Top Diets of 2016

The DASH diet took the No. 1 spot again

(Mirror Daily, United States) – After a long process and months of research, scientists presented the top diets of 2016 that will encourage weight loss, maintain a healthy lifestyle, and are easy to follow. It has always been a long-standing question that research dug into. In a world where diabetes and obesity is on the rise, the importance has increased that much more drastically.

The U.S. News & World Report recently ranked the best diets of 2016, based on several factors. They were all rated from 1 to 5, with 5 being ‘extremely effective’, and consulted a number of experts. This included physicians, doctors, and researchers un numerous fields, such as nutrition, diet, food psychology, and obesity.

All diets were regarded for their benefits in four separate categories. The first was their ability to encourage weight loss. Specifically, researchers looked at the diet’s potential of helping patients shed extra pounds after 12 months of accurate following. The second trait followed was the diet’s ability to maintain long-term weight loss, after 2 years or more. The third aspect was its ease of following, and the fourth was, naturally, health benefits.

It’s not surprising that there is no diet in the world that is one-size-fits-all. There are several factors that should be taken into consideration. However, since genetic tools still have half a decade to spend in development, there are actual cases and previous reviews to examine.

For the sixth year in a row though, researchers have ranked the DASH diet as the best one. Standing for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), it has been deemed as the most practical and beneficial one to date. While it was initially created for the purpose of lowering blood pressure, the DASH diet has shown itself exceptional for losing weight.

It’s main purpose is to instill long-term, and possible life-long, habits that will drop systolic blood pressure and maintain nutritional health. DASH focuses on limiting salt intake to 2,300 milligrams per day, eating fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

Second place was a tie between two, the MIND diet, which is actually a mash up between the DASH and the Mediterranean diet, and the TLC diet.

The MIND diet stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay. That is due to the tremendous amounts of research that claimed it helps against dementia or Alzheimer’s. In fact, patients strictly following MIND were found to have a 50% decreased chance of developing Alzheimers, and 38% for those who followed it moderately. It encourages foods that are good for the brain such as fish, nuts, berries, beans, green leafy vegetables, whole grains, and, the mark of the Mediterranean diet, olive oil.

Tied with MIND was the TLC diet, which stands for Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes. It focuses specifically on lowering cholesterol, with results of 8-10% decrease in 6 weeks. While it’s not considered the best for losing weight, it does provide with numerous health benefits. This starts with cutting out saturated fats by reducing intake of meat and whole-milk products. It’s best for those with high cholesterol.

Each diet has its own restrictions, so it’s advised that they are well considered before undertaking. However, will is all that matters in the end.

Image source: onsugar.com

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Tara Hamilton

Tara has graduated from the University of Oregon, with bachelors degree in Spanish Literature in 2010. She lived in Miami for one year and travelled extensively before settling down in El Paso.