Number One Diet for Eight Consecutive Years
When nutritionists and dietitians speak about the Mediterranean diet, there’s a clear consensus emerging from the professional community. The Mediterranean diet ranks highest-rated overall on U.S. News and World Report’s list of the Best Diets of 2025, claiming the top spot in the annual Best Diets rankings and excelling in multiple categories. What makes this achievement even more remarkable is the caliber of experts involved in the evaluation process. U.S. News’ expert panel includes medical doctors, registered dietitians and public health specialists who are medical doctors, registered dietitians, nutritional epidemiologists, chefs, and weight loss researchers.
Evidence-Based Approach Drives Professional Recommendations
This year’s list shifted in focus toward “food as medicine,” aligning with growing evidence that diets can play a significant role in disease prevention and management. Registered dietitians consistently highlight the robust scientific foundation supporting the Mediterranean approach to eating. More of an eating pattern than a traditional “diet,” the Mediterranean way of eating consistently tops the list of the best diets year after year. The professional community appreciates how this eating pattern has been validated through decades of research, making it a safe recommendation for most clients.
Plant-Based Foundation Wins Professional Approval
Nutrition professionals consistently praise the Mediterranean diet’s emphasis on plant foods and whole ingredients. “The Mediterranean Diet is a lifestyle that emphasizes a variety of nutritious foods and promotes overall well-being. It’s balanced, sustainable and focuses on naturally anti-inflammatory foods for a vibrant, colorful plate”. The Mediterranean Diet emphasizes plant-based foods and healthy fats, where you eat mostly veggies, fruits and whole grains, with extra virgin olive oil as the main source of fat. This foundation makes it easy for registered dietitians to recommend to clients seeking sustainable eating changes.
Flexible Framework Appeals to Nutrition Experts
You focus on overall eating patterns rather than following strict formulas or calculations, as the mediterranean diet allows you to focus on overall eating patterns rather than strict formulas. This flexibility is something nutritionists particularly value when working with diverse client populations. The MIND Diet’s principles can be applied across diverse cultural diets and preferences, and this same adaptability applies to the broader Mediterranean approach. Dietitians appreciate that they can customize the framework to meet individual client needs without compromising the diet’s core principles.
Cardiovascular Benefits Lead Professional Endorsements
The Mediterranean Diet has many benefits, including lowering your risk of cardiovascular disease, including a heart attack or stroke. Heart health remains the primary reason nutrition professionals recommend this eating pattern to their clients. “It’s very well-known that what’s good for the heart is good for the brain and good for the body in every sort of way,” explaining why the Mediterranean diet was so popular and had such high ratings. Time and again, research shows that when it comes to heart health and overall well-being, the Mediterranean diet is the eating style that reigns supreme.
Comprehensive Health Benefits Impress Dietitians
Registered dietitians value the Mediterranean diet’s multi-system approach to health improvement. Benefits include supporting a body weight that’s healthy for you, supporting healthy blood sugar levels, blood pressure and cholesterol, and lowering your risk of metabolic syndrome. Additional benefits include supporting a healthy balance of gut microbiota in your digestive system, lowering your risk for certain types of cancer, slowing the decline of brain function as you age, and helping you live longer. This comprehensive impact across multiple health markers makes it a go-to recommendation for nutrition professionals.
Anti-Inflammatory Properties Get Professional Recognition
“The diet is rich in antioxidants, which are crucial for chronic disease prevention”, according to registered dietitians who frequently recommend this eating pattern. In a 2018 study, researchers found that not following the Mediterranean diet was associated with higher markers of inflammation in the blood, because many of the foods included in this diet are known to be anti-inflammatory. Nutrition professionals particularly value this aspect when working with clients dealing with chronic inflammatory conditions.
Sustainable Approach Earns Dietitian Support
“Think of this way of eating as a lifestyle, not a short-term diet. It’s really about filling up your diet with single-ingredient foods that have so much nutritional benefit”. This sustainability factor is crucial for nutrition professionals who understand that lasting health changes require long-term adherence. “The ‘best’ diet is one that seamlessly integrates into your life, rather than forcing you to drastically alter your lifestyle”. Registered dietitians appreciate that the Mediterranean approach doesn’t require clients to drastically overhaul their eating habits overnight.
Professional Training Emphasizes Customization
A dietitian can help you customize the diet to suit your needs, and can help you modify your approach as needed based on your medical history, underlying conditions, allergies and preferences. This individualized approach resonates with nutrition professionals who understand that no single eating pattern works identically for everyone. Nutrition is deeply personal, which means finding a plan tailored to your body and health goals is essential, and working with a dietitian or even having one session to explore the foods best-suited for your health can be incredibly valuable.
Rising Interest in Sustainability Among Nutrition Professionals
Clinicians play a crucial role in disseminating nutrition information to the public because many of their patients turn to them as a source of information on sustainable food choices, and in a 2023 survey of US Registered Dietitians, the majority reported that their patients were moderately to very interested in sustainability. However, there’s a knowledge gap that nutrition professionals are working to address. Although the majority of RDs reported they were moderately to very confident in their ability to provide guidance on sustainable food choices, only a small percentage received formal training in sustainability. This presents an opportunity for continued professional development in this area.
Future Directions and Professional Consensus
Looking ahead, nutrition professionals see the Mediterranean diet continuing to evolve while maintaining its core principles. A plethora of studies has documented the benefits of the Mediterranean diet for both human and environmental health, with assessment of adherence to it at the core of these investigations. The professional community recognizes the need for more standardized approaches to measuring adherence and outcomes. “What I hope comes out of this is that people see how little evidence there is for fad diets, and how much evidence there is for the healthier eating plans”. This evidence-based foundation will likely keep the Mediterranean diet at the forefront of professional recommendations for years to come.
