Paleo diet ranks last on 'best diets' list

[H-KQGE]

I don't know what was going through their minds with this mixed up article. And yet...

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/07/health/best-diets-ranked/

(CNN) -- Followers of the Paleo Diet may go prehistoric on U.S. News & World Report this week. The publication has ranked the controversial diet last on its "Best Diets Overall" list for 2014.
Each year, U.S. News & World Report asks experts to rank various nutrition plans to help consumers make informed decisions. This year the panel evaluated 32 of the most popular diets.

To be top-rated, a diet has to be relatively easy to follow, nutritious, safe, effective for weight loss and protective against diabetes and heart disease.
First popularized in the 1970s, the Paleo Diet asks people to follow a diet similar to those who lived during the Paleolithic era, between 2.6 million and 10,000 years ago. This means eating like hunters and gathers -- consuming lots of produce and animal protein, while avoiding sugar, grains, legumes and dairy altogether.

"If the cavemen didn't eat it, you shouldn't either," U.S. News & World Report summarized.
The diet has gained a significant following in recent years, especially among the CrossFit crowd. "Paleo Diet" was the most searched diet term on Google in 2013.
Being last on the Best Diets list doesn't mean Paleo is the worst diet ever (the "Cookie Diet" didn't even make the list). But U.S. News & World Report's experts said the Paleo Diet was too restrictive for most people to follow long term, and that it limited some essential nutrients. They also cited a lack of research proving the Paleo Diet's cardiovascular health and weight loss benefits in their ranking.
The Paleo Diet tied for last place on the list alongside the Dukan diet, which is also a high-protein, low-carbohydrate approach.

For the fourth year in a row, the DASH Diet Eating Plan was named the best overall diet. DASH, or "Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, was developed by the National Institutes of Health for people with high blood pressure. But it is also effective in lowering cholesterol and reducing a person's risk for heart disease, stroke, kidney stones and diabetes, its website states.

Unlike many diet plans, DASH doesn't cut out or extremely restrict certain foods. Its focus is on limiting daily sodium intake. The meal plan includes three whole-grain products each day, four to six servings of vegetables, four to six servings of fruit, two to four servings of dairy products and several servings each of lean meats and nuts/seeds/legumes.
Food journaling helps with weight loss Healthy eating on a budget
The diet's only downfalls, the expert panel said, are that it takes some "grunt work" to adhere to, and that it may cost more than a diet based on "processed, fatty, sugary foods."

Following DASH on the best overall list was the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes Diet, which also was created by the National Institutes of Health. Next in line were the Mayo Clinic Diet, the Mediterranean Diet and Weight Watchers -- all tied for third place. This is the same as last year's ranking.

U.S. News & World Report also published several other lists, including best weight-loss diets, best diabetes diets, best commercial diet plans and easiest diets to follow.
Weight Watchers topped the best weight-loss, best commercial diet plan and easiest to follow lists. Also high on several lists were the Jenny Craig plan and "The Biggest Loser" plan.
For more, visit U.S. News & World Report's Best Diets Rankings.

...it's on the best diet list. Surely people will search for it just as much this year? I maybe having an early morning "thicko" moment, but is "produce" referring to fruit & vegetables? I just know it's a general term & can be used for all sorts.

The blue parts are hyperlinked in the article, so check that if you want to know what the other stuff is about.

 

[darksai]

Well, they don't really qualify what they mean by "best". The DASH diet basically allows one to gorge on every kind food and eat near non stop throughout the day. It's about 20 "servings" of food. For those that can afford that amount of quality food (with respect to type), and feel better than before (less inflammation from processed food, etc) it's no surprise that might be considered the "best" by some. In contrast, the Paleo diet is about optimal health regardless of how nice any particular food is and it also takes time and real dedication to reap the benefits. Most people are all but horrified at the thought of the implications of giving up grains, dairy and vegetable oil; just those cut out all 99.99% of take away, restaurant and supermarket food combined.

 

[SeekinTruth]

Well, they don't really qualify what they mean by "best". The DASH diet basically allows one to gorge on every kind food and eat near non stop throughout the day. It's about 20 "servings" of food. For those that can afford that amount of quality food (with respect to type), and feel better than before (less inflammation from processed food, etc) it's no surprise that might be considered the "best" by some. In contrast, the Paleo diet is about optimal health regardless of how nice any particular food is and it also takes time and real dedication to reap the benefits. Most people are all but horrified at the thought of the implications of giving up grains, dairy and vegetable oil; just those cut out all 99.99% of take away, restaurant and supermarket food combined.

Not only that, but all those and sugars (pretty much all carbs without the fiber included) are the most addictive foods. Not only the health of the physical body and mental health are negatively affected by these foods, life in its entirety is negatively affected. People are literally addicted to hundreds of detrimental things, and their favorite and most damaging foods are at the top of the list. The vast majority of people live to eat, rather than eating to live. And the only way you can eat to live is to be on a strict Paleo diet, preferably in ketosis. Then you pretty much never think about food other than as something that the body needs -- and pretty much only think of it in terms of nutrition.

No cravings, no feeling famished, no blood sugar and insulin spikes and crashes. Once you're on that train or rather roller coaster, you're going for the ride. Only way around it is to get off the roller coaster.

 

[mcb]

The fact that it's even on this "list" is significant. That it would be bashed by MSM is probably not, or that it would be represented as a "diet." Personally, I think that people looking for ways to keep on doing what they are doing, with the approval of "authorities," should look to something other than Paleo.

 

[whitecoast]

Doesn't it get rated last in a similar article re-published every year? These rags sure haven't done much to curtail paleo's organic expansion throughout people who have brains.

 

[Don Genaro]

Well David Perlmutter just shared a rebuttal written by Dr. Loren Cordain.

I would like to point out a number of crucial flaws in logic along with a total breakdown of the scientific method in these types of artificial, media-generated reports that invalidate any wide sweeping conclusions about diet reached by the popular press, by individual member of the USNWR panel or by USNWR itself.

http://thepaleodiet.com/2014-rebuttal-to-u-s-news-and-world-reports-diet-ratings/

Also, his link to a previous rebuttal: http://thepaleodiet.com/dr-cordains-rebuttal-to-us-news-and-world-report/

As far as I can see, the number 1 diet, the "low salt diet" is great for business: Spend more, eat more...