Best way to import numeric and non-numeric data (string) from an excel file into MATLAB?

Best way to import numeric and non-numeric data (string) from an excel
file into MATLAB?

I want to know the best way of importing both number and non-numeric data
(which is string in the present case) from an excel file into MATLAB? By
best (or better) way, I mean all the data together in a variable (or data
structure).
First, I tried uiopen(filename) function which opens a wizard and from
there, I can import the data into a MATLAB variable. However, problem here
is that it replaces all the non-numeric data with zeros which is not
required. I later on, found that this function calls another function,
named xlsread(filename), which is another way (actual way) of importing
excel file.
Second (last) way that I tried (which seems to be better) is to use
function called importdata(filename) which imports both numeric and
non-numeric data into separate structure variables.
However, I am wondering if there exists some other way(s) to import
everything into a single variable or data structure?