Continued Triumph: The Mediterranean Diet Secures Top Spot in 2024’s Best Diets Ranking
Losing weight and eating healthier aren’t at the very top of the list of 2024 New Year’s resolutions, at least according to one survey. Saving money is, cited by 59% of more than 400 respondents. But 47% said eating healthier was a resolution, and 35% picked losing weight.
Guidance for both goals is just out from U.S. News & World Report, which issued its 14th annual ranking of the best diet plans today.
The Mediterranean diet, with an emphasis on overall diet quality rather than a single food group or nutrient, swept the categories. It won in the category of Best Diets Overall, along with Best Diets for Diabetes, Best Heart-Healthy Diets, Easiest Diets to Follow, Best Diets for Bone and Joint Health, Best Family-Friendly Diets, and Best Diets for Healthy Eating.
The Process
This year, 43 independent experts, none with a vested interest in commercial diet programs or a specific diet approach, evaluated the diets for U.S. News, Schueller said.
The publication begins to look at diet plans every January, considering which are trending and finding out if a particular diet is developing a following, she said, or if previously “fringy” diets have new science behind them.
“By spring, we [usually] have a list of over 50.” The group pares that down, and this year picked 30 diets to rank, six more than the total for the 2023 rankings. Other diets that aren’t ranked get write-ups on the site, to provide information of interest to consumers who want more details on those plans.
The rankings follow a system devised by the publication in partnership with The Harris Poll, with input from the expert panel of medical doctors, registered dietitians, nutritional epidemiologists, and academic weight loss researchers.
