The finest diet for wellbeing and sickness prevention in 2025

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U.S. News & World Report, which creates an annual list of the best and least effective diets as determined by nutrition experts, has once again awarded the award-winning Mediterranean diet the best of the best trophy for 2025.

The Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes the importance of eating fruits and vegetables, grains, olive oil, nuts, and seeds, as well as meals with family and friends and regular exercise, has gained widespread praise since 2019. The diet also encourages a minimal intake of dairy and meat, particularly red meat, and restricts sweets. But seafood is always there, particularly fatty fish like sardines.

In previous years, diets were ranked from 1 to 40 in the poll, with the top-ranked diet receiving the symbolic gold medal. Judges also prohibited diets at the bottom of the list from making it to the podium for awards.

Gretel Schueller, managing editor of health for U.S. News & World Report, who oversees the annual diet rankings, said that there would be a lengthy list of diets with a number at the bottom that, to be honest, nobody is really paying attention to most of the time.

The best diet report this year, however, adopts a novel strategy by asking nutritionists to assign diets a star rating, akin to the customer rating systems seen on many online retailers like Amazon.

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According to Schueller, almost every product or item you're looking at these days seems to be rated on a five-star scale. As consumers think about their eating objectives and health interests, we think this new method gives them more options and a more customized experience.

The Mediterranean, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, or DASH, and flexitarian diets all received 4-plus stars for being the best diets overall, the best diets for eating healthily, and the easiest diets to follow using these new criteria.

While the flexitarian diet, as its name suggests, permits occasional indulgences in meat or poultry as part of its vegetarian approach, the DASH diet recommends minimizing salt intake in order to control blood pressure. All are plant-based diets with a focus on eliminating red meat, added sweets, and refined and ultraprocessed foods.

Sorting diets according to health issues

The 2025 research also contains new rankings for diets aimed at improving life phases like menopause and chronic conditions including diverticulitis, fatty liver disease, arthritis, and irritable bowel syndrome.

Certain diets are recommended by certain medical associations. For example, the American Heart Association considers the DASH diet to be the best for heart health since it fully complies with its recommendations for heart-healthy eating. The most recent U.S. News & World assessment of the best diets gave the DASH diet a high ranking (4.9 stars) for both blood pressure control and heart health.

Conversely, some professional medical bodies favor a more individualized approach and do not support certain diets. The menopausal diet, for example, received 4.6 stars from the report's reviewers.

"There is no such thing as a menopause diet," said Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director for the Menopause Society and director of the Mayo Clinic's Center for Women's Health in Jacksonville, Florida. "The only diet that has been shown to help with hot flashes is a whole food, plant-based diet low in oil and high in soy."

Faubion disagreed with U.S. News & World Report's reference to Nutrisystem's for-profit postmenopausal diet, even if she supported some of the menopausal diet's recommendations, such as avoiding meals too close to sleep.

In a note to colleagues, Faubion said, "As a menopause physician and researcher, I would not advise my patients to rely on a paid diet for menopause." It depends on someone to put it in front of them, which is unsustainable and doesn't assist people in understanding what they should be doing in the long term.

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Regarding diets, speak with your doctor.

The research included a number of new diet categories that addressed digestive health and diets that claim to lower inflammation in conditions like gout and arthritis.

Jill Tyrer, an editor at the Arthritis Foundation, emailed CNN to say that there is no one diet that works for gout or arthritis. Chronic diseases are best treated with plant-based diets, such as the Mediterranean and DASH diets, that are low in processed foods, sugar, bad fats, and salt.

To reduce or prevent the progression of their arthritis, the majority of people with autoimmune, inflammatory types of arthritis and many with gout need to take medication.

Before adopting dietary choices based on U.S. News & World Report rankings, people with digestive problems should speak with their physician, says Dr. Jesús Luévano Jr., an assistant professor of gastroenterology at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta.

Luévano, who also serves as a spokesperson for the American Gastroenterological Association, expressed concern that people might view these rankings and believe that they are the best because they were developed by nutrition experts. As a result, they might not have fruitful discussions with their doctors, who could assist them in focusing on the foods that are best for them.

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You must put in the effort, such as recording your food intake in a food journal, and then see your physician to determine the best course of action for your specific problem, he added.

The Mediterranean diet was rated four or higher stars for both fatty liver disease and overall gut health, according to the report. In terms of diverticulitis, which is characterized by massive, uncomfortable bulging pouches in the colon and large intestine, judges gave the Mediterranean diet a 3.7.

According to Luévano, "We recommend low-fat diets and the Mediterranean diet for fatty liver and gallbladder disorders because a diet with leaner meats and less processed fat has been shown to be beneficial."

Judges awarded the low FODMAP diet 4.8 stars for irritable bowel syndrome. The Australian-developed diet aims to get rid of starches and carbs that ferment and produce too much water in the intestines, which may lead to diarrhea, cramping, and pain.

Fermentable foods, oligosaccharides (chains of sugar molecules), disaccharides (lactose), monosaccharides (fructose), and polyols (sugar alcohols like sorbitol and erythritol) are all included in the acronym FODMAP.

According to Luévano, the finest illustration of how food should be tailored for each patient is likely the several kinds of irritable bowel syndrome. A patient may lose out on popular fruits like apples and pears as well as some potentially healthy carbohydrates if they try to avoid everything on the whole FODMAP list.

He informed me that each patient has certain dietary triggers; thus, there has to be close communication between their doctor and a nutritionist. We must determine if eliminating this one really improves your symptoms.

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