Browse the evidence

Front-of-package Warning Labels (WLs) are significantly more effective than Traffic-Light Labels (TLLs) at improving consumer understanding of nutrient content, identifying healthier products, and shifting purchase intentions toward healthier options or abstinence.

For policymakers and food manufacturers, implementing Front-of-Package Warning Labels (like the 'High in' octagonal signs) is a more effective strategy for improving public health literacy and encouraging healthier purchasing decisions than Traffic-Light Labels. The explicit warning format significantly reduces the ability of consumers to overlook high levels of sugar, sodium, and saturated fat, leading to better product identification and healthier purchase intentions.

Physical exercise, cold exposure, and certain nutritional strategies (capsaicin, caffeine, EPA) can stimulate brown and beige fat activity, offering potential therapeutic targets for age-related metabolic disease.

You can potentially boost your body's fat-burning capacity (brown and beige fat) through lifestyle choices. Regular physical activity, exposure to cooler temperatures, and consuming certain foods like spicy peppers (capsaicin), green tea (catechins), or fatty fish (EPA) may help stimulate these tissues. While the effects might be less pronounced in older adults, these strategies offer non-pharmacological ways to support metabolic health.

Front-of-package nutrient warning labels on sugar-sweetened beverages and ultra-processed foods significantly increase consumer attention, comprehension, and negative affect, leading to reduced behavioral intentions to purchase these products compared to no-label controls.

Look for products with clear, binary warning labels (like octagons stating 'High in Sugar'). These labels are designed to grab your attention and signal health risks quickly. While they may not change your behavior instantly, they are more effective at helping you identify unhealthy options than complex rating systems. Use them as a quick filter to avoid products with high levels of added sugars, sodium, or saturated fats.

Spontaneous physical activity (SPA) and non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) are significant contributors to energy expenditure, regulated by hypothalamic nuclei such as the lateral hypothalamus (LH) and arcuate nucleus (ARC).

Increase your daily movement through small, spontaneous actions (fidgeting, standing, walking) known as NEAT. This can account for 10-20% of your daily calorie burn. Try to break up long periods of sitting with brief movements to support your metabolism.

Psychological stress induced by pandemic lockdown measures is significantly associated with an increased likelihood of engaging in binge eating and dietary restriction behaviors among university students.

If you are experiencing high stress from lockdown or isolation, be aware that your risk of binge eating or restrictive dieting increases. This is a common reaction to stress and negative affect, not a character flaw. Focus on maintaining social connections and managing stress through non-food means to mitigate this risk.

Pre-existing eating disorder symptoms (SCOFF score ≥2) are the strongest predictor of both binge eating episodes and dietary restriction during lockdown.

If you have a history of eating disorder symptoms, lockdown stress poses a significantly higher risk for relapse into binge eating or restriction. Prioritize screening and seek targeted psychological interventions or counseling to manage these risks effectively during stressful periods.

Greater exposure to COVID-19-related media is associated with increased dietary restriction intentions and binge eating intentions, but not necessarily past-week restriction behaviors.

High exposure to pandemic-related media is linked to increased intentions to restrict food or binge eat. To mitigate this, limit your consumption of pandemic news and focus on positive or neutral content to reduce anxiety-driven eating behaviors.

A two-year physical activity intervention significantly reduces the Epigenetic Mutation Load (EML) in healthy postmenopausal women.

Increasing your regular recreational physical activity over two years can significantly reduce your Epigenetic Mutation Load, a marker associated with cancer risk and aging. You do not need to be an elite athlete; simply increasing your daily movement has measurable biological benefits.

The Sleep Regularity Index (SRI) and Interdaily Stability (IS) are sensitive to sleep fragmentation (awakenings) and napping, whereas Standard Deviation (StDev) and Composite Phase Deviation (CPD) are not sensitive to these factors.

If you want to assess sleep irregularity caused by waking up during the night or taking naps, use the Sleep Regularity Index (SRI) or Interdaily Stability (IS). Do not use Standard Deviation (StDev) or Composite Phase Deviation (CPD), as these metrics will ignore fragmentation and napping, giving you a false sense of regularity.

Social Jet Lag (SJL) measures weekly differences in sleep timing (workdays vs. free days) and is insensitive to day-to-day variability.

Use Social Jet Lag (SJL) only if you want to measure the difference between your workday and weekend sleep schedules. Do not use SJL to assess day-to-day consistency, as it will not detect daily fluctuations in sleep timing or duration.

Lifestyle factors including regular physical activity, healthy diet (rich in vitamins/antioxidants), lower BMI, and no smoking are associated with longer telomeres and slower telomere shortening.

You can slow down cellular aging by adopting a healthy lifestyle. This includes eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy weight, and avoiding smoking. These actions are linked to longer telomeres, which are associated with better health outcomes.

SNAP participants exhibit significantly lower diet quality and fail to meet American Heart Association (AHA) ideal diet goals compared to higher-income individuals, with disparities persisting or worsening for processed meats, added sugars, and nuts/seeds between 1999 and 2014.

For adults on SNAP, simply having access to food assistance does not guarantee adherence to heart-healthy dietary guidelines. Data shows that despite overall modest improvements in US diet quality, SNAP participants have not seen similar gains, with disparities worsening in key areas like processed meat and added sugar intake. Policy and individual interventions must address specific barriers to meeting AHA goals (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, limiting sodium/SSBs) rather than assuming income eligibility alone resolves diet quality issues.

Higher levels of daily physical activity, including non-exercise activity (standing, walking, fidgeting), are associated with higher self-reported happiness and positive affect.

You don't need to hit the gym to feel better. Simply moving more throughout your day—standing, walking, or fidgeting—is linked to higher happiness. Focus on increasing your general daily movement rather than stressing over intense workouts.

Concurrent food insecurity is significantly associated with lower odds of frequent breakfast and evening meal consumption, unhealthy eating habits, and unhealthy physical activity habits in college freshmen.

If you are experiencing financial stress that affects your food access, it is likely impacting your daily habits like skipping meals or feeling less active. This is a common, structural response to resource scarcity, not a personal failure. Prioritize accessing campus food pantries or meal plans if available, as they directly address the immediate barrier to healthy eating and activity.

Dementia caregivers experience significantly shorter sleep duration (losing 2.42 to 3.50 hours per week) and poorer sleep quality compared to age-matched non-caregivers, primarily due to stress-induced sleep latency and disturbances.

If you are a dementia caregiver, your sleep loss is real and measurable (2-3.5 hours/week less than peers). It is not just 'getting older.' Prioritize behavioral interventions like sleep hygiene, light therapy, or exercise, which have been shown to significantly improve sleep quality in this specific population.

Directive front-of-pack warning labels (e.g., Chilean stop-sign style) significantly improve consumers' ability to quickly identify products with high levels of key nutrients (sodium, sugar, saturated fat, energy) compared to non-directive (GDA) and semi-directive (traffic-light) systems.

When choosing between products, look for packages with black warning labels (like the Chilean system). These labels are designed to grab your attention faster than traffic lights or numbers, helping you quickly spot items high in sugar, salt, or fat. Use this visual cue to avoid products with high levels of these nutrients.

Warning labels significantly lower the perceived healthfulness and recommended consumption frequency of products high in energy, saturated fat, sugar, and sodium compared to GDA and traffic-light systems.

If you see a black warning label on a product, understand that it is a strong signal that the product is unhealthy. These labels are designed to make you think twice about how often you should eat it. Use this perception to limit your consumption of such items.

Warning labels and traffic-light systems are equally effective in helping consumers identify the most healthful product among a set of options, outperforming the GDA system.

When comparing products, look for warning labels or traffic-light systems. Both help you quickly spot the healthiest option, whereas GDA labels (numbers/percentages) are harder to use for comparison. Choose the product with the fewest warnings or the most green lights.

COVID-19 lockdown measures significantly worsened sleep quality in nursing students, primarily through increased sleep latency and reduced sleep efficiency, despite an increase in total time spent in bed.

If you are struggling with sleep during periods of restricted routine (like lockdowns or remote work), do not assume that staying in bed longer will help. The study shows that sleep quality often worsens despite increased time in bed due to delayed bedtimes and increased pre-sleep screen use. Focus on maintaining a consistent sleep-wake schedule and limiting digital device use before bed to improve sleep efficiency.

Specific demographic and lifestyle factors, including female gender, younger year of study (1st/2nd year), alcohol consumption, and living with family, are associated with greater sleep quality deterioration during lockdown.

If you are a female nursing student, in your first or second year, drink alcohol, or live with family, be aware that lockdown or routine changes may disproportionately impact your sleep. Monitor your sleep hygiene closely, particularly regarding alcohol consumption and pre-sleep routines, as these factors may exacerbate sleep quality issues during stressful periods.

Higher socioeconomic status (SES) households exhibit a greater reduction in high-sugar beverage purchases in response to SSB tax increases compared to lower SES households.

Policymakers should investigate why low-SES households are less responsive to SSB taxes. If they are not reducing consumption, the tax may be purely regressive without the intended health benefit, requiring targeted interventions.

Sedentary behavior interventions lasting 2 weeks to 6 months in non-clinical adults produce small but statistically significant improvements in body weight, waist circumference, body fat percentage, systolic blood pressure, fasting insulin, and HDL cholesterol.

If you sit for long periods, try to break up your sitting time with standing or light walking. Even small reductions in total sitting time (e.g., 30-60 minutes less per day) can lead to small but real improvements in weight, waist size, blood pressure, and insulin sensitivity over a few months. You don't need intense exercise to get these specific metabolic benefits; simply replacing sitting with light activity is effective.

In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the presence of chronic conditions and multimorbidity is significantly associated with lower levels of physical activity, particularly in adults aged 50 and older.

If you have a chronic condition or multiple conditions, you are statistically much less likely to be physically active, especially if you are over 50. This isn't just about willpower; it's often mediated by pain, mobility issues, depression, and sleep problems. To increase activity, interventions should target these specific barriers (e.g., pain management, mental health support) rather than just prescribing exercise.

Tirzepatide and semaglutide produce similar reductions in fasting appetite and ad libitum energy intake during lunch, indicating that differences in weight loss between the two drugs are not explained by appetite suppression alone.

Both tirzepatide and semaglutide reduce hunger and calorie intake similarly during lunch. However, tirzepatide leads to more fat loss. This suggests that tirzepatide might work through additional mechanisms, such as increasing energy expenditure or changing how fat is stored, rather than just making you feel less hungry than semaglutide does.