Browse the evidence

Combining specific cholesterol-lowering foods (nuts, plant sterols, viscous fiber, soy protein) can lower LDL cholesterol by approximately 20%, comparable to low-dose statins.

You can lower your LDL cholesterol by about 20% by eating a 'dietary portfolio' daily: include plant sterols (found in fortified margarines/milks), soy protein, viscous fibers (oats/barley), and almonds. While effective, this requires significant dietary changes and strict adherence.

Patients treated with GLP-1 based therapies must increase protein intake to 1–1.5 g/kg bodyweight/day and engage in resistance training to mitigate the loss of lean body mass (LBM) and prevent sarcopenic obesity.

If you are taking a GLP-1 medication like Ozempic or Wegovy, you must eat more protein than the standard recommendation. Aim for 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of your body weight every day. Additionally, you must lift weights or do resistance exercises at least twice a week. This combination is the only proven way to stop your body from eating its own muscle while you lose fat.

Resistance training preserves or increases lean muscle mass and improves muscle quality in adults with obesity, even when combined with energy-restricted diets or obesity management medications that typically cause lean mass loss.

Incorporate resistance training into your routine to protect your muscle mass. This is especially important if you are dieting or taking weight-loss medications, as these can cause muscle loss. Focus on strength and function rather than just size.

Post-exercise supplementation with 40g of whey protein significantly enhances lower-body strength adaptations (leg 1-RM) in untrained adults performing low-volume intra-session concurrent training, compared to an isocaloric placebo.

If you are new to exercise and doing a mix of cardio and weights, drinking 40g of whey protein right after your workout can help you build more leg strength than if you drank a calorie-matched sugar drink. This is particularly useful if you struggle to eat a full meal immediately after training.

Consuming beef with a favorable fatty acid profile (higher monounsaturated fatty acids, lower saturated fatty acids) significantly improves serum lipid parameters (total cholesterol, LDL, non-HDL, and atherogenic indexes) compared to consuming standard commercial beef, even when the high-MUFA beef has higher total fat content.

If you eat beef, choosing cuts with a better fatty acid profile (higher in monounsaturated fats like oleic acid and lower in saturated fats) can lead to better cholesterol levels compared to standard commercial beef. You don't need to eliminate beef; you can optimize your choice. In this study, eating 120g of this specific beef 3 times a week for just 2 weeks improved LDL and other lipid markers significantly compared to standard beef.

A daily protein intake of approximately 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight is recommended to spare lean body mass during weight loss induced by GLP-1 medications.

When losing weight on GLP-1s, aim to eat approximately 1.6 grams of protein for every kilogram of your body weight each day. This specific target helps protect your muscle mass from being lost along with the fat.

Adherence to a Mediterranean diet, characterized by high intake of olive oil, vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, whole grains, fish, and seafood, with low intake of red and processed meat and reduced carbohydrates, offers cardiovascular benefits and is recommended for NAFLD management.

Eat a Mediterranean-style diet: lots of vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, whole grains, fish, and olive oil. Limit red and processed meat and keep carbohydrates to about 40% of your calories.

Protein supplementation combined with resistance training is the most prominent and effective intervention strategy for promoting muscle hypertrophy.

To maximize muscle growth, combine regular resistance training with adequate protein intake. This combination is the most widely supported strategy in current research. Ensure your training is progressive, as protein alone is not enough to overcome adaptation plateaus.

Whey protein supplementation significantly enhances muscle strength and fat-free mass gains compared to placebo, but is less effective than collagen.

Whey protein works for building muscle and strength, but the gains are smaller than those from collagen. If you are using whey, consider adding collagen to your regimen for potentially better results. Don't rely on whey alone if you want to maximize your strength and mass gains.

Replacing processed animal meats with plant-based meat analogues (PBMAs) significantly reduces saturated fat and total energy intake while increasing dietary fiber, leading to more favorable Nutri-Score ratings in most categories.

Switching from processed animal meats (like sausages and bacon) to plant-based analogues generally lowers your saturated fat and calorie intake while boosting fiber. However, check the label: many analogues are high in salt and sugar, and few are fortified with B12 or Iron. Choose products with lower sodium and consider a B12 supplement if you rely heavily on these substitutes.

Dietary protein intake supports but does not independently drive skeletal muscle hypertrophy; its primary role is to amplify the anabolic response to resistance exercise.

Eat enough protein (1.2-1.6 g/kg/day) to support your training, but do not expect it to build muscle on its own. The key to muscle growth is resistance exercise. Protein helps maximize the gains you get from your workouts.

Female endurance athletes unintentionally underfuel with carbohydrates relative to training volume, creating a cumulative energy deficit, while simultaneously prioritizing protein intake to meet or exceed recommendations.

Female endurance athletes should prioritize carbohydrate intake on training days to match volume, as deficits increase significantly with higher loads. Do not neglect rest days; even low-intensity sessions require adequate fuel to prevent cumulative energy deficits. While protein intake is often correctly prioritized, ensure it does not displace necessary carbohydrates. Address psychological barriers like body image and time constraints by planning simple, accessible carbohydrate sources for all training days, not just hard sessions.

A very low carbohydrate-low protein (VLCLP) diet is the most effective macronutrient ratio for weight loss compared to a moderate fat-low protein (MFLP) control diet, achieving a mean weight loss of 4.10 kg.

If your primary goal is weight loss, a diet very low in carbohydrates (≤30% of calories) and low in protein (≤30% of calories) appears more effective than high-protein low-carb diets. This approach outperforms standard moderate-fat diets. Ensure you are overweight or obese, as results in normal-weight individuals are not well-established.

Replacing saturated fatty acids (SFAs) with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) reduces the risk of coronary events and mortality, whereas replacing SFAs with carbohydrates increases risk.

Don't just cut fat; swap the right kind. Replace saturated fats (found in palm, coconut, dairy) with polyunsaturated fats (found in fish, flax, sunflower oils). Avoid replacing them with refined carbs, as that increases heart disease risk.

Replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat reduces cardiovascular disease risk, whereas replacing it with carbohydrate does not.

To lower your heart disease risk, focus on swapping saturated fats (like those in some meats or butter) with polyunsaturated fats (like those in nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils). Simply cutting fat without replacing it with healthy fats, or replacing it with refined carbs, will not improve your heart health.

Adherence to the DASH diet lowers systolic blood pressure by 5.5 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by 3 mmHg.

If you have high blood pressure, follow the DASH diet by eating more fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy. This can lower your systolic blood pressure by about 5.5 mmHg and diastolic by 3 mmHg.

A low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet leads to greater decreases in serum triglycerides and greater increases in HDL cholesterol compared to a low-fat diet, while LDL cholesterol changes are not statistically different between groups on average.

If you have high triglycerides or low HDL, a low-carbohydrate diet may improve these markers more effectively than a low-fat diet. While LDL may not change significantly on average, individual responses vary, so regular monitoring is recommended.

In severely obese adults with high prevalence of diabetes or metabolic syndrome, a low-carbohydrate diet (<30g carbs/day) produces more favorable metabolic outcomes (lower triglycerides, preserved HDL, improved HbA1c in diabetics) than a conventional low-fat diet, despite similar weight loss.

If you are severely obese and have diabetes or metabolic syndrome, switching to a very low-carbohydrate diet (under 30g carbs daily) can significantly improve your blood fats and blood sugar control compared to a standard low-fat diet, even if you lose the same amount of weight. This requires strict adherence and likely professional support to maintain.

A very-low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet (VLCKD) produces greater long-term weight loss compared to a conventional low-fat diet (LFD) in overweight or obese adults, with a weighted mean difference of 0.91 kg favoring VLCKD over 12+ months.

If you are overweight or obese, a very-low-carb ketogenic diet (under 50g carbs/day) leads to slightly more weight loss than a standard low-fat diet over the long term (12+ months). While the difference is small (less than 1kg on average), it is statistically significant. You must be willing to restrict carbohydrates significantly.

Low-carbohydrate diets (≤45% energy from carbs) are at least as effective as low-fat diets (≤30% energy from fat) for reducing body weight and waist circumference over interventions of 6 months or longer.

If you are overweight or obese, switching to a low-carbohydrate diet (limiting carbs to 45% of calories or less) will likely result in similar weight loss to a low-fat diet over the long term (6+ months). You do not need to restrict calories more strictly than a low-fat dieter; simply shifting macronutrient ratios is sufficient to achieve comparable weight reduction.

Low-carbohydrate/high-protein (LC/HP) diets produce significantly greater short-term weight loss (6 months) compared to low-fat/low-calorie (LF/HC) diets, although this advantage diminishes by 12 months.

If you are obese (BMI 28+), a low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet is likely to help you lose more weight in the first 6 months than a standard low-fat, calorie-restricted diet. While the difference narrows by 12 months, the initial advantage and higher adherence (lower dropout) make LC/HP a strong first-line strategy for rapid weight reduction.

Adherence to a low-carbohydrate diet (LCD) in obese adults results in significant, sustained reductions in body weight, BMI, abdominal circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fasting triglycerides, fasting glucose, glycated hemoglobin, and insulin, alongside a significant increase in HDL cholesterol.

If you are obese and follow a low-carbohydrate diet, you can expect significant weight loss (average ~7kg) and improvements in blood pressure, blood sugar, and triglycerides. The specific carbohydrate limit varies by study (some <30g, some <40% of calories), but the trend holds across these variations. You do not need to strictly limit fat intake to see these benefits, as triglycerides tend to drop regardless.

For overweight and obese adults, low-carbohydrate diets (≤120g carbs/day) produce significantly greater weight loss and greater reductions in predicted atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk compared to low-fat diets (≤30% energy from fat).

If you are overweight or obese, trying a low-carbohydrate diet (limiting carbs to 120g or less per day) may help you lose more weight and improve your heart health risk profile compared to a low-fat diet. This approach works best if you can adhere to the dietary restrictions consistently over several months.

Adopting a plant-based vegan diet for 16 weeks significantly reduces body weight, fat mass, and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in overweight individuals compared to maintaining a standard omnivorous diet.

Switch to a whole-food, plant-based diet (vegetables, grains, legumes, fruits) with minimal added oils for 16 weeks. You do not need to count calories strictly, but focus on replacing animal proteins with plant sources. This approach has been shown to significantly reduce body weight and improve insulin resistance in overweight adults.