Experts Who Reviewed Recommended Diets
Who Reviews the Diets?
A panel of leading health experts, including dietitians, academic researchers and doctors specializing in diabetes, heart health and weight loss, reviews detailed assessments prepared by the Health Team at U.S. News of each diet. The experts evaluated each diet across 21 categories focused on health conditions and lifestyle needs.
How We Choose Our Diet Panelists
- Expertise
- Independence
- Diverse viewpoints
- Representation
Expertise
Our panelists are medical doctors, registered dietitian nutritionists, nutritional epidemiologists and researchers who are leaders in their field. They have received degrees and accreditations universally recognized as establishing their expertise in that field (such as MD, RDN, PhD). Many are published book authors, leads of peer-reviewed scientific studies and educators at respected institutions.
Independence
We ensure that the panelists who evaluate the Expert-Recommended Diets are independent, without financial ties, bias or affiliation with commercial diet programs that would influence their evaluation of the diets.
Diverse Viewpoints
In addition, we ensure that we represent a variety of scientifically-established viewpoints: from nutritionists and doctors who recognize the value of plant-based diets to diabetes experts who study the benefits of certain low-carb diets to researchers who study the connections between what we eat and the development of various chronic diseases.
Representation
There's no one diet that’s best for everyone. For that reason, we ensure that our experts understand the importance of cultural and ethnic influences when it comes to what and how we eat, as well as family and budgetary constraints that can be part of meal planning.
Learn more about how we evaluate diets.
Diet Panelists
Gwen Pratesi, Travel Writer
Gwen Pratesi brings more than 17 years of culinary and travel writing experience to U.S. News. She is a James Beard Award Finalist in Journalism for her website, PratesiLiving, and an award-winning travel writer.
Pratesi has sailed on most major river cruise lines, traversing waterways in Europe, Southeast Asia and the U.S. She enjoys the small-ship experience on river cruise ships – and appreciates the ability to walk off the ship and explore independently in many of the towns.
You can find Pratesi's work in Frommer's, The Points Guy, AAA – The Extra Mile, Garden & Gun, CruiseCritic, World of Cruising, Travel + Leisure, Fodor's Travel, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Southern Living, Reader's Digest, AARP and more. Pratesi has also been a guest on The Frommer's Travel Show.
When she's not traveling, Pratesi enjoys the coastal lifestyle in northeastern Florida, where she resides with her husband.
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Alefiya Faizullabhoy, MBA, MS, RD, CDCES, CDN, FAND
Alefiya Faizullabhoy is an award-winning registered dietitian and certified diabetes care and education specialist with more than 20 years of experience. She has a strong clinical background in nutrition focusing on diabetes, prediabetes and weight management.Read More
Ann Silver, MS, RDN, CDCES, CDN
Ann Silver is a seasoned registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator with extensive experience in private practice. She specializes in diabetes, eating disorders and weight management, as well as addresses a wide range of other medical conditions. Silver is dedicated to helping individuals navigate their health journeys through tailored nutrition and food strategies.Read More
Bonnie Taub-Dix, MA, RDN, CDN
Bonnie Taub-Dix is a distinguished media expert with over three decades of experience in the field of nutrition. As an award-winning author, registered dietitian nutritionist and celebrated media personality, she is known for her "Media Savvy" podcast, her book "Read It Before You Eat It – Taking You from Label to Table" and her website, BetterThanDieting.com.Read More
Christopher Gardner, PhD
Christopher Gardner is a nutrition scientist and the Rehnborg Farquhar Professor of Medicine at Stanford University. For 30 years, he has studied what to consume and what to avoid for optimal health, and how best to motivate individuals to achieve healthy dietary behaviors.Read More
Cindy Leung, MPH, ScD
Cindy Leung is a nutrition epidemiologist and an assistant professor of public health nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Leung has a robust research program broadly focused on understanding the influence of food insecurity on diet-related health disparities.Read More
Colin Zhu, DO, FACLM, DipABLM
Dr. Colin Zhu is double Board-Certified in Family Practice and Lifestyle Medicine. Driven by his passion for the intersection of medicine, food and nutrition, he trained as a plant-based chef and health coach at the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health & Culinary Arts and the Institute for Integrative Nutrition respectively.Read More
Colleen Tewksbury, PhD, MPH, RD, CSOWM, LDN
Colleen Tewksbury is an assistant professor in nutrition science at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and holds a secondary appointment in surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine. With a PhD in Public Health Social and Behavioral Sciences and an MPH in public health nutrition, her career is deeply rooted in clinical nutrition and obesity treatment.Read More
Cory Ruth, MS, RDN
Cory Ruth is a registered dietitian and women's health expert, as well as the founder and principal of The Women's Dietitian and Instagram account @thewomensdietitian, a private practice and digital platform for women seeking nutrition support for hormone balance, PCOS, fertility and weight management. She specializes in PCOS and nutrition therapy for infertility and assisted reproductive technology.Read More
Dahlia Marin, RDN, LD, CGN
Dahlia Marin is a registered dietitian nutritionist and licensed dietitian. She uses her own health story and past of being diagnosed with and healing from multiple health conditions herself (including pre-diabetes, Hashimoto’s hypothyroid, high cholesterol, PCOS and IBS) and clinical experience in medical nutrition therapy while working with clients of a multitude of backgrounds and gut health conditions to get to the root of what ails them.Read More
Danielle Staub, MS, RD, CDN
Danielle Staub is a registered dietitian with over 13 years of experience who specializes in adult weight management and digestive disorders, including metabolic associated fatty liver disease. She has worked in many clinical roles and spent the past eight years working at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.Read More
Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, MPH, DrPh
Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian is a cardiologist, public health scientist and director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University. He is Dean Emeritus and Jean Mayer Professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Professor of Medicine at Tufts School of Medicine, and an attending physician in cardiology at Tufts Medical Center.Read More
David Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP, FACLM
Dr. David L. Katz is a specialist in Internal Medicine, Preventive Medicine/Public Health and Lifestyle Medicine, with particular expertise in nutrition. Katz was a 2019 James Beard Foundation Award nominee in health journalism and has received three honorary doctorates.Read More
Drew Ramsey, MD
Dr. Drew Ramsey is a board-certified psychiatrist, psychotherapist and author. His work focuses on evidence-based integrative psychiatry, Nutritional Psychiatry and male mental health. He founded the Brain Food Clinic, a digital mental health practice and Spruce Mental Health in Jackson, Wyoming. Using the latest research along with decades of clinical experience, he hopes to help people improve their mental health and build resilient mental fitness.Read More
Elisabetta Politi, CDCES, MPH, RD
Elisabetta Politi is a dietitian, certified diabetes educator and national-board certified health and wellness coach, focusing on preventing chronic diseases through diet and weight management. She has over 18 years of experience as a registered dietitian and works with diabetic patients as a certified diabetes educator.Read More
Elise Cushman, MS
Elise Cushman is a clinical dietitian for Dartmouth Cancer Center at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. She is a board-certified specialist in oncology nutrition. She is also the founder and lead dietitian at Nutrition on a Budget LLC.Read More
Ellina Wood, MPH, RDN
Ellina Wood is a registered dietitian who specializes in maternal and child nutrition, focusing on improving diet-related health outcomes and public health within low-resource settings.Read More
Hollie Gelberg, PhD, RD
Hollie Gelberg is a dietitian in private practice at Plantful Living, where she helps clients understand the relationship between what they eat and their health. She has taught nutrition and research methods at California State Polytechnic University. Read More
Holly F. Lofton, MD, Dipl.ABOM
Dr. Holly Lofton is a clinical associate professor of medicine and surgery at NYU Langone Health, where she has served as director of the Medical Weight Management Program since 2012. Here, she designed the popular New You weight loss program to help her patients obtain results while fostering nutrition education and placing emphasis on a healthy lifestyle.Read More
Hope Barkoukis, RDN, LD, FAND
Hope Barkoukis is a member of the U.S. News & World Report Best Diets expert panel, chair of the Department of Nutrition at Case Western Reserve University, a past board member for The Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics, and the creator and faculty lead for the Jack, Joseph, Morton Mandel Wellness & Preventive Care Pathway program for medical students.Read More
Janet Helm, MS, RDN
Janet Helm is registered dietitian nutritionist who specializes in nutrition and culinary communications. With over two decades of experience in marketing communications, she’s an expert in global food culture, culinary trends and consumer food shopping behavior.Read More
Jill Weisenberger, MS, RDN, CDCES, CHWC, FAND
Jill Weisenberger is recognized internationally for her expertise in nutrition, diabetes and prediabetes. She is the author of several diabetes and nutrition-focused books and has worked as a nutrition counselor, diabetes educator and a health coach in the hospital, research and private practice settings.Read More
Joel Kahn, MD, FACC
Dr. Joel Kahn, of Detroit, Michigan, is a practicing cardiologist and a clinical professor of medicine at Wayne State University School of Medicine. Kahn has triple board certifications in internal medicine, cardiovascular medicine and interventional cardiology.Read More
Karen S. Basedow, D.C.N., RDN, LDN, CDCES
Karen Basedow is an assistant professor in the department of nutrition at Nova Southeastern University’s Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine. She received a doctorate in clinical nutrition at the University of North Florida, where her doctoral research focused on dietitians’ knowledge about the role of vitamin D.Read More
Katie Dodd, MS, RDN, CSG, LD, FAND
Katie Dodd is an entrepreneur, registered dietitian nutritionist, writer, speaker, consultant and business coach. She is also a Board Certified Specialist in Gerontological Nutrition, Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and a past president of the Oregon Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.Read More
Kristina Petersen, PhD, APD, FAHA
Kristina Petersen is an associate professor of nutritional sciences at the Pennsylvania State University, where she directs the Diet and Cardiometabolic Health Lab. She’s also a member of the American Heart Association’s Nutrition Committee.Read More
Kylie Sakaida, MS, RD
Kylie Sakaida is a nationally recognized registered dietitian and content creator based in Los Angeles. With over 5 million followers, she shares practical nutrition tips, evidence-based information and easy-to-follow healthy recipes. She is dedicated to empowering individuals to make informed dietary choices and adopt healthier lifestyles in a realistic and approachable way.Read More
Lamia (Lana) Nasrallah, MPH, RD, LDN
Lamia (Lana) Nasrallah is a registered dietitian with more than 10 years of experience providing nutritional assessments to help individuals achieve health and nutrition goals.Read More
Lauren Harris-Pincus, MS, RDN
Lauren Harris-Pincus is a registered dietitian nutritionist and a member of the U.S. News & World Report Best Diets expert panel. She is the founder of Nutrition Starring YOU, LLC where she has specialized in weight management and prediabetes for over 25 years.Read More
Laurence S. Sperling, MD, FACC, FAHA, FACP, MASPC
Dr. Laurence Sperling is the Founder and was the Director of The Heart Disease Prevention Center at Emory (1997-2019). He is currently the Katz Professor in Preventive Cardiology at the Emory University School of Medicine and Professor of Global Health in the Rollins School of Public Health. Sperling served as the Executive Director of the CDC/CMS Million Hearts Initiative from 2019-2024.Read More
Linda Gigliotti, MS, RDN, CDCES, FAND
Linda Gigliotti is a registered dietitian nutritionist based in Orange County, CA. She has extensive experience in the clinical practice of adult weight management and multidisciplinary obesity treatment teams, having served as the Program Director of the Weight Management Program at the University of CA, Irvine. In her spare time, Gigliotti likes to cook and entertain while embracing healthy eating!Read More
Lindsay Bailey, MS, RD, LD, CEDS-S, CDCES
Lindsay Bailey is a registered dietitian at Akron Children’s and a member of the U.S. News & World Report Best Diets expert panel. She works in the department of Adolescent Medicine, providing medical nutrition therapy to children and teens with eating disorders. She also regularly serves as a dietetic internship preceptor and mentors future dietitians.Read More
Lisa R. Young, PhD, RDN, CDN
Lisa R. Young is an internationally recognized nutritionist and portion control expert. With over three decades of experience, she is an adjunct professor of nutrition at New York University, author, international lecturer and a media consultant. Young counsels adults and children on a variety of health issues.Read More
Lisa Sasson, RD
Lisa Sasson offers expertise in weight maintenance through behavior modification and the development of food attitudes and beliefs.Read More
Maggie Gartman, RD
Maggie Gartman is a registered dietitian for Duke Health and is a member of the U.S. News & World Report Best Diets expert panel. She performs Integrative Clinical Nutrition consultations in the Duke Health Center for Living and at a Duke Integrative Medicine Center specializing in Gut, Metabolic and Inflammatory Conditions.Read More
Maggie Moon, MS, RD
Maggie Moon is an award-winning brain health nutrition specialist focused on reducing the risk of neurodegenerative disease through diet and lifestyle strategies that celebrate heritage foods and customs.Read More
Maya Feller, MS, RD, CDN
Maya Feller is the founder and lead dietitian at Maya Feller Nutrition. In her practice, her team provides medical nutrition therapy and nutrition coaching for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, mood disorders, developmental disabilities, disordered eating and more. Feller believes in providing inclusive nutrition education from an anti-bias patient-centered, culturally humble approach to help people make informed food choices.Read More
Maya Vadiveloo, PhD, RD, FAHA
Maya Vadiveloo is an Associate Professor of Nutrition in the Department of Nutrition at the University of Rhode Island and Chair of the Lifestyle Nutrition Committee for the American Heart Association.Read More
Meghan Garrity, MS, RDN, CSO, CSOWM, CNSC, CDN
Meghan Garrity currently works as a level IV clinical dietitian-nutritionist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). She works with a diverse patient population in the outpatient radiation oncology setting. Meghan started her career at MSK in 2015 and specializes in managing the nutrition-support needs of ambulatory patients.Read More
Melina Jampolis, MD
Dr. Melina B. Jampolis is an internist, board-certified physician nutrition specialist and a member of the U.S. News & World Report Best Diets expert panel. Her insights and expertise have been included in a myriad of health and lifestyle magazines.Read More
Michael Dansinger, MD
Michael Dansinger is a nationally recognized nutrition and wellness expert focused on lifestyle coaching for disease reversal and prevention. He is a member of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Tufts Medical Center where he has had a lifestyle coaching practice for patients since 2006.Read More
Michael Greger, MD, FACLM
Dr. Michael Greger is a physician, New York Times bestselling author, internationally recognized speaker on nutrition and a founding member and Fellow of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. Three of his recent books became instant New York Times Best Sellers, and all of his book proceeds go to charity.Read More
Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN, CNS
Monica Reinagel is a respected nutrition expert, author and media personality with over two decades of experience in health and wellness communication.Read More
Neal Barnard, MD, FACC
Dr. Neal Barnard is the President of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, as well as an author and clinical researcher with over 100 scientific publications and 20 books. Barnard leads programs advocating for preventive medicine, good nutrition and higher ethical standards in research.Read More
Rachel Jones, MS, RD, LDN
Rachel Jones is a dietitian practicing at UNC Health, where she works in the primary care setting where she counsels patients on behavior change to help manage chronic medical conditions such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease.Read More
Raksha Shah, MA, RDN
Raksha Shah is an entrepreneur and Registered Dietitian Nutritionist with diversified expertise spanning clinical nutrition, biopharmaceuticals, and corporate wellness. In her early career, Raksha held esteemed clinical roles at UCSF Children’s Renal Centre, Stanford Cardiac Rehabilitation, and Shands Teaching Hospital’s Renal and Kidney Transplant Services in Gainesville, Florida.Read More
Rebecca A. Seguin-Fowler, PhD, MA
Rebecca A. Seguin-Fowler is director of Healthy Living at Texas A&M’s Institute for Advancing Health Through Agriculture, professor of nutrition, an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and co-founder and director of StrongWomen/StrongPeople.Read More
Rhea Li, MPH, RD, LD
Rhea Li is a licensed and registered dietitian with a Masters in Public Health degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston and a Bachelor's Degree in Nutrition from the University of Texas at Austin.Read More
Robert E. Graham, MD, MPH
Dr. Robert Graham is a Harvard-trained researcher and physician, board certified in both Internal and Integrative Medicine, trained in Holistic and Functional Medicine, a public health scientist, health service researcher, TED speaker, food activist and chef.Read More
Rosanne Rust, MS, RDN
Rosanne Rust is an award-winning registered dietitian, internationally recognized nutrition expert, author, blogger, and factfinder. She is a prolific writer and has published eight books, including several in the popular For Dummies® series.Read More
Samar Kullab, MS, RDN, LDN
Samar Kullab is a Chicago-based registered and licensed dietitian nutritionist with a Master's degree in nutrition science. Kullab specializes in medical weight loss, bariatric surgery, behavioral health, genetic and metabolic disorders, ICU care and outpatient services.Read More
Sharon Palmer, MSFS, RDN
Sharon Palmer is known as The Plant-Powered Dietitian and has established an award-winning career in the field of plant-based nutrition and sustainability. She is an accomplished writer, editor, blogger, author, speaker, professor, advisor and media expert.Read More
Steph Grasso, MS, RD
Steph Grasso is a registered dietitian and is an influential figure in the realm of nutrition and healthy living, captivating a dedicated following of more than 2.2 million on social media platforms. Her passion for empowering others to embrace healthier lifestyle choices and culinary exploration is evident in her engaging content.Read More
Stephanie Boyea, MS, RD, CSO, LD
Stephanie Boyea is a licensed & registered dietitian specializing in oncology nutrition at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University in Atlanta, GA. She has spent over a decade providing personalized nutrition advice to adults with blood cancers, supporting them as they navigate the complex nutrition-side effects of chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation, and stem cell transplants.Read More
Sue Wolver, MD
Dr. Susan Wolver is an Associate Professor and internal medicine physician with over 30 years of medical practice, mostly in primary care.Read More
Sue-Ellen Anderson-Haynes, MS, RDN, CDCES, LDN, NAMS-CPT
Sue-Ellen Anderson-Haynes is an award winning, nationally recognized nutrition expert, mother, wife, author, health writer, recipe developer, health speaker, diabetes and fitness expert, global leader in gestational diabetes, and holistic plant-based women’s health registered dietitian of over 15 years. She is also a member of the U.S News & World Report Best Diets expert panel.Read More
Tamar Rothenberg, RDN
Tamar Rothenberg is a registered dietitian who specializes in nutrition for breast and ovarian cancer survivors in her private practice in Los Angeles. She also provides free nutritional counseling through the Sharsheret in the Kitchen Nutrition Coaching program for people impacted by breast and ovarian cancer and hereditary cancer risk.Read More
Toby Smithson, MS, RDN, CDCES, FAND
Toby Smithson is a certified diabetes care and education specialist and registered dietitian nutritionist who has successfully managed her own Type 1 diabetes for more than five decades. She has contributed to U.S. News' Eat+Run blog for over seven years.Read More
Tracey Brigman, EdD, MS, RDN, LD
Tracey Brigman is a registered dietitian nutritionist, a clinical associate professor, director of the FACS education degree program and associate director of the National Center for Home Food Preservation at the University of Georgia.Read More
Vahista Ussery, MS, MBA, RDN
Vahista Ussery is a registered dietitian nutritionist and chef, recognized for her expertise in culinary nutrition and ability to translate nutrition advice into simple actions. In 2015, Ussery co-founded To Taste, which offers evidence-based nutrition education and hands-on culinary arts instruction.Read More
Wendy Bazilian, DrPH, MA, RDN
Wendy Bazilian is a writer, educator, food enthusiast and award-winning journalist. She is a registered dietitian nutritionist and American College of Sports Medicine Certified Exercise Physiologist.Read More
Yasmin Mossavar-Rahmani, PhD, RD, CDN
Yasmin Mossavar-Rahmani is a professor of epidemiology and population health in the Division of Health Behavior Research & Implementation Science at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.Read More
