The best diets for life
U.S. News evaluated and ranked 24 diets with input from a panel of health experts. To be top-rated, a diet had to be safe, relatively easy to follow, nutritious and effective for weight loss. It also had to be stellar at reducing diabetes and heart disease risk.
Healthy, well-ranked diets all have some basic elements in common: They’re flexible, they’re not overly restrictive and they support or help you learn healthy eating habits and smart food prep, so you can follow them long term. It’s worth remembering that a diet or eating plan isn’t a short-term fad. It’s an approach of eating healthy foods and drinks — with the occasional treat, of course — that you can follow for life.
No matter how good a diet looks — or how good it might make you look — if you can’t stick with it in the long run, you’ll probably be right back where you started after a few months. So pick a diet you can stick with for the long haul, like one of the top-ranked diets from this list. Here’s the ranking list in descending order.
No. 24 Raw food diet
The experts give the raw food diet solid marks for weight loss. But it’s considered all but impossible to follow. In addition, its nutritional completeness and safety leave something to be desired among experts who raise concerns about the potential for food poisoning from contaminated ingredients that are raw or undercooked.
“There’s very little to recommend about this diet,” one expert says. “It’s unpractical, unsafe and expensive to boot.”
No. 21 (tie) Atkins diet
Many of our experts find the popular low-carb Atkins diet leaves much to be desired, at least as an all-purpose diet. Although our expert panel concluded that it could outperform most of its competitors in short-term weight loss, unfavorable marks in other measures, including nutritional completeness, drops Atkins in the standings.
No. 21 (tie) SlimFast diet
SlimFast is a reasonable approach to dieting, experts conclude. It outscores a number of competitors on weight loss. For being highly structured, it’s fairly easy to follow, experts note. But it scores lower than many other diets on heart health.
No. 21 (tie) OPTAVIA
OPTAVIA, a brand based on the original Medifast plan, tied for second with Nutrisystem, SlimFast and Atkins in the rapid weight loss category. But it was dragged down by lower marks in most other categories, including healthy eating and easiness to follow.
No. 20 Keto diet
The aim of the keto diet is to help a person lose weight and burn fat by entering into a state of ketosis, in which the body breaks down dietary and stored fat into substances that are called ketones. But the strictly carb-limited, high-fat diet leave some experts concerned about nutritional imbalances. Two experts say medical supervision would be necessary. Others raise concerns that the diet is extreme or rigid and would be difficult to sustain.
No. 19 Paleo diet
Experts take issue with the paleo diet on every measure. Regardless of the goal — weight loss, heart health or finding a diet that’s easy to follow — most experts concluded that it would be better for dieters to look elsewhere.
No. 18 Keyto diet
New to the Best Diets rankings for 2023, the Keyto diet didn’t place in the top 10 of any of the diet categories. Developed in 2018, it’s a low-carb approach to the Mediterranean diet. It includes a personalized program that’s delivered through an app.
No. 15 (tie) Nutrisystem diet
Nutrisystem sits near the middle of the standings and tied with the South Beach and Jenny Craig diets. It’s safe, easier to follow than many other diets and has few nutritional deficiencies, according to experts. However, it misses the mark for effectiveness in preventing cardiovascular disease.
No. 15 (tie) South Beach diet
Although the South Beach diet rated above average for being able to produce rapid weight loss, its restrictions can make it difficult for dieters to keep the pounds off, experts say. Most are skeptical about its ability to manage diabetes or heart disease.
No. 15 (tie) Jenny Craig
Jenny Craig draws praise from experts for being easy to follow, nutritionally complete and safe — and for offering dieters emotional support. This diet program also offers a lower-carb program for people with Type 2 diabetes.
No. 14 Nutritarian diet
An emphasis on whole plant-based foods makes the Nutritarian diet a clear healthy choice — if you’re able to stick with it. Given its many dietary restrictions, panelists question whether the salad-heavy diet is a viable long-term option for most people trying to shed weight and reach peak health.
No. 13 Zone diet
The Zone diet lagged behind higher-ranked diets — if not always by much — in nearly all ratings categories, including weight loss, how easy it is to follow and its effect on diabetes and heart health.
No. 11 (tie) Pritikin diet
New to the U.S. News Best Diets rankings for 2023, the Pritikin diet emphasizes high-fiber and low-fat foods. The diet also ranked number 10 for bone and joint health, and is the seventh-best diet program for 2023.
No. 11 (tie) Noom
The Noom diet plan focuses on education and behavioral changes through its smartphone app. Noom can be moderately effective for long-term weight loss, but experts say you’ll get out of this plan what you put into it. Logging food can get tiring, but the aid of the app and health coaching is a huge plus for sticking to this diet.
No. 10 Ornish diet
The Ornish diet gets a mixed reaction from experts. On one hand, it’s nutritionally sound, safe and tremendously heart-healthy. On the other, it’s not easy for dieters to adhere to the severe fat restrictions that the diet demands.
No. 9 Dr. Weil’s anti-inflammatory diet
With its focus on whole plant foods, the anti-inflammatory diet is nutritionally sound — but experts express doubt about the potential effectiveness of the diet for weight loss. Others say the impact this diet might have on inflammation in the body still isn’t clear.
No. 8 WW / WeightWatchers
WW is a smart, effective diet. It surpasses other diet programs in multiple areas, including for short- and long-term weight loss and how easy it is to follow. It’s also nutritionally sound and safe, according to experts. Among its pluses: an emphasis on group support, lots of fruits and vegetables and room for occasional indulgences.
No. 6 (tie) Volumetrics diet
Volumetrics outperforms many of its competitors in a number of categories. It earns particularly high marks for being a top weight-loss diet, and it also ranks high for healthy eating. The diverse strengths of this eating plan give it broad appeal.
No. 6 (tie) Mayo Clinic diet
This is the Mayo Clinic’s take on how to make healthy eating a lifelong habit. It earns especially high ratings from our experts for its nutrition and safety and as a tool against diabetes. Experts found it moderately effective for weight loss.
No. 5 TLC diet
Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes, or TLC, is a very solid diet plan created by the National Institutes of Health. It has no major weaknesses, and it’s particularly good at promoting cardiovascular health. The diet was designed to help with lowering cholesterol and focuses on fruits and veggies, as well as other heart-healthy fare like lean proteins.
However, the complete diet requires a “do-it-yourself” approach, in contrast to the hand-holding provided by some diet programs. And unlike traditional eating patterns such as the Mediterranean, this diet requires a meticulous approach that includes counting calories and closely reading labels.
No. 4 MIND diet
The MIND diet takes two proven diets — DASH and Mediterranean — and zeroes in on the foods in each that specifically affect brain health. Featuring a wide variety of options, from salad to nuts to fruits and veggies, this diet receives expert praise for its focus on real food. It’s a healthy, sensible plan with science to back it.
No. 2 (tie) Flexitarian diet
The Flexitarian diet — a mix of the words vegetarian and flexible — outperforms many of its competitors, with particularly high scores in nutritional completeness, easiness to follow and long-term weight loss, as well as for heart health. The flexibility of the diet makes it a good fit for many people, thus offering a more sustainable, plant-forward option compared with stricter diets.
No. 2 (tie) DASH diet
DASH, which stands for dietary approaches to stop hypertension, was developed by physicians specifically to fight high blood pressure. But it certainly looks like an all-star diet to our panel of experts, who give it high marks for its nutritional completeness, safety, ability to prevent or control diabetes and its role in supporting heart health. It’s widely considered to be a balanced dietary approach for anyone wanting to lose weight or simply improve overall health.
No. 1 Mediterranean diet
With its emphasis on fruits and vegetables, olive oil, fish and other whole foods, the Mediterranean diet is eminently sensible, flexible and delicious. Patterned after a traditional way of eating in Greece and other countries around the Mediterranean Sea, this well-studied diet earns especially high marks for heart health and diabetes management and prevention. And experts’ assessments of it are resoundingly positive, giving this diet an edge over many competitors.
10 best diets overall:
No. 1 Mediterranean Diet
No. 2 (tie) DASH Diet
No. 2 (tie) Flexitarian Diet
No. 4 MIND Diet
No. 5 TLC Diet
No. 6 (tie) Mayo Clinic Diet
No. 6 (tie) Volumetrics Diet
No. 8 WW Diet
No. 9 Dr. Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Diet
No. 10 Ornish Diet
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Best Diets Overall originally appeared on usnews.com
Update: This story was published previously and has been updated with new rankings.
