As the glow of the resolution season wears off, you probably have several goals you want to achieve this year. Chances are healthy eating, shedding a few pounds, and exercising more are at the top of your resolutions.
Studies show that only around 8% of people successfully achieve their resolutions. One way you can be among them is by being on top of the latest diet trends that are out there. To propel you toward your goals, we’ve prepared a list of the top 5 diets you should try this year.
5 Most Popular Diets of 2023
Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting (IF) is among the most popular health trends globally. This is not a diet per se but a program that involves alternating between periods of fasting and eating. One major reason intermittent fasting is trending is that it does not specify or limit you to certain foods. Instead, it’s more concerned about when you eat.
Another reason for its growing popularity is the different methods of doing it. Simply put, there is an intermittent fasting approach for everyone’s goals, personalities, and schedules. Whether you work from home or the office, are trying to lose weight or improve general health, there is a sustainable intermittent fasting approach for your needs.
Intermittent fasting is good for you so long as you’re not pregnant, trying to get pregnant, diabetic, or a person with a history of eating disorders. Several studies suggest that intermittent fasting may help lose weight, reduce insulin resistance, fight inflammation, and promote heart health, among other benefits.
Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean diet is inspired by the authentic eating habits of the people who live near the Mediterranean. We’re talking about the coastal villages and towns in countries like Spain, Turkey, Greece, Morocco, and Italy.
The Mediterranean diet was created by Ancel Keys (physiologist) and Margaret Keys (biochemist) in 1952. This was after realizing that people living in these regions were among the healthiest in the world after surveys of blood pressure and blood cholesterol.
This healthy diet involves abundant plant-based foods, mainly whole grains, fruits, legumes, vegetables, seeds, nuts, herbs, and spices. It also includes animal products, such as cheese, yogurt, fish, poultry, and red meat, which are taken in low to moderate amounts only a few times per week. Oh, yes- the Mediterranean also includes cooking with extra-virgin olive oil and drinking red wine.
Switching gear to its benefits, there is scientific evidence that the Mediterranean diet promotes heart health, fat loss, and healthy aging. Its ability to speed up muscle growth makes it an excellent addition to your full-body workouts for developing strength and stamina too.
The Nordic Diet
Another increasingly popular diet regimen, the Nordic diet, is currently touted as the next Mediterranean diet. The two are similar, only that the Nordic diet reflects the cooking habits of the Scandinavian countries, particularly Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark.
The Scandinavian diet is based on seasonal, organic, and sustainably local foods. Like the Mediterranean diet, this regimen is mainly plant-based and heavily focuses on whole grains, vegetables, legumes, fruits, berries, low-fat dairy, nuts, herbs, seeds, fish, and seafood. Cheese, yogurt, game meats, and eggs are eaten in moderation, while animal fats and red meats are consumed occasionally. Instead of olive oil, the Nordic diet involves cooking with canola oil.
Eating nomadic has a long list of potential benefits, including reduced inflammation, lower cholesterol, weight loss, and reduced risk of diabetes type 2, cancer, and heart diseases.
The Flexitarian Diet
The flexitarian diet is a marriage between two lifestyles: veganism and vegetarianism. People who follow a vegan diet avoid all animal products, including honey (for some). On the other hand, vegetarianism is a plant-based diet that excludes all types of meat but allows honey, eggs, and dairy.
Flexitarianism falls between these two lifestyles. This is a plant-based diet that occasionally adds meat and other animal products. It was created by Dawn Jackson Blatner in 2009 for individuals who want to enjoy the countless health benefits of plant-based foods while still being able to enjoy hotdogs and hamburgers from time to time.
On top of its flexibility aspect, the flexibility diet is a potential solution for eco-conscious folks. It helps lower their carbon footprint by decreasing meat consumption in favor of plant-based protein sources.
Because it straddles veganism and vegetarianism, the flexitarian diet may help promote heart health, manage weight, prevent and manage diabetes, and reduce cancer risk.
The DASH Diet
DASH is an abbreviation for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. Despite its eye-catching name, the DASH diet is not a special diet but a focus on healthy eating and modifying your lifestyle.
The rise of the DASH diet is the need to tackle the ever-increasing risk of hypertension. Hypertension (or high blood pressure) is a life-threatening, long-term medical condition in which the pressure of the blood circulating in the arteries is persistently elevated. Nicknamed the silent killer by the World Health Organization, hypertension often leads to heart failure, heart attack, and sudden death due to irregular heartbeats if left untreated.
So, what does the DASH diet do? This regimen involves making a few dietary modifications to treat or lower the risk of hypertension and heart disease. If you decide to DASH, your diet will mainly focus on whole grains, fruits, vegetables, poultry, fish, nuts, low-fat dairy foods, and beans. It also encourages you to increase your potassium, magnesium, and calcium intake while reducing your intake of salt, sugar, red meat, and fat.
Does the DASH diet work? Controlled trials show that this healthy eating plan can lower blood pressure within two weeks. Although it’s designed for HBP, the DASH diet may also offer other health benefits as added perks. These include losing weight, lowering diabetes risk, decreasing cancer risk, and reducing heart disease risk.
Conclusion
That’s it for the top dietary trends for 2023. We should emphasize that this post is just a general information resource. It shouldn’t be taken as clinical advice. If you’re planning to make major changes in your diet, more so if you have a medical condition or are taking medication, ensure you discuss it with your healthcare provider.