Browse the evidence

Bariatric surgery is not first-line therapy for women of reproductive age hoping to conceive quickly due to risks of nutrient deficiencies and the required 1-2 year delay before pregnancy.

Avoid bariatric surgery if you plan to get pregnant soon. It requires a 1-2 year wait and can cause vitamin deficiencies that harm the baby. Use weight loss medications instead.

Post-hoc exclusion of participants based on 'Unaccounted Energy' (a post-randomization variable) in feeding studies introduces severe confounding bias, artificially attenuating the observed increase in Total Energy Expenditure (TEE) associated with low-carbohydrate diets.

When evaluating low-carb diet studies, be skeptical of analyses that exclude participants who didn't 'adhere' perfectly. These exclusions often rely on flawed metrics (like Unaccounted Energy) that introduce bias. The original findings of increased energy expenditure on low-carb diets remain robust even when accounting for these methodological errors.

Lean mass is an inaccurate proxy for muscle mass in GLP-1 trials because it includes organs, bone, and fluids; MRI-based muscle volume z-scores provide a more accurate assessment of muscle health.

Do not rely solely on 'lean mass' numbers from standard scales or DXA scans to judge your muscle health. These numbers include water and organ weight. For a true picture of muscle, look at muscle volume and quality via advanced imaging like MRI, which shows if muscle fat is decreasing.

Increased economic development and industrialization are associated with higher obesity rates primarily due to increased caloric intake and diet quality (specifically ultraprocessed foods), rather than reduced physical activity or energy expenditure.

Stop blaming your lack of exercise for your weight gain. This research shows that moving less doesn't necessarily mean you burn significantly less energy than a highly active person of the same size. The real driver of obesity in modern societies is what you eat, specifically the high proportion of ultraprocessed foods that disrupt satiety and increase absorption. Focus on reducing ultraprocessed food intake rather than obsessing over increasing physical activity expenditure to fix obesity.

Intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) focused on weight loss does not significantly reduce all-cause mortality in older adults with type 2 diabetes and overweight/obesity compared to diabetes support and education (DSE) over a median of 16.7 years.

For older adults with type 2 diabetes, engaging in intensive lifestyle programs (diet and exercise) is recommended to improve quality of life, fitness, and metabolic health, but should not be undertaken with the expectation that it will significantly extend lifespan compared to standard diabetes education. The intervention is safe and does not increase mortality risk.

Creatine supplementation does not significantly affect fat mass (FM), BMI, or body fat percentage (BFP) in the general population, although specific loading protocols with maintenance phases may lead to modest BFP reductions.

Do not take creatine expecting it to burn fat or change your body fat percentage. It will not significantly affect your fat mass or BMI. Its primary benefit is adding lean muscle mass when combined with resistance training.

Participants gained 0.8±0.3 kg (p=0.01) during the ultra-processed diet.

Weight gain may occur with the consumption of ultra-processed foods.

Current rates of WMT utilization among patients with obesity are low, increasing from 5.3% to 7.1%.

Efforts should be made to increase the utilization of WMT among patients with obesity.

Gastrointestinal adverse effects were common, but the medication was otherwise well tolerated.

Clinicians should inform patients about potential gastrointestinal side effects while considering the overall tolerability of the treatment.

Treatment persistence was high, with 80% of patients completing 6 months of therapy.

High treatment persistence suggests that patients are likely to continue tirzepatide therapy.

Gastrointestinal adverse events were the most frequently reported but rarely led to treatment discontinuation.

Practitioners should monitor for gastrointestinal side effects but can expect them to be manageable.

From 1999 to 2018, the estimated percentage of total energy from consumption of ultraprocessed foods increased from 61.4% to 67.0%.

Practitioners should be aware of the increasing trend in ultraprocessed food consumption among youths.

The percentage of total energy from consumption of unprocessed or minimally processed foods decreased from 28.8% to 23.5% from 1999 to 2018.

Practitioners should note the decline in consumption of unprocessed foods among youths.

There was a significantly larger increase in the estimated percentage of energy from ultraprocessed foods among non-Hispanic Black youths and Mexican American youths compared to non-Hispanic White youths.

Practitioners should consider demographic factors when addressing dietary habits among youths.

GLP-1 RA use remained low overall for treatment of T2D, particularly among patients with ASCVD.

Clinicians should recognize the need for increased GLP-1 RA prescribing, especially for patients with ASCVD.

Lifestyle modifications have limited long-term success in reducing adiposity and blood pressure in patients with obesity.

Practitioners should consider alternative strategies beyond lifestyle modifications for effective obesity management.

There is a need for more accurate measures of muscle mass and function for diagnosing sarcopenia.

Practitioners should seek to utilize more accurate measurement tools for assessing sarcopenia.

There is a significant and growing public interest in Ozempic and related GLP-1 agonists.

Healthcare providers should be prepared for increased inquiries about these medications.

Global mean intake of processed meat was 17 g/day, with mean national intakes of at least one serving per day for processed meat in countries representing 6.9% of the global population.

Health professionals should consider the prevalence of processed meat consumption in their dietary recommendations.

The food industry influences government nutrition policies and marketing practices.

Awareness of industry influence can guide healthier food choices.

The food industry prioritizes economic interests over health in its marketing strategies.

Recognizing the economic motivations can help consumers make informed choices.

In general populations, fish consumption of 350 g/week or more is not associated with risk of major CVD or total mortality.

For the general population, increasing fish intake beyond 350 g/week may not provide additional cardiovascular benefits.

Significant gaps remain for achieving equity in nutrition security across the life span.

Efforts must be made to address gaps in nutrition security for all age groups.

The prevalences of type 2 diabetes and stroke mortality are higher in all Asian American subgroups compared with non-Hispanic White adults.

Health care professionals should prioritize screening for type 2 diabetes and stroke in Asian American populations.