Which Diet is Right for You?

With the aid of health experts, U.S. News has evaluated and ranked 35 diets.  You can find the full article here.  They rated the diets based on several criteria: Short-term weight loss, long-term weight loss, easy-to-follow, nutrition, safety, diabetes health, heart health.

To help you reach your weight-loss goals, your library has resources from three of the top-rated diets.

#1 is the DASH Diet. 

DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.  This diet received the top scores for Safety and Nutrition.  The basic formula of this diet is:

·         Consume potassium, calcium, protein and fiber by eating fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats and low-fat dairy

·         Shun calorie- and fat-laden sweets and red meat

·         Cut back on salt

This diet started as a means to cut high blood pressure, but also works to reduce weight.  That sounds like a win-win.

Follow this link to your library's resources for the DASH diet.

The next two diets tied for #3.

The Mayo Clinic Diet

The first part of this diet is “Lose it!” and it focuses on 15 key habits, some to initiate and some they’ll advise you to stop.  This part restricts sugar except for those found in fruits and vegetables.  

After two weeks, you go into “Live it!”  In this part, you learn how many calories you should eat to either maintain or lose weight.  The good news is that no food group is off limits.  

The Mayo Clinic is a great source for health information.  Take a look at our Mayo Clinic Diet resources.

Weight Watchers Diet

Weight Watchers diet came out as number one for best weight-loss diet, as well as the easiest to follow.  Weight Watchers Points Plus was launched in 2010.  It gives every food a point value.  Choices that fill you up the longest “cost” the least.  You can eat whatever you want as long as you keep within your points target. 

For the most up-to-date information, we subscribe to the Weight Watchers magazine.  We also have several Weight Watchers cookbooks.  You can see what we have here. 

The world of dieting can be confusing.  A good way to get information is at your library.  In this article, we've only listed three diets, but we have information on many more. Come visit your library to find the one that's right for you.