The best and worst diets of 2019

Karen Inge shared her opinion on some of the most popular diets of 2019.

Here they are, ranked from worst to best, according to the ranking assigned to them by the Healthy Food Guide.

Mono diet

Healthy Food Guide rating: 0/10

“It’s just eating one particular food, like one fruit or vegetable,” Karen said

Karen says this one is popular with celebrities, but get’s the lowest rating of all!

Keto diet

Healthy Food Guide rating: 2/10

“This is an ultra low carbohydrate diet that promises rapid weight loss. It’s really taking out all the breads, fruits, starchy vegetables, other grain foods, legumes out of the diet. It’s been shown scientifically to help children with epilepsy, but for the general population cutting all of those carbohydrate rich foods that are high in fibre is not good for the microbiome and not good for digestive health,” Karen said.

CICO diet

Healthy Food Guide rating: 4/10

The CICO diet is a new name for an old diet.

“It’s the calorie controlled diet that we’ve used for years and years,” Karen said.

“It’s calories in versus calories out. It’s not a new thing.”

This diet gets a poor rating because those following the diet can essentially eat whatever they like.

“You could eat all your calories on chocolate if you wanted to,” Karen said.

Fast 800

Healthy Food Guide rating: 6/10

Michael Mosely came up with this more extreme fasting diet.

“It’s an intensive 12 week diet which combines the Mediterranean style of eating but with just 800 calories a day. That has been shown to help you lose weight but it is very restrictive,” Karen said.

The Fast 800 diet’s Healthy Food Guide rating was brought down because it’s so difficult to follow.

“People really can’t seem to follow it for the long term,” Karen said.

16/8 diet

Healthy Food Guide rating: 7/10 (but Karen gives it an 8 or 9)

This is a less extreme fasting diet.

“It’s the one where you control how much you eat by the hours, so you restrict your eating to eight hours a day and fast for 16,” Karen said.

“There’s a whole body of evidence showing intermittent fasting can be beneficial for people with diabetes and also can help with neuro-degenerative diseases, so particularly for the brain.

“It’s got a ranking of 7 out of 10 because, for a lot of people, they just can’t function when they’re fasting for that length of time.”

If you can’t handle fasting for 16 hours Karen recommends trying the 5/2 diet instead.

Vegan

Healthy Food Guide rating: 8/10

Veganism can be a very healthy way of eating, but it isn’t really a diet.

“It’s really a way of life,” Karen said.

“It get’s a big A+ as long as you’re a well-balanced vegan!”

Nordic diet

Healthy Food Guide rating: 9/10

The Nordic diet is similar to the Mediterranean diet, so is a great option for those who prefer Nordic dishes to Mediterranean ones!

“That’s really beautiful plant foods, wholegrains, legumes and seafood,” Karen said.

Flexitarian

Healthy Food Guide rating: 10/10

“It’s mostly plant based eating but you include meat and fish every now and then. It’s really known as flexible vegetarianism in a way, it’s sort of moving more towards plant eating. This really has benefits for every aspect of health,” Karen Inge said.

“Studies looking at this style of eating have found it has a positive effect on metabolic health, reduced risk of type two diabetes, and on body weight, but it’s also delicious!”

Karen follows this style of eating herself!

Press PLAY below to listen to Karen Inge’s full segment.