Browse the evidence

Daily consumption of 5 servings of fruit and vegetables (compared to 2 servings) is associated with lower total mortality, cardiovascular disease mortality, cancer mortality, and respiratory disease mortality.

Aim to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day. This specific intake level is linked to significantly lower risks of dying from heart disease, cancer, and respiratory issues compared to eating only 2 servings.

Consuming fish, especially oily fish, at least twice a week reduces the risk of sudden death and death from coronary artery disease due to omega-3 fatty acids (EPA/DHA).

Eat fish, especially oily fish like salmon, at least twice a week (about 8 ounces total). This provides protective omega-3 fatty acids. If you are pregnant or have young children, choose lower-mercury options like canned light tuna or salmon.

High intake of red and processed meats is positively associated with an increased risk of colon cancer in women, whereas high fiber intake is associated with a decreased risk.

To lower your risk of colon cancer, limit your consumption of red and processed meats (like beef, pork, bacon, and sausage) and increase your intake of dietary fiber from vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. This study suggests that the type of food matters significantly for long-term gut health.

Adding protein (>=20g) to suboptimal carbohydrate intake (less than 1.2 g/kg/h) enhances muscle glycogen storage rates during recovery.

If you can't eat enough carbs after a workout (less than 1.2g per kg of body weight), add 20 grams of protein to your recovery meal. This helps your muscles store glycogen faster than carbs alone would.

Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and improves glycaemic control in patients with existing type 2 diabetes.

If you have type 2 diabetes or are at risk, adopting a Mediterranean diet can help lower your risk of developing the disease and improve blood sugar control if you already have it. Focus on whole grains, legumes, vegetables, and olive oil, while limiting red meat and sweets. This approach has been shown to be more effective than low-fat diets for glycaemic management.

Adhering to a 'prudent' dietary pattern (high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, poultry, and fish) significantly lowers the risk of coronary heart disease in women compared to a 'Western' pattern (high in red/processed meats, refined grains, sweets, and high-fat dairy).

To lower your risk of heart disease, structure your diet around a 'prudent' pattern: eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, fish, and poultry. Simultaneously, reduce your intake of red and processed meats, refined grains, sweets, and french fries. This combined approach is more effective for heart health than focusing on single nutrients.

Athletes should consume 1.3–1.8 g of protein per kg of body weight per day, distributed across 3–4 meals, to maximize muscle protein synthesis and adaptation.

Eat 1.3 to 1.8 grams of protein for every kilogram of your body weight each day. Split this total into 3 or 4 separate meals throughout the day rather than eating it all in one or two large doses. This strategy ensures your body has a steady supply of amino acids to build muscle after training.

During energy restriction (weight loss), athletes should increase protein intake to 1.8–2.0 g · kg−1 · day−1 to prevent the loss of lean muscle mass.

If you are cutting calories to lose fat, increase your protein intake to 1.8–2.0 grams per kilogram of body weight daily. This higher intake helps protect your muscle mass while you lose fat, especially if you are also resistance training.

Post-exercise protein intake of 20–25 g of high-quality protein maximally stimulates muscle protein synthesis in resistance-trained individuals.

After your resistance training session, consume 20–25 grams of high-quality protein (like whey, eggs, or meat). This amount is enough to maximally stimulate muscle growth, and eating more than this does not provide additional muscle-building benefits.

Ingesting 20 g of whey protein every 3 hours (4 times daily) maximizes myofibrillar protein synthesis (MPS) over a 12-hour post-exercise recovery period, outperforming both larger boluses (40 g every 6 h) and smaller, more frequent doses (10 g every 1.5 h).

If you want to maximize muscle growth after a heavy leg workout, don't just eat your total daily protein in 2-3 big meals. Instead, consume 20 grams of high-quality protein (like whey) every 3 hours for the next 12 hours. This means eating 4 times post-workout. This strategy triggers more muscle building than eating larger amounts less frequently or grazing on tiny amounts constantly.

Adherence to a 'prudent' dietary pattern, characterized by high intake of fruits and vegetables, is inversely associated with the risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) globally.

To lower your risk of heart attack, adopt a 'prudent' diet: eat more fruits and vegetables and fewer fried foods, salty snacks, and meats. This pattern is protective globally, regardless of your specific country or region.

An unhealthy dietary intake, quantified by a Dietary Risk Score (DRS) emphasizing meat, salty snacks, and fried foods while de-emphasizing fruits and vegetables, increases the risk of AMI globally and accounts for approximately 30% of the population-attributable risk.

Use a simple rule: eat more fruits and vegetables, and less meat, salty snacks, and fried foods. This simple dietary shift can significantly lower your risk of heart attack.

A high-protein (28-30% energy), high-monounsaturated fat diet during energy restriction significantly reduces LDL cholesterol and total/abdominal fat mass in women with type 2 diabetes compared to a lower-protein diet, without compromising glycemic control.

For women with Type 2 Diabetes looking to lose fat and improve cholesterol, a diet emphasizing high protein (approx. 30% of calories) and monounsaturated fats (like olive oil, nuts) while restricting calories to around 1,600 per day is more effective for lowering bad cholesterol (LDL) and losing belly fat than a standard lower-protein diet. This benefit was specific to women in this study; men lost similar amounts of fat on both diets. Glycemic control improved on both diets, so the HP diet offers added cardiovascular benefits without worsening blood sugar management.

Whey protein supplementation during caloric restriction promotes 'high-quality' weight loss by maximizing fat loss while sparing lean body mass and resting metabolic rate.

When you are dieting to lose fat, add whey protein to your meals. It helps you lose more fat and keep more muscle than just eating a standard low-calorie diet. This protects your metabolism and makes it easier to keep the weight off. Aim for higher protein intake (over 1.25 g/kg/day) during your diet.

Adopting a healthy plant-based diet index (hPBDI) substantially lowers coronary heart disease risk, whereas an unhealthy plant-based diet index (uPBDI) is associated with higher risk.

If you choose a plant-based diet, prioritize whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes. Avoid refined grains, sugary drinks, and processed sweets, as these can increase heart disease risk even in a plant-based context.

Substituting red meat with high-quality plant protein sources (legumes, soy, nuts) leads to more favorable changes in total and LDL cholesterol compared to red meat consumption.

If you want to improve your cholesterol levels, try swapping some of your red meat servings for plant-based proteins like beans, lentils, soy, or nuts. This swap is more effective for lowering bad cholesterol (LDL) than swapping red meat for fish or refined carbohydrates. Ensure the plant-based meal provides enough protein to meet your daily needs.

Higher dietary intake of major saturated fatty acids (lauric, myristic, palmitic, and stearic acid) is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease, whereas replacing these fats with polyunsaturated fat, whole grain carbohydrates, or plant proteins significantly lowers that risk.

To lower your risk of coronary heart disease, focus on replacing your intake of saturated fats (found in meat, dairy, and tropical oils) with healthier alternatives. Specifically, swap 1% of your daily calories from saturated fat with polyunsaturated fats (like nuts, seeds, or vegetable oils), whole grains (like oats or brown rice), or plant proteins (like beans or lentils). This substitution is associated with an 8-12% reduction in heart disease risk. Do not replace these fats with refined carbohydrates like white bread or sugar, as this does not provide the same benefit.

Consuming approximately 20 g of high-quality protein (or ~0.24–0.30 g/kg body mass) per meal maximally stimulates muscle protein synthesis (MPS) in young adults, with doses exceeding this threshold (e.g., 40 g) providing negligible additional MPS stimulation.

Aim for ~20 grams of high-quality protein (like whey, eggs, or meat) per meal. This amount maximally triggers your muscles to grow. Eating 40g or more in one sitting does not build extra muscle; it just gets burned off or turned into waste. Spread these ~20g doses every 3 hours during the day to keep muscle building active throughout your waking hours.

Pre-sleep ingestion of ~30-40 g of casein protein enhances overnight muscle protein synthesis and augments long-term gains in muscle size and strength when combined with resistance training.

If you want to maximize muscle growth, try drinking a shake with ~30-40 grams of casein protein (or eating cottage cheese) right before bed. This slow-digesting protein feeds your muscles while you sleep, leading to slightly better gains in muscle size and strength over time compared to not eating before bed.

Mediterranean diets rich in monounsaturated fats (from olive oil and nuts) are more effective at preventing cardiovascular mortality and coronary artery disease than low-fat, low-cholesterol diets.

Adopting a Mediterranean-style diet, which includes healthy monounsaturated fats from olive oil and nuts, is a more effective strategy for preventing heart disease and stroke than following a strict low-fat, low-cholesterol diet.

Ingesting 15g or 30g of whey protein after resistance exercise during an energy deficit increases myofibrillar protein synthesis above energy-balance resting levels in a dose-dependent manner.

After your resistance workout while dieting, consume 15-30g of high-quality protein (like whey). This will push your muscle protein synthesis rates higher than they would be at rest, helping you preserve or build muscle despite being in a caloric deficit.

Improving the quality of a plant-based diet over a 12-year period is associated with a lower risk of total and cardiovascular disease mortality, whereas increasing consumption of an unhealthful plant-based diet is associated with higher mortality risk.

If you follow a plant-based diet, prioritize whole, unprocessed plant foods like whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes. Avoid refined grains, sugary beverages, and sweets. Improving the quality of your plant-based intake over time is linked to a lower risk of dying from heart disease or other causes.

Replacing one serving per day of red meat with healthier alternatives such as nuts, fish, whole grains, or vegetables is associated with a significantly lower risk of all-cause mortality.

To lower your risk of death, try replacing one serving of red meat each day with a healthier alternative. The best substitutes are nuts, fish, whole grains, or vegetables. Even replacing red meat with poultry, dairy, eggs, or legumes can reduce risk, but nuts and fish offer the greatest benefit. This substitution should be maintained over time to see the long-term health benefits.

Strength athletes should consume 1.6–1.7 g/kg/day of protein, distributed across 5-6 meals with ~20g high-quality protein per dose to maximize muscle protein synthesis.

Eat 1.6 to 1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight every day. Don't just eat it all at dinner. Split it into 5 or 6 meals, each containing about 20 grams of high-quality protein (like meat, eggs, or whey). This keeps your muscles building throughout the day.