What is the best diet to follow for health?
The new year is here and, with it, the good resolutions that we have such a hard time keeping. Like every month of January, we focus our motivation around our well-being and our health. In 2022, according to Ipsos, the French were 11% at “wanting to reduce their consumption of alcohol and tobacco” and 37% want “pay more attention to (their) diet/lose weight”. But in practice, everything gets complicated! In case of food rebalancing, which diet is the most appropriate, which one should you choose to lose weight or to regain a healthy lifestyle?
The American site US News & World Report has, like every year, published its ranking of the healthiest diets in 2023, taking into account long-term sustainability, accessibility of ingredients, weight loss potential and disease prevention.
Health: what is the best diet to follow?
Nutrition specialists have looked at nearly 24 diets including the very popular Keto, Paleo, Flexitarian diets and programs like Noom and Slim Fast. But not surprisingly, it is the Mediterranean diet that is the best diet for 2023. Many studies have already addressed the benefits of the Mediterranean diet, also called the Cretan diet, which is rich in whole grains, legumes, olive oil, fruits and seafood.
A Spanish study, published in the journal BCM Medicine, showed that adopting this diet would reduce the risk of mortality in people over 65 years of age.
This is the sixth time in a row that the Mediterranean diet has won the prize. In second place this year, we find the DASH diet (for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension), a diet to reduce blood pressure by eating exclusively fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins and dairy products rich in potassium, calcium and magnesium, while banishing products rich in fat.
In third place is the flexitarian diet that does well. Behind this funny name hides a diet halfway with the vegetarian diet. If you want to get started, you’ll need to ban animal foods from time to time while diversifying the rest of your diet. Nothing is imposed, of course, the goal being to turn to vegetable sources at your own pace!
