Best and worst diets for 2020, ranked by experts

[Dominique]

For the third year in a row, the well-researched Mediterranean diet KO'd the competition to win gold in US News and World Report's 2020 ranking of best diets. The report, released Thursday, is now in its 10th year.

"The hallmarks of a 'best' diet include balance, maintainability, palatability, family-friendliness, sustainability, along with healthfulness. The Mediterranean diet gets checkmarks in all of those boxes," said Yale University Prevention Research Center founding director Dr. David Katz, who was one of 25 judges on the U.S. News and World Report panel. (more: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/02/health/best-diet-worst-diet-2020-wellness/index.html).

Similar discussion from one year ago: https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Eat-Well/And-the-best-diet-for-2019-is/m-p/3163620#M13867

[WendyB]

Never heard of some of them before.

Thanks for the link!

[mickjam]

It was also experts who in the past recommended voluminous quantities of processed carbs, praised the glories of margarine and other highly processed fats, demonized eggs, etc. 

I still say, Michael Pollan has the best advice: eat real food, not too much, mostly plants.  Easy peasy. 

[t.parker]

@mickjam I agree with what Michael Pollan said. However, despite sounding so simple it isn't so simple to implement for most of the people. Why? Because if you give too many choices then it becomes confusing. People like simple dos and don'ts rather than thinking "is it real food? am I eating too much? is the balance between plants and animal protein good?". Sometimes it's just easier to have a list to follow and this is why so many fad diets are so popular.

I follow my diet which includes a secret ingredient never really used by any of the popular diets - careful plating and dish presentation. It's important because we eat also with our eyes. The satiety comes from nutritions, flavours (and smell which is also a part of it) and presentation. As an amateur cook, I spend time carefully preparing my meals. I'm looking for new flavours without really restricting myself. The nutritional balance is there almost for free - if you care about flavours and presentation then the dish probably will be also very nutritious. The presentation helps with portion control, too. Since the flavours must be balanced, there cannot be anything too much so things like sugar will be limited, the deserts can actually be made out of savoury ingredients (and not sickly sweet). Yes, it takes a lot of effort to maintain such "diet" but for me, that's the only way I eat. If I don't enjoy my food I will crave for something else. But if the dish is well presented I will hesitate to break the "design", I will eat slowly enjoying each flavour co and combining flavours. Sometimes, I can't even finish the dish because eating this slow I'm already happy with it. This way I eat anything I want. For example, my dinner today included an almond-crusted lamb steak with parsnip puree and minted beetroot fondant with greens as garnish. All served with vegetable jus. Tomorrow, it's going to be something different, also exciting to eat. Maybe it works only for me. I'm aware of the energetic value of particular ingredients I use and roughly I can estimate that but restricting calories or particular macros never worked for me. It's a lot easier to eat food that I enjoy both preparing and eating.

[Glenda]

@Dominique  I think this is a bit funny.  There are lots of countries on the Mediterranean  so I think most people  think of it as Italian.  It seems most people in the US are now over weight and that diet isn't good for weight loss.  It is good for health &  you can restrict calories.  It evidently isn't exactly sustainable either way, as Italian people are not sticking to the "Mediterranean Diet" if you google.  They are falling off the wagon and eating the same junk we are; at least the younger people, google said.   Also someone wrote recently, Olive oil isn't a health food.  It has more calories than butter.   It may be healthier than trans fats but too many calories are still too many calories.    So if you are SLIM you can choose a Mediterranean diet.  If not slim, count calories on that diet.

[Dominique]

Yes, there are many countries around the Mediterranean: as the link on said diet states, "There isn't "a" Mediterranean diet. Greeks eat differently from Italians, who eat differently from the French and Spanish. But they share many of the same principles." 

And just because you live in a Mediterranean country doesn’t mean you automatically eat a Mediterranean diet. We live in a global world, and people are quick to catch influences (good and bad) that come from elsewhere. In fact, this article from The Guardian writes that "The Mediterranean diet is gone: region's children are fattest in Europe". And, paradoxically, that "children in Sweden are more likely to eat fish, olive oil and tomatoes than those in southern Europe".

However, even if many people from Mediterranean countries no longer follow their traditional diet, that way of eating is still worth following (for its benefits on health) by people who live elsewhere.

[Glenda]

@Dominique I'm sorry I didn't see your reply until now.  Everything you said is right and interesting.  Today there is an article by the University of Kent about how diets are changing worldwide with some English speaking  countries having healthier diets (which they consider to be with less animal products and sugar) and other countries eating more animal products  which they say is increasing obesity & will have effects on environmental sustainability with "worrying consequences".  (S. Korea, China, & Taiwan)   Regardless of health, seems like the effect on the environment would be the same with one group canceling the effect of the other.    

[Glenda]

@t.parker You posted this so long ago you may not see this reply.  I'll bet you are one of the more unusual great cooks who are slim.  I swear my adult daughter eats so fast it is like the food is awful and she wants to swallow it quick to get rid of it.   We DO need to enjoy our food more and need to slow down to even taste it.  Good for you!!!

[Baltoscott]

This podcast discusses the process of how US News & World Report's came up with the list and the process by which they were ranked.  

@Glenda -- I definitely agree that we need to slow down and enjoy the food we are eating.