Worst Diets for Health 2021

Trying to lose weight?  So many people are looking for a quick weight loss diet.  Or, some people think they can somehow clean out their body with a cleanse diet.  Losing weight is good for your health but going on a quack diet is not so good for your health.  So many fad diets leave out food groups and nutrients your body needs.  Watching TV, I heard a newscaster say, “I am going on the Whole30 diet.  I do it every January.”   Sad for her as she is choosing to go on a diet ranked as one of the “Worst Diets” by U.S News & World Report.  Last week we talked about weight loss diets that will help you lose weight and are good for your health including:  Weight Watchers (WW), the Flexitarian Diet and the Volumetrics Diet. 

One doesn’t have to choose an unhealthy fad diet to lose weight.  But too many people want a quick fix and then choose diets that are actually bad for their health like the newscaster I heard on TV.  Why?  Many don’t want to face the challenge of learning to eat healthier and exercising more.  Go to the gym or just listen when out and about and you will hear people going on the Whole30 diet, a low-carb diet, a keto diet.  As I noted last week, each year the US News & World Report ranks the Best Diets Overall for good health.  But in this ranking are diets that fall at the bottom. What diets fall the lowest in the ranking and why?  Let’s review some of the 2021 ranked not-so-good for you diets and provide you with some pros and cons of these diets.  What diets are ranked “bottom of the barrel” and diets you want to stay away from in 2021?

Whole30 Diet  

This diet is popular once again.  Even though it was created in 2009, many people are currently trying the Whole30 approach.  Whole30 claims it will “change your life”.  How?  Their website notes “Whole 30 is an elimination diet.”   Their website claims that by eliminating certain foods from your diet, the “gut-disturbing, inflammatory food groups for 30 straight days and see what your life, body, and self-confidence could look like.”   

What foods do you eliminate on this diet?

For 30 days, they tell you to avoid a number of foods.  This diet claims that certain food including sugar, grains, dairy and legumes are the foods that negatively impact your health.  Grains are a food group on MyPlate that provide many essential nutrients we need in our diets.  Whole grains are especially healthy and this diet tells you to avoid them.  Not a healthy “rule” to follow. 

What foods does the Whole30 diet eliminate for 30 days?

• No added sugar whether real or artificial.  Forget the maple syrup on your pancakes, the sweetener for your ice tea, the Diet Coke. Not even sugar less gum is allowed.
• No alcohol – no wine, beer or mixed drinks for you.
• No grains – so no bread, no cereal, no toast, no bagels, no quinoa, no crackers (and therefore you are not eating the nutrients this food group provides)
• No legumes/beans – this means no peanut butter, no kidney beans, baked beans, black-eyed peas.  Forget the soy sauce – banned.  And no soy, not even soy sauce.
• No Dairy – no milk, yogurt, sour cream, no ice cream no cheese.  No cheese pizza for you. Good bye calcium and vitamin D.

What foods are permitted on this diet?

• Protein foods = meat, seafood
• Vegetables and some fruit
• Herbs, spices and seasonings

The diet focuses on whole and unprocessed foods so you will be eating your meals at home.  Eating whole and unprocessed foods is a good, healthy thing to do.  But avoiding food groups like the grain and dairy food groups is not a healthy choice. Each food group provides important nutrients to your day.  Cut out a food group and you are cutting important nutrients out of your diet.

You don’t have to count calories.  Exercise is not a part of this diet plan but they do endorse moving more.  To the founders, it is diet not exercise that promotes good health. Thus, this diet is not really a lifestyle change approach to good health.

What ranking does US News & World Report give the Whole30 diet?  For 2021, the experts looked at 39 diets and ranked the Whole30 diet as #35 in Best Diets Overall and #35 in Best-Weight Loss diets.  So not a good endorsement of this diet, either for good health or for weight-loss.  Registered Dietitian, Jessica Penner, has also evaluated the Whole30 diet on her “Smart Nutrition” website. 

• The Whole30 diet is very restrictive.  Eating out at restaurants, eating out at other people’s homes would be quite difficult on this diet.
• Many healthy foods are eliminated:  Any diet that eliminates food groups like dairy and grains, also eliminates the nutrients that those food groups provide.  Whole grains are foods we want to add to our diet for fiber and many trace minerals.  Dairy provides much needed calcium and vitamin D to our day.  So many Americans are deficient in vitamin D that the last thing they should do is cut more vitamin D out of their diets. Beans, peanut butter, nuts are very healthy and we should be adding more of these to our diets, not cutting back on them or eliminating them for 30 days.
• Time-consuming – you will need to shop and prepare a lot of meals at home as the diet plan is quite restrictive.
• It is not a lifestyle change – it is not a plan that helps you learn how to eat healthier and exercise such as walks are mentioned but the change in diet is their key to good health.
• US News & World Report noted “Whole30 lacks scientific support and is severely restrictive, according to the experts.  Its short-term approach and long-term promises didn’t win over the panelists.”   Further, they note going on the diet would lead to “temporary weight loss”.  Who wants to spend the time and effort to lose weight and then gain it all back because the diet they choose promotes “temporary weight loss”?

Whole30 rules are quite restrictive.

What are the pros of this diet plan?

• The diet does emphasize minimally processed food. 
• The diet recommends no added sugar.  Most Americans get too much added sugar in their diets so cutting back on added sugar is a good thing.
• The diet promotes eating more fish and more vegetables.

What other diets are ranked low on the Best Diets and/or the Best Weight-Loss Diets’ list?

Atkins Diet is ranked number 33 out of 39 diets for healthy eating, near the bottom of the rankings.  For weight loss, the diet ranked Yet, people still go on the “Atkins Diet” to lose weight.  Why go on a diet ranked so low?    US News & World Report  states: “is not a good all-purpose diet, experts said.”  A meta-analysis study in Nutrients in December 2020 noted that the Atkins Diet can result in weight loss and even improve HDL but long-term the effects on raised LDL (the bad cholesterol) and total cholesterol were concerning.  An increase in LDL is a risk factor for heart disease. 

Alkaline Diet – ranked #37 out of 39 for Best Weight Loss diets, so near the bottom.  U.S. News & World Report stated this diet, performed the worst in overall weight loss, fast weight loss, diabetes, heart health and easiness to follow.  Why anyone would go on a diet to lose weight and then choose a diet that actually performed the worst for weight loss is mystifying to me.  This diet is not based on science but claims eating foods that form acid, like red meat, changes your pH and gets it out of balance.  But science has shown, the foods we eat really don’t changes our body’s pH.  So, since there is no science to back on the basis of this diet and it is rated the worst for weight loss, skip this diet.

Paleo Diet – so many of my students used to rave about being on the Paleo Diet.  But not so much anymore.  And that is a good thing.  The Paleo Diet is ranked number 32 out of 39.  This diet is based on such an odd premise that if cavemen didn’t eat it, you shouldn’t eat it.  They don’t bother to mention that cavemen didn’t live a very long life.  Similar to some other weight loss diets, this diet asks you to give up food groups like dairy and grains and also legumes.  Again, if you give up a food group, you are giving up on many important nutrients these food groups provide. It is very hard to take in enough calcium and vitamin D if one has no dairy in their diet.  Grains, especially whole grains, add important minerals to our diet, add fiber and phytonutrients.  Why choose to be on a diet ranked so low for good health?

Eat like a caveman.

Keto Diet – ranks #37 out of 30 in Best Diets Overall.  This diet is high in fat and low in carbs.  Not just low in carbs, but very low in carbs restricting carbs to about 20 grams a day or about 80 calories a day from carbs.  Unfortunately for your health, the experts rank it near the bottom for health giving it 1.7 out of 5 points for “healthy”, 1.4 out of 5 points for Easy to Follow and 2.1 out of 5 points for long-term weight loss. Yes, you may lose weight short-term but this is a very hard diet to stick to long-term. 

So, if you are looking to eat better for good health in 2021, there are many good diet plans to choose from.  There are also a number of fad diets one should avoid.  As I often note, healthy eating doesn’t mean giving up all the foods you like to eat, but adding some foods that promote good health like more fruits and vegetables, more whole grains, and more low-fat dairy to your day.

Sources:  Weight Watchers (WW) , Flexitarian Diet , Volumetrics Diet , US News & World Report , Best Diets Overall , Whole30 , website , claims , eliminate , US News & World Report , Smart Nutrition, noted  Image sources:  Rules , diet   , Paleo