When most people hear the term diet, they think of weight loss or a fad, but the truth is not all diets are meant for weight loss, and many of them have improved and even saved people’s lives. Diet culture is most commonly associated with weight loss, but there are just as many that promote a healthy lifestyle, lower your blood pressure, and improve brain function! If you are worried about your health, try looking into a food-as-medicine treatment for your specific ailment. There are various recommended diets for a wide array of health concerns and conditions. That said, be sure to not fall for gimmicks when it comes to diets and look carefully to find one that’s right for you. But with so many options, how do you know which approach might work for you? Here are some suggestions for choosing a diet program.
Talk with your Healthcare Professional
Before you start a diet or weight-loss program, talk to your healthcare professional. Your healthcare professional can help guide you towards a program that’s right for you and your body. You also can ask for advice on how to exercise safely. This is important if you have health or physical challenges or pain with daily tasks. Tell your healthcare professional about your past efforts to try diets or lose weight, and be open about diets that interest you. Your healthcare professional might be able to connect you with support groups or refer you to a registered dietitian.
Think About your Diet Needs
There’s no one diet or weight-loss plan for everyone. Think about your lifestyle and weight-loss goals. Pick a plan that you can tailor to your needs. Before you start a weight-loss program, think about:
- Diets you’ve tried. What did you like or dislike about them? Were you able to follow the diets? What worked or didn’t work? How did your body and mind feel while on the diets?
- What you prefer. Do you prefer to do a diet program on your own? Or do you want support from a group? If you like group support, do you prefer online support or in-person meetings?
- Your budget. Some weight-loss and diet programs ask you to buy supplements or meals, visit weight-loss clinics, or attend support meetings. Does the cost fit your budget?
- Other things that might affect your choices. Do you have other health conditions or allergies that will play a role in choosing a diet? Does your culture, religion, or ethnicity play a role in your food choices?
Take a closer look at seven popular diet trends and how each stacks up in terms of overall health benefits.
1. How to Start the Keto Diet?
The ketogenic diet is an extremely low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet. The goal of the diet is to maintain a state of ketosis, which means that by eating fewer carbs, the body’s fat-burning system relies mainly on fat instead of sugar for energy.
It’s been shown to be very effective for short-term weight loss — more so even than low-fat diets. Additional benefits may include preventing or managing certain types of chronic disease, like diabetes. There’s been some suggestion that there may be benefits for other brain disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis and even brain cancer. But there have not been any definitive studies yet.
On the other hand, some health experts believe eating a large amount of fat and protein, like bacon, from animal sources can increase your risk of heart disease and certain cancers. We also don’t yet know the effect of this diet on people with liver, kidney, and heart disease.
The diet is also really strict. It’s an extreme diet, cutting out almost all carbohydrates. That means giving up or limiting conventionally healthy foods like fruit, whole grains and some vegetables. It can be challenging to stick to this diet.
2. What is the Whole30 Diet?
The Whole30 diet is a commercial diet marketed as a “30-day nutritional reset.” It’s a short-term elimination designed to help identify food sensitivities, create new habits, and restore a healthy relationship with food.
During the 30 days, you are to avoid sugar, alcohol, grains, legumes and dairy, taking out common foods that can cause both physical and mental symptoms. While it is a pretty restrictive diet, there is still plenty you can eat. The diet does permit meat, seafood, eggs, veggies, fruit, and natural fats like vegetable oils, coconut oil and tree nuts.
Following the 30 days, foods are slowly reintroduced to determine if any foods cause negative symptoms, which could range from aches and pains to digestive issues. You should also track moods and energy levels when introducing new foods.
What’s nice is that the Whole30 has a built-in support system on social media. You can also find recipes and even a cookbook to help with meal planning and cooking.
While the company behind the Whole30 diet claims that it can improve or “cure” many medical problems, such as asthma, depression and Lyme disease, there’s no independent research to verify them.
It also only last 30 days with the idea that this will help you make necessary changes to live a more healthy life in the future.
3. Starting a Low-FODMAP Diet
Some people are sensitive to certain carbohydrates that are poorly absorbed in the intestines and can cause bloating. These carbs are known as fermentable oligo, di, monosaccharides and polyols — or FODMAPs — and are found in certain grains, vegetables, fruits and dairy products. This list is quite extensive and includes anything from celery and apples to pasta and milk. A low-FODMAP diet is often recommended for people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a common disorder that causes symptoms like cramping, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Some studies demonstrate a definite improvement in IBS symptoms in people who use the low-FODMAP diet. If they follow it, they see great improvement and can even go into remission.However, the low-FODMAP diet is not a weight loss diet. It’s really just for people with IBS. So, the studies haven’t shown any benefits for people who don’t have IBS. It’s also not very easy to follow because the list of low-FODMAP foods is not intuitive. For example, broccoli is a low-FODMAP food, and cauliflower is a high-FODMAP food. So, you have to have the list of foods with you at all times.
4. Intermittent Fasting Benefits
is a term for an eating pattern that cycles between periods of eating very little or nothing, and eating regular meals. People follow a variety of eating patterns that range in how long and how often they fast. This diet isn’t specific about which foods to eat, but rather when you should eat them.
Fasting gives your body a rest from digesting food and allows for cellular cleanup, a process called autophagy. This is just the beginning of a myriad of health benefits associated with intermittent fasting.
Intermittent fasting benefits systems throughout the body:
- Lowers inflammation
- Decreases insulin resistance
- Strengthens the immune system
- Supports weight loss
- Improves cognitive function
However, this eating plan gets criticized mostly based on the fact that there’s no guide on what to eat during the nonfasting days. People could end up eating really unhealthily on those days.
This diet is also not recommended for people with diabetes because fasting could lead to low blood sugar that may require medication adjustment. People who have a history of eating disorders should also steer clear of this diet, and long-term compliance can be an issue as well.
5. The Mediterranean Diet
A Mediterranean diet emphasizes eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, olive oil and very little red meat. It’s based on the eating patterns found near the Mediterranean Sea and limits added sweets, trans fats, and sodium.
This diet was tied for No. 1 — along with the DASH diet for the best overall diet in 2025 by U.S. News & World Report in large part due to its many health benefits. Studies have shown reductions in fatal heart attacks, strokes, cancers, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s for people who follow a Mediterranean diet. It lowers inflammation, supports healthy weight, contributes to better blood pressure and cholesterol numbers.
What makes the Mediterranean diet so beneficial? Its emphasis on plant-based foods is a big part of it. A majority of your plate will be filled with whole grains, legumes, and vegetables, which are all known to bring a whole host of vitamins and minerals. Then, there’s the healthy fats found in extra virgin olive oil, fish, and nuts. Finally, cutting out processed foods, limiting salt and sugar, and moderating red meat and dairy puts less healthy and unhealthy foods back in balance.
6. What is the DASH Diet?
The DASH diet is designed to lower high blood pressure. The acronym in the name stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. It’s a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes and low-fat dairy products, and low in snacks, sweets, meats, and saturated and total fat. DASH also stresses limiting salt intake. Definitely, no more than 2,300 mg a day of salt, but ultimately you should strive to stay under 1,500 mg daily. Tied for the number one diet alongside the Mediterranean diet in U.S. News & World Report, a low-sodium DASH diet has been proven to decrease blood pressure. It also reportedly decreases LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and possibly lowers the risk of stroke and heart disease. On top of that, although the DASH diet was not developed specifically as a weight-loss diet, it may cause some weight loss as well. That said, some people might find that limiting salt makes their food taste bland. The good news is that there are plenty of other healthy options for flavoring, like herbs, spices and citrus juices.
7. The MIND Diet
The MIND diet, which stands for the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay, combines foods from the Mediterranean and DASH diets. It focuses on 10 food groups that support brain health, including leafy greens, berries, poultry, beans and nuts. The MIND diet has been ranked No. 5 in U.S. News & World Report’s list of best diets for three consecutive years because of its proven brain health benefits and protection against dementia. The MIND diet can help lower the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by as much as 53 percent for people who adhere to the diet rigorously, and by about 35 percent for those who follow it moderately well. It may also help substantially slow cognitive decline in stroke survivors, according to preliminary research. As another added plus, there aren’t any health risks with MIND, but like the Mediterranean diet, the food needed to follow the diet can be costly. Diets are not one-size-fits-all, so what works for one person may not work for another. It’s best to figure out your individual diet goals and nutrition priorities by talking with your primary care doctor or a registered dietitian. On top of this, be sure to also focus on making other lifestyle changes for yourself and your family, including getting plenty of sleep, exercising regularly and managing stress. All of those things will help not only with maintaining a healthy weight, but with your overall health and well-being.
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