetes, improve metabolic health and blood pressure, and may have their weight loss advantages. (18).
Other benefits
If you want to live a more sustainable lifestyle, reducing your meat intake can help minimize greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, and soil degradation (19).
Downsides
Plant-based eating habits, such as vegetarianism and veganism, may be tough to maintain and may feel restrictive, especially if you’re transitioning from a meat-based diet.
And while the flexitarian diet’s flexibility makes it simple to follow, being overly flexible with it may negate its benefits.
4. The MIND diet
The Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet combines elements of the Mediterranean and DASH diets to produce a brain-healthy eating pattern.
How it works
The MIND diet, like the flexitarian diet, does not have a rigid meal plan and instead emphasizes eating ten particular foods with brain health advantages.
- MIND incorporates the following foods each week:
- six servings or more of green, leafy veggies
- one non-starchy vegetable serving
- five or more nut servings
Other items recommended many times each week include:
- berries
- beans
- olive oil
- whole grains
- fish
- poultry
Health benefits
According to research, the MIND diet may lessen a person’s chance of acquiring Alzheimer’s disease, and studies demonstrate that it is superior to other plant-rich diets for enhancing cognition (20, 21).
According to research, the MIND diet can also help decrease cognitive decline and enhance resilience in older persons (22).
It may also assist in postponing the beginning of Parkinson’s disease, a movement illness (23).
There has been minimal study into the MIND diet and weight loss. However, combining two weight-loss regimens, the MIND diet may also help you lose weight.
One method it might aid in weight reduction is by encouraging you to reduce your consumption of foods such as:
- butter
- cheese
- red meat
- fried food
- sweets
However, further study on the MIND diet and weight reduction is required.
Other benefits
The MIND diet has a lot to offer by combining the finest of two diets and allows some more flexibility than harsher diets.
While you can consume more than the recommended ten food categories, the closer you keep to the diet, the better your outcomes may be.
5. WW (formerly Weight Watchers)
WW, previously Weight Watchers, is one of the world’s most well-known weight loss programs.
While it does not restrict any food groups, users on the WW diet must eat within their daily point allowance to attain their goal weight (24).
How it works
WW is a point-based system that allocates a monetary value to various meals and beverages based on their calorie, fat, and fiber levels.
It would help if you kept within your daily point allocation while you attempt to achieve your ideal weight.
Health benefits
Many studies have shown that the WW program can assist you in losing weight (25).
An analysis of 45 trials, for example, showed that those who followed a WW diet lost 2.6 percent more weight than those who got regular counseling (26).
Furthermore, persons who adhere to WW programs have been demonstrated to be more effective at maintaining weight reduction over time than those who adhere to alternative diets (27, 28).
Other benefits
WW offers flexibility, making it simple to follow. This allows those with dietary constraints, such as food allergies, to follow the plan.
Downsides
While WW provides flexibility, it might be expensive depending on the subscription plan and the time you intend to use it.
According to research, it may take up to 52 weeks to achieve considerable weight loss and therapeutic advantages (27).
Furthermore, its adaptability might be a disadvantage if dieters pick bad meals.
6. Intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting is a dietary plan that alternates between fasting and eating intervals.
Other methods, like the 16/8 technique, restrict your calorie consumption to 8 hours daily. The 5:2 technique, which limits your daily calorie intake to 500-600 calories twice a week, is another option.
While it is most commonly associated with weight loss, intermittent fasting may have profound advantages for your body and brain.
How it works
Intermittent fasting limits the amount of time you may eat, which is a straightforward strategy to lower your calorie consumption. This can result in weight loss unless you compensate by overeating during permitted meal times.
Health benefits
Intermittent fasting has been related to anti-aging effects, enhanced insulin sensitivity, better brain health, lower inflammation, and a variety of other advantages (29, 30).
Intermittent fasting improves heart health and lengthens longevity in animal and human studies (31, 32, 33).
It can also aid in weight loss.
A review of research found that intermittent fasting caused 0.8-13 percent weight reduction over two weeks to 1 year. This is far higher than many other ways (34).
Other studies have demonstrated that intermittent fasting can enhance metabolism by increasing fat burning while retaining muscular mass (35, 36).
Other benefits
While some diets have many restrictions, need numerous trips to the food store, and are challenging to follow, intermittent fasting is a more simple-to-follow eating plan.
Because of the nature of the diet, there are fewer meals to prepare, cook, and clean up after.
Downsides
Intermittent fasting is generally safe for most healthy persons.
However, those susceptible to blood sugar decreases should consult a health expert before beginning intermittent fasting. People in these groupings include:
- who have diabetes
- who have low weight
- who have an eating disorder
- who are pregnant
- who are breastfeeding or chestfeeding
7. The Volumetrics diet
Barbara Rolls, a nutrition professor at Penn State University, developed the Volumetrics diet, intended to be a long-term lifestyle modification rather than a rigorous diet.
How it works
The eating plan is intended to help you lose weight by filling you up on nutrient-dense meals that are low in calories and rich in water.
Meanwhile, it restricts high-calorie items such as cookies, sweets, nuts, seeds, and oils.
The Volumetrics diet separates food into four groups depending on calorie density, which may be estimated using Rolls’ method. These are the categories:
- Category one: foods with a low calorie density, such as nonstarchy fruits and vegetables, nonfat milk, and broth-based soup
- Category two: low calorie-dense meals such as starchy fruits and vegetables, grains, morning cereal, low fat meat, legumes, and low fat mixed dishes such as chili
- Category three: contains items with a medium calorie density, such as meat, cheese, pizza, bread, and ice cream
- Category four: contains high-calorie items such as crackers, chips, chocolate candies, almonds, butter, and oil
Meals on the Volumetric diet are primarily made up of meals from categories one and two, with only a few items from categories three and four.
On the Volumetrics diet, no foods are off-limits, and exercise for at least 30-60 minutes each day is advised.
Health benefits
The Volumetrics diet promotes healthy meals low in calories but high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals, which may help you consume more essential nutrients and avoid nutritional deficiencies.
According to research, diets with a low calorie density have also been linked to better diet quality (37).
It also reduces your consumption of processed foods, lowering your chance of getting malignancies and heart disease (38, 39).
The Volumetrics diet may also assist you in losing weight.
A meta-analysis of 13 trials involving over 3,000 participants discovered that diets high in low calorie density foods resulted in enhanced weight loss. Similarly, 8-year research of over 50,000 women found that high calorie-dense diets resulted in higher weight gain (40, 41).
Downsides
While the Volumetrics diet may be beneficial for health and weight loss, it necessitates a thorough grasp of Volumetrics, which entails knowing about the calorie amounts of meals, portion sizes, and nutritional levels.
This may be simpler for some than others.
8. The Mayo Clinic Diet
The reputed medical group of the same name developed the Mayo Clinic Diet.
How it works
The Mayo Clinic Diet, intended to be a lifestyle change rather than a fast fix, focuses on substituting less healthy behaviors with ones more likely to support lifespan and weight loss.
Rather than excluding particular meals, the Mayo Clinic Diet employs a pyramid to encourage activity and demonstrate the number of foods that should be consumed.
Fruits, vegetables, and physical exercise form the pyramid’s foundation, followed by carbohydrates, protein and dairy, fats, and ultimately, sweets.
The diet is divided into two periods. An initial two-week phase aimed to jumpstart your weight loss by teaching five healthier behaviors and encouraging you to break five typical unhealthy behaviors.
The second phase is more of a long-term lifestyle adjustment, emphasizing knowledge of nutritious food choices, portion sizes, and physical activity.
Health benefits
There has been little study into the health advantages of the Mayo Clinic Diet.
However, the Mayo Clinic advises users to anticipate losing roughly 10 pounds in the first two weeks and up to 2 pounds in the second phase.
Because diets high in fiber can promote satiety by making you feel fuller, the Mayo Clinic Diet may help you lose weight. It may reduce your chances of getting type 2 diabetes (42).
Furthermore, research suggests that exercising while on a low-calorie diet is more beneficial than dieting alone in weight loss (43).
More study, however, is required to evaluate the effectiveness of the Mayo Clinic Diet for weight loss.
Downsides
While the digital version of the program includes meal plans, recipes, a food tracker, virtual group sessions, at-home workouts, and more, you must pay a monthly fee to join.
9. Low carb diets
Low carb diets are among the most popular weight loss regimens. The Atkins diet, ketogenic (keto) diet and low carb, high fat (LCHF) diet are a few examples.
Some kinds have a more significant reduction in carbohydrates than others. For example, ultra low carb diets, such as the keto diet, limit this macronutrient to less than 10% of total calories, compared to 30% or less for other kinds (44).
How it works
Low carb diets limit carbohydrate intake in favor of protein and fat.
They are often richer in protein than low fat diets, which is significant since protein may help control your hunger, increase your metabolism, and help you retain muscle mass (45).
In very low carb diets, such as keto, your body begins to use fatty acids for energy rather than carbohydrates by turning them into ketones. This is known as ketosis (46).
Health benefits
According to research, low carb diets may lower risk factors for heart disease, such as high cholesterol and blood pressure levels. They may also help persons with type 2 diabetes improve their blood sugar and insulin levels (47, 48).
Many studies show that low carb diets can help you lose weight and may be more successful than traditional low fat diets (49, 50, 51).
An analysis of 53 research, including 68,128 people, for example, discovered that low carb diets resulted in much more weight loss than low fat diets (52).
Furthermore, low carb diets are highly successful at reducing dangerous belly fat (53, 54, 55).
Downsides
A low carb diet may boost LDL (bad) cholesterol levels in certain people. Extremely low carb diets can also be challenging to stick to and cause digestive problems in some people (56).
Following an extremely low carb diet may, in rare cases, result in ketoacidosis, a severe metabolic disorder that can be deadly if left untreated (57, 58).
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE KETO DIET PROGRAM
The bottom line
Many diets can help you lose weight while also providing specific health benefits.
The Mediterranean diet, WW (Weight Watchers), the MIND diet, the DASH diet, intermittent fasting, plant-based diets, low carb diets, the Mayo Clinic Diet, and the Volumetrics diet are among the most popular eating programs.
While all the diets listed above have been demonstrated to be helpful for weight reduction, the one you pick should be based on your lifestyle and dietary choices. This increases your chances of sticking to it in the long run.
And, before embarking on any new diet, it’s always a good idea to discuss your personal health history with your doctor. They can assist you in determining which plan is ideal for you.
Furthermore, after you’ve decided to begin a new diet, a licensed dietitian may assist you in navigating the new regulations and planning the meals you want to eat.
0 Comments