Diets
As I searched for food perfection, and as I gained weight, I began to realize that the race for perfection in anything was the path to destruction - Rachael Rose Steil
image by: Alan Cleaver
HWN Suggests
Don’t waste your time finding the perfect diet
Here’s my message. If you are looking for the one true diet, caveat emptor.
While we can safely say that diet is important and a strong determinant of health, there is no one diet that has the corner on perfection. In fact, history shows that strict adherence to specific diets does not guarantee the avoidance of medical disaster, no matter how much one believes. Since this is so obviously true, we all need to be careful about those who claim to represent the one true path.
Nathan Pritikin founded an institute based on his beliefs about a diet that was high in natural foods and very low in fat. This diet is similar to the diet that Dr. Dean Ornish advocates today. While…
Resources
We Actually Know What We Should Eat
There is no one best diet. Good diets can be low or high in fat or carbohydrates, as long as they are made up of wholesome foods, and mostly plants. The quintessentially healthy Mediterranean diet is high in fat, most of it unsaturated, much of it from olive oil, nuts, seeds and avocado. But the famous diet of long-lived residents of Okinawa is low in fat because it is centered around diverse vegetables, grains and soybeans, with very limited meat, poultry and fish.
Death of the calorie
For more than a century we’ve counted on calories to tell us what will make us fat. Peter Wilson says it’s time to bury the world’s most misleading measure.
In 2021, as ever, the best diets are simple
In 2021, as ever, the best diets are simple
The Pioppi Protocol
For decades, our medical culture and resources have been misdirected towards treating the symptoms of disease and not directly tackling the root causes. The Pioppi Diet combines and layers multiple health positive lifestyle choices – of which food is but one – to fire up your body’s feel-good factor.
The Weight of the Evidence
If you’re one of the 45 million Americans who plan to go on a diet this year, I’ve got one word of advice for you: Don’t. You’ll likely lose weight in the short term, but your chance of keeping if off for five years or more is about the same as your chance of surviving metastatic lung cancer: 5 percent. And when you do gain back the weight, everyone will blame you. Including you.
Why most diets don’t work—and what to try instead
Taking the focus off weight loss may help your health in the long run.
Diets do help you lose weight - but the benefits usually don't last
“People can lose appreciable amounts of weight in the short term, and weight loss is associated with a decrease in risk factors,” says Guyatt. “However, with time, people tend to gain the weight back, and in 12 months there’s no benefit in terms of blood pressure and cholesterol.”
Diets: how scientists discovered that one size doesn’t fit all
It means that there is no single best diet plan – everything is personal. What constitutes a healthy diet plan depends on who is eating it: their genetics, their lifestyle, their microbiome, perhaps even the state of their immune system, their history of infections and more. Each of which is exquisitely complex on their own terms, and how they interact even more so.
Experts just ranked the best diets, and their choices will probably surprise you
The secret to a healthier diet is simpler than you might think.
The Big Fat Fix: meet the diet doctor changing the way we eat
Calories and butter are in and carbs and sugar are out — Rosamund Urwin meets the diet doctor changing the way we eat.
We Tried It: Noom, the Weight Loss App Designed for Millennials
You’re connected with a personal coach who you can exchange messages with anytime as well as a group chat where fellow users share their triumphs, frustrations and questions. When
Five diets that could be deadly
The desire to be thin can turn trendy diets into lethal weapons.
Scientifically, What Would Be Considered The Perfect Diet?
The perfect diet is out there, but not in the way that you think. There is no one perfect diet that works for every single person on this entire planet. That's impossible. Each person has a different set of nutritional requirements to keep them healthy.
The Key to Weight Loss Is Diet Quality, Not Quantity, a New Study Finds
Anyone who has ever been on a diet knows that the standard prescription for weight loss is to reduce the amount of calories you consume. But a new study, published Tuesday in JAMA, may turn that advice on its head. It found that people who cut back on added sugar, refined grains and highly processed foods while concentrating on eating plenty of vegetables and whole foods — without worrying about counting calories or limiting portion sizes — lost significant amounts of weight over the course of a year.
The science behind diet trends like mono, charcoal detox, Noom and Fast800
Every year a new batch of diets become trendy. In the past, the blood group, ketogenic, Pioppi and gluten-free diets were among the most popular. These have made way for the mono diet, charcoal detox, Noom, time-restricted feeding and Fast800.
Want a diet plan? All this start-up needs is your money, blood and DNA
Diets have typically been one size fits all. Now we have science that can get us to a place where we can recommend a personalized eating system. — Denise Morrison, chief executive of Campbell Soup Co., Habit's sole financier.
What Is the Noom Diet? A Nutritionist Explains How the App Can Help You Lose Weight
It's no secret that fad diet plans tend to backfire. Establishing new healthy habits is what leads to lasting benefits and well-being for life. Enter Noom, the weight-loss app and personalized meal-planning service with more than 45 million users that became one of the most Googled diets in 2018. While it's definitely trendy, Noom is all about making long-term changes to achieve weight-loss goals. But is it worth it? Like any other diet plan, Noom still has its pros and cons. Here's what you should know before you download it.
Here’s Why It’s So Impossible to Get Reliable Diet Advice From the News
What’s good for you seems to change every week. Maybe we should stop blaming the media and look at the studies underneath the stories, too.
Portion Control: What's Good for You?
It's simple: you've got to eat. What's not so simple for some of us is knowing when to say when. But because "when" is not the same for all of us, how should we approach the question of portion control, especially in a society that sometimes sends messages that under-eating is a virtue?
Science Compared Every Diet, and the Winner Is Real Food
Researchers asked if one diet could be crowned best in terms of health outcomes. If diet is a set of rigid principles, the answer is a decisive no. In terms of broader guidelines, it's a decisive yes.
The Ancient Origins of Dieting
Weight-loss fads existed centuries before Oprah and Kim Kardashian.
The Only 4 Diets That Actually Help People to Eat Better and Eat Less
U.S. News has released its ranking of 20 diet plans, but only four -- from Weight Watchers to Eco-Atkins -- worked for survey respondents.
There’s a simple, scientific reason that diets almost never work
One third of the world, or 2.1 billion people, are overweight. In our global quest for thinner waistlines and better health, we are learning why our diets are failing. Our microbiomes.
Why DASH And Mediterranean Are The Best Diets...
The beauty of DASH isn’t so much about banning a specific food group as it is to achieve balance. Since the Mediterranean eating plan centers on recommended foods and not any strict guidelines on daily caloric intake, it’s best for those who don’t like the idea of “diets” or feeling deprived under special rules.
Why You Can’t Lose Weight on a Diet
The problem isn’t willpower. It’s neuroscience. You can’t — and shouldn’t — fight back.
Body By Baby Food - Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston appears to be aging in reverse. Her skin is beautiful, her body is amazing and her hair is the envy of every woman on the planet. So what's her secret? Is it the Baby Food Cleanse?
Celebrity Detox Diets…A Healthy Choice?
Celebrities have been touting the benefits of detox cleanses as a way to prepare themselves for red carpet events and movie roles for years. But detox diets have their fair share of controversy.
Could Your Healthy Diet Make Me Fat?
Unfortunately, standard diets typically fail to produce significant long-term weight loss. But those average outcomes mask tremendous individual variability.
Diet Advice That Ignores Hunger
Questions like these about the relationship between calories, macronutrients and hunger have haunted nutrition and obesity research since the late 1940s. But rarely are they asked. We believe so implicitly in the rationale of eat less, move more, that we (at least those of us who are lean) will implicitly fault the obese for their failures to sustain a calorie-restricted regimen, without ever apparently asking ourselves whether we could sustain it either.
Diets Don't Work... Right?
When it comes to losing weight there is no shortage of products, diet plans, or advice out there to confuse you. And there is no quick fix, but then there's the DASH diet.
Diets on a Dime — What You Should Know
Here are some tips for getting the most bang for your buck with some of today’s most popular diets, including The Mediterranean Diet, Weight Watchers and South Beach. All of these diets are aligned to certain food groups (that aren’t cheap!) so here are some tangible ways to save and get the most out of the foods you buy.
Do We Need to Give Up Alcohol to Lose Weight? Not Necessarily
Despite thousands of studies spanning decades, I discovered that alcohol remains one of the most controversial and confusing topics for people concerned about controlling their weight.
Eating Toward Immortality
Diet culture is just another way of dealing with the fear of death.
Elisabeth Hasselbeck - G-Free is the Way to Be!
There is a saying, diets don't work. But the G-Free diet makes it possible for people with gluten intolerance to finally live a normal life.
Everything You Need To Know About The 38 Best Diets For Health
The best diets are easy to follow, nutritious, safe and effective for weight loss and preventing diabetes and heart disease.
Everything you wanted to know about obesity and weight loss
"What makes maintaining weight loss seem 'almost impossible,'" writes obesity doctor Yoni Freedhoff, "are the goal posts society has generally set to measure success." So no to quick diets, yes to long-term lifestyle changes. They can help.
Fasting Diets Are Gaining Acceptance
In a culture in which it’s customary to eat three large meals a day while snacking from morning to midnight, the idea of regularly skipping meals may sound extreme. But in recent years intermittent fasting has been gaining popular attention and scientific endorsement.
Here's to a Hangover-Free New Year
Bringing in the New Year with a hangover doesn't have to be an annual event. So what do celebrities do when they want to indulge?
I Did a Crazy Fad Diet From the Internet
More and more research around dieting and nutrition is showing that it’s hard if not impossible to keep weight off. The fact that I have multiple diet books in my collection is a testament to that difficulty. It can be discouraging.
Intermittent Fasting, or IF, Gains Ground as a Dieting Tool
Intermittent fasting gains favor as a way to lose weight and see health benefits. But some call for better studies before jumping on the IF bandwagon.
Jamie Oliver – A Food Revolution from Across the Pond
Obesity is quickly overtaking smoking as the number one cause of death in the U.S. as well as Canada and the UK. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is on a mission to change America’s eating habits one plate, one school lunch and one impoverished town at a time.
Jillian Michaels - The Skinny on the 4th
The Fourth of July is a time to relax with family and friends, and sometimes a little gluttony is good for the soul, my words, not Jillian's.
Just Eat More Fiber
Diets can be overwhelming, but one small change can do a lot.
Khloe Kardashian’s diet revealed by her nutritionist
Wonder what is involved in Khloe Kardashian’s diet? Her nutritionist Dr Philip Goglia exclusively reveals what the reality superstar eats day-to-day.
Our Global Food Challenges: The Decade to Act
In the context of a rapidly and dramatically changing global nutrition landscape, influenced by economic and income growth, rapid urbanisation and globalisation, human diets and diet-related epidemiology have seen significant shifts in recent decades.
Resolutions: Are You In or Out?
Resolutions are popular because everyone feels they could use a little improvement - Marilu Henner
The anti-detox diet
Instead of perpetuating pseudoscientific gluten phobia or imposing impossible food rules, the diet is based on facts everyone can agree on: no processed foods, limited excess sugar, and lots of fruits, vegetables, and fiber-rich whole foods.
The Bulletproof Diet is everything wrong with eating in America
I've spent a lot of time thinking about diet and, unsurprisingly, came to Bulletproof with a skeptical eye. But even I was blown away by how science-y it is. The Bulletproof Diet is like a caricature of a bad fad-diet book. If you took everything that’s wrong with eating in America, put it in a Vitamix, and shaped the result into a book, you'd get the Bulletproof Diet.
The China Study
T. Colin Campbell’s The China Study created a movement in the way people consider their diets. While the Internet features many great meeting places for the plant-based community, there has yet to be a one stop shop. The China Study Community website launched with the hopes of filling this niche and becoming the leading source of news for the plant-based community.
The Feeding Tube Diet
For $1500 people are sticking feeding tubes up their nose, down their esophagus and into their stomachs. It's the nose tube diet. Yuck!
The Okinawa diet – could it help you live to 100?
Japanese people are more likely to reach 100 years old than anyone else in the world, a fact that some researchers attribute to their diet. So, are they right – and is eating tofu and squid the place to start?
Weight Watchers’ Plan: Don’t Call It a ‘Diet’
To win back members, company pushes lifestyle change rather than just dieting; gains Oprah Winfrey’s support.
What The World’s Healthiest Diets Have In Common
“The only overlapping feature in most of these healthy countries around the world is that they all walk way more than the average American,” said Pasternak. “So really, regardless of what you’re eating, if someone’s walking four miles more than you each day, they’re going to be a lot thinner and live a lot longer than you.”
What We Know (and Don’t Know) About How to Lose Weight
One conclusion from a much-discussed study: The best diet is the one you can stick to.
What’s New in the Dietary Guidelines
If, like me, you are a fan of high-fat foods like nuts or avocados, high-cholesterol foods like shrimp or eggs, coffee or an occasional alcoholic drink, the new guidelines provide some additional reassurance. They emphasize the need to focus on a health-promoting eating pattern “across the life span” that includes these and other foods, in moderation, while cutting down on added sugar. On the other hand, the new guidelines can be confusing, containing what seems like conflicting messages and bowing, in some cases, to industry pressures, especially with regard to meats.
Which Diet Is Best for You?
What kind diet do we follow when we are not otherwise occupied on Facebook or playing Words With Friends? The following are some popular diets that Americans follow:
Why Calories Count: Do Some Diets Work Better Than Others?
Although some diets may be easier for you to stick to or be more satiating, the bottom line is that you need to eat less to reduce body weight.
You, Only Better
Is “biohacking” just a fad? Or can data-driven diets help us become an improved, happier species?
Your “Healthy” Diet Could Be Quietly Killing Your Brain
Carbohydrates typically thought of as healthy, even brown rice, 100% whole grain bread, or quinoa—mainstays of many of the most health-conscious kitchens—cause disorders like dementia, ADHD, chronic headaches, and Alzheimer’s, over a lifetime of consumption.
The Weight of the Evidence
f you’re one of the 45 million Americans who plan to go on a diet this year, I’ve got one word of advice for you: Don’t. You’ll likely lose weight in the short term, but your chance of keeping if off for five years or more is about the same as your chance of surviving metastatic lung cancer: 5 percent. And when you do gain back the weight, everyone will blame you. Including you.
Don’t waste your time finding the perfect diet
While we can safely say that diet is important and a strong determinant of health, there is no one diet that has the corner on perfection. In fact, history shows that strict adherence to specific diets does not guarantee the avoidance of medical disaster, no matter how much one believes. Since this is so obviously true, we all need to be careful about those who claim to represent the one true path.
6 Diets With Serious Flaws
Here’s a look at six diets that all hold a grain (or gluten-free alternative) of good advice in them, but are either taken too far, not followed properly, or holding on to ideas that just aren’t backed by science.
6 Ways Your Diet Is Messing with Your Metabolism
Tweak your stalled weight-loss plan to keep your calorie-burning engines revved and your stomach flat.
Best Diets for Healthy Eating
The last thing you want from a diet is a risk to your health. Any diet should provide sufficient calories and not fall seriously short on important nutrients or entire food groups. The Best Diets for Healthy Eating rankings weigh nutritional completeness and safety, with particular emphasis on safety, based on ratings in those categories of 5 (best) to 1 (worst) by a panel of experts. (See how we did it.) Of the 38 popular diet programs ranked by U.S. News, the government-endorsed Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) plan stood at the top of the Healthy Eating list.
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation is the world's largest charitable organization devoted exclusively to nutrition and dietetics
Beyond Diet
Beyond Diet is a comprehensive health and gluten-free weight loss community that focuses on how to eat delicious foods in the right combinations for your body to let you look and feel great. is a comprehensive health and gluten-free weight loss community that focuses on how to eat delicious foods in the right combinations for your body to let you look and feel great.
British Dietetic Association
The British Dietetic Association (BDA) is the only body in the UK representing the whole of the dietetic workforce. We are a trade union and professional body representing the professional, educational, public and workplace interests of our members.
Diet Detective
Charles Stuart Platkin, the Diet Detective, has made it his life's mission to help people lose weight and get healthy by encouraging them to think before they eat.
Diet.com
Diet.com is the leading online diet and health hub providing information on weight loss, best weight loss programs, diet plans, diet food, and much more.
Dietitians Association of Australia
DAA is devoted to supporting its members and working with all sectors to improve the nutrition and health of Australians.
Dietitians of Canada
Dietitians of Canada leads and supports members to promote health and well being through expertise in food and nutrition.
DietitiansNZ
The New Zealand Dietetic Association is the national professional association of registered dietitians and associated nutrition professionals, and has been in existence for over 60 years. With a membership of approximately 550, NZDA represents the largest group of fully trained food and nutrition professionals in New Zealand.
DietTalk.com
Desire, Dedication, Determination, and Discipline = Success
European Federation of the Association of Dietitians
Our mission is to support Member Associations in developing the role that dietitians have in reducing inequalities and improving nutritional health in Europe. International Association for
Habit
Habit is committed to bringing you the most up-to-date science-based recommendations. As the science evolves, so will your results and nutrition plan. We're committed to an ongoing relationship with you—so you always know how to feed the best version of you.
International Confederation of Dietetic Associations
ICDA is an Association of national dietetic associations. Together, the national dietetic association Members represent about 150,000 dietetics professionals around the world.
21 Day Fix
The 21 Day Fix is different from any other Beachbody program released in the past. It is a full featured workout program accompanied by a thorough weight loss plan as well. One of the unique features of this program is that it involves no counting of any kind.
3FC
Through their encouragement, we built a weight loss community around all Fat Chicks, so we could support each other. We took their advice on what type of diet features to include, and included every diet - low carb, low fat, Weight Watchers, etc. - so you could easily find something for everyone here.
DeniseAustin
My online diet and fitness program is designed to guide you on how to make smart choices that will improve your mind, body and spirit! It's easy! As a member, you'll receive customized meal and fitness plans that are targeted to help you meet your personal goals.
Eat Right For Your Type
Genetic testing and personalized diets are now quite popular and perhaps nutrition science is catching up with The Blood Type Diet. That's O.K. --we're old hands at it. Dr. D'Adamo's work builds upon theory advanced by his father almost a half-century ago.
Eat Smart
The EatSmart Nutrition Scale is a personal management tool that helps individuals understand the essential nutritional values of the foods they eat.
Eat This, Not That!
The no-diet weight loss solution! Learn thousands of easy food swaps that can save you 10, 20, 30 pounds—or more!
Food Addicts Anonymous
Food Addicts Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who are willing to recover from the disease of food addiction. Sharing our experience, strength, and hope with others allows us to recover from this disease, ONE DAY AT A TIME.
Free Dieting
Diet Blog is all about filtering the best of diet news and advice - and combining it with real-world application and opinion. The whole spectrum is covered - everything from body image to fast food.
Grapefruit Juice Diet
Internet Diet Resources and Information Exchange
Jillian Michaels
You don''t need to be a celebrity or a contestant on the Biggest Loser to get Jillian's help! Her online fitness program will give you the tools you need.
Joy Bauer
Joy's LIFE Diet combines a sound, no-fuss plan for long-lasting, healthy weight management with principles that have helped Joy's clients collectively lose more than 250,000 pounds!
Lose It
Forget about past diet failures, the road to weight loss success starts here. Lose It! helps you make the small, manageable changes that lead to big results.
Meatless Monday
Meatless Monday is a national health campaign to help Americans prevent heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer - four of the leading causes of death in America.
Medifast
Medifast is a portion-controlled, low-calorie weight loss program that helps you lose weight faster and more effectively than traditional diets.
MediterrAsian
MediterrAsian.com shows you why traditional Mediterranean and Asian dietary and lifestyle practices are so health-giving, and provides you with the practical advise to help you follow a similar way of living.
Morning Banana Diet
Give it two weeks. If the Morning Banana Diet doesn’t work for you, then you can move on to another diet, knowing that you haven’t been taking dangerous drugs or supplements, you’ve been eating a natural, nutritious, high fiber food (it’s certainly better than a cookie diet, right?), and you haven’t restricted your diet with extreme food limitations.
My Detox Diet
Welcome to UK's number one Detox Diet and Juice delivery service
MyFoodDiary
We give you the tools you need to lose weight the healthy way. We also recognize that if you are looking for a long-term solution to weight loss, you must make a permanent change to your lifestyle. The good news is that it's easier than you might think.
NutriFit
NutriFit's meal service is the ultimate timesaving, convenient choice, designed to satisfy your nutrition and health needs with extraordinary cuisine.
Nutrio
We believe that every person has the power to make decisions that will allow them to take control of their life and health.
Nutrition Bulletin
The Nutrition Bulletin provides accessible reviews at the cutting edge of research. Read by researchers and nutritionists working in universities and research institutes; public health nutritionists, dieticians and other health professionals; nutritionists, technologists and others in the food industry;
Plant Strong
Lose weight, lower cholesterol, reduce the risk of disease, and become physically fit in just 4 weeks.
SkinnyB
If you can't take one more day of self-loathing, you're ready to hear the truth: You cannot keep shoveling the same crap into your mouth every day and expect to lose weight.
The Daniel Plan
The Daniel Plan is a groundbreaking, healthy lifestyle program where people get better together. With love as the motivation, it’s a story of abundance, not deprivation. Relying on God’s power and the support and encouragement of friends, get ready to be transformed from the inside out.
Whole9
Founded in 2009 by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig, Whole9 is a community focused on health, fitness, balance and sanity, all built on a foundation of real food and healthy nutritional habits. We talk a lot about nutrition on our site and in our workshops, but that’s just one aspect of our program. The ‘9’ in Whole9 comes from these 9 factors, which we believe are all important for optimal health.
Calorie Control Council
"If you're looking for information on cutting calories and fat in your diet, achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, or your favorite low-calorie, reduced-fat foods and beverages (and the ingredients that make them possible)... you've come to the right place!"
CalorieKing
CalorieKing's business is to set the food record straight. We exist to provide facts that generate the Aha! moments that anchor changed thinking about food, and result in sustainable behavior improvements and better health.
Dr.Hyman
As a doctor, it is my job to figure out the best way to keep my patients healthy. We now know that food is medicine, perhaps the most powerful drug on the planet with the power to cause or cure most disease. If food is more than just calories, if food is information that controls every aspect of our biology and health, then I better know what to advise people to prevent, treat and even reverse chronic disease.
OneMoreBite
Identify and eliminate triggers that cause emotional eating and it's easy to lose all the weight you want and never gain it back.
Physicians Committee
The Physicians Committee promotes plant-based diets for good health and disease prevention.
PrecisionNutrition
Precision Nutrition, Inc is a nutrition education and nutrition solutions company devoted to helping people around the world feel fantastic, look incredible, and perform at the top of their game.
SparkPeople
At SparkPeople, our mission is to SPARK millions of PEOPLE to reach their goals and lead healthier lives. We offer nutrition, health, and fitness tools, support, and resources that are 100% free, while other sites like Weight Watchers and eDiets.com charge their members for similar services.
Introducing Stitches!
Your Path to Meaningful Connections in the World of Health and Medicine
Connect, Collaborate, and Engage!
Coming Soon - Stitches, the innovative chat app from the creators of HWN. Join meaningful conversations on health and medical topics. Share text, images, and videos seamlessly. Connect directly within HWN's topic pages and articles.