ATLANTA (Ivanhoe Newswire) - As many as 45 million Americans diet every year, and spend an estimated $33 billion in weight loss products.
Yet two-thirds of us are classified as overweight or obese. Finding a weight loss program that works is not easy, especially with so many out there. But a national panel of experts has identified some of the best plans for losing weight and improving health.
Ever stepped on a scale, and hated the result? Then chances are good you’ve been on a diet.
Laurence Sperling, MD, is a Preventive Cardiologist at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta and on a national panel of health experts rating the best diets of 2015 based on weight loss, diabetes prevention, heart health, nutrition and long-term compliance.
“Beware of fad diets, because they are setting you up for failure. If you can follow a way of living the majority of the time, those dietary patterns that are most healthy can have sustainable benefits," Sperling said.
The best diet overall was the DASH diet: Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. It emphasizes fresh fruit and vegetables, low fat dairy and foods low in sodium and high in potassium.
“It’s as effective as a blood pressure pill,” says Dr. Sperling.
The panel also gave high marks to the TLC diet: Therapeutic Lifestyle Change, and the Mayo Clinic diet.
Dr. Sperling says the best diets have things in common, lots of fruits and vegetables, low-fat animal protein and very little processed food. So that way, “You’re not eating the same thing all the time,” he explains because boredom is one of the biggest reasons diets fail.
The Ornish diet, a very low-fat plan was great for heart health, but it was hard for most people to stay with over a long period of time. The popular Paleo diet did not rank in the panel's top ten.
The findings were published in theU.S. News & World Report.
