Browse the evidence

Greater exposure to takeaway food outlets (at home, work, and commuting routes) is associated with higher takeaway food consumption and higher body mass index.

If you live, work, or commute near many takeaway outlets, you are statistically more likely to consume more takeaway food and have a higher BMI. To mitigate this, consider changing your route to avoid these areas, packing lunch from home, or choosing healthier options when eating out. Policy changes restricting outlet density may also help reduce these environmental triggers.

Pandemic-related lockdown measures and loss of structure exacerbate eating disorder symptoms, specifically increasing dietary restriction in anorexia nervosa and binge-eating urges in bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder.

If you have an eating disorder, the removal of daily structure (meals, therapy, exercise) is a major trigger for symptom worsening. To mitigate this, you must proactively recreate external structures: schedule meals, maintain therapy contact (even via telehealth), and establish a daily routine, as the absence of these is directly linked to increased restriction or bingeing.

Implementing a standardized nutrient profiling system, such as the UK's traffic light labeling or the Ofcom advertising model, enables consumers to make healthier dietary choices and stimulates industry reformulation, thereby supporting public health goals like obesity reduction.

Look for standardized front-of-pack labels like the UK Traffic Light system. Green means low in fat/sugar/salt, red means high. Use this to quickly identify healthier options and avoid products with multiple red lights, especially for children's foods. This simplifies decision-making compared to reading complex back-of-pack ingredients lists.

In humans, modest dietary restriction combined with exercise is associated with smaller nucleoli in muscle biopsies.

For older adults, combining a modest 12.5% reduction in calories with a 12.5% increase in physical activity over 13 weeks was associated with smaller nucleoli in muscle tissue. This suggests that these lifestyle changes may improve cellular metabolic health.

Moderate exercise combined with appropriate energy and protein intake is a necessary intervention to reverse sarcopenia in cirrhosis, potentially alongside pharmacological agents like BCAAs or testosterone.

Cirrhosis patients should engage in moderate exercise alongside a high-protein, high-calorie diet (1.2-1.5g/kg protein, >35 kcal/kg). A late-night snack is crucial to prevent overnight catabolism.

High neuroticism and impulsivity are risk factors for obesity, while high conscientiousness and self-control act as protective factors against weight gain.

If you struggle with weight, recognize that traits like impulsivity or neuroticism are risk factors, not life sentences. Focus on building self-control skills and regulating internal urges, as these psychological levers directly influence eating behavior and physical activity adherence.

Sensitivity to reward and impulsivity are positively correlated with obesity and metabolic syndrome, particularly in specific demographic subgroups.

If you are highly sensitive to rewards, standard diet advice may fail because your brain prioritizes immediate gratification. Use environmental controls to reduce exposure to high-reward foods and practice delaying gratification to counteract impulsivity.

Conscientiousness and self-control are protective factors against weight gain by regulating internal urges and providing control over impulsive behavior.

Leverage your natural self-discipline by focusing on consistency rather than perfection. Use your ability to regulate urges to create structured eating and activity routines, which serves as a strong buffer against weight gain.

Targeted diabetes self-management education improves glycemic control (A1c) and self-efficacy in food-insecure individuals, often more significantly than in food-secure individuals.

If you are food-insecure, diabetes education is highly effective for you. Studies show that food-insecure patients often benefit MORE from self-management education than food-secure patients. Ensure your education focuses on practical, cost-neutral strategies for managing blood sugar when food access is limited.

Health promotion policies focusing on changing food habits, physical activity, and psychosocial factors can decrease morbidity and mortality from chronic diseases.

Implementing comprehensive health policies that regulate food marketing, promote physical activity, and address stress can improve long-term health outcomes and reduce chronic disease burden.

KAATSU training is generally safe for athletes and healthy individuals, with severe side effects (venous thrombus, pulmonary embolism, rhabdomyolysis) occurring at very low rates (<0.1%).

KAATSU training is considered safe for most people, including the elderly and those with certain chronic conditions. While minor side effects like bruising or numbness can occur, severe complications like blood clots are extremely rare. Always follow instructions from qualified instructors to minimize risks.

Higher eHealth literacy is significantly associated with better adherence to physical exercise and balanced nutrition behaviors among adult Internet users.

To improve your exercise and diet habits, focus on improving your ability to find and evaluate health information online. Don't just browse; learn to critically appraise sources. This skill (eHealth literacy) is a strong predictor of whether you will actually stick to exercise and balanced nutrition plans.

Previously active individuals experience a disproportionately larger decrease in physical activity during lockdowns compared to those who were already less active.

If you were highly active before lockdowns, you are at high risk of losing your fitness. You must actively replace your structured routine with home-based or outdoor alternatives to prevent a large drop in activity.

Higher general nutrition knowledge is significantly associated with meeting fruit and vegetable intake recommendations and consuming a diet lower in fat.

Understanding nutrition guidelines is a strong predictor of eating healthier, but knowing the rules isn't enough to change your diet. To actually improve your intake of fruits, vegetables, and lower-fat foods, you need to go beyond just reading labels or guidelines and actively work on interpreting and applying that information in your daily life.

Demographic factors including gender, age, education level, and employment status significantly predict nutrition knowledge levels, with females, older adults, those with tertiary education, and employed individuals scoring higher.

Your background—gender, age, education, and job status—can influence how much you know about nutrition. If you fall into a group with lower average knowledge (e.g., younger, less educated, unemployed), seek out targeted, clear nutrition information rather than assuming you know enough or that it's not for you.

Attentional bias modification (ABM) training can causally influence subjective craving and consummatory behavior, particularly when delivered in multiple sessions and in naturalistic settings.

If using ABM, ensure it involves multiple sessions and is delivered in a naturalistic setting (e.g., via mobile app at home). Single lab sessions are unlikely to produce lasting behavioral changes.

Taxes on carbonated soft drinks and saturated fat, combined with subsidies on fruits and vegetables, are associated with beneficial dietary changes (reduced energy and saturated fat intake) in simulation models, with the potential to improve population health outcomes.

Government policies that make sugary drinks and saturated fats more expensive, while making fruits and vegetables cheaper, are modeled to improve population diets. For individuals, this means these pricing strategies can be an effective tool for public health, potentially reducing NCDs, especially if they help lower-income groups reduce consumption of unhealthy items due to higher price sensitivity.

Higher amounts of sedentary behavior are associated with increased risk of all-cause, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and cancer mortality, as well as the incidence of CVD, cancer, and type 2 diabetes.

Limit your total sitting time throughout the day. While getting moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is important and can reduce some risks, it does not completely negate the dangers of prolonged sitting. Aim to break up long periods of sitting with light movement.

Consumer acceptance of plant-based meat alternatives is strongly influenced by sensory similarity to meat, product familiarity, and price, with hybrid products often showing higher acceptability than pure plant-based options.

If you are trying plant-based meat alternatives, start with hybrid products (part meat, part plant) if available, as they are often more acceptable. Be aware that sensory similarity to meat is a key factor in acceptance, and pure plant-based options may not perfectly replicate meat texture or taste.

Environmental factors (physical, social, and policy) significantly influence nutrition and physical activity behaviors, but their impact is often weaker than or interacts with individual-level determinants such as motivation and self-efficacy.

To improve nutrition and physical activity, focus on modifying the environment (e.g., access to parks, healthy food availability, safety) alongside individual education. Recognize that environmental changes can support those with lower self-efficacy, but personal factors remain strong predictors of behavior.

Faster eating rates are positively associated with higher current BMI and greater long-term BMI gain, independent of total daily energy intake.

If you tend to eat quickly, try to slow down your meals. This study suggests that faster eating is linked to higher body weight, even if you don't eat more calories. Slowing down might help your body register fullness better, potentially aiding in weight management.

Exercise type (aerobic vs. resistance) does not significantly alter clinical outcomes in PCOS, provided intensity is moderate.

You do not need to force yourself to do a specific type of exercise if you dislike it. Whether you prefer walking, cycling, or weightlifting, moderate intensity exercise will yield similar benefits for your PCOS symptoms. Choose the activity you can sustain.

Social Norms Approach (SNA) interventions that correct normative misperceptions about peer behaviors (descriptive or injunctive norms) can reduce negative health behaviors (e.g., alcohol, cannabis use) and promote positive ones (e.g., sun protection, condom use).

To encourage healthier behaviors in a group (like students or employees), use data to show what most people in that group actually do, rather than scaring them with risks. If people think everyone is drinking heavily, correct that by showing the majority drink moderately or not at all. This leverages social conformity to promote positive change.

A high tendency for orthorexia nervosa (ON) is associated with healthier dietary choices (whole wheat, fruits, vegetables), health food store shopping, and healthy lifestyle habits (sports, low alcohol), but also with pathological behaviors including rigid scheduling, social judgment of others, and avoidance of specific food colors.

If you find yourself obsessing over food purity, judging others for their eating habits, or feeling intense anxiety when breaking dietary rules, you may be exhibiting signs of orthorexia. While your food choices might be nutritious, the psychological burden and social isolation are harmful. Focus on flexibility and enjoyment rather than rigid adherence to 'healthy' labels.