Most contemporary diets simply focus on consuming a lot of fibrous and vitamin-rich foods, reducing carbohydrate content and keeping the body in a fat-burning state. The best way to live is to integrate all of these and then let your body decide

A Guide to 10 Contemporary Diet Plans

Most contemporary diets simply focus on consuming a lot of fibrous and vitamin-rich foods, reducing carbohydrate content and keeping the body in a fat-burning state. The best way to live is to integrate all of these and then let your body decide.

The keto diet, paleo diet, and Mediterranean diet are some of the popular diets nowadays. Make sure to choose a diet according to your goals and body needs.

A Guide To 10 Contemporary Diet Plans

Overview

We&rsquo;re foodies first, humans second. So, there&rsquo;s this constant urge to improvise and come up with new recipes, new culinary techniques and new diet plans. Food is important, but not at the expense of our fitness, right?&nbsp;

There&rsquo;s no shame in admitting that what we crave the most right now is an ideal nutrition plan that works both for our health and fitness as well as satiate our taste buds. The internet is saturated with this kind of content, however most of these diet plans are to be practised with caution. Especially when they are not verified by a nutritionist.

There are diets that are scientifically proven to be beneficial. Read on to learn about 10 of the most popular contemporary diet plans, along with their advantages, disadvantages, and sustainability.&nbsp; 
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Contemporary Diet plans

The Mediterranean diet has been widely celebrated for being one of the most healthful diet plans in the world. It typically comprises large quantities of nutritious fruits and vegetables, with a particular fixation on healthy fats consumption.&nbsp;

The Mediterranean diet prioritises leafy greens, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, fish, spices, and extra virgin olive oil.&nbsp;

It recommends moderate amounts of whole grains, dairy, meats and poultry products, such as eggs, <a href="https://merisehat.pk/article/milk-a-nutritional-powerhouse">milk</a>, yogurt, and bread. You can have an occasional bite of processed foods, refined grains and oils, and high-sugar sweets, though.&nbsp;

The Mediterranean diet is extremely healthy and not particularly difficult to follow unless you happen to be a great lover of eggs, bread, and processed foods. There is no singular way to follow this diet plan, that is it can be tailored to fit your needs. Just remember to do all your cooking with olive oil.&nbsp;

Olive oil is a great alternative to typical vegetable oils, such as canola or sunflower oil, but it is still slightly less stable in heat than organic dairy butter or coconut oil. Therefore, it&rsquo;s always better to consume it with moderate exposure to heat. With this minor tweak, the Mediterranean diet can be one of the healthiest diets that you could ever follow.&nbsp; 
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The MIND diet was invented to focus on people with neurodegenerative diseases. The acronym stands for the Mediterranean Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay.&nbsp;

According to the Population Reference Bureau (PRB), 115 million people worldwide are expected to be affected by dementia, a memory loss disorder, by 2050. This number increased from 35 million in 2012 to 55 million in 2022.&nbsp;

WHO expects that, from this point onwards, 10 million new cases will be recorded each year and the same upward trajectory is expected for other neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer&rsquo;s and Parkinson&rsquo;s.&nbsp;

Since the Mediterranean diet derives majority of its nutrients from brain-healthy foods such as nuts, seeds, leafy greens, fish, whole grains, and healthy fats, a brain-health-intensive version of this diet was devised by experts to combat this issue.&nbsp;

The Mediterranean diet is known to decrease the chances of getting Alzheimer&rsquo;s by 40 percent and Parkinson&rsquo;s by nearly 17 percent. It also reduces the risk of dementia.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

If you have a familial history of neurodegenerative disease, you&rsquo;re encouraged to integrate the MIND diet into your lifestyle early on. The best way to do so is to load up on&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Whole grains, such as quinoa, oatmeal, and brown rice.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Mono-unsaturated fatty acids, such as those in olive oil.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Omega-3 fatty acids through fish and seafood.</li>
	<li>Neuroprotective antioxidants, such as those found in various berries (strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries).</li>
	<li>Vitamin K, folate, and beta carotenes, such as those found in leafy greens and vegetables.&nbsp; 
	&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet favours foods that lower one&rsquo;s consumption of sodium while increasing levels of potassium, magnesium, and calcium. These elements help control high blood pressure and consequently hypertension.&nbsp;

The DASH diet also lowers levels of LDL or &ldquo;bad&rdquo; cholesterol within as little as two weeks.&nbsp;

It&rsquo;s basically lots of fruits, vegetables, and leafy greens with some amounts of lean meat. It also encourages a reduction of refined foods, sugars, and fats and recommends only one teaspoon of salt intake per day.&nbsp;

The DASH diet has been touted by medical journals and practitioners alike. Nevertheless, the plan is unsustainable for long periods of time unless one suffers from hypertension and must adopt this diet plan as a permanent lifestyle.&nbsp; 
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Vegetarianism and veganism are similar lifestyles, except that the latter also eliminates consumption of poultry. This lifestyle, while extremely healthy due to the nature of its content, is unsustainable due to the expense: in order to get all the required nutrients from a vegetarian, and especially vegan, lifestyle, one must have access to a large variety of products.&nbsp;

In Pakistan, particularly, it is difficult to access all of those products and people who do find them already have a lavish lifestyle.&nbsp;&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Flexitarianism is a version of vegetarianism that allows for occasional consumption of meat. This is listed as the second-best diet plan in the world (the first being the Mediterranean diet) because it stresses that you can only consume organic meat sporadically.&nbsp;

Due to its fibrous and nutritious composition, the flexitarian diet also promotes weight loss and reduces the risk of diabetes and heart disease.&nbsp;

However, it might put some people at a risk of nutrient deficiencies that arise once they cut back on animal products.&nbsp; Therefore, to practice this diet plan, one must take additional care to ensure that all nutritional requirements are met.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

The Paleo diet derives its name from the Palaeolithic or pre-agricultural era. Practitioners of this diet believe that the introduction of poultry and agriculture was a deviation from the natural way of life and that our body cannot actually stand these things (milk, butter, bread, etc.)

Therefore, the Paleo diet asks people to return to the products that were likely consumed by our hunter-gatherer ancestors.&nbsp; These include meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts, berries, spices, herbs, and fish. It discourages use of processed foods, legumes, oil, and dairy products.&nbsp;

While the theory is interesting and the diet has many health benefits, it is a restrictive way of life and, therefore, cannot be sustained in the long run unless the practitioner has a stoic allegiance to the idea.&nbsp;&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Low carb diets replace carbohydrates with protein, healthy fats, fruits, and leafy greens. This plan mainly bans wheat-based products, starchy vegetables, and highly processed or sugary products.&nbsp;

The &ldquo;keto&rdquo; diet that is such a popular contemporary trend is actually a low-carb diet. The idea is that since carbohydrates are quickly converted to energy, a lack of their expenditure leads to weight gain and multiple health problems. Thus, reducing carbohydrate intake can limit production of fat.&nbsp;

Furthermore, consumption of high-fat foods, which is typical in keto diets, can keep the body in a fat-burning state (also known as ketosis). This is because the body does not feel the need to store fat considering the constant supply of it.&nbsp; 
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Intermittent fasting is a diet plan that allows for consumption of any and all types of foods, but with a significant fasting window each day. Fasting initiates ketosis or fat-burning, but this state is typically achieved after the 12-hour mark. Therefore, the time period can range from 13 to 20 hours, depending upon the practitioner&rsquo;s tolerance levels.&nbsp;

While you&rsquo;re fasting, you can consume foods or beverages with up to 50 calories at a time. It&rsquo;s better to drink a lot of water and avoid heavy workouts because exercising would increase appetite and make fasting difficult. You can also drink low-calorie beverages, such as black coffee and green tea during this time.&nbsp;

Intermittent fasting has a plethora of health benefits, including weight loss, increasing lean muscle mass, improving memory and cognition, and optimising digestion.&nbsp;

The only potential downside to this is that the intermittent fast must be at least 13 hours in order for it to be effective. However, even a couple of intermittent fasts per week can radically improve one&rsquo;s overall health.&nbsp; 
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The Weight Watchers diet includes calorie counting. While the content of food is unrestricted, this method recommends keeping track of calories in versus calories out. An optimal balance of the two will result in weight maintenance or loss.&nbsp;

The method is unsustainable because it is quite difficult to track the nutritional value and calorie content of each thing that one consumes in a day, and such a method can frequently result in obsessive over-concern with food, which usually leads to eating disorders.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

The Pescatarian diet is a brand of vegetarianism that allows for consumption of seafood. It is incredibly healthy because it allows omega-3 fatty acids. It also gives the practitioner more leeway with choosing proteins, and has a lower carbon footprint as compared to other meat consumption.&nbsp;

The downside, however, is that in Pakistan, fish consumption is seasonal. You cannot have fresh consumption throughout the year. Packaged fish is processed and can be dangerous for health and is, therefore, not good for year-round consumption.&nbsp; 
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Bottom Line

All of the above-mentioned diet plans essentially focus on the basic food pyramid: concentrate on fibrous foods and leafy greens and consume protein and healthy fats in moderate quantities. You can eat processed foods and high-sugar desserts every now and then. At the end, you&rsquo;ll find the method that works best for you when you listen to your body.

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