DASH ranked best overall diet

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NEW YORK, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- U.S. News & World Report's Best Diets rankings chose the DASH diet as the best diet overall, best diet for healthy eating and best diet for diabetes.

The DASH -- Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension -- has been proven in studies sponsored by the National Institutes of Health to lower blood pressure. The low-salt diet provides additional benefits to reduce blood pressure because it is based on an eating plan rich in fruits and vegetables, and low-fat or non-fat dairy, with whole grains. It is a high-fiber, low- to moderate-fat diet, rich in potassium, calcium and magnesium.

The Best Diets ranking this year includes, for the first time, the category of the easiest diets to follow, because the easiest a diet is the more likely to succeed in staying on their diet for the long haul.

"Any diet can promise weight loss, but it's those that dieters can stick with all year -- and year after year -- that prove successful," the U.S. News & World Report said in a statement. "Of the 25 diets evaluated, the five Easiest Diets to Follow are: Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Mediterranean Diet, and tied for fourth -- Slim-Fast and Volumetrics."

U.S. News profiled each diet using information culled from scientific journals, government reports and other resources. A volunteer panel of 22 nationally recognized experts in diet and nutrition rated the diets after reviewing each profile and conducting independent fact-finding.