U.S. NEWS 2025 BEST DIET RANKINGS
It’s that time of year again! I’m sharing the latest list of top diets according to U.S. News—a tradition I’ve kept up for eight years now. Below are highlights from their newly updated article, published online on March 19, 2025, by Johna Burdeos, RD, LD, titled U.S. News Reveals the 2025 Best Diets.
Best Diets Overall 2025
If your goal is to manage your weight long-term and eat healthfully, try one of these science-backed diets that work. Each earns top marks from our panel of leading medical and nutritional experts specializing in diabetes, heart health, and weight loss. Our panelists evaluated each diet plan for nutritional completeness, health risks and benefits, long-term sustainability, and evidence-based effectiveness. They also considered each diet’s strengths and weaknesses and the specific goals each diet might be most effective at addressing. The result is our list of best diets for 2025.
With so many diets claiming to improve health, it’s easy to feel confused. How can you tell the difference between fads and diets that really work?
The best diets aren’t just about quick weight loss. These diets also provide the nutrients your body needs. Evidence has proven these diets to be effective at lowering your risk for diseases like heart disease and cancer. While changing old habitswill likely be difficult initially, the best diets are sustainable. How do you know which diets fit these goals?
Key Takeaways
- The best overall diets include a variety of nutrient-dense foods that provide essential carbohydrates, protein, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals.
- These diets are evidenced-based, promote health benefits, reduce disease risks and focus on high-fiber, nutrient-rich and antioxidant-packed foods.
- Flexible and sustainable, they offer guidance on what to eat more of and what to limit and can be adapted to personal preference.
Nutritional Completeness
The best diets are nutritionally complete and include carbohydrates, fat, protein, vitamins and minerals, each of which plays a vital role in bodily functions.
Carbs are the body’s primary fuel source, and nutritionally complete diets focus on high-fiber carbs. Fiber encourages bowel health, lowers cholesterol and controls blood sugar. Fiber also helps you feel full, which can aid in weight management.
Fiber-containing foods include whole grains like barley and oats, legumes such as beans and lentils, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Many of these foods offer more than just fiber. For example, fruits provide vitamin C and potassium while legumes are a good source of plant protein, B vitamins and iron.
Protein is needed to build and maintain your bones, muscles and skin. Most Americans get enough protein from animal sources like meat, chicken and eggs. However, the best overall diets emphasize various protein sources, including seafood and plant-based proteins such as beans and soy foods. Protein foods also offer other nutrients, like magnesium and zinc.
Your body also needs fat for energy and to absorb vitamins. Healthy fats, like omega-3 and monounsaturated fats, which support heart health, are part of the best overall diets. Examples of omega-3 fat food sources include fatty fish like salmon and sardines, walnuts and flaxseeds. Monounsaturated fat-rich foods include avocados, nuts, and olive oil.
Health Benefits and Risks
In addition to being nutritionally complete, the best diets offer significant health benefits and help lower disease risk. For example, high-fiber diets improve gut health and regularity, which reduces your risk of colon cancer and diverticular disease. Soluble fiber, specifically, can lower cholesterol levels. High-fiber diets are also linked to a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and certain cancers. Diets that boast plentiful high-fiber foods are also linked with better immune function.
Balanced diets that emphasize diverse protein sources naturally include fiber-rich plant-based proteins like beans, edamame and lentils. At the same time, these diets limit foods that raise disease risk, such as saturated fats in fatty meats, butter and lard, and the trans fats found in fried foods and snacks like cookies and pastries. Both saturated and trans fats can raise low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or “bad” cholesterol, which increases the risk of stroke or heart attack.
The best overall diets help reduce inflammation, a primary culprit of chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and arthritis. Weight loss itself is effective for combatting inflammation. Diets that support weight loss while emphasizing nutritious, antioxidant-rich foods can be especially beneficial. These diets also recommend limiting inflammation-promoting foods such as soda, sweets, refined carbs and saturated and trans fats.
Proven and Sustainable
Proven and sustainable diets are the best overall. These diets are supported by a large body of evidence that shows they protect against chronic diseases and promote a long, healthy life. Research shows that people worldwide who live healthy lives focus on nutrient-rich foods like fruits, vegetables and healthy fats.
The best diets provide clear guidelines on what to eat more of and what to limit while allowing flexibility and avoiding strict restrictions. For example, they encourage a variety of fruits or protein foods without limiting you to specific ones. They may also recommend portion sizes with reasonable ranges, promoting a balance of food groups to meet your nutrient needs.
These diets can be tailored to suit your personal preferences, including flavors, cultural cuisines and budget. Because these diets are adaptable, they are more sustainable in the long run and less likely to promote a rigid eating approach.
Best Diets List
Mediterranean Diet
4.8
The Mediterranean diet focuses on quality and lifestyle rather than a single nutrient or food group. Numerous studies have shown that this dietary model reduces the risk of certain chronic health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes, while promoting longevity and improving quality of life. Read More
DASH Diet 4.6
The heart-healthy DASH diet is a flexible and balanced eating plan developed by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Learn more about what the DASH diet is and its role in reducing blood pressure and the risk of heart disease, along with its pros and cons and what you need to buy at the grocery store. Read More
Flexitarian Diet 4.5
With a flexitarian diet, also known as a semi-vegetarian diet, you don’t have to completely eliminate meat to reap the health benefits associated with vegetarianism. Instead, you can be a vegetarian most of the time, but still enjoy a burger or steak on special occasions. Read More
MIND Diet 4.4
The MIND diet, which stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay, takes two proven diets – DASH and Mediterranean – and zeroes in on the foods that improve brain health to potentially lower your risk of mental decline. Read More
Mayo Clinic Diet 4.0
Using evidence-based behavioral science, the Mayo Clinic diet is a 12-week program designed to establish healthy habits for life. Read More
TLC Diet 3.9
The TLC (Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes) diet calls for eating plenty of vegetables, fruits, bread, cereals and lean meats. The guidelines are broad enough that you’ll have a lot of latitude with what you eat. Read More
Menopause Diet 3.7
Hormones fluctuate during midlife causing weight gain and unpleasant side effects for many women. Here’s the best diet plan for menopause and everything you need to know to mitigate symptoms and weight gain. Read More
Dr. Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Diet 3.6
For those seeking a balanced diet that may decrease inflammation and improve overall well-being, Dr. Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory diet is a good fit. It focuses on unprocessed foods, lean proteins, healthy fats, fruits and vegetables. Read More
Volumetrics Diet 3.6
The volumetrics diet categorizes food into four groups based on its caloric density. The volumetrics diet emphasizes eating nutrient-dense, low-calorie foods, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy. Read More
Cleveland Clinic Diet 3.5
The Cleveland Clinic, recognized as a leader in heart health, has launched a diet app designed to optimize wellness, weight loss and heart health. Read More
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