Browse the evidence

Current medical education in the United States fails to provide adequate nutrition training, with most medical schools providing less than the recommended 25 hours of instruction and residency programs largely lacking formal nutrition curricula.

Physicians need structured, integrated nutrition training throughout medical school and residency, not just a single course, to feel confident and competent in counseling patients.

Systematic screening for NAFLD is not recommended by the AASLD even in high-risk populations due to lack of effective drug treatments, cost-effectiveness concerns, and unclear long-term benefits.

In the US, you likely won't be systematically screened for NAFLD even if you have diabetes, because there are no approved drugs for it yet. Focus on managing your metabolic health instead.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is significantly underdiagnosed in patients undergoing bariatric surgery, with only 13.3% of patients having a prior diagnosis despite a 69.9% prevalence rate.

Many people with sleep apnea do not know they have it. If you are having bariatric surgery, assume you might have it even if you feel fine. The surgery team needs to check for it to keep you safe.

Higher baseline depression scores are associated with poorer treatment outcomes in CBT for insomnia, indicating that psychological distress may reduce the efficacy of sleep-focused therapy.

If you are struggling with both insomnia and depression, be open with your therapist. Your sleep treatment may be less effective if your depression is not addressed. Integrating mental health support with CBT may improve your sleep outcomes.

Consumer acceptance of alternative proteins is significantly hindered by sensory challenges, including inferior taste, texture, and off-flavors, which are difficult to replicate compared to animal meat.

If you are trying alternative proteins, manage your expectations regarding taste and texture. They may not perfectly replicate meat. Experiment with different brands and recipes to find ones you enjoy.

Standardized Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) metrics for nutrition and health in the food and beverage sector are currently available but exhibit substantial heterogeneity in quality, domain coverage, and strength, limiting their ability to drive scalable public health impact.

For investors and policymakers, the current landscape of ESG nutrition metrics is fragmented. To drive real health outcomes, stakeholders must prioritize frameworks that use standardized, quantitative definitions of product healthfulness (e.g., using Nutrient Profiling Systems) and ensure equitable distribution of healthy foods. Simply having an ESG policy is insufficient; the metrics must be rigorous, verifiable, and aligned with scientific dietary guidelines.

Public awareness of the clinical success of anti-obesity medications (AOMs) does not reduce obesity stigma or shift public perception of obesity from a failure of willpower to a biological medical condition.

Health communicators and policymakers should not assume that highlighting the success of GLP-1 medications will automatically reduce obesity stigma. Since stigma is robustly linked to personal weight loss experiences and willpower beliefs, interventions must directly address these cognitive biases rather than relying on medical awareness alone.

A remote, call-center-directed weight loss intervention combining diet and exercise counseling does not result in significant weight loss or improved cardiovascular risk factors in adult survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) compared to self-directed weight loss.

Standard remote weight loss programs are unlikely to succeed for adult survivors of childhood leukemia. Success requires tailoring to their specific health history, including managing pain and other treatment side effects, and likely involves more direct clinician involvement rather than purely remote coaching.

In a universal healthcare system, socioeconomic status does not significantly influence access to bariatric surgery for individuals with severe obesity (BMI > 40 kg/m²), indicating equal access regardless of income or education.

If you have a BMI over 40, your income or education level should not stop you from getting bariatric surgery in a universal healthcare system. The medical eligibility criteria (BMI > 40) override socioeconomic barriers, ensuring equal access to publicly funded care.

Intensive lifestyle coaching combined with care coordination does not reduce 10-year cardiovascular disease risk or improve secondary health outcomes in people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and abdominal obesity compared to treatment as usual.

For individuals with severe mental illness and obesity, intensive lifestyle coaching and care coordination do not appear to offer additional cardiovascular benefits over standard medical care alone. While the intervention was well-intentioned and assertive, it did not lead to significant improvements in weight, fitness, or cardiovascular risk factors over two years. Clinicians should manage expectations and focus on standard medical management of risk factors, as behavioral interventions alone may not be sufficient for this population.

Microwave endometrial ablation (MEA) results in higher patient satisfaction and lower rates of subsequent hysterectomy compared to transcervical resection of the endometrium (TCRE) over a 5-year follow-up.

If you suffer from heavy menstrual bleeding and are considering surgical options, Microwave Endometrial Ablation (MEA) offers higher patient satisfaction and a lower chance of needing a hysterectomy within 5 years compared to Transcervical Resection (TCRE).

Restrictions on tobacco advertising and marketing, including bans on advertisements to children and near schools, effectively reduce tobacco use.

Support policies that ban tobacco advertising, especially near schools and to children. These are proven to reduce smoking rates.

Adherence to dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) inhibitor therapy has no significant association with weight change in patients with type 2 diabetes.

If you are prescribed a DPP4 inhibitor for type 2 diabetes, note that adherence does not significantly affect your weight. These medications are weight-neutral, so focus on other aspects of your treatment plan for weight management.

Tele-based health coaching for patients with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) or Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) does not produce a statistically significant reduction in total healthcare and long-term care costs over an 8-year follow-up period compared to usual care.

For healthcare administrators and policymakers, this study indicates that tele-based health coaching for T2D and CAD patients should not be implemented primarily as a cost-saving measure over an 8-year horizon, as it does not significantly reduce total healthcare and long-term care costs compared to usual care. Decision-makers should focus on clinical outcomes and patient empowerment rather than expected financial savings when evaluating this intervention.

A 12-week theory-based diabetes self-management education program (BGI) provides no significant long-term benefit for cardiovascular risk factors, self-management behaviors, or quality of life in patients with Type 2 diabetes who already have well-controlled biomedical markers.

If you already have well-controlled Type 2 diabetes (normal HbA1c, blood pressure, and cholesterol), a standard 12-week self-management education program is unlikely to further improve your health numbers or quality of life compared to your regular doctor visits. Focus on maintaining your current successful routine rather than seeking additional structured education programs.

High levels of leisure-time physical activity are associated with an increased risk of malignant melanoma and non-advanced prostate cancer.

While physical activity reduces the risk of most cancers, it is associated with a slightly higher risk of melanoma and prostate cancer. For melanoma, this is likely due to outdoor sun exposure; use sun protection when exercising outdoors. For prostate cancer, the increased risk is likely due to higher screening rates in active men, leading to the diagnosis of slow-growing cancers that may not have caused symptoms. Continue exercising, but ensure appropriate sun safety and regular age-appropriate cancer screenings.

There is no significant association between sedentary behavior and cancer mortality.

Current evidence does not show a clear link between how much you sit and your risk of dying from cancer, unlike heart disease or diabetes.

Higher educational attainment (Years of Schooling) causally protects against Alzheimer's disease.

Education and lifelong learning contribute to protection against Alzheimer's disease. While you cannot change your past education, engaging in cognitively stimulating activities and continuous learning may help build cognitive reserve.

Relaxation therapies do not significantly reduce blood pressure when compared to active controls or usual care, and should not be recommended for this purpose.

Do not rely on relaxation therapies (like yoga, meditation, or biofeedback) to lower your blood pressure. While they may help with stress, studies show they do not significantly lower blood pressure compared to standard care or other active treatments.

Long-term CPAP adherence for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) remains persistently low (~34% non-adherence) over a 20-year period, with no clinically significant improvement despite technological advances and behavioral interventions.

If you have been prescribed CPAP for sleep apnea, be aware that long-term adherence is difficult and typically drops to around 4.5 hours per night for most people, regardless of how new or quiet the machine is. Behavioral support can help add about an hour of use, but it rarely solves the problem entirely. Do not rely on how you feel you are using it; check the machine data. If you cannot tolerate CPAP after trying behavioral strategies, discuss alternative treatments with your provider, as the 'gold standard' label may not apply to your specific case.

Unsupervised ingestion of micronutrient supplements, particularly multivitamins and iron, is a major cause of emergency department visits in young children (≤4 years).

Keep all supplements, especially multivitamins and iron, in child-resistant containers and out of reach of young children. Treat them with the same caution as prescription medications.

Optogenetic stimulation of LHA-LHb glutamatergic fibers produces an aversive behavioral phenotype, while inhibition produces a place preference.

Stimulating the neural pathway from the lateral hypothalamus to the lateral habenula is experienced as aversive by mice, while inhibiting it is experienced as rewarding. This suggests that this circuit normally suppresses the consumption of palatable foods, and its inhibition removes this suppression, leading to increased eating.

Smoking is a common external environmental factor driving specific DNA methylation patterns (VINYLPHENOL loci group) associated with 4-vinylphenol sulfate levels in blood.

Smoking directly alters your DNA methylation patterns, which in turn affects your blood metabolism, specifically regarding compounds like 4-vinylphenol sulfate. This provides a biological mechanism for why smoking is harmful beyond just lung damage. Quitting smoking may help normalize these epigenetic and metabolic markers.

Higher cumulative smoking dosage (pack-years) is directly associated with increased serum levels of biomarkers for DNA damage and telomere dysfunction, independent of chronological age.

Smoking accelerates biological aging markers in your blood. The more you smoke and the longer you smoke, the higher these markers go, regardless of your age. The best way to lower these specific DNA damage markers is to stop smoking.