Browse the evidence

Low-carbohydrate diets improve glycemic control (HbA1c) more than balanced-carbohydrate diets in overweight/obese adults with type 2 diabetes.

If you have type 2 diabetes, a low-carb diet is likely to lower your HbA1c more effectively than a balanced diet. Work with your doctor to adjust medications as your blood sugar improves.

Low-carbohydrate diets (LCDs) produce greater short-term weight loss and improved metabolic markers (HbA1c, insulin sensitivity) compared to low-fat or high-carbohydrate diets in adults with obesity or type 2 diabetes.

If you have obesity or type 2 diabetes, reducing carbohydrate intake (to <40% of calories or <20-40g/day initially) is a clinically supported strategy for losing weight and improving blood sugar control more effectively than standard low-fat diets in the short term. Expect some initial side effects like fatigue or 'keto flu' which usually resolve as your body adapts. Monitor your health markers with a doctor.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Consuming dietary protein at approximately 1.6 g/kg/day, particularly when coupled with resistance exercise, promotes favorable muscle adaptations, hypertrophy, and strength gains in healthy adults, exceeding the minimum requirements of the current RDA (0.8 g/kg/day).

If you are lifting weights to build or maintain muscle, aim for about 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight each day. This is roughly double the old government minimum recommendation. You don't need to overcomplicate it; just spread your protein out across meals and ensure you get some protein after your workouts. This amount is safe for healthy kidneys and has been shown to maximize muscle growth and strength.

Aging is associated with 'anabolic resistance,' where older adults require more protein to stimulate muscle protein synthesis (MPS) compared to younger adults, contributing to sarcopenia.

As you age, your muscles become less responsive to protein. To build or maintain muscle, you likely need 1.5 to 2 times more high-quality protein per meal than younger people do. Combine this with resistance exercise to overcome this 'anabolic resistance.'

High intake of refined grains (≥350 g/day) is associated with a significantly higher risk of total mortality and major cardiovascular disease events compared to low intake (<50 g/day).

If you eat a lot of refined grains (like white bread, pasta, or pastries), try to reduce your intake. This study suggests that eating less than 50g per day (very low) is associated with the lowest risk, while eating 350g or more (about 7 servings) is linked to higher death and heart disease risk. You don't necessarily need to cut out whole grains or white rice, which showed no significant association in this study, but reducing refined grains is a key step for heart health and longevity.

Adequate dietary protein intake (60-75 g/day or up to 1.5 g/kg body weight/day) is critical during AOM therapy to preserve lean body mass and prevent complications like weakness and edema, especially in older adults.

To keep your muscles while losing weight, aim for 60-75 grams of protein daily, or up to 1.5 grams per kilogram of your body weight. Eat high-protein foods first at each meal. This is especially important if you are older to prevent falls and muscle loss.

Whey protein supplementation accelerates the recovery of muscle contractile function (strength/torque) following resistance training, with small-to-medium effects observed between 24 and 96 hours post-exercise.

Take 25g of whey protein after your resistance training session to help your muscles regain strength faster over the next 24-96 hours. Note that this helps your strength return, but it may not stop you from feeling sore or lower inflammation markers.

High sodium intake, low whole grain intake, and low fruit intake are the three largest contributors to diet-related deaths and disability-adjusted life years globally.

Prioritize reducing sodium, increasing whole grains, and increasing fruit intake as the top three dietary changes for global health impact. Be mindful of regional dietary patterns, such as high refined carbohydrate intake in Asian diets, when making these swaps.

Physique athletes should consume 1.8-2.7 g/kg/day of protein (up to 3.5 g/kg for hunger mitigation) to preserve lean mass and manage satiety during caloric deficits.

Aim for 1.8 to 2.7 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily. If you are struggling with hunger during your diet, you can safely increase this to 3.5 g/kg, provided you still eat enough carbohydrates and fats to train effectively. Spread this protein across 4-5 meals, ensuring one is near your workout and one before sleep.

A Mediterranean eating plan supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) significantly delays the initiation of new glucose-lowering medications in patients with type 2 diabetes compared to a low-fat control diet, without requiring caloric restriction or weight loss goals.

If you have type 2 diabetes, incorporating a Mediterranean-style diet rich in extra-virgin olive oil (aiming for about 4 tablespoons daily) may help delay the need to start new diabetes medications. This approach focuses on food quality rather than strict calorie counting or weight loss, and it involves regular dietary support sessions to maintain adherence.

Supplementation with plant sterols or plant stanols significantly reduces total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol in individuals with familial hypercholesterolemia.

If you have Familial Hypercholesterolemia, adding 2-3 grams of plant sterols or stanols daily to a standard cholesterol-lowering diet can significantly lower your total and LDL cholesterol. These are often found in fortified spreads or yogurts. This is an effective dietary adjunct, but it does not replace the need for medical management if prescribed.

Track and field athletes aiming for weight maintenance or gain should consume 1.3–1.7 g/kg body mass per day of protein, distributed in 0.3–0.4 g/kg servings, to optimize muscle protein synthesis and training adaptation.

If you are a track and field athlete trying to build or maintain muscle, aim for 1.3 to 1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of your body weight each day. Spread this out over 3 to 4 meals, aiming for about 0.3 to 0.4 grams per kilogram per meal (roughly 20-30 grams per serving for most athletes). Combine this with your regular training.

Track and field athletes undergoing energy restriction (weight loss) should consume 1.6–2.4 g/kg body mass per day of protein, combined with resistance training, to preserve or increase lean body mass.

If you are cutting weight for competition, increase your protein intake to 1.6–2.4 grams per kilogram of body weight daily. Spread this across 3-5 meals. Crucially, you must also perform resistance training to signal your body to keep muscle while losing fat. This approach helps you lose fat without losing strength or muscle mass.

A three-week ketogenic diet (max 10% carbohydrates) significantly reduces serum insulin and triglycerides while increasing anti-inflammatory fatty acids (ETA, DHA) and ketone bodies in healthy adults.

To trigger these metabolic benefits, restrict carbohydrates to under 30g per day (approx 10% of calories) for at least three weeks. Focus on increasing fat and moderate protein intake. Monitor ketone levels to ensure you are in ketosis. This protocol significantly lowers insulin and triglycerides while boosting anti-inflammatory markers in healthy people.

Adherence to Mediterranean, DASH, or American Diabetes Association dietary patterns is associated with a significantly lower risk of incident cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

If you have type 2 diabetes, aligning your diet with Mediterranean, DASH, or American Diabetes Association guidelines—emphasizing fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, and healthy fats while limiting red meat, processed foods, and added sugar—is associated with a significantly lower risk of heart disease. This benefit was observed in a large group of postmenopausal women with diabetes over more than a decade.