Prevention of NCDs through Diet

Among the factors promoting NCDs are modifiable risk factors of use of tobacco products and alcohol, and inappropriate diets comprising high sugar intake, saturated fats, low fiber diets, and high salt intake. Concern for reduction of NCDs has aroused widespread concern for promoting different types of health diets to safeguard against those preventable diseases.

According to new rankings released by the U.S. News & World Report the best diet of 2012 is the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet. Depending upon one’s calorie needs the DASH diet prescribes the number of daily servings of grains, vegetables, dairy and other food types.

DASH diet aim at preventing and lowering high blood pressure. The diet also has good nutritional value. In a competition, it has received the recognition of the best diet second time. The second place has been won by the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) diet, which aims to lower cholesterol, and the third place to the Mayo Clinic diet, which focuses on weight loss.

TLC diet is an example of a wonderful 'medical' type of diet that has gone mainstream, according to one nutritionist. Its low sodium requirement means boost to heart health. It is also reported to be easy to follow as the success of a good diet is its ability of ease it offers to the user.

The U.S. News & World Report judged various diets through a completion; a panel of 22 experts in diet, nutrition, obesity, food psychology, diabetes and heart disease ranked diets. The experts rated the 25 diets in seven categories: depending upon the ease required to follow the diet, their ability to produce short-term and long-term weight loss, nutritional completeness, safety and potential for preventing and managing diabetes and heart disease.

Diets for weight loss                                                 

According to rankings, the top three diets for weight loss are the Weight Watchers diet, the Biggest Loser diet and the Jenny Craig diet. Dieters had the best result with Weight Watchers for both short and long term weight loss, and it ranked highly in terms of ease to follow it. The Weight Watchers plan is a diet that people most often return to. The experts rated the Weight Watchers diet as a 3.7 out of 5 in the category of easy to follow, whereas the Biggest Loser diet scored a 2.9 in this category, according to the rankings.

The Jenny Craig diet scored a 3.6, but fared less well than Weight Watchers in terms of its ability to produce weight loss. Weight Watchers won the category of best commercial diet plan, as against the Jenny Craig diet, which relied heavily on packaged meals and came with a high cost, according to the rankings.

However, when Consumer Reports released its ratings of commercial diet plans in May, Jenny Craig ranked as the winner. Those raters acknowledged criticisms that the diet is hard to follow, but cited a two-year study of 332 people showing that 92 percent of participants stuck with the diet. That study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2010.

Diets for healthy eating

The DASH and TLC diets topped the category of best diets for healthy eating, which emphasized nutritional completeness and safety. The Mediterranean diet ranked third. The data, according to one expert, show that the DASH diet offers the best overall nutrition, “ it has one of the highest levels of B-12 and potassium”. Whereas the Weight Watchers plan is low in those nutrients, and recommended that its followers take a multivitamin.

The DASH diet prescribes a number of servings of grains, vegetables, dairy and other food types that a person should eat daily, based on one’s calorie needs. It suggests high amounts of fiber, potassium and magnesium, and keeps sweets to a minimum. The diet caps salt intake to the recommended daily values—1,500 milligrams for people who are age 51 or older, African-American, or have hypertension, diabetes or chronic kidney disease; 2,300 milligrams for everyone else.

The DASH diet also won in the category of best diabetes diets, while the Ornish diet, which groups foods from most healthful (fresh fruits and vegetables, vegetarian protein sources) to least healthful (cakes, cookies, bacon, sausage), ranked first in best heart-healthy diets.which focuses on low fat intake and emphasizes exercise and stress management, won for best heart-healthy diet. One panel has decided the best diet of 2012 is the DASH diet, which emphasizes consuming lean protein, fruits and vegetables.