The award-winning Mediterranean diet has done it again, capturing 2025\u2019s \u201cbest of the best\u201d award from U.S. News & World Report, which puts out a yearly list of the most and least beneficial diets as ranked by nutrition professionals. <\/p>\n
Related article<\/span> Mediterranean diet: How to start (and stay on) one of the world\u2019s healthiest diets<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Mediterranean diet \u2014 which is more of a lifestyle than a diet \u2014 has won top honors since 2019 for its focus on eating fruits, vegetables, grains, olive oil, and nuts and seeds while emphasizing the importance of meals with family and friends and daily exercise. The diet also slashes consumption of sweets and recommends small amounts of dairy and meat, especially red meat. Fish, however, is a staple, especially fatty fish such as sardines. <\/p>\n In past years, the report has ranked diets from No. 1 to No. 40 or so, with the top-ranked diet winning the proverbial gold medal, so to speak, while judges banned diets at the bottom of the list from any proximity to the award podium. <\/p>\n \u201cThere would be this long list of diets with a whole bunch at the bottom, which, frankly, no one should be really paying attention to for the most part,\u201d said Gretel Schueller, managing editor of health for U.S. News & World Report, who oversees <\/strong>the annual diet rankings. <\/p>\n This year, however, the best diet report takes a different approach, asking nutritional judges to give diets up to five stars, much like the consumer rating systems on many commercial platforms such as Amazon. <\/p>\n Related article<\/span> This diet with exercise reduces dangerous belly fat and more, study says<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cPretty much any product or item you\u2019re looking at these days seems to get rated on a five-star scale,\u201d Schueller said. \u201cWe believe this new approach allows people more choice and a more personalized experience as they consider their health priorities and eating goals.\u201d <\/p>\n Using this new system, the trio of Mediterranean, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, or DASH, and the flexitarian diets each received 4-plus stars as the best overall diets, the best healthy eating diets and the easiest diets to follow. <\/p>\n The DASH diet emphasizes limiting salt intake in its goal to reduce blood pressure, while the flexitarian diet, true to its name, allows an occasional indulgence of meat or poultry in its vegetarian approach. All are plant-based diets that suggest limiting refined, ultraprocessed foods, red meat and added sugars. <\/p>\n The 2025 report has also included new rankings for diets designed to help chronic conditions such as arthritis, diverticulitis, fatty liver disease and irritable bowel syndrome, or stages of life such as menopause. <\/p>\n Some medical associations do recommend specific diets \u2014 the American Heart Association ranks the DASH diet as highest for heart health, as it is 100% aligned with AHA goals for heart-healthy eating. In the new best diet report by U.S. News & World Report, the DASH diet won top ranking (4.9 stars) for both heart health and blood pressure control. <\/p>\n Related article<\/span> This type of plant-based diet helps battle diabetes and weight gain, study says<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n However, other professional medical groups do not promote specific diets, preferring to focus on a more personalized approach. Take the \u201cmenopause diet,\u201d which earned 4.6 stars from the report\u2019s judges. <\/p>\n \u201cThere is no such thing as a \u2018menopause diet\u2019 \u2014 the only diet shown to help with hot flashes is a whole food, plant-based diet low in oil and high in soy,\u201d said Dr. Stephanie Faubion, director of the Mayo Clinic\u2019s Center for Women\u2019s Health in Jacksonville, Florida, and medical director for the Menopause Society. <\/p>\n While Faubion agreed with some of menopause diet\u2019s recommendations \u2014 such as not eating close to bedtime \u2014 she took exception with U.S. News & World Report\u2019s callout to Nutrisystem\u2019s for-profit menopause diet. <\/p>\n \u201cPersonally, as a menopause doctor and a scientist, I would not suggest my patients rely on a paid diet for menopause,\u201d Faubion said in an email. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t help people understand what they should be doing long term but relies on someone to put it in front of them, which isn\u2019t sustainable.\u201d <\/p>\n Many of the new diet categories in the report revolved around digestive health and diets that claim to reduce inflammation for conditions such as arthritis and gout. <\/p>\n \u201cHowever, most people with autoimmune, inflammatory forms of arthritis and many with gout require medications to slow or stop the disease from progressing.\u201d <\/p>\n Related video<\/span> Americans love ultraprocessed foods. Science wants to know why<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n People with digestive issues should not use the U.S. News & World Report rankings to decide on their diet without first having a thorough discussion with their attending physician, said Dr. Jes\u00fas Lu\u00e9vano Jr., an assistant professor of gastroenterology at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. <\/p>\n \u201cMy concern is that people may look at these rankings and then assume that because it\u2019s done by nutrition experts it\u2019s the be-all, end-all, and therefore don\u2019t have productive conversations with their physicians who can really help focus on the best foods for them,\u201d said Lu\u00e9vano, who is also a spokesperson for the American Gastroenterological Association. \u201cYou have to do the homework, such as keeping a food diary of what you\u2019re eating, and then work with your doctor to decide what might be the best approach for your specific issue,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n For fatty liver disease, inflammation and overall gut health, the Mediterranean diet received four-plus star ratings, according to the report. For diverticulitis, a disease in which large bulging pouches in the large intestine and colon create significant pain, judges gave the Mediterranean diet a 3.7 rating. <\/p>\n \u201cFor fatty liver and gallbladder disease, we do recommend low-fat diets and the Mediterranean diet, as a diet with leaner meats and healthier fats has been shown to be beneficial,\u201d Lu\u00e9vano said. <\/p>\n For irritable bowel syndrome, judges gave the low FODMAP diet 4.8 stars. The diet, developed in Australia, focuses on reducing foods and carbs that ferment and create extra water in the bowels, which can cause cramping, pain and diarrhea. <\/p>\n The FODMAP acronym stands for foods that fermentable; oligosaccharides, which are sugar molecule chains; disaccharides, such as lactose; monosaccharides such as fructose; and polyols, which are sugar alcohols, such as sorbitol and erythritol. <\/p>\n Related article<\/span> Do digestive enzyme supplements really work? Experts weigh in<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cBecause there are so many subtypes of (irritable bowel syndrome), that is probably the best example of where diet really should be individualized for each patient,\u201d Lu\u00e9vano said. \u201cIf a patient tried to avoid every single item on the most comprehensive FODMAP list, they might eliminate common fruits such as apples and pears and certain grains that might actually be helpful. <\/p>\n \u201cThere needs to be careful discussion with their physician and a nutritionist because every patient has his or her unique food triggers,\u201d he added. \u201cWe need to see if we remove this one, does it really help you with your symptoms?\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The award-winning Mediterranean diet has done it again, capturing 2025\u2019s \u201cbest of the best\u201d award…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1822,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elderwoodwellness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elderwoodwellness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elderwoodwellness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elderwoodwellness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elderwoodwellness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/elderwoodwellness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elderwoodwellness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elderwoodwellness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elderwoodwellness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elderwoodwellness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} Ranking diets for health conditions<\/h3>\n
Consult your doctor about diets<\/h3>\n
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