Best Diets for a Healthier You in 2025

So many people talk about “eating healthier” and then go on a fad diet thinking it is good for their health.  A TV personality said he avoids bread and cereal to eat healthier.  But is avoiding any food group a healthy choice?  What does “eating healthy” mean?  In the classes I taught, students always recommended we should “eat healthy”.  But when I asked them what this means they often struggle to come up with specifics.  Are there healthy diets to follow?  A diet not for weight loss or weight gain, but just a healthy eating pattern? Not a “diet” you go on for a week or two but a lifelong way of eating for a healthier you.     

I was watching TV recently and saw the commercial for taking pills to get your fruit and veggies each day.  Rather than take pills, eat your fruit and veggies to eat healthier in 2025.  A popular quote from Hulk Hogan is “Train.  Say your prayers.  Eat your vitamins.”  By “eat your vitamins” he means rely on food for your nutrients, not pills.  

How do you know what a healthy diet is? 

Best Diets for Healthy Eating 2025:  Each year, for the past 15 years, the US News & World Report has evaluated the “Best Diets”.   For 2025, U.S News reviewed and ranked 46 different diets using a panel of health experts. They ranked diets for healthy eating based on: 

• How easy is the diet to follow for the long term?
• Is the diet nutritionally complete? Contains nutrient dense foods from EVERY    FOOD GROUP “including fruits, vegetables, whole grains” and protein.  Diets also need dairy and healthy fats. 
• In any diet, portion control is needed to maintain a healthy weight. 

Overall, the Best Diets for Health promote healthy eating habits, are safe, easy to follow, provide good nutrition, and are best for overall health and fitness.  What do they look for?  The health experts rank diets on several parameters including how nutritious the diet is, how safe it is and whether the diet protects against diseases like diabetes and heart disease.  For 2025 the top spots went to Number One:  The Mediterranean Diet, Number Two:  The DASH diet and three The Flexitarian Diet.      

Diets that ranked as the “Best Diets” for 2025

1.   Mediterranean Diet – This diet gets 4.8 out of a 5-star rating.  In the nutrition classes I taught, we often talked about the Mediterranean Diet and why it is so good for one’s health.  This diet is based on the foods people eat in Greece and other countries around the Mediterranean Sea. Not only is this diet rich in fruits and veggies, in Greece, they lead an active lifestyle.  Many nutritionists and health experts recommend this pattern of healthy eating.  For example, a relative is being treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.  Every doctor she sees recommends the Mediterranean Diet for overall good health. Rather than giving up a food group, this diet recommends foods from each food group – but healthy foods from each group.

·        Why is this diet good for your health?  As U.S. News & World Report notes,

•    Reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke
•    May prevent cognitive decline and dementia
•    Might prevent Type 2 2 diabetes
•    Reduces symptoms, progression of inflammatory and autoimmune conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis

Basically, the Mediterranean diet pattern is good for a healthier you in 2025.  To get started, try the 30-Day Mediterranean Diet Challenge at Eating Well.  Rather than go on a poorly ranked diet like the Whole30 for 30 days, choose to try the Mediterranean Diet for 30 days. 

·   Foods to enjoy:  fruits, vegetables, olive oil, nuts, and fish.  

• Choose low-fat dairy – 2%, 1% or non-fat milk.  Choose low-fat yogurt.  Buy cheese that is made with low fat or skim milk like mozzarella cheese.  Real dairy is so important to your health.  Focus on eating real dairy foods at every meal. You don’t want to cut back on dairy foods on the Mediterranean Diet as you need the calcium and vitamin D real dairy foods provide.
•  Whole grains – as noted in a previous blog (Add some whole grains to your day), so many Americans have few or no whole grains in their day.  Find a way to add whole grains to your daily food intake and to your kid’s diet.  Starting the day with oatmeal or Cheerios is a good way to add whole grains to your day.
• Fruit and Vegetables – 5 A Day is a start.  More than 5 A Day is even healthier. As noted in previous blogs, bring a vegetable or piece of fruit with you for lunch every day.  Simple changes can be oh so good for your health.
•  Nuts – add a handful of nuts a day
• Seafood and fish – aim for 2x a week.
• Olive oil – buy some Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) and use it in cooking.  (See Which cooking oils are healthy?  Which oils are not so healthy?)   Olive oil is a heart healthy oil.

·   Foods to cut back on: red meat, foods with added sugar and foods high in saturated fat.  But you don’t want to cut back too much on red meat as red meat is a great source of iron.  

2.   DASH Diet – this diet stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, thus the acronym, DASH. Although it was designed to help lower blood pressure, the diet is good for your health.  U.S. News & World Report notes the diet is praised for its nutritional completeness, safety, ability to control diabetes, and prevent high blood pressure (hypertension).  The focus on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and real low-fat dairy, loads the diet up with potassium, calcium, protein, and fiber.  These nutrients help lower blood pressure and U.S News terms them “blood pressure-deflating nutrients”.  The DASH diet also lower risk of stroke, reduces inflammation, reduces risk of Type 2 diabetes, obesity, and heart disease as well as improved brain health.  

•       Nutrients – the diet emphasizes nutrients that help lower one’s blood pressure like potassium and calcium.  It encourages more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean protein and dairy – but low-fat dairy products.  Be sure to choose real dairy, not fake dairy.  Real dairy means cow’s milk, yogurt made with cow’s milk and cheese.
• Foods to limit are those higher in saturated fats like fatty meats, full-fat dairy foods, coconut oil, and foods high in salt.  Choose lean cuts of meat to lower saturated fat.  Also, cutting back on added sugar by cutting back on sodas, sports drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages and sweets high in added sugar.
• Cut back on salt in foods by using herbs and spices to flavor your food. 
• Fruit and Veggies – be sure to have at least one serving of fruit or a vegetable at every meal. And don’t count the fast-food French Fries as your veggie serving.
• Exercise – Aim for at least 30 minutes a day.  This could be a 15- minute walk after lunch and a 15- minute walk after dinner. 
• To get more guidance on the DASH diet from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, get a 20 page guide, DASH Eating Plan or a 6 page guide at Lowering Blood Pressure with DASH.  Try some DASH-diet recipes from the Mayo Clinic. 

U.S. News recommends some easy steps to take to start eating the DASH way.  Try one or more of these small steps:

• Add a fruit or vegetable to every meal.  If you already have a vegetable at dinner, add a fruit.
• Aim for 2 meat-free meals a week.  Enjoy some seafood in place of meat.
• Instead of chips, enjoy a handful of nuts like peanuts, cashews, pecans.
• Add some whole grains to your day, like whole wheat bread, a bowl of whole grain cereal. 
• Start taking a 15-minute walk after lunch or after dinner each day.

Although the DASH diet was designed for lowering high blood pressure, it is a good overall pattern of healthy eating.

3.   Flexitarian Diet– In third place is the Flexitarian Diet.  This sounds like it would be a “quack” diet, but it is a diet that emphasizes many healthy foods, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and plant-based protein.  It is a diet that combines vegetarian eating and flexibility.  This diet has been around since 2009 and was popularized by Dawn Jackson Blatner, R.D. in her book, “The Flexitarian Diet: The Mostly Vegetarian Way to Lose Weight, Be Healthier, Prevent Disease and Add Years to Your Life”.  The diet is mostly a vegetarian diet, the flexibility comes in because you can still enjoy a burger, a steak and other meat – but on occasion.  If you are interested in getting started on this diet, try the Beginner’s Guide. 

·  You ADD these foods to your diet:

•   Plant-based protein and eggs = tofu, beans, lentils, peas, nuts, eggs and seeds.
•   Fruit – all kinds
•   Vegetables
•   Whole grains – including brown rice, Quinoa, oats, buckwheat, barley
•   Herbs and spices – spices are super healthy so a good addition to any diet,
•   Oil – olive oil
•   Protein – emphasis on fish and poultry
•   Dairy – real dairy milk

· Foods to cut back on:  red meat, fried and fast food, butter, stick margarine (choose tub margarine) and foods with added sugar like sweets and soft drinks.

In conclusion, embarking on a healthier eating journey doesn’t mean jumping on the latest fad diet bandwagon.  Instead, it involves embracing a balanced and sustainable approach to nutrition.  The Mediterranean, DASH and Flexitarian diets are not just about weight management; they are about fostering long-term healthy eating habits.  These diets emphasize the importance of consuming a variety of nutrient-rich foods, maintaining portion control, and avoiding excessive intake of unhealthy foods.

I once had a student that followed my recommendation to eat at least 5 fruits and veggies a day.  After a few weeks, he said he lost 15 pounds.  When I asked what he did to lose this weight, he said he was so full from eating the 5 fruits and veggies a day that he did not have room for all the unhealthy snacks he used to eat.  Another student started following the Mediterranean Diet pattern of eating.  She said she had more energy and just “felt better”. 

Adopting any of these well-researched and highly recommended dietary patterns can lead to significant health benefits, such as reduced risk of chronic diseases, improved mental health, and overall better well-being.  By choosing to follow one of these diets, you are not just making a temporary change, but committing to a lifelong path of better health.  Remember, the key to healthy eating is no about restriction, but about enjoying a variety of food in moderation.  Here is to a healthy and happier you in 2025 and beyond!  

 

Sources: quote  , Best Diets for Healthy Eating 2025 ,  US News & World Report , Best Diets , Mediterranean Diet , Beginner’s Guide , notes , cognitive decline , autoimmune conditions , Eating Well , mozzarella cheese , dairy foods , Add some whole grains to your day , Which cooking oils are healthy?  Which oils are not so healthy? , DASH Diet , diet , DASH Eating Plan , Lowering Blood Pressure with DASH , DASH-diet recipes , Flexitarian Diet , Beginner’s Guide Image Sources:  Best Diets   , Mediterranean Diet , DASH diet