Want to diet in 2020? The Mediterranean Diet has been named best overall in U.S. News and World Report’s best diet rankings for 2020, the third straight year it has held the top spot.
“[The] Mediterranean Diet is all about eating less red meat, less sugar and less saturated fat,” said Angela Haupt, managing editor of health at U.S. News. “You’re going to have really tasty meals to dig into every day, so that’s one of the reasons why it’s so easy to stick to. It’s backed by really good science. We know there are robust health benefits that can come from embarking on the Mediterranean Diet.”
How were the rankings put together?
“We’ve convened a panel of experts in diet, nutrition, obesity, food psychology, diabetes and heart disease, and this year … 25 panelists ranked 35 diets,” said Haupt.
The Mediterranean Diet also ranked first in several other categories including Best Diets For Healthy Eating, Easiest Diets to Follow, Best Diets for Diabetes and Best Plant-Based Diets.
Tied at second among Best Diets Overall are the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet and the Flexitarian Diet.
WW, formerly known as Weight Watchers, tops the list of Best Commercial Diets, with Jenny Craig coming in second.
First on the list of Best Heart-Healthy Diets is the Ornish Diet, followed by the Mediterranean Diet in second place and the DASH Diet in third.
The HMR (Health Management Resources) Diet ranks first on the list of Best Fast Weight-Loss Diets, with the Optavia Diet in second, and four diets tying for third: WW, Atkins, Keto, and Jenny Craig.
Despite its high ranking for fast weight loss, the popular Keto diet came second-to-last on the list of Best Diets Overall.
“The Keto diet is low carb and high protein, and our experts were really worried because you might be eating a lot of fat,” said Haupt. “As one of our experts put it, any diet in which you could be snacking on bacon 3 times a day is just not going to be a good idea.”
