Which Diet Plan Are People Most Likely To Try? - Health Digest Survey
Diets these days offer plans for every lifestyle. There's the classic Weight Watchers plan, now simply referred to as WW, which was ranked fifth by U.S. News and World Report on the list of best diets for 2022. You can also opt for the ketogenic diet, which relies on high fat and low carbs to encourage your body to burn fat as its main source of energy (via Healthline). If you don't want to watch what you eat, you can try intermittent fasting. This diet plan helps you lose weight by fasting for a given number of hours a day so that your body switches from sugar to fat as its main source of fuel (via Johns Hopkins Medicine).
Other diet plans are more focused on health than losing weight. The plant-based diet isn't necessarily vegetarian, but it focuses on food from plants as the main source of energy (via Harvard Medical School). The Mediterranean Diet is plant-based, but it encourages healthy fat from olive oil and moderate amounts of seafood, dairy, and poultry (via Mayo Clinic). The DASH diet, which stands for Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension, has been shown to lower blood pressure by cutting down on sodium, sugar, saturated fats, and trans fats (via WebMD). In our exclusive Health Digest survey, we found out which diet readers are most likely to try.
High fat, low carb is preferred the most
Out of 583 responses, 25% of our survey participants chose the keto diet. According to Healthline, this diet limits your carb intake to up to 50 grams per day. You're also encouraged to eat a moderate amount of protein, as your body can convert protein to glucose. By limiting your carbs, your body enters ketosis, where the liver turns fat into ketones to fuel the brain.
By a slim margin, 24% of our respondents chose the heart-healthy Mediterranean Diet. Although this diet plan doesn't set specific limits for certain foods, it suggests cutting back on red meats and sweets (via the Mayo Clinic). Intermittent fasting was the third most popular choice, garnering almost 19% of the votes. This diet plan has more options for food choices, and you can choose how many hours per day you want to fast. You can also choose intermittent fasting two days a week, where you might limit yourself to one meal (via Johns Hopkins Medicine).
The plant-based diet was the fourth choice, with 17% of respondents considering adding more plants and fewer animal products to their plates. The WW diet plan was cited by 11% of the respondents, and the DASH diet was the favorite of just 3% of our survey participants.