The Nuance
Your Diet Is Becoming Radicalized
Immoderate approaches to eating — fueled by social media and misleading nutrition research — can put your brain and body at risk
Every year, U.S. News & World Report assembles a panel of doctors, dietitians, and other nutrition experts and asks them to rank the best overall diets for human health. This year, the Mediterranean diet topped the panel’s list — as it did in 2020 and 2019.
The Mediterranean diet is a moderate and nutritionally balanced approach to eating. It emphasizes vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans, olive oil, whole grains, and seafood. A little alcohol is permitted. Red meat and sweets are mostly discouraged, but you can eat them now and then.
The same U.S. News panel also weighed in on ketogenic diets, which are in many ways the antithesis of balanced Mediterranean-style plans. Keto heavily prioritizes fats and, to a lesser extent, meat or other sources of protein. Carbs, including fruits and vegetables, aren’t verboten, but they’re severely restricted.
The expert panel ranked the ketogenic diet almost dead last in terms of its overall healthfulness; keto slotted in at number 37 out of the 39 diets on its list. Supporting this take, a 2020 review of the research on…
