For the sixth year in a row, the Mediterranean diet can call itself the best diet in the world. This was reported by the US News & World Report. This way of eating won awards in several categories, including “best diet for healthy eating” and “best plant-based diet”.
In two other categories, the Mediterranean diet tied for first place: in the “family-friendly diet” category (shared with “TLC diet” for lowering cholesterol and the flexitarian diet) and in the “healthy for bones and joints” category ( shared with the ‘DASH’ diet for high blood pressure).
What is the Mediterranean Diet?
First of all: diet in this case does not equate with a slimming cure, but with a healthy diet. It scores so high in the ranking, among other things, because it is a feasible and not very restrictive diet.
The Mediterranean diet is best known for its increased focus on fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, seeds, nuts and healthy fats such as olive oil. Butter is avoided, as well as refined foods with a lot of sugars. In this diet you choose fish more often than red meat. You also eat less dairy products and poultry.
A Mediterranean diet is associated with a lower risk of diabetes, high cholesterol, dementia, memory loss, breast cancer, depression and cardiovascular disease.
The US News & World Report emphasizes to the American television network CNN that “Mediterranean” does not necessarily mean that it is only about food that is eaten around the Mediterranean. Asian cuisine can also be part of the Mediterranean diet if you follow the same approach of a lot of vegetable food and few fats.
Other winners and losers
A second place in the ranking for ‘best diet in the world’ is also shared: by the above-mentioned ‘DASH diet’ and the ‘flexitarian diet’. The worst diet is the ‘raw food diet’, where you only eat raw, plant-based and unprocessed food. The popular ‘keto diet’ also scored poorly.
This article first appeared on Metro: https://nl.metrotime.be/lifestyle/dit-het-beste-dieet-ter-wereld