The plastics backlash Garbage, including plastic waste, is seen at the beach in Costa del Este, Panama City. Photograph: Luis Acosta/AFP via Getty Images

It was once the height of metropolitan chic: the dash into Starbucks for a skinny decaf caramel latte en route for work, the takeaway cup a mark of upward mobility. Those were the days of Sex and the City, when the culture of doing everything on the go eating, drinking, socialising was taking hold.

But in the past 10 years, in the developed world at least, the accoutrements of a disposable society the coffee cup, the plastic bag, the bottle of water have become items of shame as we see them pulled from dead marine mammals, clogging rivers in developing countries or lying on beaches littered with detritus.

Since 2010, more than 120 countries have banned or legislated against the use of plastic bags. European countries, including the UK, have considered levies on takeaway coffee cups and multimillion-pound brands such as Coca-Cola and Nestl have faced high-profile campaigns designed to get them to clean up their waste. Fast fashion has come under fire too.

These movements are in their infancy and the scale of the problem is still growing. Some companies are taking their own steps, but legislation in Europe will force their minds to focus on reducing their waste footprint. And while images continue to spread across the globe exposing how our lifestyles damage wildlife and the environment, the backlash against a disposable society is likely to continue. Sandra Laville

The 2010s were a decade of hard-won progress in gender equality and reproductive rights globally. The launch of a campaign to increase access to modern forms of contraceptive in 2012 has resulted in 53 million more women and girls now using family planning in some of the worlds poorest countries. Two-thirds of countries have achieved gender parity in primary education. And, although the figure is still low, more women are now sitting in parliament than in 2010: 11,340, compared with 8,190.

The #MeToo and Times Up movements have propelled sexual violence and harassment into the spotlight and young women have become the face of high-profile global campaigns, including the Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai fighting for girls education, and Greta Thunberg for action to tackle the climate crisis. One notable campaign was the struggle against female genital mutilation (FGM), which gathered pace through the decade.

But any progress is tempered by statistics that show one in three women globally will experience sexual or physical violence in their lifetime. Efforts by conservative religious groups to roll back womens rights, particularly sexual and reproductive rights, have intensified and are having some impact. The Trump administration has emboldened these groups by introducing an extreme policy that bans funding to overseas groups doing any work related to abortion.

However, women are mobilising in their tens of thousands to fight the backlash, setting the stage for a turbulent start to a new decade. Liz Ford

Giving a DVD or CD as a gift in 2010 was commonplace. Not any more. In the past decade, not only has the music industry shifted from CD to MP3 (with a smattering of a cassette and vinyl resurgence thrown in) and TV platforms from live services to on-demand catch-up players, but paid-for streaming is now the unequivocal norm across most of the developed world.

Since Netflix switched its primary business model of DVD rental to streaming in 2010, its user base has soared. The recent release of the $159m Scorsese epic The Irishman amply demonstrates that Netflix has the financing to eclipse even the most established of Hollywood giants for its own content. Other producers are following suit, from Amazons Prime Video service, which accounts for over 26 million users, to the BBC and ITVs new BritBox platform. Streaming has become the default.

The situation is even more marked in the music industry. Since its launch in 2008, Spotify has grown to 248 million monthly active users and is valued at $23bn. Streaming now accounts for more than half of major record label income. As CD sales drop by almost 29% year on year, labels are increasingly relying on streaming as the main platform for their new and established artists, with services such as Apple Music, Tidal and Amazon Music all providing rival alternatives. Even MP3 downloads are dropping by almost 28% each year, a shift exemplified by Apple shutting down its flagship iTunes service to become a part of its streaming platform, Apple Music.

Potential unlimited access to thousands of hours of TV, film and music is clearly a tantalising prospect not to mention the environmental advantages of moving away from physical products. The access to this information has become more important than ownership. Few predict that the tide of streaming will turn back any time soon. Ammar Kalia

Ten years ago, being vegan came with a certain social stigma. It was the kind of diet that led to eye-rolls at dinner parties, a limited range of restaurant options and the continuous fielding of the question: So, what do you eat?

But over the course of a decade veganism has gone mainstream in the developed world. According to a poll commissioned by the Vegan Society, there are now 600,000 vegans in the UK, up from 150,000 in 2014, as well as millions adopting vegetarian or flexitarian diets. Its no surprise that companies have been scrambling to make the most of this flourishing new market.

One in six food products launched in the UK in 2018 had a vegan claim and all the major supermarket chains have increased their vegan offerings. Who could forget the nationwide buzz generated by the Greggs vegan sausage roll earlier this year, which flew off the shelves and boosted company profits? Now McDonalds has announced the launch of its first fully vegan Happy Meal.

Concern over animal welfare, along with a desire to be more environmentally friendly and eat healthily, has largely fuelled the demand, with record numbers signing up to Veganuary every year, from 3,300 in 2014 to 250,000 in 2019. And the trend is not just consigned to food: sales of cruelty-free cleaning products have soared, while Superdrug reported a rise of over 300% in sales of vegan-labelled beauty products from 2015 to 2018.

There are now countless vegan events and dozens of cookbooks, and restaurants from Wagamamas to Pizza Hut offer vegan options; in just a few years, consumer pressure has forced society to accommodate lifestyles free from animal products better than ever before. The shift shows no sign of letting up either, with some reports suggesting that a quarter of the population will be vegetarian by 2025. Jessica Murray

In early December, thousands of Britons were paid to charge their electric vehicles or run a laundry load to make use of the record-breaking renewable energy generated by the UKs wind farms. It is the latest example of how the renewable industry has turned the energy system on its head in the past 10 years.

At the turn of the decade, wind, solar and hydro power projects made up less than 8% of Britains electricity. Today, more than a third of the electricity mix comes from the fleet of renewable projects, which have grown fourfold in 10 years. Globally, investors have ploughed $2.5tn into renewables since 2010 to drive its share of the worlds power generation to 12%.

The burgeoning industrys greatest feat has been to cut the costs of renewable energy technology far faster than expected. A global survey by Bloomberg New Energy Finance found that solar power costs had fallen by over 80% since 2009, while onshore wind had plunged by 46%. In the UK, the cost of offshore windfarms has dropped by half in the past two years alone; they are now cheaper to build and run than fossil-fuel plants.

The ultra-low cost of renewables means wind and solar farms will spread even faster in the years to come. By 2030, the UK government expects offshore windfarms alone to provide almost a third of the UKs electricity, with total renewables making up about half of the electricity system. Renewable energys greatest decade will light the way for even greater decades ahead. Jillian Ambrose

It was the decade when we finally turned to face our mental health problems, didnt much like what we saw and started to do something about it.

In 2010, depression was still the illness that dared not speak its name: wherever you lived, few people mentioned it in public apart from the occasional brave celebrity outlier. Certainly there were no MPs, chief executives or presidents on the record about their psychological disorders.

By the end of 2019, its still not easy to tell the world that there is something not quite right with your brain. But its perhaps easier than it has ever been. You may well still face discrimination particularly if you suffer from one of the rarer conditions that are still taboo, like schizophrenia or borderline personality disorder. But people will understand.

Many family doctors will have a better grasp now than they did 10 years ago (though they may not be able to do much for you). Your workplace will probably have mental health first-aiders, employee assistance programmes and, if they are really smart, psychiatric conditions added to employee insurance policies. Your friends will all know someone who has been through something similar.

What changed? The internet undoubtedly helped (though Googling your symptoms remains a very bad idea): a torrent of blogs, videos and advice columns helped to shed light on the darkness. Campaigns by British royal family members and mental health charities cut through. MPs including Charles Walker and Kevan Jones came out. Portrayals in TV shows, films and novels multiplied.

The next step is to crack the treatment conundrum. By the end of the 2020s, mental ill-health will be so common that it may even become the rule rather than the exception. But it will still feel like the most dreadful thing that can ever happen to a human, and the demand for services will have gone up, not down. Mark Rice-Oxley

At the start of the 2010s, transgender people did not exist in the mainstream. They were portrayed by cisgender actors in Hollywood, excluded from US and UK gay rights groups and denied basic legal recognition. But now, trans and non-binary people are stars on screen and breaking barriers in media, politics, sports, courtrooms, science and other industries.

In 2013, the US whistleblower Chelsea Manning came out as trans and became a global LGBTQ+ icon. In 2014, the actor Laverne Cox graced the cover of Time magazine, which declared a transgender tipping point. Caitlyn Jenner came out the following year.

While cis male actors repeatedly won awards for playing trans women in the first half of the decade and beyond, this kind of casting eventually became untenable; in 2018, Scarlett Johansson dropped a role as a trans man amid massive backlash, while Tangerine, A Fantastic Woman, Pose and other projects raised the bar by giving trans actors leading roles.

Celebrities such as Indya Moore, Asia Kate Dillon and Sam Smith also came out as non-binary, pushing mainstream awareness of gender-nonconforming people, who have long existed in cultures around the world.

With expanded societal and scientific recognition that gender is fluid, states across the US passed laws allowing people who are neither female nor male to mark a third gender on IDs. Germany, Nepal, Austria and other countries also expanded gender options. Teens increasingly rejected gender labels and intersex rights activism blossomed.

There has been a dark side to the progress: unprecedented assaults on LGBTQ+ rights and increasing reports of violence, harassment and discrimination, particularly against trans women of colour. The decade of visibility and backlash has set the stage for continued civil rights battles with growing movements of trans and non-binary people organising to fight back. Sam Levin in Los Angeles

A decade of steady quantitive growth for womens football in England has been studded with qualitative leaps in the sports development.

In 2011, the FA launched the Womens Super League and moved the game out of the shadow of the mens into the summer. It was a bold step and reaped instant rewards. The average attendance of 550 in that first season was an increase of 604% on the previous season average. At the decades close, that average had reached 4,112.

The English national team, the Lionesses, have provided the biggest public window into the game, with consistent showings through the decade. That has generated a surge in the number of women and girls playing football: there are now more than 11,000 registered teams and more than 2.6 million women over 16 playing at one level or another.

This is all a result of multimillion-pound investment from the FA and commercial partners. In 2018, the FA announced an additional investment of 50m in the womens game over six years. A league sponsorship deal with Barclays is believed to include investment of as much as 20m.

There is a real momentum behind womens football. Professionalism means the product on the pitch has improved dramatically and a home Euros to help start the decade off in 2021 is likely to be another moment that propels the sport forward. Suzanne Wrack

The jury is still out on whether vaping will take over from more traditional methods of consuming tobacco but, in terms of pure numbers, it was indisputably one of the trends of the decade.

The first e-cigarette is credited to a Chinese pharmacist called Hon Lik, who said he invented it after his father died of lung cancer. Those that arrived in the UK in 2006 were described as cigalikes, devices heating nicotine to produce inhalable vapour but still masquerading as cigarettes.

Measurement of e-cigarette use began in 2012, at a time when less than half the adult population of the UK had heard of them. In that year, there were 700,000 users (1.7% of the population). In 2019, that had grown to 3.6 million (7.1%). According to ASH (Action on Smoking and Health), just under 2 million of todays vapers are ex-smokers, 1.4 million are current smokers and 200,000 have never smoked. The reason most often given for vaping is to quit smoking. Most public health experts in the UK, with some notable exceptions, think e-cigarettes could save lives. Nicotine is strongly addictive but not proven to do harm, whereas the smoke and tar from tobacco kill up to half of those who use cigarettes.

But e-cigarettes have developed a bad name in the US, at first because of Juul, a stylish device looking like a USB stick that took off among high-school pupils. It contains three times the level of nicotine permitted in Europe. A panic among parents and teachers became a national scare when reports began to pile up of adult vapers with lung diseases. As of mid-November, the authorities have reported 2,172 cases of lung injury and 42 deaths.

If e-cigarettes can weather the storm and irrefutable data is collected to show they are a big help in quitting smoking, they could still have a bright future. But after such reputational damage, the adolescents of 2030 may be asking: Vaping what was that? Sarah Boseley

The technical specification says it all. In 2010, the top-of-the-line iPhone 3GS had a 480-pixel-high screen, 32GB of storage and a 3-megapixel camera. Going into 2020, the equivalent iPhone 11 Pro has a 12-megapixel camera, 512GB of storage, and about 17 times the pixels in the screen. Weve dropped the smart, too, and the mobile. Its just a phone now and it lies at the heart of everything.

It also costs 1,400. That, more than anything else, shows the real change that smartphones have wrought over the past decade: from an optional extra, sold to boost the value of phone contracts, to the core of modern life. Apple can charge such a price because phones are firmly established as central to productivity, to entertainment, to communication and to education.

The proliferation of phones across the globe is one of the stories of the decade. There are an estimated 3.2 billion smartphone users worldwide, a penetration rate of 42%. That spread overwhelmingly on Googles Android operating system has let countries leapfrog previously essential stages of development: from sub-Saharan Africa, where mobile internet is crucial to economic development even though fixed lines are still scarce, to China, where cashless stores are more common than in the US despite a 10th of the take-up of credit cards.

In the developed world, phones have killed the concept of being online. Once, the internet was a place you sat down to connect to. Now, were all online all the time, and the reality-distorting effects are bleeding over into meatspace. Misinformation on Twitter makes the front pages; CGI-Instagram influencers are licensed for fashion ads.

That change will last. Phones may alter unrecognisably over the next decade, with smart glasses, voice assistants and wearables taking more of the interactions, shrinking the phone down to an always-on and always-on-you hub. But the blending of realities is here to stay. Alex Hern

In 2010, the traditional media ecosystem was fraying but largely intact: television still attracted big ratings, print newspaper sales were struggling but had yet to fall off a cliff and many people still used traditional phones that could do little more than call and text. Although we were spending increasing amounts of time online, people still generally accessed Facebook through the site on a desktop computer. Instagram was in its infancy. Twitter was still quite niche.

But as smartphone usage took off in the early part of the decade, everything changed. Suddenly, checking a social network turned from something that took place a maximum of a few times a day, perhaps on your lunch break when the boss wasnt looking, into an addictive habit. With people constantly checking Facebook, new ways of communication and new formats of conveying news took hold. As hundreds of millions spent more time on these networks, the advertising cash followed them. By the end of the decade the social network that started as outsiders had grown into lightly regulated behemoths. Their algorithms exerted enormous influence over commerce, the media, and politics. They were credited with anything from allowing small businesses to flourish to undermining journalism and helping extremists to gain power.

Whether the same social networks continue to exert the same amount of influence in 2030 depends on two things. First, whether governments have the political will to regulate or break up these companies. And, second, and potentially more damaging, whether they can convince the public to keep using them and not spend their time elsewhere. One scary lesson for Mark Zuckerberg is that no one is talking about the risk MySpace poses to democracy. Jim Waterson

The shale revolution has made the unthinkable inevitable. In the blink of a decade, fracking has transformed the US from an energy-hungry importer to one of the worlds most important energy producers. The US is poised to enter the 2020s as a net exporter of oil and gas for the first time since records began.

At the centre of the boom in shale oil and gas was a technology breakthrough. Across the US shale heartlands in Texas, North Dakota and New Mexico, hydraulic fracturing unlocked vast reserves of oil and gas trapped in unyielding layers of shale. It was an engineering feat that has upended global energy markets and rewritten the rules of geopolitics.

The impact has been profound. By declaring its energy independence, the US has claimed its right to step back from the instability in the Middle East in favour of a US-first diplomatic policy. It has ignited a surge in manufacturing, which has helped fuel trade tensions with China. It has hardened the stance against the climate agenda, oiling the US exit from the Paris climate agreement. Since 2010, the amount of shale oil and gas produced has increased sixfold.

Within the first half of the decade, the rise of North Americas upstart frackers triggered the start of the most severe oil market downturn on record. By the second half of the decade the Opec oil group determined its production policy around the prospects of US frackers. Today, the worlds biggest oil companies have staked multibillion-dollar investments on their claim to the next phase of the US shale era.

There is yet to be a convincing successor to the US shale boom elsewhere in the world and with good reason. Environmental concerns, densely populated areas and fierce public opposition have kept frackers at bay across Europe. Efforts to ignite a US-style shale boom in Argentina have been slow to gain traction but may soon take off. Jillian Ambrose

Austerity has defined the decade. Trillions of dollars may have been pumped into the banks to reboot global growth across the developed world but cuts to public spending and welfare benefits, rather than Keynesian stimulus, was the remedy adopted by western governments battered by the worst economic shock since the great depression.

In Britain, cuts imposed by the Conservatives determined the 2010s, fuelling political dissatisfaction that led to the Brexit vote. But the austerity drive spread around the world. Greece was at the centre during the eurozone sovereign debt crisis, as markets feared contagion for other euro-area nations, known together as the PIIGS: Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain.

Austerity was the condition attached to international bailouts to stop the rot. Cutting the way to prosperity was all the rage. The belief was that governments could mend their finances while central banks rebooted economic growth by cutting interest rates to zero and firing up the quantitative-easing money press.

The trick worked to a degree, stopping the last recession from turning into another great depression. The US has enjoyed the longest uninterrupted stretch of growth in modern history.

But austerity dismantled the mechanisms that reduce inequality. The 2010s mark the weakest economic expansion on record, wage growth has stalled, the public realm lies in tatters, improvements in living standards are stagnating, politics has shattered into extremes and the world economy remains on life support. A third of young people are still out of work in Greece, where the economy remains a quarter smaller than in 2007. More than 14 million in Britain are struggling in poverty.

Austerity dogma is fading and increasingly regarded a mistake. But after defining the past decade, it will still influence the next. Government spending is starting to rise to repair the damage, but trust in establishment politicians to deliver is shot. The 2010s incubated more radical ideas that will colour the 2020s, while the consequences of austerity will continue to be felt. Richard Partington

In 2010, migration was much less visible on the global agenda, other than in central America and parts of south-east Asia. Today it is a pressing issue on most continents.

There are currently more than 272 million people around the world living outside their country of birth 3.5% of the global population. This is an increase of 51 million since 2010. It shows that the rise in the global number of migrants has outpaced the increase in the worlds population but perhaps not by as much as political rhetoric suggests. Forced migration meaning refugees and asylum seekers has risen much faster than voluntary movement of people seeking better opportunities. One in seven migrants is younger than 20.

Despite the global compacts on migration and refugees adopted last year and despite the broad benefits that migration often brings the issue is arguably more politically sensitive than at any point since the end of the second world war. Governments across Europe and in the US and Australia have put up fences and forced back people seeking refuge.

Migration patterns are tough to predict since they reflect evolving crises and instability but also longer-term societal changes in demographics, economic development, transport access and connectivity. There is every indication, though, that rising population, climate pressure, food insecurity and conflict mean migration will remain as potent an issue through the 2020s. But evidence does not support a dramatic rise in either the number or proportion of migrants.

The latest UN projections suggest zero net migration between now and 2050, which would mean migrants would remain at about 3.17% of a global population of 9.8 billion. Lucy Lamble

When G20 world leaders gathered in London in April 2009, only one politician Silvio Berlusconi could justifiably have been called a rightwing populist. Fast-forward a decade, and three of the four largest democracies on the planet now have far-right populists at the helm: Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Narendra Modi in India and Donald Trump in the US.

In Europe, radical-right populist parties are rarely winning elections but they are securing more votes, more seats in parliament and more power-sharing roles in coalition governments than at any time since the second world war. In the two western countries that arguably suffered most under the rule of 20th-century fascists Germany and Spain far-right parties using populist rhetoric are the third-largest parties in parliament. And they control the government in Poland and Hungary the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbn, has gone a long way toward his goal of transforming the EU country into what he hopes will be an illiberal democracy.

Political scientists do not agree how we got ourselves into this hole, and are even less sure about how we can scramble out. Many explanations for the causes of the rightwing populist wave point to the effects of financial crisis of 2008, the September 11 attacks (and the security clampdown that followed) and, in Europe, the so-called migrant crisis in 2015, which brought into focus long-simmering unease over mass migration.

Others point to the dominance of a neoliberal economic order implemented not just by conservatives but also those who identified as centre-left and paving the way to rampant globalisation and inequality. But no one should discount the impact of a technological era, which has rewired the entire information ecosystem, eroding trust in institutions and rewarding the kind of angry, tribal, divisive and sensational political debates in which rightwing populist thrive. Paul Lewis

What will be the great trends of the 2020s? Let us know your thoughts by emailing theupside@theguardian.com

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From renewables to Netflix: the 15 super-trends that defined the 2010s - The Guardian

There are a lot of diets out there the cayenne pepper diet, the baby food diet, that diet where you can only eat grapefruit and eggs. How do you sort through the fads and find a diet that's right (and healthy) for you? Jenna Sterner/NPR hide caption

There are a lot of diets out there the cayenne pepper diet, the baby food diet, that diet where you can only eat grapefruit and eggs. How do you sort through the fads and find a diet that's right (and healthy) for you?

Fad diets come and go, and there's no one diet that's best for everyone. So, here are some simple tips to help you pick one that's best for you.

Before we start, here's an important concept to anchor your thinking: All the best diets have a lot in common. They nudge you to eat more fruits, vegetables and lean protein while at the same time cutting back on refined sugars and packaged foods full of ultra-refined carbs.

Now, on to the tips. David Katz, a preventive health physician and the founding director of Yale University's Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center, will be our guide. Then we'll discuss a few of the diets ranked most highly by U.S. News & World Report.

For a diet to be effective, it's got to be one you can stick with. So before you choose a diet, Katz says ask yourself these questions:

Some popular diets get lower marks in Katz's book because they are difficult to maintain over time.

Katz says that oftentimes, good diets sound more alike than different. Two of the most highly ranked diets on U.S. News list the DASH diet and a Mediterranean diet share a lot of the same building blocks of fruits, veggies and whole grains. They also allow for moderate amounts of eggs, poultry and dairy. Both diets recommend taking it easy on sweets, sugary drinks and red meat.

If you want to align your eating habits with a healthy planet, think about the environmental footprint of your diet.

"I don't think ... we can talk about diet and health and not factor in the health of the planet," Katz says. Consider this: Beef production uses about 20 times the land and emits 20 times the emissions compared to producing beans, per gram of protein. And, there's a consensus among many health experts around the globe that a diet low in red meat consumption is better for our health and the planet's health. The EAT-Lancet Commission report recommends less than an ounce a day of red meat, or about a hamburger per week. (The folks at the World Resources Institute have calculated the greenhouse gas emissions associated with producing a gram of edible protein of various foods, from eggs, nuts and soy to poultry and beef.)

And now, for a look at some of the ranked diets from U.S. News:

The Mediterranean diet

Some populations with the longest life spans follow a Mediterranean diet, Katz says. He points to so-called blue zones. "There are five blue-zone populations identified to date," Katz says. "These are the people around the world who most routinely live to be 100 and don't get chronic disease," Katz says. Two of these zones are in Mediterranean areas: Ikaria, Greece, and Sardinia, Italy. The diet has been linked to lower rates of breast cancer and heart disease.

Here's how U.S. News describes the Mediterranean pattern of eating: "This diet emphasizes eating fruits, veggies, whole grains, beans, nuts, legumes, olive oil and flavorful herbs and spices, fish and seafood, at least a couple of times a week, and poultry, eggs, cheese and yogurt in moderation, while saving sweets and red meat for special occasions. Top it off with a splash of red wine if you want, and remember to stay physically active and you're set."

Who might this diet be good for? If you don't want to count calories and your goal is overall good health, you may want to give the Mediterranean diet a try. But make sure you buy good olive oil. Here's a hint: To get the freshest olive oil, look for a harvest date on the bottle.

The DASH diet

The DASH diet, which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, is promoted by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to do exactly that prevent high blood pressure. It's not a sexy sounding diet, but it's tried and true and routinely ranks as a best diet for health.

It emphasizes the food you've always been told to eat fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean protein and low-fat dairy, which are high in blood pressure-deflating nutrients such as potassium, calcium, protein and fiber. And, of course, it recommends cutting back on sodium.

As we've reported, there's a lot of evidence pointing to the benefits of this pattern of eating everything from weight loss, protection against heart disease and certain cancers, as well as diabetes prevention.

The keto diet

The keto diet emphasizes weight loss through burning fat. The goal is to quickly lose weight and ultimately feel better with fewer cravings while boosting your mood, mental focus and energy. It's an ultra low-carb diet.

"It tends to be a very low-fiber diet," Katz says. "That's bad for the gastrointestinal tract," Katz says, so he's not a big fan. The keto diet has come in last place in some of the U.S. News rankings because experts say it can be extreme and hard to stick to. Though, for people who do stick to it, it can lead to significant and fast weight loss. Why? When you deprive your body of carbohydrates, you begin to burn fat as a fuel source.

For Katz, losing weight shouldn't always be the main goal. "I think much of the focus, sadly, is still on losing weight. And all too often, it's on losing weight fast," he says. He prefers diets that people can stick to over their lifetime not crash diets. And the most important goal is optimal health not trying to become a size 2 if that's not your body type.

Another knock on keto is that it can be hard on the environment. People who are on the keto diet tend to eat a lot of meat. He says the same goes for the paleo diet.

An alternative to keto is intermittent fasting. There's preliminary, new evidence that simply limiting your eating window to 10 hours a day (think 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.) can help nudge your body into low-grade ketosis, which can help burn fat.

Paleo diet

The thought behind the paleo diet is, if the cavemen didn't eat it, you shouldn't either. So you'll say goodbye to refined sugar, dairy, legumes and grains and hello to meat, fish, poultry, fruits and veggies.

Katz says this diet is "hard to practice because everything that cavemen ate is extinct. ... The best you can do is approximate it." He also says paleo can be used, "as an excuse to eat bacon, pepperoni and hamburgers."

Vegan diet

The vegan diet is basically a vegetarian diet with no animal products, so no eggs, cheese or other dairy.

Katz says there's often a fear that those who follow vegan diets may lack protein, but he says it's mostly an urban legend. "A well-balanced vegan diet readily provides all of the protein that we need." And it's healthy for the planet. Registered dietitians often recommend a B-12 supplement or other multivitamin for people following a vegan diet.

Ornish diet

The plant-based Ornish diet gets top marks. It was developed by Dean Ornish a physician and professor at UC San Francisco. The diet is also low in refined carbs and fat. In his book Spectrum, Ornish describes a range of healthy lifestyle choices, including exercise, yoga and meditation for stress management, as part of his overall wellness plan.

Katz says the Ornish diet is best known for actually reversing heart disease. The diet has been shown to reduce plaque in the coronary arteries and improve other measures linked to cardiovascular health in people who are at high risk of heart disease or already have it.

Weight Watchers

According to U.S. News, "Weight Watchers assigns every food and beverage a point value based on its nutrition. The things you know you should eat, like fruits and vegetables, are zero points. Those foods help lay a foundation for a healthier pattern of eating. And there's a low risk for overeating them."

The Weight Watchers diet program is known for group meetings and weigh-ins. It tends to rank well because it gives you rules about what to eat and motivation to stick with it. "As soon as you impose any rules, you're better off in terms of weight, at least, and generally in terms of health, too," Katz says. "So these are approaches that basically put training wheels on the bike."

If you like to track what you eat and you like the idea of someone else holding you accountable, you might want to try Weight Watchers. And if you like the idea of someone else preparing your meals so you don't have to decide what to eat, maybe try Jenny Craig. You're going to have to pay for both of them.

This story was originally published on Jan. 21, 2019. The audio portion of the episode was produced by Chloee Weiner.

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Choose The Best Diet For You - NPR

If theres a diet trend youve heard buzzing around the most this year, its probably this one. A typical keto diet consists of roughly 60 to 80 percent fat, 20 to 25 percent protein, and 5 to 10 percent carbs. By consuming such a high intake of fats, youre trying to induce ketosis, which is when your body has gone through its source of carbs and starts burning fat instead. Your body produces ketones and uses them as sources of energy for your brain and central nervous system.

A couple of pros to this diet are the high percentage of protein and, like paleo, the concentration on whole foods. The cons are the high percentage of fat and insufficient amount of carbs. Theres a reason why many endurance athletes lean on simple sugars, such as gummies or GUs, during long ridesthey provide energy in the form of carbs that break down quickly. Fats, on the other hand, take a lot longer to digest.

Its very inefficient, Rizzo says. It takes a lot more work for the body to break down fat and use it as fuel. Youre almost putting more work on your body than you need to because youre just not storing as much carbs in the muscle and the liver, which is known as glycogen.

The lack of carbs in the keto diet also forces you to cut back on fruits and vegetables, which are full of naturally-occurring carbs. This means youre depriving your body of nutrients it needs.

Generally speaking, youre not getting a lot of vitamins, minerals, fiber, or antioxidants, Rizzo says. That can lead to deficiencies in basic nutrients such as vitamin C or Athings that should be part of any persons diet.

These are nutrients you not only need for your everyday life, but also fuel you need in trainingespecially for the last leg of a ride or race when you need to finish strong. In those anaerobic exercises, your body cant actually burn fat because oxygen has to be present in order to do that. Therefore, fat cant give you proper fuel to help propel you across the finish line as fast as you want during a hard and fast effort.

For people who might be trying to get faster or PR in a race, its going to be a rough day for you, because your body was running on a fuel source that it wasnt really designed to, says Amy Goodson, M.S., R.D., C.S.S.D., a dietitian in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

If youre already fat-adapted and prefer to simply ride your bike at a mellow, steady state for yours, then a keto diet might work well for you. But if you plan on any HIIT workouts, charging up hills during rides, or sprinting for town lines or finish lines, then you want to avoid.

The Verdict: If youve got big goals for the bike in 2020, then keto is not for youyou just wont make it. The diet lacks carbs and fiber, thus depriving you of required nutrients, energy, and mental sharpness you need to ride your best.

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Fad Diets | Diets to Ditch in 2020 - Bicycling

My number one tip would be to make sure that youre including some plant-based protein in your diet each week. So, instead of having meat or chicken at every meal, replace it with some plant-based alternatives like legumes or tofu two or three times a week, she says.

Several studies have shown people who eat a diet high in plant-based foods and low in animal-based foods have a lower body mass index (BMI) and lower rates of obesity than those who eat meat. In fact, one recent study found even moderate adherence to a vegetarian diet could prevent obesity in middle age.

Meanwhile, a small 2018 study found a plant-based diet was highly effective in treating obesity. In the study, researchers put 75 people who were overweight or obese on either a vegan diet or a controlled diet, which contained meat. After 16 weeks, only the vegan group showed significant weight loss (6.5 kilograms). The plant-based group also lost more fat mass.

While Ms McGrice is not suggesting we should all become vegans, replacing some of your meat-based meals with plant-based ones is an achievable weight loss strategy.

Many have dubbed this approach the flexitarian diet, or a semi-vegetarian diet, with a focus on eating healthy plant-based foods while still enjoying meat products in moderation.

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While there are many benefits to substituting meat-based protein with plant-based proteins, from a weight loss perspective, plant-based proteins contain far less calories. So, for example, a serving of a 100 gram fillet steak is 745 kilojoules, compared to say the same quantity of lentils, which is only 323 kilojoules," Ms McGrice explains.

"So, by making a pretty simple change, people can start seeing some good results."

Sydney personal trainer Ricardo Riskalla says medium intensity workouts with a variety of cardio and body weight exercises are key to losing weight.

The days of boot camps with people vomiting on the side has gone, he says. Rather, the most effective exercise routine, is one that includes variety, rest days and doesnt make you push your yourself to the maximum limit to avoid creating more stress in the body.

While recent studies have highlighted the benefits of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) for weight loss, these studies look at the short-term benefits, not the long-term results.

Mr Riskalla argues a gentler approach to exercise means you are more likely to stick to it.

At the end of day we must think about the longevity of the fitness routine and when pleasure is involved I guarantee you will stick to it for a long time, he says.

The best routine for weight loss is medium intensity, long duration which involves body weight exercises (strength training exercises that use the individual's own weight to provide resistance against gravity) performed in a high number of repetitions.

In my experience hardcore routines are dropped after a few weeks. Also, the variety of body weight exercises are endless, giving people great variation, which doesnt happen when exercising on machines. In terms of aesthetics, I also see more harmonious bodies with body weight exercises, and they are my go-to when working with actors and models.

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When it comes to how often people should exercise, Mr Riskalla recommends following a progressive routine.

For example, if you never exercised and want to lose weight, start with walking once a week for one hour, then in the second week go twice a week and so on.

Exercises should also follow what we call periodisation, he says: some weeks must be harder than others in order to allow muscles to recover and to not create a burn-out situation.

"Above all, my recommendation is to never push yourself to a ridiculous number of hours daily. The old belief of 'the more, the better' is not applicable."

Associate Professor Kieron Rooney, a metabolic biochemistry researcher from the University of Sydney, says removing the junk sources of carbohydrates from your diet can be life-changing for those wanting to lose weight in 2020.

"[Carbohydrates] are the most potent stimulator of insulin which stimulates the synthesis of fat and the storage of fat," he says.

However, not everyone should jump on the ultra-low-carb keto (ketogenic) diet that restricts carbohydrate intake to no more than 20 or 50 grams per day (compared with the average daily intake of about 300 to 400 grams).

You dont have to go that far, he says. I was part of a research group that had people down to 140 grams (of carbohydrates a day), which was a diet that still included bread and potatoes and a bit of pasta and people still lost weight.

A more moderate approach to cutting carbohydrates, particularly from ultra-processed sources is more achievable and maintainable in the long term.

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What you want to do is look for the junk sources of carbohydrates. So you can have a little bit of toast. Im ok with that. And you can have a little bit of pasta even, and rice, most certainly. But to get away with that, youve got to make sure that youre not also having the cake at morning tea or the muffin on the way home from work or the biscuits that are floating around your workspace because when you put that stuff in on top, thats when you start overloading your system."

Associate Professor Rooney adds that reducing your carbohydrate intake will also help you burn more fat when you exercise.

We can put people on a bike in the lab and if youre eating over 200 grams of carbs a day you are burning far less fat up to half the amount than an individual who is eating less than 200 grams of carbs a day for the same amount of exercise.

Associate Professor Rooney advises people to look at the NOVA food classification system, which categorises foods according to how processed they are, to help remove unnecessary carbohydrates from their diet.

You should be aiming to remove as much of the processed and ultra-processed foods as possible as well as liquid sugars, such as juice and cordial and soft drinks which are particularly bad, he says.

He says a moderate approach to reducing your carbohydrate intake by eliminating processed and ultra-processed foods and drinks is more likely to ensure that you not only lose the weight but keep it off in the long term.

Rachel covers general and breaking news for The Age.

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DNA Can Be The Key To Finding The Perfect Diet - WCCO | CBS Minnesota

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DES MOINES, Iowa-- As we get ready for the new year, people will be setting weight loss as a New Years Resolution. Many will be trying different diets to shed some pounds. The organization, All Home Connections did a study to see what was the most googled thing in every state in 2019. One of the top most googled questions in Iowa was, should I fast? Local, registered dietitian at Hy-Vee, Anne Cundiff said people already fast when we get eight hours of sleep in. Fasting intentionally, however can possibly lead to weight gain.

You take so much time off from eating and you just think about all the things you want to eat. And then you eat a whole bunch of calories at that next meal time, Cundiff said. So it can be kind of kind of counterproductive to do a fast intentionally.

Cundiff did say there were some chemical and physical benefits of fasting. It can help give your digestive system a rest and give your body a chance to reset during the day. However, if you want to lose weight, dietitians are suggesting doing a plant based diet in 2020. Doing a plant based diet doesnt mean becoming a vegetarian. It simply means consuming more nuts, healthy oils, legumes and of course fruits and vegetables. Cundiff said if youre doing any diet for a short period of time it isnt going to work. The goal is to turn these healthy eating habits into a lifestyle.

Any diet you start, you need to do it for the rest of your life. Because if you don't do it for the rest of your life, then it's not gonna work. So if you think of it more as a lifestyle change and not a diet, then therefore your going to have that long term benefit from it, Cundiff said.

Along with going plant based, Cundiff suggested being more mindful of portion sizes. Its no secret that Americans are known to overeat. The International Business Guide reported that Americans consume more calories a day than any other country. Cundiff said we actually have a measuring cup on us at all times, our fist. So you should never be eating more than a fistful of one thing in each meal.

If you need help with your health goals in 2020, Hy-Vee dieticians are currently offering free sessions in January to help you kick of the new year on a good foot. To find a dietician near you, go to Hy-Vee.com

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Registered Dietician Weighs in on if Fasting is the Best Dieting Trend for 2020 - WHO TV Des Moines

I wasnt looking forward to Christmas parties because when everyone else was all dressed up, I always felt uncomfortable in what I was wearing and whenever there was a group photo Id be the one who offered to take it so I didnt have to be in it.

Thats one of the reasons why the school Christmas party photo really shocked me I finally saw myself how I really looked.

Signing up for her local Slimming World group, the dieter changed her lifestyle and started eating healthier foods.

Previously skipping breakfast and snacking on sweets, chocolate and crisps, Cory decided to ditch the treats.

Before shaping up, the dieter would tuck into kebabs, pizza and chips but she swapped those foods for healthy home cooked meals.

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Weight loss: One woman shed astounding five stone in one year with this diet plan - Express

IN THE 1995 comedy Heavyweights, an obese teenage boy named Gerry is sent to a weight-loss camp. When a psycho trainer tries to coerce the kids into doing punishing workouts, the campers imprison him and then gorge on junk food. Clearly, such ferocious weight-loss efforts backfire big time and not just in the movies.

Research published in JAMA shows that from 1999 to 2016 an ever-increasing number of Americans 40 to 65 were trying to lose weight (up from 34% to 42% of the population). Ironically, at the same time, their weight was going up, not down, from a BMI of 30.5 (obese) to 31.9 (more obese). Holy frustration!

Clearly, whatever folks are doing to lose weight isnt working (reduce calorie intake, exercise and drinking a lot of water were the top three techniques reported). So what should you try?

Go for a lifestyle change, not a sensory deprivation experience. Dont go cold-turkey with unhealthy habits. Give up a bad-for-you food every couple of weeks no processed meats (bye-bye pepperoni) or no added sugars (so long sodas), for example. Replace a bad habit with a healthy habit. Instead of an after-dinner snack do an after-dinner walk.

No extremely low calorie diets. Stick with around 2,000-2,300 calories a day with the right nutritional components. Eat 75% of your daily calories before 3 p.m.

Move more. Get a minimum of 30 minutes of aerobic activity daily.

Chew bites well. Research finds that chewing for longer helps you eat less overall.

Mehmet Oz, M.D., is host of The Dr. Oz Show, and Mike Roizen, M.D., is chief wellness officer and chairman of Wellness Institute at Cleveland Clinic.

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Drs. Oz & Roizen: Breaking the weight gain-diet-weight gain cycle - The Union Leader

From the GOLO diet to JLos healthy eating plan (Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)

Fad diets pop up on a regular basis, many of which are unhelpful and downright ridiculous.

If youre considering dieting, remember the golden rule: its not about starving yourself, and as with any lifestyle change, take care before making drastic changes to your food intake.

In the last year, weve explored the CICO diet (calories in, calories out), the milk diet (where you just drink milk every day, for four weeks please dont ) and carb cycling (which staggers the amount of carbohydrates that you consume).

We also investigated why ultra-processed foods are bad for us, how to make an easy Keto dinner and how the low FODmap diet can help those who suffer from IBS.

As its the end of the year, Google has just released searches for the most popular diets of 2019 and the results might surprise you.

Here are the diets that made the cut, and what theyre all about.

Intermittent fasting is technically not a diet, but an eating plan. It revolves around time restriction its not about what you eat, but when you eat it.

While there are many versions to choose from, the most popular tend to be 16:8 or 5:2.

With 16:8 you can eat during an eight-hour period, but outside of this time you are only allowed to consume non-calorie drinks. It has likely seen a boost after 50-year-old actress Jennifer Aniston, known for her toned frame, revealed that she follows this diet to keep her body in shape.

Meanwhile, 5:2 is focused on days; five days per week you have a normal diet, while only consuming 500 calories on the two other days. However, the time restriction is not set in stone; you can adjust the hours and days to suit your body type and needs.

The eating plan is meant to be help you get lean without having to restrict your food intake to specific foods, and some studies have shown that it can boost the bodys metabolism.

As the name suggests, this diet was named after a man called Dr Sebi, also known as Alfredo Darrington Bowman.

The herbalist developed an alkaline diet, which he believed would rid the body of mucus build-up and cleanse it.

This diet involves only consuming live and raw foods, including vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices. Essentially, everything that youd find in a Whole Foods isle.

Canned goods are a no-no, as are any animal products, soy, alcohol and fortified items (like cereals). You could also consider it a (very restricted) vegan diet.

Many high-profile celebrities who support the alkaline diet, including Victoria Beckham and Kate Hudson. Variations

There has been some controversy around this diet. Dr Sebi claimed it could cure Aids, as well as various forms of cancer and other illnesses, but there has been no evidence to support this.

Similarly, a man named Robert Young, who claims to have invented the alkaline diet, has been convicted of two charges of practising medicine without a license.

Make of that what you will, but if youre going to restrict your diet to such an extent, its best to chat to a qualified nutritionist or medical professional first.

Noom is also not technically a diet, but actually a weight loss app that offers two programmes; healthy weight loss and one that is tailored for diabetes prevention.

It utilises a traffic light system to tell you which foods are healthy, and which to avoid or eat less of. Once you sign up, you will also be paired with your very own health coach.

So, does it work? Medical News Today reviewed Noom earlier this year, and highlighted several studies which demonstrated mixed results, most quite successful.

For instance, a study from 2016 revealed that out of 38,921 Noom users, 77.9% lost weight with the help of the app. The app also contains features to help you monitor your weight loss, in order to keep you on track, and it was found that those who kept on top of this saw more consistent weight loss.

Now for the downside: Noom focuses on calories, rather than nutrients. As users cant check this in the app, it might be more difficult for them to ensure their body gets everything it needs, including vitamins, minerals and fats.

Whats more, according to MNT, not all Noom coaches are certified with the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching.

Youll also have to pay to use the app.

Heres the thing with calories: there are many factors that determine how many you are meant to consume each day so there is no one setting that works for all people.

This is dependent on your weight, height and how active you are on a day-to-day basis. By eating less calories, the stored fat in your body can burn off, but once again, counting calories often means that you forget about nutrients which are essential.

You need to get a certain amount of calcium and protein, vitamins and magnesium, and tailor the diet to your needs (i.e. the amount of calories yourbody needs). As an example, a lack of magnesium can lead to nausea, vomiting and fatigue, among other ailments.

According to a report by Public Health England in 2017, Brits should consume 1,800 calories per day. Prior to this announcement, this was recommended at 2,000 calories per day for women, and 2,500 for men.

This is only a guideline so speak to a personal trainer with nutritionist training or other professional to look over your personal diet, and how many calories you should stick to.

The GOLO diet has lost popularity; in 2016, it was the most searched weight loss method of the year.

It essentially revolves around insulin, and was put together by a team of experts including Jennifer Brooks, a chef who is board-certified in holistic nutrition and psychiatrist Dr. Keith Ablow, among others.

Those who wish to embark on the GOLO lifestyle needs to sign up on the website, and take part in the rescue programme which is said to repair your metabolism, balance hormone levels and achieve sustainable weight loss over the course of 30, 60 or 90 days.

This is done in three steps: calorie-reduction (around 1,300 to 1,800 per day), exercise and taking the GOLO Release supplement.

The latter is meant to be the defining element of the diet, which is perhaps unsurprising, given its trademarked and means customers need to come back or stick to GOLO to get access to it again.

GOLOs website boasts that many doctors are supportive of the diet, as well as glowing recommendations from users, but take this with a pinch of salt: self-promotion is easy. There is also not much in the way of studies to support the method i.e. that the supplement is of added benefit to people who are already managing a healthy diet and exercising.

Then again, the dietary plan in itself is quite inclusive, with a good level of nutrients included. Allowed foods include: fresh meats, fruits, vegetables, andhealthy fatsand of course fresh breads, pasta, and butter, according to the website.

It was created by reality TV star Heather Dubrow from The Real Housewives of Orange Country and her partner, plastic surgeon to the rich and famous, Dr Terry Dubrow.

There are three phases, each with a ,er, interesting names : red carpet ready, summer is coming and look hot while living like a human.

In short, this diet consists of intermittent fasting, but where it differs from the version weve explained above, this one includes dietary restrictions. Approved foods include vegetables, lean proteins and healthy fats. You also need to consider how much you consume, and avoid processed foods.

On the plus side, alcohol is allowed.

Be cautious, as the couple claims their plan will activate the anti-aging ability found in your cells and have apparently compared this process, known as autophagy, to plastic surgery. Also, it may not be a pheasa

Once again, add a pinch of salt to this diet.

The Sirtfood diet allows dark chocolate, caffeine and red wine. OK, thats not all you need to know, but its a pretty great benefit, as far as diets go.

Heres why its OK: these foods contain sirtuin activators which are said to improve metabolism, and in turn, help you lose weight, as well as reverse aging.Sirt foods, as they are known, include the aforementioned delights, as well as berries, kale, matcha green tea, walnuts, rocket, strawberries, soy, and more.

As for the diet itself, there are two steps to follow.

During the first step, which consists of seven days, you only consume 1,000 calories per day (see 1,200 calories above for why this can cause problems). You are only permitted to eat one meal, which must feature a lot of sirt foods, as well as three green juices. This lasts for three days.

For the remaining four days, you can have 1,500 calories, includin gtwo sirtfood dishes, and one more juice (yay?) per day.During phase two, you can have three meals and one green juice per day.

Authors of the book about the Sirtfood diet claim it can turn on your skinny gene. Were not thrilled about this term to begin with, but there is also very little research to support it.

This diet has been around for a while in one shape or another, but its been revived this year (it last made Googles list in 2015).

Back then, it was referred to as the zero carb diet, and it has proven popular with celebrities.

Its pretty much what it says on the tin: no carbs, no sugar. However, not all people who use this diet completely limit themselves; some will have a small carb intake, while others cut it out completely.

That means no pasta, refined grains, bread, starchy vegestables, milk or fruits (which have natural sugar). Instead, youll be munching on fish, eggs, cheese, water and tea.

Heres the problem: carbohydrates fuel our bodies. They are broken down into glucose, which is then used by our muscles and our brain.

If you cut out carbs and sugar completely, energy levels will drop and you may feel tired, and suffer from low blood sugar.

It sounds a bit alien-like, but endmorphs are not from another planet.

The phrase was introduced by William Sheldon, a psychologist in the 40s, who outlined it as one of three body types. The two others are called ectomorphic and mesomorphic.

According to him, endomorphs have a lower metabolism, due to having a bigger bone structure, less muscle and carrying more fat in the bodies.

The main aspect of the endomorph diet is to avoid refined carbs and eat healthy fats from proteins and nuts, as well as carbohydrates, vegetables and whole-grain foods. This is intertwined with a mix of cardio and strength training.

Exercise and healthy eating, basically.

Were not all that surprised that JLo has made the list, after showing off her toned physique in Hustlers earlier this year.

While her character might be out partying and doing tequila shots on the regular, youll have no such fun on Jennifers diet. Alcohol and caffeine are strictly forbidden, as are sweets, processed and starchy foods.

If you need a snack, reach for the fruit bowl or munch on some vegetables. Other foods that JLo likes include fish, sweet potatoes and brown rice. Nutrients are key, with the actress and singer focusing on stuffing as much vitamins and minerals into her diet as possible.

But its not just about food she also works out on a regular basis.

All in all, it appears to be a pretty healthy approach, though theres nothing wrong in indulging in a cheat day now and again.

JLo, sometimes we need cake and tequila shots, OK?

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The most popular diets of 2019 revealed - Metro.co.uk

One of the hardest parts of being an elite athlete is diligently adhering to a strict and healthy diet.Living in a food-obsessed society like Indonesia, where junk food like instant noodles and assorted gorengan (fried snacks) from bananas to tofu are ever present, can be a challenge for athletes.Unfortunately, for many Indonesians, instant noodles and gorengan are both comfort and staple foods.Former national swimmer Albert C. Sutanto struggled to resist temptation during his heyday. Albert, who won nine gold medals at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games from the early 1990s to the 2000s, recounted that he frequently ate fried noodles, a favorite snack, during his career.At that time, there was not a program [for managing the athletes nutrition intake], he said recently.Compared with athletes from other countries, Indonesian athletes lag behind when it comes to nutritiona...

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In land of 'gorengan', athletes weighed down by poor diets - Jakarta Post