DASH Diet ranked Best Overall diet for weight loss in Teens

With numerous diet plans available in the market, it is no surprise that we remain confused over how to lose weight and stay in shape. Not only is weight loss the only option to remain healthy, it is also the only option to cut the risk of heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure among dozens of other diseases. The newly held diet plan ranking, therefore, was a very good idea, put together by the U.S News and World Report.

According to the ranking DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hyper Tension) was declared to be an overall best diet plan, closely followed by the Mediterranean Diet, while Weight Watchers diet plan topped the list.

A report pronounced DASH Diet as ideal for plannning the most balanced and sustained weight loss: "Our analysis put hard numbers on the common-sense belief that no diet is ideal for everybody. The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet beat out 19 others, among them Atkins, Jenny Craig and Slim-Fast, to win the 'Best Diets Overall,'" it added.

A panel of 22 nutritionists and experts reviewed the profiles of about 20 diets and then gave their rankings. The report explained that, “the rankings were based on scores in seven categories -- short-term weight loss, long-term weight loss, easiness to follow, nutritional completeness, ability to prevent or manage diabetes and to manage heart disease, etc.”

The DASH diet received the highest credibility thus backing its effectiveness. The study was conducted for 10 years on teenage girls who reported lower BMI after following the prescribed diet. The report explains: “Researchers gathered data on 2,237 U.S. girls, aged 9, and followed them for 10 years. Detailed diet information was collected annually and each participant was given a score indicating how closely their diet matched DASH diet guidelines.”

A rough outline of a DASH Diet looks like:

· three to four servings of low-fat dairy products (e.g. one cup milk, ¾ cup yogurt)

· four servings of vegetables (e.g. ½ cup cooked or raw vegetables, one cup salad greens)

· four servings of fruit each day (e.g. 1 medium sized fruit, ½ cup cut-up fruit)

· choose 100-per-cent whole grain foods instead of refined (white) grain products

· Nuts, seeds and/or legumes should be eaten four times a week

· Limit intake of added fats and sweets.

"Exercise gets serious attention in some diets and lip service in others, but the primary focus of a diet, after all, is food. Whether to exercise, how, and how much is a lifestyle decision beyond the scope of a mere diet," the magazine said of the importance the workouts along with the diet.