Browse the evidence

Ultra-marathon runners should consume 40-70 kcal/kg/day of energy and 5-8 g/kg/day of carbohydrates during training to maintain energy balance and support high-volume adaptation.

If you are training for an ultra-marathon, you need to eat significantly more than you think. Aim for 40-70 calories per kilogram of body weight every day, and ensure 5-8 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram. This is not optional; it is required to support your training volume and prevent injury or illness. Use liquid calories and energy-dense foods to manage the volume.

Measuring Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) and adjusting caloric goals based on weight loss-induced metabolic adaptations prevents weight loss plateaus and optimizes energy balance.

If you are not losing weight despite following a standard diet, your metabolism may have adapted. Get your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) tested using a portable device or metabolic cart. Use this number to calculate a personalized calorie goal that creates a deficit relative to YOUR specific energy needs, not a generic number. Re-test as you lose weight to adjust your plan.

85.6% of powerlifters reported paying specific attention to nutrition practices in the pre-exercise period by ingesting more carbohydrate rich foods.

Practitioners should emphasize carbohydrate intake before training for optimal performance.

80% of powerlifters reported paying attention to postexercise nutrition, primarily ingesting more protein rich foods.

Advise powerlifters to prioritize protein intake after training for optimal recovery.

Long-term low caloric deficit diets (20-28 weeks) with high protein and carbohydrate diets are main strategies in the precontest phase.

Bodybuilders should adopt a structured approach to dieting over several months leading up to competitions.

A high-carbohydrate diet (50-70% of energy) improves endurance performance, sprint speed, and recovery compared to low-carbohydrate diets by maximizing muscle glycogen stores.

If you are an endurance athlete (runner or cyclist), ensure 50-70% of your daily calories come from carbohydrates. This maximizes muscle glycogen, which is critical for maintaining intensity, delaying fatigue, and improving race times. Focus on foods with low to moderate glycemic indices.

Intentional modest weight loss (10–13 kg) in overweight type 2 diabetic patients is associated with a significant reduction in total mortality, whereas unintentional weight loss increases mortality risk.

If you have type 2 diabetes and are overweight, aiming to lose 10-13 kg intentionally is associated with a significant reduction in your risk of dying. Do not fear weight loss; fear unintentional weight loss, which signals underlying illness. Focus on sustainable, modest reduction rather than extreme diets.

Major calorie restriction via low-energy liquid diets can reverse Type 2 Diabetes by reducing ectopic fat in the liver and pancreas, restoring beta-cell function.

For some motivated individuals, Type 2 Diabetes can be reversed through significant weight loss, specifically by reducing fat stored in the liver and pancreas. This often involves short-term use of low-energy liquid diets under medical supervision. Consult your doctor to see if this approach is suitable for you.

Addressing overweight and obesity is a primary strategy for reducing the risk of CHD development and progression.

Maintain a healthy weight through a balanced diet and regular moderate exercise. In regions with specific dietary habits (like high carbohydrate intake), focusing on increasing vegetable and fruit consumption and reducing refined carbs is key to lowering heart disease risk.

Weight loss interventions, including lifestyle changes and bariatric surgery, reduce blood pressure, glomerular hyperfiltration, and proteinuria in obese patients with CKD.

If you are overweight and have diabetes, losing weight through diet and exercise can cut your risk of developing kidney disease by 30%. This benefit comes from lowering your blood pressure and reducing the strain on your kidneys. Talk to your doctor about a structured weight loss program.

Weight loss of 10-15% in patients with obesity and Type 2 Diabetes has disease-modifying effects, including improved glycaemic control, reduced need for medication, and potential disease remission.

For patients with obesity and Type 2 Diabetes, aim for a weight loss of 10-15% of body weight. This level of loss is not just for appearance but can modify the disease course, potentially leading to remission and reduced medication needs. This is particularly important for those with higher BMI.

A Nurse Practitioner-supervised medical weight loss program combining a 1500-1800 calorie diet and 30 minutes of aerobic activity 3-4 times per week significantly reduces BMI in obese adults over a three-month period.

To lose weight, aim for 1500-1800 calories daily and do 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise (like brisk walking) 3-4 times a week. Crucially, stay in a structured program with regular check-ins (e.g., weekly) for at least 3 months, as consistency is the strongest driver of success.

Modest weight loss (mean 8% of initial body weight) achieved through energy-restricted diets with or without exercise significantly improves arterial stiffness, as measured by carotid-femoral and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity.

You do not need to achieve massive weight loss to improve your arterial health. This analysis shows that losing about 8% of your body weight through diet and lifestyle changes significantly improves arterial stiffness (measured by PWV). Focus on achieving this modest, sustainable reduction rather than aiming for extreme weight loss.

Modest weight loss (≥5% and ≥10% of baseline body weight) significantly reduces the incidence of type 2 diabetes in prediabetic populations.

Losing just 5-10% of your body weight can significantly lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes if you are currently prediabetic. This benefit is achieved through behavioral changes like diet and exercise, and can be enhanced with medications like orlistat or metformin.

Reducing daily energy intake or increasing physical activity by approximately 100 kcal/day is sufficient to prevent population-wide weight gain and arrest the obesity epidemic.

To stop gaining weight, you do not need to overhaul your life. Aim to create a 100-calorie daily deficit. You can achieve this by walking one extra mile (about 15-20 minutes) each day, or by simply eating three fewer bites at each meal. These small, sustainable adjustments are enough to counteract the environmental pressures causing weight gain for most people.

Increasing daily standing and ambulating time by 2.5 hours (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) can create a negative energy balance of approximately 350 kcal per day, potentially reversing obesity trends without structured exercise.

To lose weight without going to the gym, try to stand up and walk for an extra 2.5 hours every day. This doesn't mean intense exercise; it means taking standing calls, using a treadmill desk, parking further away, or walking during commercials. This small increase in daily movement can burn enough extra calories (about 350 kcal) to help reverse obesity trends over time.

Increasing daily step count by 2,000 steps serves as an effective, low-barrier behavioral intervention for preventing gradual weight gain in the general population.

To prevent gradual weight gain, do not aim for 10,000 steps if you currently walk less. Instead, use a pedometer to track your normal steps, then add exactly 2,000 steps to that number every day. This small increase burns roughly 100 calories, which can offset a small dietary indulgence (like a regular soda) and stop weight gain over time.

Weight loss of 6%–10% is an effective treatment for Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension (IIH), often leading to disease remission and resolution of papilledema.

For IIH patients, losing 6-10% of body weight is critical for remission. Do not rely on self-directed dieting alone; enroll in a high-intensity lifestyle modification program that includes dietary changes, exercise, and behavioral therapy (CBT). This structured approach significantly increases your chances of achieving the weight loss needed to resolve symptoms.

A family-based intervention combining a modest increase in physical activity (2000 steps/day) with a specific dietary substitution (2 servings of ready-to-eat cereal/day) significantly reduces excessive weight gain and body fat percentage in overweight children and their mothers over a 13-week period.

To help prevent excessive weight gain in your family, focus on two small, manageable changes: add 2000 steps to your daily walking routine (roughly 20 minutes) and replace one usual snack with a serving of ready-to-eat cereal at breakfast. This approach is designed to be easy to sustain and has been shown to significantly improve body composition in overweight children and mothers over 13 weeks.

Physical activity is a critical factor in successful long-term weight maintenance, likely by mitigating the increased appetite and decreased energy expenditure associated with the weight-reduced state.

Incorporate regular, moderately vigorous to vigorous physical activity into your routine. It helps counteract the biological drive to eat more and the slowdown in metabolism that occurs after weight loss. Focus on consistency rather than intensity.

Successful long-term weight loss maintenance is characterized by significantly higher amounts of sustained moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) bouts (≥10 minutes) compared to overweight or normal-weight controls, whereas sporadic (nonbout) MVPA does not differ between groups.

To maintain significant weight loss, you likely need to engage in structured exercise that lasts at least 10 minutes at a time, rather than just relying on incidental movement throughout the day. Successful maintainers typically accumulate around 40+ minutes of this sustained activity daily. Focus on continuous bouts of moderate-to-vigorous activity (like brisk walking, cycling, or swimming) rather than just total steps.

Successful long-term weight loss maintainers achieve significantly higher levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) compared to individuals with overweight/obesity, suggesting that high MVPA is a critical behavioral marker for maintaining weight loss.

If you have lost weight, maintaining that loss likely requires a significant amount of moderate-to-vigorous exercise (like brisk walking, jogging, or cycling) accumulated over the week. While this is challenging, you can support your efforts by increasing light activity (like standing or slow walking) and breaking up long periods of sitting, as these are also associated with successful weight maintenance.

Low-fat diets that replace fat with refined carbohydrates contribute to the obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemics, while low-carbohydrate high-fat diets may offer metabolic benefits for weight loss.

If you are struggling with obesity, consider a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet. It may be more effective for weight loss than traditional low-fat diets, which often rely on refined carbohydrates.

Adding GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP1RAs) to metformin effectively improves anthropometric measures (weight, BMI, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio) in women with PCOS.

For PCOS patients struggling with weight, adding a GLP-1 receptor agonist (like semaglutide or liraglutide) to metformin is a highly effective strategy for reducing body weight and waist circumference, addressing the core metabolic driver of the syndrome.