Browse the evidence

High socioeconomic status, structured education (>6 sessions), therapeutic adherence, and frequent self-monitoring of blood glucose (>4/day) are independent predictors of achieving optimal metabolic control in diabetes.

To get the best results from your diabetes treatment, you need more than just pills. You need to take them consistently, monitor your blood sugar frequently (more than 4 times a day), and engage in structured education. If you have financial or social barriers, seek support, as these factors significantly impact your ability to control your blood sugar.

Broadening obesity treatment goals beyond weight loss to include obesity-related diseases, health-related quality of life (HrQoL), body image, and weight bias internalization (WBI) improves patient-centered care and treatment adherence.

When starting obesity treatment, discuss your goals beyond just weight loss. Ask your provider about improvements in energy, pain, mood, or disease markers. If you are motivated by appearance, be open about this so your care team can address body image concerns proactively, which may include counseling. This helps ensure the treatment plan aligns with what matters most to you, increasing your chances of sticking with it.

Dietary guidelines should prioritize the NOVA classification (degree of processing) over nutrient profiling to effectively reduce diet-related disease.

Advocate for or follow dietary guidelines that emphasize eating fresh meals and avoiding ultra-processed products, rather than focusing solely on macronutrient ratios or calorie counts.

Remote behavioral weight loss interventions yield superior weight loss outcomes for Black women compared to in-person interventions, whereas in-person interventions are more effective for white women.

If you are a Black woman seeking weight loss support, a remote program (phone/web) may be more effective for you than a traditional in-person group class. The study shows Black women lost more weight (-3.0%) with remote support compared to in-person (-2.0%), while white women did better in person. Remote options offer flexibility for busy schedules and may reduce the stress of group dynamics. If you are a white woman, in-person support might yield better results (-7.2% vs -4.4%).

Smoking, overweight (BMI ≥24), and physical inactivity are independent risk factors for stroke, increasing risk by 1.18-1.22 fold and 1.75 fold respectively compared to non-smokers, normal weight, and active individuals.

Avoid smoking, maintain a healthy weight (BMI <24), and engage in regular physical activity (moderate or vigorous exercise ≥30 minutes, ≥3 times/week). These three factors are independently associated with a significantly lower risk of stroke. Focus on quitting smoking, managing weight, and staying active to protect your cardiovascular health.

The PrimeScreen dietary assessment tool provides adequate reproducibility and validity for screening adult diets in primary care settings, performing comparably to longer, more time-consuming instruments.

Use the PrimeScreen tool to quickly assess your patients' diet quality. It takes only 5-10 minutes and provides reliable data on fruit, vegetable, and nutrient intake, comparable to much longer questionnaires. This makes it feasible to integrate dietary screening into routine primary care visits without overwhelming patients or providers.

Bariatric surgery-induced weight loss (approx 20%) reduces cravings for sweets and fast food, decreases preference for high sucrose concentrations, and lowers the hedonic value of sweetness (shifting from pleasant to unpleasant upon repetitive tasting) in women, with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) showing unique hedonic effects compared to laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB).

If you undergo bariatric surgery, expect your cravings for sweets and fast food to decrease significantly, regardless of whether you have gastric bypass or banding. However, gastric bypass may uniquely make sweet foods taste unpleasant after repeated exposure, which could help you stick to a low-calorie diet more easily than banding. This change is driven by weight loss and anatomical changes, not just a smaller stomach.

A low-intensity mobile health intervention (Few Touch Application) improves self-management skills, specifically health service navigation and skill/technique acquisition, compared to usual care in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Using a diabetes app can help you feel more confident in managing your condition and navigating the healthcare system, even if it doesn't immediately lower your blood sugar numbers. It helps you learn skills to manage symptoms and communicate better with your doctor.

Urbanization disproportionately reduces occupational and household physical activity, while potentially increasing transport and recreational activity in High-Income Countries.

In urban areas, your job and home chores likely provide less physical activity than they did in rural settings. To maintain health, you must intentionally engage in leisure-time exercise or active transport, as urbanization naturally shifts you away from labor-intensive activities.

A higher ratio of fast-food restaurants to full-service restaurants in one's local food environment is positively associated with an increased risk of obesity.

If you live in an area with many fast-food places but few sit-down restaurants, your risk of obesity is higher. This isn't just about your choices; it's about what is easily available to you. Look for neighborhoods with a better mix of food options, or be aware that your local food environment may be working against your health goals.

High prevalence of modifiable risk factors, specifically smoking (50.4% active smokers) and alcohol consumption (72.4% regular consumers), are strongly associated with the high rates of chronic diseases like hypertension and hyperlipidemia in the Greek population.

More than half of Greek adults are active smokers and nearly three-quarters are regular alcohol consumers. These behaviors are major contributors to the high rates of hypertension and heart disease. Reducing smoking and alcohol intake are critical steps for improving public health outcomes, supported by policies that make these changes easier.

Type 2 diabetes exaggerates physiological exercise effort (lactate and heart rate) and impairs exercise performance in older women, creating a barrier to physical activity adherence.

If you have Type 2 Diabetes, exercise may feel harder than it does for others, even at low intensities. This is a physiological reality, not a lack of willpower. To stay active, prioritize comfort over intensity. Start with low-intensity activities that feel manageable, as this approach builds adherence and fitness without triggering excessive fatigue or negative feelings about exercise.

Adding culinary spices to high-sugar foods (e.g., apple crisp) can preserve hedonic liking and consumption levels despite a significant reduction (up to 37%) in added sugar, effectively substituting sweetness with complex flavor profiles.

If you want to cut sugar in desserts like apple crisp or baked goods, don't just remove the sugar; add spices like cinnamon, ginger, or vanilla. This study shows that for high-sugar foods, spices can mask the loss of sweetness and keep the taste just as good as the full-sugar version. However, this trick doesn't work well for simple foods like tea or plain oatmeal, where sweetness is the main flavor. Focus on complex, sugary foods when using this strategy.

Smoking reduces HDL-C concentrations by approximately 6%, and smoking cessation reverses this reduction, raising HDL-C by about 0.10 mmol/L.

Quit smoking. Your HDL-C will likely increase by about 0.10 mmol/L. Be aware that nicotine replacement therapy (patches/gum) might delay this HDL recovery; stopping the nicotine itself allows HDL to normalize. The benefit of quitting outweighs potential weight gain.

Lifestyle behaviors (smoking cessation, weight reduction, physical activity, sodium restriction) are the core management strategy for cardiovascular risk in women with diabetes, despite limited randomized trial evidence for mortality reduction.

Focus on smoking cessation, weight loss, regular physical activity (30+ mins/day), and dietary changes (low sodium, high fruits/vegetables). These are the most important steps for reducing heart disease risk in diabetes, even if they don't always show immediate mortality benefits in trials.

A 12-item, 5-minute online diet quality assessment (WELL Diet Score) yields scores significantly correlated with established, lengthy 127-item Food Frequency Questionnaires (AHEI-2010), validating its use for rapid, large-scale diet quality assessment.

If you need to track your diet for a long-term health goal or research study but hate filling out long forms, use a validated short-form diet tracker. This study shows that a 12-question survey can accurately reflect your overall diet quality just as well as a much longer, more tedious questionnaire, making it easier to stick with the habit of tracking.

Strength training protocols for people with haemophilia are frequently under-reported regarding critical safety and efficacy variables, specifically pain threshold, prophylactic factor coverage, intensity, range of motion, and time under tension.

If you have haemophilia and are doing strength training, ensure your protocol clearly specifies pain limits (like a 0-2/10 scale), how your clotting factor treatment aligns with exercise days, and the exact intensity and range of motion. This transparency is crucial for safety and effectiveness, as current practices often omit these details.

Obesity stigma independently worsens mental and physical health outcomes, increases cortisol and oxidative stress, and promotes weight gain through avoidance of healthcare and unhealthy coping behaviors.

If you have obesity, know that stigma is a major barrier to your health, not a motivator. Avoiding doctors due to fear of judgment often leads to worse health outcomes. Seek providers who use 'people-first' language and focus on your overall well-being rather than just your weight. This reduces stress and improves adherence to treatment.

Implementing patient-centered care and 'people-first' language reduces stigma, improves patient adherence, and enhances therapeutic outcomes in obesity management.

Healthcare providers should use 'people-first' language (e.g., 'patient with obesity' instead of 'obese patient') and focus on the patient's perspective. This builds trust, reduces stigma, and improves the patient's likelihood of adhering to lifestyle, pharmacological, or surgical treatments.

Non-physician health workers (NPHW) leading comprehensive care models, including screening, counseling, and medication management under physician supervision, effectively improve blood pressure control and reduce cardiovascular risk scores.

In settings with limited physician access, utilizing trained non-physician health workers for screening, counseling, and medication management under supervision can significantly improve blood pressure control and reduce cardiovascular risk.

Weight-inclusive, non-diet approaches (e.g., HAES) improve metabolic and psychological health outcomes without requiring weight loss, whereas weight-focused approaches may perpetuate stigma and weight cycling.

You can improve your health without losing weight. Focus on behaviors like moving your body, eating nutrient-dense foods, and managing stress. These 'weight-inclusive' strategies can improve blood pressure, lipids, and mental well-being, even if the scale doesn't change.

Higher baseline daytime physical activity is associated with better endothelial function (measured by Reactive Hyperemia Index) five years later in both patients with type 2 diabetes and non-diabetic controls.

Maintain consistent daytime movement. This study suggests that higher levels of daily activity, measured objectively, are linked to better blood vessel health five years later, regardless of diabetes status. You do not need intense gym sessions; consistent daily activity (counts per minute) matters for long-term vascular function.

Addressing mental health issues, particularly depression and anxiety, through screening and intervention improves glycemic control in patients with Type 2 Diabetes.

If you are struggling with depression or anxiety, talk to your healthcare provider. Treating mental health issues can help you manage your diabetes better and improve your blood sugar levels. Pharmacists can help screen for these issues and refer you to appropriate resources.

Long-term endometrial cancer survivors frequently use weight loss methods, primarily exercise and dietary restrictions, yet remain largely discontent with their weight, suggesting current self-directed efforts are insufficient for psychological satisfaction.

If you are an endometrial cancer survivor, know that your feelings of weight dissatisfaction are common even if you are actively trying to lose weight. Standard advice like 'eat less and move more' may not be enough to make you feel good about your body. Seek personalized support that addresses your specific barriers and psychological needs, rather than just focusing on the scale.