Science may have discovered the ideal human diet.

Americans are famous for their bad eating habits. For over half a century, the so-called Western diet—one that loves meat, despises fat, and can't get enough of processed food—has dominated menus and mealtimes, becoming synonymous with obesity and metabolic dysfunction. It's difficult to imagine a more destructive attitude to eating than the one taken by many individuals in the United States.

If there is a silver lining to this tragedy, it is that the poor state of the ordinary American's diet has highlighted the critical significance of nutrition in human health. A bad diet, such as the one common in the West, is firmly linked to an increased risk of gut, organ, joint, brain, and mind diseases, including Type 2 diabetes, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and depression.

If eating incorrectly can cause such a wide range of illnesses, it stands to reason that eating correctly can provide some protection from the majority of them. But what is the proper procedure? This question has been the subject of a slew of investigations spanning decades. Some experts believe that by sifting through the most recent and best of those research for gold, we may be on the verge of discovering the optimum eating strategy.

"Extremely restrictive diets are normally not recommended unless there is a medical issue that requires it."

Is there such a thing as a "ideal" diet?

O'Keefe and colleagues published a study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in September that aimed to find the "perfect" diet for human cardiovascular health. His work makes the case that a pesco-Mediterranean strategy combined with features of intermittent fasting is a strong contender for the healthiest diet science has yet uncovered, based on the most extensive studies to date.

The diet's foundation is made up of plant-based foods such as vegetables, fruit, legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. The plan's main components are fatty fish and various sorts of seafood, as well as "unrestricted" servings of extra-virgin olive oil. Dairy products, poultry, and eggs in small amounts are permitted, however red meat should be consumed in moderation or avoided. Water, coffee, and tea are favored, although low or moderate doses of alcohol — ideally red wine — are okay.

When it comes to portion sizes and calorie counts, the diet isn't extremely restrictive. However, it does support time-restricted eating, a type of intermittent fasting that requires all of the day's calories to be ingested inside an eight-to-12-hour window.Multiple studies have connected this technique to lower food intake and positive metabolic changes. "Time-restricted eating is a terrific strategy to cut total calories while also resetting inflammation and hormone levels," O'Keefe explains.

"Almost everyone's health and well-being will improve if they eat a healthy diet," he continues. "This diet appears to have the greatest scientific evidence backing it up."

"Eat natural foods, namely plant-based foods and seafood. Choose whole grains over refined grains, and stay away from processed foods like salty snacks, processed meats, and sugary drinks."

Dietary restrictions include a number of drawbacks.

The approaches detailed in O'Keefe's research may seem unhelpfully generic or far too agnostic toward macronutrients to those who follow a low-fat diet, a ketogenic diet, or any other diet that tightly specifies what a person can and can't eat. However, he and other nutritionists argue that fewer limits are a hallmark of most healthy diets, not a flaw.

"Highly restrictive diets are normally not recommended unless there is an underlying medical problem that requires it," explains Josiemer Mattei, PhD, MPH, associate professor of nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Someone with a metabolic or gastrointestinal disease, for example, may need to avoid particular meals. Diets that remove entire macronutrient categories or food groupings, on the other hand, pose more risk than benefit for the majority of people. Restrictive diets, according to Mattei, are often unsustainable in the long run and can lead to disordered eating in some situations.

Another issue with extremely restrictive diets is that what works for one person may not work for another. According to Regan Bailey, PhD, MPH, a professor in Purdue University's Department of Nutrition Science, "several individual characteristics could produce diverse responses to the same diet." To mention a few, there's genetic heterogeneity between people, age, baseline nutritional condition, inflammatory levels, and microbiota makeup.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, doctors warn that restrictive diets, even if they produce immediate improvements, can lead to long-term problems. For example, a particular eating strategy may result in weight loss in the short term, but it may also play a role in the development of an illness or disorder 20 or 30 years later. Most nutrition experts today promote looser, more inclusive eating patterns because of these kinds of unintended or unforeseeable repercussions.

Mattei explains, "This is what I tell my friends and relatives." "Eat natural foods, namely plant-based foods and seafood. Choose whole grains over refined grains, and stay away from processed foods like salty snacks, processed meats, and sugary drinks." If you do that, you'll end up with a diet that looks a lot like O'Keefe's new pesco-Mediterranean diet.

Even if you can't give up red meat or follow a vegan diet for ethical or environmental reasons, O'Keefe says that avoiding processed meats, refined grains, and sugary foods is one of the most important aspects of healthy eating. "The most serious concern with the American diet is all of the sugar, white flour, processed, and fried foods," he explains. "They're poisonous and extremely addictive."

If you can avoid those items, or at the very least limit them to special occasions, you can be assured that you're doing your health a great favor without the extra effort or risk that comes with trendier, more extreme eating styles.

"You want to make sure you're putting in all this time, work, and willpower for a diet that's actually going to be a solid bet in the long run," O'Keefe says.