Browse the evidence

Adherence to a Mediterranean diet significantly reduces the incidence of type 2 diabetes and improves glycemic control compared to low-fat or control diets, independent of weight loss.

Prioritize a Mediterranean-style eating pattern: fill your plate with vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and healthy fats like olive oil, while minimizing processed foods and refined sugars. This approach has been shown to significantly lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and improve blood sugar control, often outperforming low-fat diets, even without strict calorie counting.

Protein-rich nutritional supplementation combined with resistance exercise training significantly increases appendicular lean mass index and physical activity levels in older women with knee osteoarthritis compared to resistance exercise training alone.

If you are an older woman with knee osteoarthritis, combining resistance exercise with protein supplementation leads to better muscle mass and physical activity improvements than exercise alone. Use a protein supplement providing about 16g of protein (including leucine) twice daily, timed around your workouts, while performing elastic band resistance exercises twice a week at a moderate-to-hard effort level.

Whey protein supplementation (77 g/day) during high-volume military training significantly improves push-up performance and fat mass loss compared to energy-matched carbohydrate supplementation.

If you are undergoing intense physical training, adding whey protein (approx. 77g/day) can help you perform more push-ups and lose more fat than if you just matched the calories with carbohydrates. Take it twice a day, ideally after workouts and before bed, to support recovery and body composition goals.

Improving dietary protein quality via whey protein supplementation preserves leg lean mass and accelerates muscle strength recovery during short-term physical inactivity in older adults, without increasing total energy or protein intake.

If you are immobilized or inactive, focus on the quality of your protein rather than just the quantity. Adding whey protein to your diet (making up about 70% of your protein intake) can help protect your leg muscle mass and speed up strength recovery after bed rest, even if you don't increase your total calories or total grams of protein. This is particularly relevant for older adults.

A Mediterranean diet is recommended as a cardioprotective dietary paradigm for diabetic patients, characterized by high fruit/vegetable/grain/legume/nut/olive oil intake and moderate fish/poultry/egg consumption.

Eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and olive oil. Eat moderate amounts of fish, poultry, and eggs. Limit red meat, processed meats, and sweets. This pattern helps protect your heart and manage diabetes.

Daily protein intake of 1.0-1.2 g/kg body weight (or 1.2-1.5 g/kg for those with chronic disease) is required to maintain muscle mass and strength in older adults, as lower intakes fail to overcome anabolic resistance.

If you are older, aim for 1.0 to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of your body weight every day. If you have a chronic illness like diabetes or heart disease, aim for 1.2 to 1.5 grams per kilogram. This helps your body build and keep muscle. If you have kidney disease, talk to your doctor before increasing protein.

Pre-menopausal female athletes require higher daily protein intakes (EAR 1.28–1.63 g/kg/day for endurance, 1.49 g/kg/day for resistance, 1.41 g/kg/day for intermittent exercise) than general population guidelines, with acute doses of 0.32–0.38 g/kg post-exercise demonstrating beneficial physiological responses.

As a pre-menopausal female athlete, aim for 1.3–1.6 g of protein per kg of body weight daily, depending on your sport. For resistance or team sports, ensure you consume 0.32–0.38 g/kg of protein in the hours surrounding your workout to maximize strength and recovery benefits. Do not rely on general population guidelines of 0.8 g/kg, as this is insufficient for athletic adaptation.

Incorporating soy protein into a high-protein, energy-restricted diet produces weight loss and body composition changes equivalent to non-soy protein sources, making it a viable alternative for vegetarians and omnivores.

If you are trying to lose weight, you can use soy protein products (like soy protein powder, bars, or patties) to help meet your daily protein goals. You do not need to rely exclusively on meat or dairy. The study shows that using three servings of soy protein daily, alongside a calorie-controlled diet and exercise, results in the same amount of fat loss and muscle preservation as using non-soy proteins. This makes soy a flexible and effective tool for vegetarians or anyone wanting to diversify their protein sources.

Replacing saturated fat with refined carbohydrates increases cardiovascular risk and obesity prevalence, whereas replacing it with unsaturated fats (MUFA/PUFA) improves lipid profiles and reduces risk.

Do not fear dietary fat, but be selective. Replace saturated fats (butter, fatty meats) with unsaturated fats (olive oil, nuts, fish) rather than refined carbohydrates (sugar, white bread). Avoid 'low-fat' products that often contain added sugars.

Protein supplementation significantly enhances muscle strength and fat-free mass gains during arduous concurrent training, but does not improve aerobic endurance.

If you are doing both weightlifting and cardio (like military training or CrossFit), take 20-50g of protein immediately after your workout. This will help you build more muscle and lose fat faster than if you didn't supplement. However, do not expect this to improve your running or cycling endurance; for that, focus on your aerobic training volume.

A high-protein diet (60-80 g/day or 1.5 g/kg/day) combined with strength training prevents loss of lean body mass and promotes satiety after endoscopic bariatric therapy.

Eat 60-80 grams of protein daily (or 1.5g per kg of body weight) to protect your muscles while you lose fat. This also helps you feel full longer. Combine this with strength training for best results.

Ingesting 30 g of whey protein after resistance exercise maximizes myofibrillar protein synthesis in trained women, while 60 g provides no additional benefit.

If you are a trained woman doing resistance exercise, aim for 30g of high-quality protein (like whey) after your workout. Taking 60g won't help your muscles grow any faster than 30g, and 15g isn't enough to trigger the growth response. Stick to 30g to maximize efficiency.

Milk protein supplementation (10-15g) combined with resistance training significantly increases lean body mass (LBM) in older adults (≥60 years), whereas whey protein at the same dose range shows a negative effect on LBM gains.

For adults over 60 engaging in resistance training, consuming 10-15 grams of milk protein daily (e.g., from milk or dairy products) alongside your workouts helps increase lean body mass. Interestingly, using whey protein isolate at this same low dose did not help and may have hindered gains, suggesting that the full spectrum of milk proteins (casein/whey ratio) in whole milk protein is more effective for this age group than isolated whey.

Milk protein supplementation improves muscle strength (1RM knee extension) in older adults only when the daily protein dose is ≥ 22 g; doses below 22 g do not significantly improve strength.

If your goal is to increase your strength (e.g., leg press or knee extension weight) through resistance training, ensure you are consuming at least 22 grams of milk protein daily. Lower doses (10-15g) may help maintain muscle mass but are insufficient for improving strength in older adults.

Consumption of semolina pasta within a Mediterranean dietary pattern is associated with lower body weight and BMI compared to higher-glycemic index diets, and does not increase cardiovascular disease risk.

Include pasta in your diet, specifically semolina or whole-grain varieties cooked al dente. It has a low glycemic index and forms resistant starch when cooled, which aids satiety and metabolic health. Pair it with vegetables and lean proteins to maximize benefits. It is not a cause of weight gain when consumed in appropriate portions (2 oz dry).

Combining GLP-1RA therapy with resistance exercise and high protein intake preserves fat-free mass better than GLP-1RA therapy alone in older adults with obesity.

To get the most benefit from GLP-1 medications without losing muscle, you must also do resistance exercise (like weights) at least twice a week and eat enough protein (1.0-1.2g per kg of body weight). This combination helps you lose fat while keeping your strength.

Healthy Low-Fat (HLF) and Healthy Low-Carbohydrate (HLC) diets produce equivalent average weight loss (~13 lbs) over 12 months when both emphasize high dietary quality (vegetables, no added sugar/refined flour) and allow self-titration of macronutrients.

Don't obsess over whether you are low-fat or low-carb. Pick one macro to restrict to 20g/day for the first 8 weeks to reset habits, then slowly add it back until you feel satisfied and can maintain it long-term. Crucially, fill your plate with vegetables and eliminate added sugars and refined flour. This focus on food quality and satiety, rather than calorie counting, drives the weight loss.

Healthy older adults require approximately 40% more protein per meal (approx. 0.4 g/kg or ~35g) compared to younger adults to maximize muscle protein synthesis due to age-related anabolic resistance.

To build or maintain muscle after age 60, you need more protein per meal than younger people. Aim for about 35 grams of high-quality protein (like 4 oz of chicken or 1 scoop of whey plus eggs) at each main meal, rather than the 20 grams often recommended for athletes. This higher dose is necessary to overcome the natural slowdown in your body's ability to use protein for muscle building as you age.

Higher dietary protein intake (1.2-1.6 g/kg/d) during energy restriction preserves lean mass and promotes fat loss more effectively than lower protein intakes.

When cutting calories to lose fat, aim for 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily. This helps you keep your muscle while losing fat, making your weight loss healthier and more sustainable.

Resistance exercise and adequate protein intake (1.4-2.4 g/kg body weight) are necessary to preserve lean muscle mass during GLP-1 induced weight loss, as 25-40% of weight lost with GLP-1s may be muscle.

To prevent losing muscle along with fat while on GLP-1s, eat 1.4-2.4 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily and engage in regular resistance training. This helps maintain strength and metabolic health, which might otherwise decline by 25-40% of the weight lost.

Post-exercise carbohydrate intake of approximately 1.2 g/kg body mass per hour for up to 4 hours is essential for restoring glycogen reserves, supporting immune system energy needs, and facilitating tissue repair.

After your workout, eat about 1.2 grams of carbohydrates for every kilogram of your body weight each hour for the next 4 hours. For example, if you weigh 70kg, aim for 84g of carbs per hour. This helps refill your energy stores and supports your immune system. Don't fear carbs here; they are essential for recovery.

Post-exercise ingestion of high-quality protein (0.3–0.5 g/kg body mass) stimulates net muscle protein anabolism and contributes to faster tissue growth and repair.

After your workout, consume 0.3 to 0.5 grams of high-quality protein for every kilogram of your body weight. For a 70kg person, this is 21-35g of protein. This helps build and repair muscle tissue.

Pre-sleep nutrition, specifically casein- or protein-rich meals with slow digestion rates, has a restorative effect on the musculoskeletal, endocrine, immune, and nervous systems.

Eat a slow-digesting protein source, like casein or Greek yogurt, before bed. This helps your body recover and repair tissues while you sleep. Don't worry about fat gain if your total daily calories are on track.

Substituting 5% of total energy intake from saturated fatty acids with polyunsaturated fatty acids lowers LDL cholesterol by approximately 10%.

To lower your bad cholesterol, replace about 5% of your daily calories from saturated fats (like butter, fatty meats, and full-fat dairy) with polyunsaturated fats (like olive oil, sunflower oil, and nuts). This single change can reduce your LDL cholesterol by 10% or more, offering a powerful, low-cost alternative to medication for many people.