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Nutrition Coalition says annual diet assessment is based on “weak science”

The US News and World Report has released its annual assessment of the year’s best diets and the Mediterranean and DASH diets are at the top of the list.

But, Nina Teicholz, executive director of the Nutrition Coalition, says the assessment is not updated with the latest science. 

“The Mediterranean diet is really only supported by one clinical trial that has been retracted and there were two large review papers saying that there really is no rigorous science to show that the Mediterranean diet can protect against heart disease,” she says.

The Mediterranean diet focuses on limiting red meat, sugar, and fats, while eating more produce, nuts, and whole grains.

Teicholz says the DASH diet has only been tested on about 2,000 subjects and the experiments have lasted less than six months. 

“The DASH diet which is a hypertension diet that reduces salt and is only really appropriate for people with established hypertension with a high salt diet,” she says.

She says the US News and World Report assessment gives low rankings to low-carb diets which have had nearly 100 clinical trials including several that lasted one year or longer.

“It puts the low-carb diets dead last despite the fact that the diet has actually had a large and growing rigorous scientific literature behind it,” she says.

Teicholz says the coalition would like to see recommendations in the future that are based on the latest science.

The Nutrition Coalition is a nonprofit educational organization based in Washington DC. Teicholz says the organization wants to see nutrition recommendations at the government label that are based on sound science.

Audio: Nina Teicholz, Nutrition Coalition

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