Diet and health conditions
It’s probably no surprise that what we eat can impact our health. A diet high in fat, sugar and salt can contribute to conditions like high blood pressure, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The good news? Consuming nutrient-rich foods and beverages may help you prevent or improve these conditions and maintain a healthier weight.1 If you’re looking to change your eating habits, here are some common diet plans to consider, plus guidance on choosing a plan that may be right for you.
Is a diet plan right for me?
If you’re interested in trying a diet plan, a first step is to check in with yourself about why you want to start a diet plan. Are you looking to lose weight? Do you want to eat a heart-healthier diet because heart disease runs in your family? Understanding why you want to make a change can help you focus on your goals and stay motivated.1 This can also be a good starting point for having a conversation with your primary care provider (PCP). They can help you find the right diet plan to safely support your health goals.
Mediterranean diet
The Mediterranean diet is modeled after the traditional flavors and cooking methods of people who live in the Mediterranean region, in countries such as Greece and Italy. A variety of studies have linked the Mediterranean way of eating to lower risk factors for heart disease. The Mediterranean diet is widely recognized by nutrition experts and health organizations as a heart-healthy eating plan.3
The Mediterranean diet generally follows these guidelines:3
- Eat mostly plants. Build meals around vegetables, fruits, herbs, nuts, beans and whole grains.
- Limit red meat. Instead, eat poultry and healthy fish like fresh or water-packed tuna, trout, salmon, mackerel and herring.
- Enjoy dairy in moderation. Choose options like skim or 1% milk, low-fat yogurt and low-fat cottage cheese. Limit dairy like cheese, butter and ice cream.
- Cook with (and eat) healthy fats. Unsaturated fats like olive oil, canola oil and sunflower oil offer a healthier alternative to cooking than saturated fats like butter. At the table, consider using nut or seed spreads on bread instead of butter or margarine.
- Snack healthy with nuts. Try to eat 4 servings of raw, unsalted nuts each week. One serving is a ¼ cup.
- Choose spices instead of salt. Adding flavor to meals with herbs and spices can help reduce the amount of salt you add to foods.
- Limit sugar and alcohol. Keep sugary treats and foods with added sugar to a minimum. Wine in moderation can be OK, but if you don’t drink alcohol, don’t start. Studies are mixed on the health benefits of small amounts of alcohol. Talk to your doctor to figure out the right amount (if any) for you.
Think of the Mediterranean diet as more of a lifestyle. In addition to heart-healthy meals and recipes, the Mediterranean diet also recommends regular exercise and sharing meals with family and friends.3
DASH diet
The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet is a flexible, balanced, heart-healthy eating plan designed to help prevent or treat hypertension (high blood pressure).4 It was developed by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Studies have shown it can lower blood pressure, improve cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke.4, 5, 6 Research has found the DASH diet may also lower your risk of colon cancer and breast cancer.6
The DASH eating plan focuses on meeting nutritional goals based on your daily calorie needs. The DASH diet includes heart-healthy meals and recipes with foods rich in the minerals potassium, calcium and magnesium. The diet follows these guidelines:5, 7
- Eat lots of vegetables, fruits and whole grains. These food groups should make up the largest parts of your daily diet. Aim for 4 to 5 servings of vegetables and fruits per day, and 6 to 8 servings of whole grains.
- Enjoy low-fat or fat-free dairy. Eat 2 to 3 servings per day. Examples include 1 cup of milk or yogurt or 1½ ounces of cheese.
- Choose lean meats, poultry and fish. You can have up to six 1-ounce servings per day. This could be 1 ounce of cooked meat (about the size of a matchbox), or 1 egg also counts as a serving.
- Limit fats and oils. This includes things like mayonnaise (1 tablespoon serving size), vegetable oil (1 teaspoon serving size) and salad dressing (2 tablespoons serving size). Limit to 2 or 3 servings per day.
- Reduce your sodium. Keep your sodium intake to 2,300 milligrams per day. There’s also a lower-sodium version of DASH that aims for 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day.
- Enjoy certain foods weekly rather than daily. This includes nuts, seeds, dry beans and peas (4 to 5 servings per week) and sweets (5 servings or less per week).
Serving size recommendations are based on a 2,000-calorie daily diet. Find recommended serving sizes and dietary guidance based on your daily calorie needs.
Keto diet
The ketogenic, or keto, diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet. Its goal is to help with weight loss by reducing body fat and improving metabolism. The keto diet may help with conditions like obesity and type 2 diabetes.8, 9
Keto diet meals are about 60% fat, 30% protein and 10% carbohydrates. This makes your body go into ketosis, which means it burns body fat for fuel instead of carbohydrates. Ketosis can speed up your metabolism, decrease your hunger, increase your muscle mass and improve your blood pressure. Because the keto diet burns fat rather than storing it, the diet typically supports weight loss.8, 9
The keto diet focuses on eating fat, with some protein and minimal carbohydrates. This includes foods like:9
- High-quality red meat, chicken and turkey
- Salmon, tuna, scallops and other fish
- Eggs
- Avocados and nuts
- Healthy oils (like extra virgin olive oil), butter and cream
- Low-carb vegetables like broccoli, spinach, kale and cucumbers
- Unprocessed cheese such as gouda, parmesan and cheddar
High-carb and starchy foods, like beans, potatoes and carrots, are off limits. So is alcohol, sugary drinks and sugar. You’ll also need to limit fruit, since it contains sugars.9
While the keto diet can be beneficial for people with type 2 diabetes or obesity, there’s not enough research to know if a keto diet is safe and effective long term. Some people can experience short-term side effects as their body adjusts to the diet. Known as the “keto flu,” this can include symptoms like nausea, vomiting, headaches and fatigue.8 The keto diet is not for people who have kidney disease, who are at risk for heart disease, who have an eating disorder or who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant.9
Carnivore diet
As you might expect, the carnivore diet involves primarily eating meat. Think of it as a more restrictive version of the keto diet.10 While the carnivore diet may help with weight loss and regulate blood sugar, it can also cause serious side effects.11
The carnivore diet is a type of ketogenic, or keto, diet.10 A keto diet is high in fat and low in carbohydrates. This makes your body go into ketosis, which means it burns body fat for fuel instead of carbohydrates and may help you lose weight.8, 9 While a traditional keto diet allows for some carbs (about 10% of your daily intake), the carnivore diet is a zero-carbohydrate diet.9, 10
The carnivore diet focuses only on eating fat from meat and animal products, including:10, 11
- Red meat and poultry
- Seafood and fish
- Eggs
- Some dairy products
You exclude all other food groups like fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts and seeds because they have carbohydrates. You can drink plain water only.10
The carnivore diet may help with weight loss, but it can negatively impact your health in many other ways. Eating only protein and fat can cause constipation, digestive issues and kidney problems, including kidney stones. And because the diet is high in saturated fats, it can cause or worsen high cholesterol and high blood pressure, which are risk factors for heart disease. In general, the carnivore diet is not recommended.10, 11
Dukan diet
The goal of the Dukan diet is to help you lose weight and keep it off long term. It follows a phased, or stepped, approach to eating that can last up to 12 months. Over time, the diet is supposed to help reshape your eating habits and help you maintain weight loss.12
The Dukan diet is made up of 4 steps, or phases — the Attack phase, Cruise phase, Consolidation phase and Stabilization phase. Each phase follows different eating rules and lasts for different amounts of time. The Attack and Cruise phases focus on weight loss. The Consolidation phase focuses on behavior changes to help maintain your weight loss. The final phase, Stabilization, brings your diet and behavior changes together to create an eating plan you ideally follow for the rest of your life.12
On the Dukan diet, what you eat changes with each phase:12
- Attack phase: Each day, you eat only lean protein (as much as you want), plus 1.5 tablespoons of oat bran and 6 to 8 cups of water.
- Cruise phase: During this phase, you start to reintroduce some non-starchy vegetables. Your diet alternates between Attack-phase all-protein days and protein-and-vegetable days.
- Consolidation phase: You’ll move into this phase once you reach your weight loss goal. At this point, you can reintroduce more foods, like certain fruits, cheeses and whole-grain bread. You’ll have an Attack-phase all-protein day once per week. The diet also has other guidelines to help you adjust your eating to help maintain long-term weight loss.
- Stabilization phase: No foods are off limits. In this final phase, the idea is that you’ve changed your eating habits in a way that will work for you long term. However, you’ll still need to have an all-protein day once per week and eat 3 tablespoons of oat bran each day.
The Dukan diet plan also recommends daily walks of 20 to 30 minutes per day and taking the stairs instead of the elevator whenever possible.12
The Dukan diet focuses on whole foods and lean proteins and can help with weight loss. However, the diet has complicated rules and is very limiting in what you can eat, especially in the first 2 phases. These food restrictions may cause constipation from low fiber intake and nutrient deficiencies from not eating fruits and vegetables for a long period of time. The Dukan diet is not recommended for people who have diabetes or blood sugar issues.12