Diets aren’t only about losing weight. While altering your food can be one of the most effective ways to lose weight, it can also serve as a springboard for bettering your routines, paying more attention to your health, and living an active lifestyle.
But it could be challenging to begin given the overwhelming quantity of available diet programs. For certain people, various diets will be more effective, lasting, and suitable.
While some diets recommend limiting your consumption of calories and either fat or carbohydrates, others focus on reducing hunger. Some people prioritize changing their eating habits and lifestyles above restricting particular items.
Additionally, several have health advantages beyond weight loss.
Here are the top 9 diets to help you get healthier overall.
- the Mediterranean diet.
The Mediterranean diet has long been regarded as ideal in terms of health, longevity, disease prevention, and nutrition. Based on its sustainable nature and benefits to food, this.
What it does
The Mediterranean diet is based on foods that have historically been consumed in places like Italy and Greece. It is abundant in
- veggies
- fruits
- whole grains
- fish
- nuts
- lentils
- olive juice
Red meat consumption should be restricted, while foods like chicken, eggs, and dairy products should be consumed in moderation.
- The DASH diet
DASH, or dietary approaches to stop hypertension, is an eating strategy created to assist in the treatment or prevention of high blood pressure, also referred to as hypertension.
It urges us to eat plenty of fruits, veggies, nutritious grains, and lean meats. Red meat, salt, added sugars, and fat are all in moderation.
Despite not being a weight loss diet, many people who follow the DASH diet claim to have lost weight.
What it does
The DASH diet suggests particular portions of various food groups. Your daily calorie intake determines how many pieces you should consume.
For illustration, a typical DASH dieter would consume roughly:
- Five veggie servings
- five fruit servings
- Seven servings of whole grains and other nutritious carbohydrates
- two servings of dairy products with minimal fat
- two servings of lean meats or less
Eating nuts and seeds two to three times a week is also advised.
- Flexitarian and plant-based diets
The most well-known plant-based diets, which forgo animal products for ethical, environmental, and health grounds, are vegetarianism and veganism.
However, there are also more adaptable plant-based diets, including the flexitarian diet. It is a plant-based diet that permits the occasional use of animal products.
What it does
Typical vegetarian diets forbid all forms of meat but permit dairy items. Vegan diets forbid consuming animal products, including dairy, butter, and occasionally other byproducts like honey.
The flexitarian eating plan is more of a lifestyle than a diet because it lacks precise guidelines or recommendations regarding calories and macronutrients. Its tenets consist of:
- Using plant-based protein in place of animal protein
- consuming primarily whole grains, legumes, fruits, and veggies
- Consuming meals that are unprocessed and natural
- cutting back on sugar and sweets
It also gives one the freedom to eat meat and other animal products occasionally.
- MIND eating plan
To establish an eating pattern that focuses on brain health, the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet combines elements of the DASH and Mediterranean diets.
What it does
The MIND diet, like the flexitarian diet, does not include a rigid meal plan but instead promotes eating ten certain foods that are good for the brain.
- MIND includes eating every week.
- six or more portions of leafy green vegetables daily
- One serving of vegetables that aren’t starchy
- five servings or more of nuts
- WW (formerly Weight Watchers)
One of the world’s most well-known weight loss programs is WW, known as Weight Watchers.
While there are no food restrictions on the WW plan, participants must stick to their daily point budget to reach their goal weight.
What it does
Using a points-based system called WW, various foods and drinks are given values based on their calorie, fat, and fiber levels.
- Alternate-day fasting
An eating plan is known as intermittent fasting alternates between periods of fasting and eating.
There are many types, such as the 16/8 technique, which calls for consuming no more than 800 calories in any given eight-hour period. The 5:2 approach limits your daily calorie intake to 500–600 calories twice a week.
Intermittent fasting, though generally associated with weight loss, may offer significant advantages for your body and brain.
What it does
Your window for eating is constrained by intermittent fasting, which is a straightforward approach to cutting calories. If you don’t compensate by overeating during permitted eating times, this may result in weight reduction.
- The Volumetrics eating plan
Professor of nutrition at Penn State University Barbara Rolls developed the Volumetrics diet, intended to be a long-term lifestyle change rather than a severe eating regimen.
What it does
The eating plan encourages you to load up on nutrient-dense foods that are low in calories and high in water to promote weight loss.
It also restricts items high in calories, such as cookies, candies, nuts, seeds, and oils.
Using a system developed by Rolls, the Volumetrics diet classifies food into four groups depending on its calorie density. These groups include:
- Foods with a very low-calorie density fall under category one, such as non-starchy fruits and vegetables, nonfat milk, and broth-based soups.
- Foods in category two are low in calories and high in fiber, such as starchy fruits and vegetables, grains, cereal, low-fat meat, beans, and low-fat mixed dishes like chili.
- Food in category three is moderately calorically dense and includes things like meat, cheese, pizza, bread, and ice cream.
- High-calorie foods in category four include crackers, chips, chocolate sweets, almonds, butter, and oil.
On the volumetric diet, foods from categories one and two make up the majority of the meals, with small amounts of items from categories three and four.
The Volumetrics diet does not entirely forbid any meals, and daily activity of at least 30 to 60 minutes is recommended.
- The Mayo Clinic Diet
The reputable healthcare institution of the same name, the Mayo Clinic, developed the Mayo Clinic Diet.
What it does
The Mayo Clinic Diet focuses on replacing less healthful behaviors with ones more likely to enhance longevity and weight loss. It is intended to be a lifestyle adjustment rather than a quick fix.
The Mayo Clinic Diet uses a pyramid to promote activity and show the recommended dietary portions instead of forbidding particular foods.
The pyramid’s foundation comprises fruits, vegetables, and physical exercise. The following layer is formed of carbohydrates, then comes protein, dairy, fats, and eventually sweets.
There are two phases to the diet. A first, two-week phase aims to jump-start your weight loss by introducing five healthier behaviors and enticing you to give up five typical unhealthy ones.
The second stage focuses more on adopting a long-term lifestyle change and encourages knowledge of nourishing food selections, portion control, and physical activity.
- Diets low in carbs
One of the most well-liked diets for weight loss is the low-carb approach. The Atkins diet, the ketogenic (keto) diet, and the low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) diet are a few examples.
More dramatically than others, some kinds cut carbohydrates. For instance, ultra-low carbohydrate diets like the keto diet cap this macronutrient at less than 10% of total calories vs. 30% or less for other types.
What it does
Diets low in carbohydrates encourage you to eat more protein and fat.
They often contain more protein than low-fat diets, which is crucial since protein can help you lose weight by preserving muscle mass, reducing appetite, and increasing metabolism.
Your body turns fatty acids into ketones, which it uses as fuel when you follow very low-carb diets like the ketogenic diet. We refer to this process as ketosis.