Study Rates Heart Health of Popular Diet Plans

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"We were most surprised by the fact that the MyPyramid wasn't even in the top three. We figured that this would be a model diet because it is based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture dietary recommendations," Pagoto said.

However, coming in last doesn't mean a diet is of low quality, she said. All of the diets have the potential to be healthy and have been shown in a variety of studies to result in weight loss, which is itself important to improving heart health. Additionally, coming in first does not mean the diet plan is ideal for everyone, she added.

"While the Ornish plan was on top, it's a hard one for most people to follow," Pagoto said. The Ornish plan is a very low-fat, low-calorie, primarily vegetarian diet developed for people who have survived heart attacks, she explained.

In her work counseling clients at the University of Massachusetts Memorial Weight Center, Pagoto said she has learned that it's important for people to be able to stick to the diet plan they choose.

"There is more than one element of a diet to consider," she said.

People with a personal or family history of heart disease should consider the results of this study as a guide when choosing a diet plan, Pagoto said. But they should also think about their food preferences. For example, people who really like carbohydrates would do better with Weight Watchers than with Atkins, regardless of this ranking system, she said.

Pagoto advises patients to keep a food log over several weeks to get a better idea of their food preferences and calorie intake before starting a diet.

Lack of variety courts diet disaster due to boredom, Pagoto said. People will eventually get tired of the limitations of a tightly controlled or hard-to-implement diet, she said.

Despite not making the top three, the USDA's MyPyramid allows for the most variety, she said.

Sandon said: "What I find in working with clients is that most people tend to eat the same foods on a daily or weekly basis and have little variety. They do not want to have to seek out special foods or learn to prepare new foods they are not familiar with. In general, I find that many people in the initial phase of starting a weight-loss plan are more comfortable sticking to a plan of the same foods most of the time but want permission to have something different here and there."