Investigating potential diet plans can be both challenging and rewarding. There's no one-size-fits-all plan suitable for everyone, but finding out more about different options can provide insight into which options might be best for your personal health. A few of the diets that come most widely recommended by medical associations include the USDA's food pyramid diet, a vegetarian diet, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension--or DASH--diet and a whole foods diet.
Food Pyramid
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's recommended eating plan is a food pyramid called MyPyramid. The pyramid features five main groups: grains, vegetables, fruits, lean proteins and dairy. The USDA emphasizes balance between the groups, so it's important to choose items from at least several groups at each meal or snack. Try to eat whole grains and whole-grain products rather than refined grains, and limit processed foods, sodium, sugar, saturated fat and cholesterol in the foods you choose under the pyramid plan.
Vegetarian Diet
According to the Institute of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Giessen in Germany, vegetarian diets, which do not include meat, can be better for health than omnivorous diets. Researcher Claus Lietzmann notes that balanced, healthy vegetarian diets result in lower intakes of saturated fat, animal protein and cholesterol than meat-based diets, and they also deliver more dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals and beneficial phytochemicals. Switching to a vegetarian diet may have positive effects regarding treatment of illnesses such as cancer, arthritis, dementia, osteoporosis, high blood pressure and heart disease, Lietzmann found in the research.
DASH Diet
The Mayo Clinic recommends the DASH diet for people interested in lowering their blood pressure or keeping it at a healthy level. The DASH diet focuses on lowering sodium intake and forming meals from nutritious, natural foods. Participants should eat grains, vegetables, fruits, low-fat or nonfat dairy products, lean meats, nuts or legumes and healthy fats and oils daily. According to the Mayo Clinic, the DASH diet can lower blood pressure by as many as eight to 14 points for some people.
Whole Foods Diet
The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center recommends a diet of whole foods, which is primarily plant-based and eschews processed items with little nutritional value, for obese individuals and those with high blood pressure. The whole foods diet focuses on salads, vegetables, fruits, lean meat, fish, eggs, nuts, low-fat and nonfat dairy items and limited carbohydrates and grains. Fresh, natural foods, whole grains and low-fat foods are recommended whenever possible for the fastest and best health improvements.
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