- Experts met by US News & World Report suggest that a raw food diet is the worst way to eat for 2023.
- They said the diet was overly restrictive, not based on evidence, and could lack essential nutrients.
- Healthy diets are flexible, easy to maintain over time, and emphasize whole foods and plants.
the Annual diet rankings from US News & World Report The raw food diet has been named the worst overall eating plan for 2023.
The diet includes only foods that have not been cooked, such as fruits and vegetables, sprouted grains and beans, and sometimes animal products such as raw fish or unprocessed dairy products. It captured bottom place in several categories of ketogenic dietor keto for short, which moved up quite a bit in the ranking.
Each year, US News & World Report Health and nutrition experts meet To rank popular diets based on factors such as their overall health, how easy they are to follow, and potential for weight loss and disease prevention. This year they reviewed 24 diets.
Experts ranked the raw food diet lowest because of its presence There is no evidence of benefits than cutting out cooked foods, it is very limitedand it may make you feel hungrier, since raw foods tend to be lower in calories and protein than prepared foods.
As a result, it is difficult to maintain over time. Gretel Schuyler, editorial director of health at US News, said that while short-term diets may produce temporary results, often for weight loss, healthy long-term diets include eating strategies that you can maintain.
“At the end of the day, it’s about how long can I stay, can I do it long-term,” Schuyler told Insider. “You may look fine for a few months but eventually you’ll be back where you started.”
Experts say that too many restrictions can be counterproductive to a diet plan
While diets that have strict rules or exclude certain food groups may seem effective, they can be difficult to maintain, and the benefits won’t last if you quit within a few weeks.
“The moment you’re overly restricted or feeling deprived, you’ll jump right in without making the long-term commitment,” Schuyler said.
The expert panel noted that other low-ranking diets were too strict or difficult to follow in the long term, or reduced potentially nutritious food groups.
Other underperforming diets include the low-carb Atkins diet as well as SlimFast and Optavia, which include highly processed shakes, bars and supplements used to replace whole foods.
In contrast, the highly rated Mediterranean diet and other highly rated plans include variety, don’t exclude food groups, and are easy to adjust for different lifestyles.
“The diets that rise to the top are the ones we’ve known for years that use a commonsense approach to healthy eating, featuring whole, flexible foods,” Schuyler said.
The keto diet ranked a little higher this year
While it was for several years Ranked worst diet In terms of healthy eating, the high-fat, low-carb keto diet took 1st place for fast weight loss and 20th overall this year.
certificate appeared in the last few years which suggests that Low-carb diets and diets can help people control their weight and blood sugar It can be structured in such a way as to include more foods rich in nutrients and healthy fats.
“We see it as potentially being done in a healthy way, when done right,” Schuyler said. “Ask yourself what people replace carbs with. If it’s a healthy answer, that makes a huge difference.”
Experts have ranked the keto diet last for heart health. They have previously expressed concerns that the diet is high Saturated fat, which some research has linked to heart health concerns. Cutting out carbs can also mean cutting out nutrient-dense foods like fruits, certain veggies, and whole grains—part of the reason experts continue to rank keto in the bottom five this year.
But it doesn’t have to be a stereotype.”Dirty keto“A diet full of butter, burgers, and cheese,” Dr. Mark Cocozilla, a professor at West Virginia University School of Medicine who studies low-carb diets, previously told Insider.
He said examples of healthy keto-friendly foods include sources of fats like olive oil, proteins like fish, low-carb fruits like berries, and plenty of leafy greens for nutrients.
Correction: January 3, 2023 – An earlier version of this story’s headline mislocated the keto diet in the latest US News & World Report ranking. While it bumped from bottom center, where it was in 2022, experts didn’t rank it the second least healthy diet of 2023.