Scientists rate best and worst celebrity diets – from Kim Kardashian’s keto to Harry Styles’ pescatarian
THE paleo and keto diets loved by Kim Kardashian and Gwyneth Paltrow are the worst for your heart, new research claims.
But eating vegetarian, pescatarian or mostly Mediterranean like Beyoncé, Selena Gomez and Harry Styles is far better for us.
A report from the American Heart Association (AHA) placed them in the top tier of options for optimal heart health.
But the clear winner was the DASH diet - subscribed to by Jessica Simpson and Jennifer Hudson - which includes foods rich in potassium, calcium and magnesium and is designed to control blood pressure.
This way of eating aligned 100 per cent with the AMA's dietary guidelines for good cardiometabolic health - a group of factors which affect our metabolisms and the risk of heart and cardiovascular disease.
These include blood glucose, cholesterol and other lipids, blood pressure and body weight.
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While abnormal levels in one of these factors might increase the risk of heart disease, abnormalities in more than one factor raise these risks even more, and for potentially deadlier diseases.
The pescatarian diet, which allows dairy, eggs, fish and other seafood but no meat or poultry, was 92 per cent aligned with the AHA guidelines.
Just behind was the Mediterranean diet (89 per cent), which focuses on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, seafood and olive oil and recommends a small glass of red wine every day.
And the lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet, which features dairy and eggs, came in at 86 per cent.
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The worst options, experts said, were extreme fads such as low-carb keto (53 per cent) and high-protein paleo, or caveman (31 per cent).
These were found to be detrimental to heart health due to reduced fibre intake and a lack of limits on consuming saturated fats.
Experts say that though these diets may result in short-term weight loss, they aren't sustainable in the long run and could do lasting damage.
Overall, putting emphasis on limiting unhealthy fats and reducing your consumption of excess carbohydrates was found to be key.
The guidance encourages aims to limit the risks of health conditions like type 2 diabetes and risk factors such as obesity, which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.
The diets went head-to-head based on analysis from doctors, dietitians, and nutrition researchers, who evaluated them based on nine criteria for a heart-healthy diet.
They were then grouped into four tiers from best to worst, published in the AHA journal Circulation.
The highest-ranking options were flexible and provided a broad range of healthy foods to choose from.
How scientists scored 10 popular diets
DASH (100/100)
- Low in salt, added sugar, alcohol, oils and processed foods
- Rich in non-starchy vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes
- Proteins from plant sources, fish, seafood, lean poultry and meats, low-fat dairy products
- Subscribed to by Jessica Simpson and Jennifer Hudson
Pescatarian (92/100)
- Sole meat you can eat is fish
- Loved by Beyoncé, Harry Styles, Victoria Beckham and Miley Cyrus
Mediterranean (89/100)
- Limits dairy and emphasises vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, fatty fish and olive oil
- Encourages moderate drinking of red wine
- Popular with John Goodman, Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz
Vegetarian (86/100)
- No meat or fish but includes dairy products and eggs
- Followed by Sir Paul McCartney, Zendaya and Russell Brand
Vegan (78/100)
- Diet based on plants, such as vegetables, grains, nuts and fruits
- Can contribute to vitamin B-12 deficiency
- Counts Olivia Wilde, Joaquin Phoenix and David Haye as fans
Low-fat (78/100)
- The amount of fat you eat is restricted, and often saturated fat and cholesterol as well
Very low-fat (72/100)
- A more extreme version of the above, with moderate protein and carbohydrates and very low fat levels
- Very low in fibre and restricts fruits, nuts and healthy fats
Low-carb (64/100)
- Foods high in carbohydrates are limited and replaced with ones containing a higher percentage of fat and protein
Paleolithic (53/100)
- Based on foods humans might have eaten around 2.5 million to 10,000 years ago
- Avoids grains, legumes and dairy products
- Followed by Matthew McConaughey and Channing Tatum
Keto (31/100)
- Involves plenty of fat and very few carbs so the body enters a fat-burning mode known as ketosis
- Sampled by the Kardashians, Halle Berry and LeBron James
Dr Christopher Gardner, chair of the writing committee for the new scientific statement and the Rehnborg Farquhar Professor of Medicine at Stanford University in Stanford, California, explained that disinformation spread about dieting techniques on social media means we are more confused than ever before about which are good or bad for our health.
He said: "The number of different, popular dietary patterns has proliferated in recent years, and the amount of misinformation about them on social media has reached critical levels.
"The public - and even many health care professionals - may rightfully be confused about heart-healthy eating, and they may feel that they don't have the time or the training to evaluate the different diets.
"We hope this statement serves as a tool for clinicians and the public to understand which diets promote good cardiometabolic health.
"There really isn't any way to follow the tier 4 diets as intended and still be aligned with the AMA's dietary guidance.
"They are highly restrictive and difficult for most people to stick with long term.
"While there will likely be short-term benefits and substantial weight loss, it isn't sustainable.
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"A diet that's effective at helping an individual maintain weight loss goals, from a practical perspective, needs to be sustainable."
The AMA's guidance did not take into account commercial dieting techniques such as Weight Watchers, short-term diets intended to be followed for less than 12 weeks, intermittent fasting, or diets designed to manage non-cardiovascular conditions.
