Browse the evidence

A diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes triggers a statistically significant but small reduction in household calorie purchases (approx. 2%), resulting in an estimated 4.3 to 8.3 pounds of weight loss in the first year, which is only about 10% of the reduction suggested by medical guidelines.

If you are diagnosed with diabetes, expect your diet to improve slightly, but do not expect it to fix itself. You will likely lose a small amount of weight (4-8 lbs) initially, but this is far less than doctors suggest. To get better results, do not try to eat 'healthier' in general; instead, identify your top 1-2 unhealthy food categories and focus exclusively on reducing them.

In emerging economies like Vietnam, the rapid expansion of modern retail and increased availability of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) drives a shift toward unhealthy dietary patterns, contributing to rising obesity and diabetes rates.

For policymakers in emerging economies: Simply having traditional markets is not enough. You must actively regulate the expanding modern retail sector (supermarkets/convenience stores) through labeling, marketing restrictions, and fiscal incentives to ensure healthy food remains affordable and accessible compared to ultra-processed options.

Experts prioritize communication, education, and voluntary standards over strict regulatory constraints (like taxes or advertising bans) when designing food environment policies.

Policymakers should not rely solely on education and voluntary standards. To effectively combat the rise of UPFs, they must implement stricter regulatory measures like taxes and marketing restrictions, despite perceived feasibility challenges, as these are proven to be effective in other contexts.

Long-term adherence to a Low-Carb High-Fat (LCHF) diet is difficult for most patients, leading to decreased efficacy over time compared to low-fat diets, although it may offer short-term benefits for diabetes management.

If you choose a low-carb diet, be aware that sticking to it strictly (e.g., <30g carbs) for more than a year is very difficult for most people and may lead to weight regain or increased LDL cholesterol. Focus on finding a carbohydrate level you can maintain socially and psychologically for years, rather than aiming for extreme ketosis if it causes you to quit.

Educational documentaries can significantly increase intentions to reduce meat consumption, but these intentions do not predict actual consumption.

While watching a documentary might make you *want* to eat less meat, it won't necessarily make you *do* it. The study shows a significant increase in intentions, but no change in actual consumption. To make real changes, focus on practical, small-scale adjustments to your environment and habits rather than relying on informational interventions.

Time-restricted eating (TRE) with a 10-hour window, when combined with caloric restriction, leads to greater lean mass loss compared to caloric restriction alone.

If you use a 10-hour eating window to lose weight, be aware that you might lose more muscle than if you just counted calories without a time limit. To counter this, ensure you are eating enough protein within your 10-hour window, perhaps spreading it out evenly.

Higher acculturation levels moderate the effectiveness of the MyPlate intervention, with the most acculturated participants showing the greatest reductions in waist circumference.

If you are recently immigrated or less acculturated to US food systems, standard MyPlate advice might be less effective for reducing belly fat. You may need more personalized guidance that integrates your traditional healthy foods with US dietary guidelines.

Intakes of healthful foods generally increase with age, while intakes of less healthful foods generally decrease, suggesting age-related dietary improvements or cohort effects.

Older adults tend to consume more healthful foods and fewer less healthful foods than younger adults. This suggests that dietary habits may improve with age, or that older cohorts have different dietary patterns. Younger individuals may benefit from adopting these healthier eating patterns earlier in life.

Meal timing, specifically higher-calorie breakfasts and overnight fasting, helps prevent obesity.

Eat a larger breakfast and finish eating earlier in the evening. This aligns with your body's natural clock and may help prevent obesity. Avoid skipping breakfast and late-night snacking.

Internet-delivered weight loss interventions providing personalized feedback result in significantly greater short-term weight loss (3-6 months) compared to control groups without such feedback, but this advantage disappears in interventions lasting 12 months or longer.

Use internet-based weight loss programs that offer personalized feedback (whether from a coach or algorithm) if you are in the first 6 months of your journey; they offer a measurable advantage (approx. 2kg more loss) over generic programs. However, do not expect this advantage to persist beyond a year. You must actively maintain your habits after the initial feedback phase, as the digital support alone does not sustain long-term weight loss differences compared to controls.

Personalized Type 2 Diabetes management, which tailors pharmacotherapy to individual phenotypic, clinical, and personal factors, improves medication adherence, patient satisfaction, and health outcomes compared to rigid algorithmic approaches.

Work with your doctor to build a treatment plan that fits your specific health profile (like kidney or heart status) and your personal life (like fear of hypoglycemia or preference for pills vs. injections). This collaborative approach leads to better adherence and fewer complications than following a generic, one-size-fits-all checklist.

Personalized glycemic targets should be less aggressive in older patients or those with reduced life expectancy to minimize hypoglycemia risk and polypharmacy burden.

If you are older or have other serious health conditions, your doctor may aim for a higher blood sugar target to keep you safe from dangerous lows and side effects. This focuses on your quality of life rather than just a number.

Home-based training (HBT) is a viable alternative to supervised exercise training (SET) when SET is not feasible, provided it is structured and monitored.

If you can't go to a supervised program, start a home-based walking plan. Walk 3 times a week, starting with 20 minutes and building up to 60. Use a pedometer or smartwatch to track your activity, and consider logging your pain levels. This is just as effective as supervised exercise if you monitor yourself.

A 3-year worksite lifestyle intervention significantly improves cardiovascular health metrics in middle-aged adults, but the effect attenuates to non-significance after the first year when intervention intensity is reduced.

If you are implementing a lifestyle change for heart health, expect significant benefits in the first year if you engage actively with coaching and tracking tools. However, do not assume these benefits will persist automatically if you stop engaging with the program after the first year. To maintain gains, you must either continue with periodic check-ins or independently maintain the high level of behavioral effort established during the initial intensive phase.

A lifestyle intervention is effective in improving cardiovascular health metrics in individuals with low baseline subclinical atherosclerosis, but ineffective in those with high baseline subclinical atherosclerosis.

If you have significant underlying cardiovascular disease (high subclinical atherosclerosis), standard lifestyle advice (diet, exercise, no smoking) may not be enough to improve your health metrics. You likely need more intensive, specialized medical or behavioral interventions. Do not assume that standard lifestyle changes will yield the same results as they do for healthier individuals.

Adherence to low-carbohydrate (LCD) and very low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets (VLCKD) is significantly lower than adherence to vegan or vegetarian diets, with attrition rates often exceeding 40-60% in long-term trials, leading to a convergence of metabolic outcomes between diet groups over time.

If you are trying a low-carb or keto diet for diabetes or weight loss, expect that sticking to it is the hardest part. Many people drop out or stop strictly following the diet within a year, causing their results to look like those of people on other diets. To succeed, focus on sustainability over perfection. If strict keto (<50g carbs) feels too restrictive or socially isolating, a moderate low-carb approach (<130g carbs) might be easier to maintain long-term, even if the initial weight loss is slower. The key is not the specific number of grams, but your ability to keep the diet going.

Pre-contest bodybuilding preparation is associated with worsened psychological status, including increased fatigue, mood disturbance, and perceived stress, alongside reduced recovery.

Be prepared for mental fatigue and mood swings during your cut. This study shows that total mood disturbance increases by 35% and fatigue by 23% during the pre-contest phase. This is likely due to the combination of low energy availability and high training stress. Prioritize sleep and stress management strategies, as perceived recovery drops significantly.

The current food environment in Dutch supermarkets and out-of-home chains predominantly promotes energy-dense, nutrient-poor products, with 79% of supermarket assortment and 90% of out-of-home assortment falling outside healthy dietary guidelines (Schijf van Vijf).

Recognize that the default food environment is engineered to promote unhealthy eating. 79% of supermarket items and 90% of out-of-home items do not meet basic healthy dietary guidelines. To eat healthily, you must actively seek out specific healthy items rather than assuming they are the norm, as they are often less promoted and less accessible than unhealthy alternatives.

Promotional strategies in supermarkets, including folder offers and in-store placements (end-caps, impulse displays), heavily favor unhealthy products, with 81% of promoted items falling outside healthy dietary guidelines.

Be cautious of promotions and in-store placements, as they are designed to sell unhealthy products. 81% of promoted items do not meet healthy dietary guidelines. To eat healthily, avoid impulse buys and promotions, and stick to a shopping list of healthy items.

Regulation and food product reformulation to cut salt intake are cost-effective interventions that generate significant health gains and offset implementation costs.

Advocate for food product reformulation to reduce salt content. The evidence indicates this is a cost-effective strategy that saves lives and reduces healthcare costs.

Limiting children's exposure to advertising of foods high in salt, sugar, and fat is a cost-effective intervention that gains thousands of years of life in good health annually.

Support policies that restrict advertising of unhealthy foods to children. The evidence shows this is a low-cost, high-impact way to improve population health.

The incidence of allergic reactions to mycoprotein is exceptionally low (1 in 9 million packages) compared to common allergens, making it a safe novel protein source.

You can safely consume mycoprotein. The risk of an allergic reaction is extremely low (1 in 9 million packages), making it a safe option for most people.

Spending 21 or more hours per week watching television is associated with an increased risk of clinical depression compared to watching 0-1 hour per week.

Limit your television watching to less than 5 hours per week to potentially lower your risk of depression. If you watch more than 21 hours a week, your risk increases by about 13%. Replacing some of this sedentary time with physical activity, even just walking, is the recommended strategy.

The effectiveness of taste-focused labeling is moderated by the average tastiness of the vegetable recipes served in a specific dining hall; labeling is less effective or ineffective in settings where vegetables are perceived as less tasty.

Taste-focused labeling is most effective when the underlying food is actually good. If vegetables are poorly prepared, taste-focused labels may fail to increase consumption. Ensure the base recipe is palatable before relying on labeling strategies.