Browse the evidence

In adults with prediabetes, a high-carbohydrate (50% energy) diet reduces fasting glucose more effectively than a reduced-carbohydrate (35% energy) diet when both are calorie-restricted, despite similar weight loss.

If you have prediabetes, you do not need to severely restrict carbohydrates to improve your fasting blood sugar. A diet providing about 50% of your calories from carbohydrates, focusing on high-fiber foods like whole grains and vegetables, can lower fasting glucose better than a lower-carb diet, provided you are in a calorie deficit. Focus on the quality of carbs (fiber) rather than just cutting them out.

Ultraprocessed food (UPF) consumption is positively associated with body fat percentage, independent of energy expenditure, age, sex, and economic development rank.

If you are trying to manage body fat, the type of food matters as much as the amount. Ultraprocessed foods are linked to higher body fat even when you account for how much you move. Prioritize whole, minimally processed foods to improve satiety and potentially reduce net energy absorption.

GLP-1 receptor agonists cause a reduction in lean body mass (25-45% of total weight loss), which may impact mobility and metabolic rate, particularly in older adults or those with sarcopenic obesity.

When you lose weight on GLP-1 medications, you lose both fat and some muscle. About a quarter to half of your total weight loss might be muscle. This can affect your strength and metabolism, especially if you are older. To protect your muscles, focus on eating enough protein and doing resistance exercises (like weight lifting) while on the medication.

Saturated fatty acids (SFAs) promote inflammation and insulin resistance by activating TLR4 and inflammasomes, whereas polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) mitigate inflammation by suppressing NF-κB and upregulating anti-inflammatory IL-10.

Focus on the quality of your fats. Replace saturated fats (found in red meat, butter) with polyunsaturated fats (found in fish, nuts, olive oil). This shift can help lower inflammation and improve your body's sensitivity to insulin.

Processing and cooking methods that reduce antinutrients, denature proteins, and reduce food particle size improve dietary protein quality by increasing essential amino acid (EAA) digestibility and bioavailability.

Don't fear processing plant proteins. Cooking beans, lentils, and grains, or using protein isolates/powders, often makes the protein more digestible and bioavailable than eating them raw or in their whole, unprocessed form. This is especially important if you rely on plant-based proteins to meet your daily needs.

NuSH therapies induce significant weight loss that often includes loss of lean mass and skeletal muscle, creating a risk for sarcopenic obesity if body composition is not monitored.

Monitor your body composition, not just your weight. If you are on NuSHs, ensure your treatment plan includes resistance training and protein optimization to preserve muscle mass, as weight loss alone may hide muscle loss.

Animal protein intake may have a mild protective association with cancer mortality, but plant protein intake is not associated with cancer mortality risk.

While animal protein may have a mild protective association with cancer mortality, plant protein does not show this specific benefit in this study. You do not need to avoid animal protein for cancer prevention, and plant protein is not uniquely protective.

Incretin receptor activators (GLP-1RA and GIP/GLP-1 dual agonists) cause a reduction in skeletal muscle mass (SMM) that is proportional to fat loss, with approximately 5% of lean body mass lost for every 10% reduction in total body weight, potentially leading to sarcopenia in a subset of treated patients.

If you are taking GLP-1RA or similar weight-loss medications, be aware that you will lose some muscle along with fat. To minimize this, engage in structured exercise programs and discuss monitoring your muscle mass with your doctor, especially if you are older or have existing frailty.

Hypercaloric 16:8 time-restricted eating (TRE) allows well-trained individuals to achieve similar gains in fat-free mass and strength as continuous feeding (FED) during resistance training, despite a reduction in total training volume.

If you are already training regularly and want to build muscle, you can compress your eating into an 8-hour window without losing gains, as long as you eat enough total calories (a slight surplus) and hit your protein targets (around 2.2g/kg). You might train slightly less volume, but your strength and muscle mass will still increase similarly to eating throughout the day. Focus on consistency and total intake, not just when you eat.

In the Iranian adult population, total fat intake (38.3% of energy in adults, 35.88% in the elderly) significantly exceeds the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range (AMDR) of 20-30%, with 55.77% of women and 43.53% of men consuming fat above this limit.

Check your fat intake. In this population, more than half of women and nearly half of men eat too much fat (over 30% of calories). Focus on reducing added fats and high-fat ingredients to align with health guidelines, as this is a major contributor to chronic disease risk.

High adherence to the Mediterranean diet is characterized by a macronutrient profile with lower carbohydrate (46-49%) and higher protein (19-22%) and fat (31-33%) intake compared to standard recommendations, which is significantly associated with lower adiposity and inflammation.

If you follow a Mediterranean-style diet, focus on keeping carbohydrates on the lower end of the recommended range (around 46-49% of calories) while ensuring adequate protein (19-22%) and healthy fats (31-33%). This specific balance is linked to lower body fat and reduced inflammation compared to standard high-carb interpretations of the diet.

High consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) is associated with higher total energy and macronutrient intake but lower micronutrient intake in Korean adults and older adults.

If you eat a lot of ultra-processed foods, you are likely consuming more total calories and macronutrients (carbs, protein, fat) while getting fewer essential micronutrients. Focus on identifying the major UPF contributors in your diet (like alcohol, grain products, or specific snacks) and consider replacing them with less processed alternatives to improve nutrient density without necessarily increasing total energy intake.

Orlistat, an anti-absorptive medication, produces modest weight loss (2.8-4.8% total body weight loss) by inhibiting gastric and pancreatic lipase.

Orlistat is an oral medication that works by blocking fat absorption, leading to modest weight loss (around 3-5%). It is less effective than newer injectable options and can cause gastrointestinal side effects like oily stools and urgency, which may limit its use.

SGLT2 inhibitors (dapagliflozin, empagliflozin, ipragliflozin) significantly reduce body weight in older adults with type 2 diabetes primarily through substantial fat mass loss, while causing only a modest, likely non-clinically meaningful reduction in skeletal muscle mass.

If you are an older adult with Type 2 Diabetes, SGLT2 inhibitors (like Jardiance or Farxiga) are effective for weight loss. Expect significant fat loss. You may lose a small amount of muscle, but it is not the primary driver of weight loss and is likely not clinically concerning for most. Monitor your strength if you are already frail, but the metabolic benefits of fat loss generally outweigh the modest muscle loss.

Post-exercise liquid protein supplementation (25g) enhances maximal strength gains in untrained young adults compared to resistance training alone, without significantly altering muscle mass or endurance adaptations.

If you are new to lifting, drinking 25g of protein immediately after your workout will help you get stronger faster than just training alone. While it might not make your muscles look bigger any faster than training by itself, you will likely lift heavier weights. Stick to a simple liquid protein drink post-workout for the best results.

Long-term supplementation with plant-based protein (PBP) yields equivalent results to animal-based protein (ABP) for lean body mass, muscle strength, physical performance, and cardiometabolic risk factors in adults.

If you are consuming enough protein daily (typically 1.6g/kg or more for muscle gain), the source (plant vs. animal) matters less than you might think for long-term results. You can effectively build muscle and maintain metabolic health with plant-based proteins like soy, provided you stick with it for at least 6 months.

Long-term adherence to a high-quality low-carbohydrate diet (HQ-LCDS) is associated with favorable changes in HDL cholesterol and triglycerides, whereas a low-quality low-carbohydrate diet (LQ-LCDS) is associated with adverse changes in fasting glucose.

If you follow a low-carbohydrate diet, ensure the carbohydrates you do eat are high-quality (high fiber, whole foods). Avoid replacing healthy carbs with refined grains or added sugars, as this can negatively impact blood glucose levels. Prioritizing high-quality carbs in your low-carb pattern improves HDL and lowers triglycerides.

High-carbohydrate diets (≥45% TDCI) are superior to low-carbohydrate diets for reducing LDL cholesterol in healthy adults under energy-matched conditions.

If your primary concern is lowering LDL cholesterol, and you are willing to eat more carbohydrates (at least 45% of your calories), this may be more effective than a low-carb diet, provided you keep your total calorie intake the same.

Low-carbohydrate diets provide short-term improvements in HbA1c and body weight but lack consistent long-term superiority over balanced diets.

Low-carb diets can be useful for short-term metabolic improvement in selected patients, but require clinical monitoring. They are not superior to balanced diets in the long term for everyone.

In women, higher intake of total protein, animal protein, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), and n-3 fatty acids is associated with decreased all-cause mortality, whereas higher carbohydrate intake is associated with increased all-cause mortality.

If you are a woman over 40, prioritizing adequate protein (especially animal sources like fish or lean meat), healthy fats (PUFA and n-3), and moderating carbohydrate intake may support longevity. If you are a man, ensuring sufficient fat intake (including saturated and monounsaturated fats) might be beneficial. These findings suggest that sex-specific dietary patterns, rather than one-size-fits-all macronutrient ratios, may be optimal for healthspan.

In men, higher intake of total fat, saturated fatty acids (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), and n-6 fatty acids is associated with decreased all-cause mortality.

If you are a man over 40, ensuring adequate intake of fats, including saturated and monounsaturated fats (from sources like meat, cheese, nuts), may support longevity. This does not mean overconsumption, but rather that fat restriction may not be necessary for men in the same way it is often recommended.

Substituting 3% of total energy intake from polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) for carbohydrates (low or high glycemic index) or proteins (animal or vegetable) significantly reduces systolic blood pressure (SBP) in adults.

To potentially lower systolic blood pressure, try replacing 3% of your daily calories from saturated or monounsaturated fats with Polyunsaturated Fats (PUFA). This can be done by swapping some animal proteins or refined carbohydrates for PUFA-rich foods like fatty fish, walnuts, or sunflower oil. This swap should be done while keeping your total calorie intake the same. Note that this benefit was observed in men for SBP reduction and in women for hypertension risk reduction in this specific population.

Substituting Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA) for carbohydrates (LGI or HGI) significantly reduces the odds of developing hypertension.

To potentially lower your risk of developing hypertension, consider replacing 3% of your daily calories from carbohydrates (both low and high glycemic index) with Polyunsaturated Fats (PUFA). This is particularly beneficial for women in this study. Ensure you keep your total calorie intake the same by reducing carbs rather than adding extra fat. Good sources of PUFA include fatty fish, walnuts, and sunflower oil.

Moderate adherence to a nutrient pattern rich in unsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E is associated with lower all-cause and cancer mortality, whereas high adherence is associated with increased cerebrovascular disease mortality.

Include unsaturated fats (like those in fish and vegetable oils) and vitamin E sources in your diet, but avoid excessive consumption. The study suggests that moderate intake lowers cancer and all-cause mortality, while very high intake might increase stroke risk, possibly due to how these fats are prepared (e.g., deep-frying) or paired with other high-fat foods.