Crystal Hann
health WISE
Crystal Han is a freelance writer and artist. She graduated from San José State
University with a BFA in Animation/Illustration and is an aspiring novelist, currently
working on two books.
Getting the Skinny on Popular Diet Trends
Each year, about 45 million Americans will go on some type of diet. With so many diets out there claiming to be the
best it can be stressful trying to find one that’s right for you. Here is a list of some of the most popular diet trends of
2020 and how they rank in terms of maintainability and overall healthfulness.
Keto
The Ketogenic diet has amassed a cult
following that swears by its weight loss
results. It promotes a diet that is seventy
percent fat, twenty percent protein, and
ten or fewer percent carbs. This causes
the body to switch from using carbs as
its primary fuel source to fat, which is
how the rapid weight loss happens.
The Keto diet was ranked last in
terms of health. This is mainly because
it goes against everything we know
about long-term health, and the strict-
ness of this diet is hard to maintain for
more than a few months.
Paleo
The Paleo diet is designed to mimic the
eating behaviors of our hunter-gatherer
days by promoting whole or minimally
processed foods. Its main staples are
meats—preferably organic or grassfed—
fish, eggs, fruits, vegetables, raw dairy,
and certain vegetable oils like coconut
oil or extra virgin olive oil. It excludes
grains, gluten, corn, processed foods,
added sugars and artificial sweeteners.
The severe reduction of carbs helps
promote weight loss quickly and can
lower the risk of diabetes and heart dis-
ease. However, it ranked low in terms
of health because eliminating whole
food groups deprives the body of key
nutrients. Like keto, it’s hard to main-
tain long-term.
Whole30
This diet is basically an ultra-strict ver-
sion of Paleo. It’s a month-long program
that follows the same rules of Paleo; ex-
cept, while Paleo allows natural sugars
like honey and maple syrup, Whole30
doesn’t allow any. After the thirty days
you’re allowed to slowly reintroduce
restricted foods back into your diet one
at a time to test your tolerance to them.
The foods that don’t give you trouble
can be added back into your routine.
Whole30 shares a lot of Paleo’s
shortcomings. It ranks slightly higher
than Paleo because you can eventually
add foods back into your normal diet,
whereas Paleo stays the same in terms
of strictness.
Plant-Based Diets
There’s been a huge movement to-
wards diets that are more plant based
in nature. Among these, the diets that
ranked as the top three healthiest for a
second year in a row are the Flexitarian
diet, the DASH diet, and the Mediter-
ranean diet. All three of these diets pro-
mote nutrient dense foods like fruits,
vegetables, whole grains, olive oil, lean
meats like fish and poultry, and plant
proteins such as nuts, legumes, seeds,
and tofu. There are numerous studies
that have shown that these diets are
the most effective at preventing chronic
diseases like heart disease and Type 2
diabetes, as well as reducing inflamma-
tion, improving insulin function, and
reducing your overall body mass index.
In third place, the Flexitarian diet,
often called “semi-vegetarian”, includes
meat some days of the week, but not
Sources:
Walsh, Karla, “The 7 Best Diet Trends of
2019, According to Dietitians”, Eat This,
Not That!, eatthis.com/best-diet-trends-year/
Groth, Leah, “The Best (and Worst) Diets of
2020, According to Experts”, Health.com/
nutrition/best-and-worst-diets-2020
Migala, Jessica, “U.S. News & World
Report’s Best and Worst Diets of 2020”,
Everyday Health, everydayhealth.com/diet-
and-nutrition/diet/us-news-best-diet-plans-
mediterranean-dash-more/
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
SPRING 2020
every day. The lack of all-or-nothing
rules makes it easy for people who
want to eat healthier but don’t want to
give up meat.
Coming in second, the DASH diet
is specifically designed to reduce or
prevent high blood pressure. It’s a little
more regimented because it has sodium
guidelines that you have to stick to.
Closely following the DASH diet has
been shown to lower a person’s risk of
developing stroke by twelve percent.
And in our number one spot, we
have the Mediterranean diet. This diet
is the reigning champion because it’s
really more of a lifestyle than an exact
eating plan. Nothing is entirely off the
table. Like its runners up, it encour-
ages mostly plant-based foods and
opting for fresh fruits rather than des-
serts. However you can enjoy anything
from wine, red meat, to dessert, as
long as it’s done in moderation. The
Mediterranean diet isn’t just about
food either. It also encourages regular
exercise and enjoying your meals with
family and friends, all of which can
help decrease stress and make life more
enjoyable. What’s more, a large-scale
review in the Journal of Circulation
Research called the evidence for this
diet’s ability to decrease the risk of
heart disease and stroke “large, strong,
and consistent”.
The best diet choice for you largely
depends on what your goal is. If you
want to shed pounds fast then Keto,
Whole30, or Paleo are the most help-
ful. However, much like the tale of the
tortoise and the hare, the slow and
steady methods of plant based diets are
the winners. Time and again, the rank-
ings show that the best diets are the
ones you can see yourself maintaining
for years, not months.
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