Health : Health Buzz: Media Response to 'Best Diets' Rankings |
| Health Buzz: Media Response to 'Best Diets' Rankings Posted: 09 Jun 2011 09:53 AM PDT Media Respond to U.S. News's Best Diets Rankings U.S. News "exhaustively assessed" 20 diets, from Atkins to Zone, and offers a "clearinghouse of info"—from which eating plans are safest, to most filling, to the most heart-healthy. That's according to media coverage of U.S. News's first-ever Best Diets rankings, released Tuesday, which evaluate diets in seven categories, including short-term weight loss, long-term weight loss, easiness to follow, and nutritional completeness. The government-endorsed DASH Diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) snagged the top spot overall, and news outlets from the Los Angeles Times to CNN are reporting on the little-known plan. "Ever hear your girlfriends raving about their weight loss success on the DASH Diet? Probably not. But after today, they might be," Prevention wrote. That magazine also quoted registered dietitian Sari Greaves, who called the rankings "a good roadmap for people who are trying to find diets to fit their lifestyle." Because, as the Wall Street Journal pointed out: "Dietary preferences are highly personal. If you can't—or don't want to—stick to the top-ranked eating regimens, then pick something that is nutritionally balanced and works for you." Best Diets Methodology: How U.S. News Rated Them Diets come and go, teasing and tempting with visions of that new, hot, slimmed-down body sculpted in a flash from the old, formerly pudgy and mirror-averse You. Eat what you want! Pounds melt away! The reality, as legions of frustrated dieters can affirm, is that dieting is hard and that most diets don't work. Some, in fact, could put your health at risk. Getting at the facts about diets and dieting has long been grueling enough to burn off a pound or two by itself. Now, though, Best Diets cuts through the clutter of claims and half-truths to deliver the facts about 20 diets, including many, such as Weight Watchers, that are household names and others, such as the DASH diet, that should be. A U.S. News team spent six months researching the diets, mining medical journals, government reports, and other sources. An in-depth profile was then drawn up for every diet that explains how it works, whether its claims add up or fall short, and what risks it might pose, along with insights into living on the diet, not just reading about it. A carefully selected panel of 22 recognized experts in diet and nutrition and specialists in diabetes and heart disease reviewed the U.S. News profiles. Then the experts rated each diet from 1 to 5 in seven categories: short-term weight loss, long-term weight loss, how easy it is to follow, its nutritional completeness, its safety, its ability to prevent or manage diabetes, and its ability to prevent or manage heart disease. U.S. News also asked the panelists to comment on which aspects of each diet that they particularly liked or disliked and to weigh in on what they think people considering the diet should know. [Read more: Best Diets Methodology: How We Rated Them.] How to Stay on a Diet to Lose or Maintain Weight A diet is only as good as your ability to stick to it. Research has found that most plans will help you lose weight, regardless of type—low-fat or low-carb, for example. What counts is whether you can stay on it long-term. And with restaurant meals, dinners with friends, and hot fudge sundaes to tempt you, adherence is an understandable challenge. Here are five tricks for making your diet stick: 1. Gather the troops. You need support, be it from a friend, a group like Overeaters Anonymous, or even an online community. Research suggests those who go it alone are most likely to fall off the wagon. That's why some diet plans have a formal support component—Weight Watchers connects dieters via weekly meetings, while Jenny Craig members are assigned counselors for advice and encouragement. If you're not comfortable talking about your weight face-to-face, log online. By signing up for the free program PeerTrainer, for example, dieters can interact and track each others' weight-loss progress, pose questions, and swap diet and exercise tips. "It's important to have people who will pick you up when times are tough and cheer you on when you have successes," says registered dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner, author of The Flexitarian Diet. Plus, she adds: "Healthy habits are contagious." 2. Hold yourself accountable. A couple chips here and a few cookie-nibbles there may seem harmless, but mindless munching adds up. Record everything you eat and drink in a food diary. Most of us don't realize exactly how much we consume, so making conscious notes will put each meal, snack, or splurge into perspective. In a 2008 American Journal of Preventative Medicine study, dieters who kept food diaries for five months lost nearly twice as much weight as their non-journaling peers. Journaling can reveal the problematic cues, triggers, and habits that could be sabotaging your weight-loss efforts. You might notice tendencies to overeat on deadline-heavy days, for example, or discover that your morning frozen coffee packs an extra 400 calories a day. [Read more: How to Stay on a Diet to Lose or Maintain Weight.] This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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