Browse the evidence

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) contributes to diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT) in humans, with individuals having higher BAT activity showing significantly higher postprandial energy expenditure compared to those with low BAT activity.

Your body burns more calories after eating if you have active brown fat. This is a natural physiological variation. You cannot directly 'take' this, but maintaining a healthy weight and potentially exposing yourself to mild cold may help maintain BAT activity.

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) functions as an energy buffer by dissipating excess caloric intake as heat through thermogenesis, thereby protecting against obesity and metabolic disorders.

Your body has a natural 'energy buffer' called brown fat that burns calories as heat. While you can't buy it, you can potentially activate it through mild cold exposure (like cooler showers or lower room temperatures), which may help offset excess calorie intake and support metabolic health.

Reducing physical activity levels and increasing sedentary time are major determinants of the current obesity epidemic, as evidenced by the inverse correlation between leisure-time physical activity and BMI, and the decline in energy expenditure due to labor-saving devices.

Incorporate more movement into your daily routine. The decline in physical activity due to modern conveniences is a major contributor to obesity. Aim to reduce sedentary time and increase leisure-time physical activity to help prevent weight gain.

Carriers of the common MC4R variant rs17782313 (allele-C) exhibit significantly higher intakes of total energy and dietary fat, leading to greater long-term BMI increase and increased risk of type 2 diabetes in women.

If you carry the MC4R risk variant, you may biologically predispose yourself to eat more calories and prefer fatty foods. This isn't a failure of willpower but a biological trait. To manage weight, focus on strategies that mitigate this drive, such as prioritizing whole foods over energy-dense fats and monitoring portion sizes, especially if you have a family history of diabetes.

Higher levels of physical activity, particularly vigorous intensity, are inversely associated with the risk of developing breast cancer in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women.

Engage in regular physical activity, aiming for vigorous intensity when possible, as it significantly lowers breast cancer risk for women of all ages. If vigorous exercise is not feasible, total or recreational activity still provides protective benefits, though less pronounced than vigorous activity.

The association between increased red meat consumption and type 2 diabetes risk is partly mediated by body weight gain, but remains significant even after adjusting for initial BMI and concurrent weight changes.

Reducing red meat helps manage weight, which in turn lowers diabetes risk. However, even if you maintain your weight, reducing red meat still offers a protective benefit against type 2 diabetes, suggesting there are other metabolic benefits beyond just calorie control.

Reducing the price of low-fat snacks and increasing their availability in vending machines significantly increases their purchase and consumption.

To encourage healthier eating, make low-fat snacks cheaper and more visible in vending machines and stores.

Activation of brown adipose tissue (BAT) through cold exposure increases whole-body energy expenditure and improves glucose and lipid metabolism in humans.

If you have detectable brown fat, exposing yourself to cool temperatures (around 17°C or 63°F) for about 2 hours daily can help increase your energy expenditure and reduce body fat. This works by activating your brown fat to burn calories as heat.

Achieving high energy and protein requirements on a vegan diet is challenging due to the high fiber content and low energy density of plant foods, which promote early satiety.

If you struggle to eat enough calories as a vegan, focus on energy-dense foods like nuts, seeds, and oils, and eat more frequently. Choose lower-fiber carbohydrate sources (like white rice or pasta) during high-training phases to avoid feeling too full to eat enough.

Cooking starch increases its digestibility and glycemic potential, making it a more effective energy source for the brain than raw starch.

Cooking starchy foods like potatoes, rice, and grains significantly improves your body's ability to extract energy from them compared to eating them raw. This is why cooked starches are a staple in most human cultures.

Time-restricted feeding (TRF) improves cardiometabolic health in individuals with obesity or type 2 diabetes, though some benefits may be attributable to reduced calorie intake rather than timing alone.

Try restricting your eating window to 8-10 hours per day. This may improve your metabolic health and help with weight management. However, be aware that some of the benefits might simply come from eating fewer calories because you have less time to eat. If you struggle with the timing, focus on reducing overall calorie intake, as that is likely the primary driver of weight loss.

Caloric restriction and exercise training delay the onset of age-associated diseases and decelerate aging effects via sirtuin-dependent pathways, including increased Sirt1 activity and reduced oxidative stress.

Incorporate regular physical exercise and consider moderate caloric restriction. These lifestyle choices naturally boost Sirt1 activity and reduce oxidative stress, helping to delay cardiovascular and cerebrovascular aging. Consistency is key, as these benefits are derived from sustained engagement.

Sprint training (ST) specifically elevates creatine kinase (CK) activity, whereas speed endurance training (SET) does not, suggesting that the rate of creatine phosphate (CP) utilization, rather than total CP depletion, drives CK adaptation.

If you want to increase your muscle's creatine kinase activity, focus on very short, maximal sprints (e.g., 6-second all-out efforts). Speed endurance intervals, while beneficial for other adaptations, do not appear to stimulate CK increases in the same way.

The blood pressure reduction associated with weight loss is linearly proportional to the amount of weight lost, regardless of sex, although men in this study lost more weight than women.

Your blood pressure will drop as you lose weight, no matter your gender. If you lose 1 kg, your diastolic BP drops by about 0.33 mm Hg and systolic by 0.43 mm Hg. Men may lose weight faster initially, but the benefit per kg lost is the same for women.

Higher Physical Activity Energy Expenditure (PAEE) independently predicts a slower progression toward metabolic syndrome in middle-aged adults, regardless of aerobic fitness levels.

Focus on increasing your daily energy expenditure through movement, not just structured exercise. You don't need to become 'fit' (improve VO2max) to gain metabolic benefits. Simply adding about 1 hour of brisk walking per day (or equivalent energy expenditure) can significantly reduce your risk of developing metabolic syndrome, regardless of your current fitness level.

Weight loss interventions, including hypocaloric diets and exercise, modulate the metabolomic profile of obese individuals, potentially reversing or altering obesity-related metabolic signatures.

Weight loss through diet or exercise changes your metabolic profile. This means that losing weight can help reverse some of the metabolic abnormalities associated with obesity, such as insulin resistance and altered amino acid levels.

Exercise and cold exposure stimulate the 'browning' of white adipose tissue (WAT) by inducing beige adipocytes, which increases mitochondrial biogenesis and thermogenic capacity, thereby enhancing energy expenditure and improving metabolic health.

To improve your metabolic health and potentially reduce fat storage, engage in regular physical activity and consider cold exposure. These stimuli can trigger your white fat to develop brown-like characteristics (beige fat), which burn energy as heat. You do not need extreme workouts; even single bouts of exercise can initiate these beneficial mitochondrial changes.

Activation of PPARα by fibrate agonists (e.g., fenofibrate, ciprofibrate) reduces plasma triglycerides and LDL-C while increasing HDL-C, primarily by accelerating fatty acid oxidation and ketone body production in the liver.

Fibrates are a class of drugs that activate PPARα to lower bad cholesterol (LDL) and triglycerides while raising good cholesterol (HDL). They work by telling your liver to burn more fat for energy. While diet plays a role in activating these receptors, fibrates provide a potent, targeted activation for those with high lipid levels.

Low energy availability reduces resting metabolic rate (RMR) by approximately 8% as an energy-conserving mechanism, independent of changes in body composition.

If you are training heavily and eating very little, your body may slow down its baseline calorie burn to survive. This is a normal adaptation, not a broken metabolism. Restoring adequate energy intake will help normalize your metabolic rate.

Underweight status (BMI < 19 kg/m2) and strenuous physical activity impair fertility by suppressing the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, leading to longer time to pregnancy and potential amenorrhea.

If you are underweight (BMI < 19) or exercise intensely, your body may suppress ovulation to save energy. This can double or quadruple your time to pregnancy. Increasing caloric intake and reducing exercise intensity to a moderate level can help restore normal reproductive function.

Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are associated with increased risk of obesity and cardiometabolic disease, but this association is largely mediated by excess caloric intake and confounding lifestyle factors, rather than a unique property of the beverage itself.

Reducing sugar-sweetened beverages is a prudent strategy for weight management and metabolic health, primarily because it reduces excess calories and is associated with healthier lifestyle choices. However, do not expect SSB reduction to solve all health issues if your overall diet and lifestyle remain poor. Moderate SSB intake has negligible risk.

HIIT improves glycaemic control (HbA1c, 2h glucose) and reduces visceral fat in type 2 diabetes, but does not significantly change fasting glucose or insulin sensitivity (HOMA-IR) within the study period.

HIIT helps lower your average blood sugar (HbA1c) and improves how your body handles sugar after meals, even if your fasting blood sugar doesn't change immediately. It also reduces visceral fat. Stick to the 12-week protocol; the benefits on liver fat and overall glucose control are significant, even if fasting numbers remain stable.

A 12-week combined endurance and resistance exercise training program increases mitochondrial content and intrinsic mitochondrial function in patients with type 2 diabetes to a similar extent as in healthy control individuals, paralleled by improved insulin sensitivity.

If you have type 2 diabetes, a 12-week program of combined cardio (cycling) and strength training can boost your muscle's energy-producing mitochondria just as much as it does for healthy people. You don't need to do more than a healthy person to get this benefit; your body is capable of the same adaptation. Stick to a consistent routine, and your insulin sensitivity will likely improve alongside your mitochondrial health.

Sodium bicarbonate supplementation (0.2-0.4 g/kg body mass) improves performance in high-intensity sprints lasting ~60 seconds by buffering acid buildup, but causes gastrointestinal distress in many users.

Take 0.2-0.4g of sodium bicarbonate per kg of body weight 60-150 minutes before a ~60 second high-intensity effort. To avoid stomach upset, split the dose, take it with a small carb meal, or use a loading protocol over 2-4 days. Test this in training first, as responses vary widely.