Browse the evidence

High intake of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) significantly reduces CVD risk, while the efficacy of n-6 PUFA and combined n-3/n-6 PUFA is inconsistent.

Ensure adequate intake of n-3 PUFA, which has been shown to significantly reduce CVD risk in randomized trials. Be aware that the benefits of n-6 PUFA and combined n-3/n-6 supplements are less clear. Prioritize natural sources of n-3 fats.

Higher habitual dietary selenium intake, as measured by toenail selenium levels, is associated with a lower incidence of type 2 diabetes in generally healthy U.S. adults.

Focus on maintaining adequate selenium levels through a balanced diet rather than high-dose supplements. This study suggests that higher natural selenium intake (reflected by toenail levels) is linked to a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. However, do not start high-dose selenium supplements, as clinical trials show they do not reduce diabetes risk and may have adverse effects. Consult your doctor for personalized advice, especially if you have existing health conditions.

Leucine supplementation can rescue muscle protein synthesis in older adults when protein doses are sub-optimal, but provides no additional benefit if the total protein dose is already sufficient (>35g).

If you can't eat a large meal (30g+ protein), adding a leucine-rich source (like whey or a leucine supplement) can help trigger muscle building. But if you are already eating a large, high-protein meal, you don't need extra leucine.

Higher serial circulating levels of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (specifically eicosapentaenoic acid and docosapentaenoic acid) are associated with a lower risk of unhealthy ageing in older adults.

To support healthy ageing, older adults should aim for higher levels of long-chain omega-3s, specifically eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosapentaenoic acid (DPA). This is best achieved through dietary consumption of seafood rather than relying solely on plant-based sources (ALA) or DHA supplements, as the study found no significant benefit from ALA or DHA alone in the primary analysis.

Gluten-free diets are not nutritionally superior to gluten-containing diets and are often inferior in key nutrients including fiber, folate, protein, magnesium, potassium, and vitamin E, while providing higher energy and fat intake.

If you are not celiac, switching to a gluten-free diet is unlikely to improve your nutrition and may actually reduce your intake of fiber, protein, and key vitamins like folate and magnesium. Focus on whole, unprocessed foods regardless of gluten content rather than seeking out 'gluten-free' labeled products which may be nutritionally inferior.

Adherence to a Prudent diet (high in fruits, vegetables, lean protein, whole grains) for two weeks significantly increases plasma and urinary levels of 3-methylhistidine and proline betaine, serving as robust biomarkers for healthy eating patterns.

To objectively verify you are eating healthy, focus on a Prudent diet rich in fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains. This study shows that just two weeks of this diet significantly alters specific biomarkers (3-methylhistidine and proline betaine) in your blood and urine, providing a clear, objective signal of healthy intake that self-reporting often misses. Ensure your caloric intake matches your needs to maintain weight while making these quality changes.

Adherence to a Prudent diet for two weeks significantly increases urinary levels of imidazole propionate, hydroxypipecolic acid, dihydroxybenzoic acid, enterolactone glucuronide, and plasma levels of ketoleucine and ketovaline.

Eating a Prudent diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains changes your metabolic profile quickly. Within two weeks, levels of specific compounds like enterolactone glucuronide and ketoleucine rise in your blood and urine. These changes are objective markers of healthy eating, confirming that your diet is supporting metabolic health.

Low-calorie sweeteners are non-cariogenic and do not cause tooth decay, offering dental benefits when used in foods and beverages.

You can enjoy LCS in your food and drinks without worrying about cavities. They do not feed the bacteria that cause tooth decay, unlike sugar.

Excessive fructose intake disrupts gut microbiota, reduces beneficial butyrate-producing bacteria, and downregulates tight junction proteins (ZO-1, Claudin-1, occludin), leading to increased intestinal permeability, endotoxemia, and obesity.

Excessive fructose, especially from syrup, damages your gut lining by reducing beneficial bacteria and tight junction proteins, leading to 'leaky gut' and inflammation. While moderate natural fructose from fruit is likely safe, avoid excessive fructose syrup to protect your gut and weight.

Storing fat subcutaneously (especially in the hips and thighs) is metabolically favorable compared to storing it viscerally or in the liver, reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease despite higher overall body fat.

Focus on maintaining muscle mass and healthy fat distribution rather than just losing weight. If you have a 'pear' shape (fat stored in hips/thighs), you may have a lower risk of diabetes than someone with a 'apple' shape (visceral fat), even if your BMI is high.

Bariatric surgery significantly increases the risk of bone loss and fractures, particularly in malabsorptive procedures, due to reduced calcium absorption and secondary hyperparathyroidism, which is not fully mitigated by standard calcium and vitamin D supplementation.

If you have bariatric surgery, especially a malabsorptive type like gastric bypass, your risk of bone fractures increases significantly. Standard calcium and vitamin D supplements often fail to prevent this bone loss. You need specialized, long-term bone health monitoring beyond standard care.

Four weeks of daily arachidonic acid (ARA) supplementation (1.5 g/day) does not enhance the acute muscle protein synthesis (MPS) or anabolic signaling response to resistance exercise in trained men, but it does stimulate ribosome biogenesis 48 hours post-exercise.

If you are a trained man taking 1.5g of Arachidonic Acid daily, do not expect it to increase your muscle growth immediately after your workout. The study shows it has no effect on the first 4 hours of recovery. However, it might help your muscles build more protein-making machinery (ribosomes) two days after your workout, which could support long-term adaptation. Focus on your training and protein intake for immediate results; ARA is not a quick fix.

Obesity increases the risk of nephrolithiasis (kidney stones) through mechanisms including lower urine pH, increased urinary oxalate, uric acid, and sodium excretion, as well as insulin resistance.

Obesity increases your risk of kidney stones by changing your urine chemistry (making it more acidic and increasing stone-forming minerals). Maintaining a healthy weight helps normalize these urinary factors and reduces stone risk.

Obesity increases the risk of kidney stones (nephrolithiasis) through lower urine pH, increased urinary oxalate, uric acid, and sodium excretion.

Obesity changes your urine chemistry, making you more likely to form kidney stones. This happens because your body excretes more acid and minerals like oxalate. Maintaining a healthy weight helps normalize these urinary factors and reduces stone risk.

Vitamin E supplementation (800 IU daily) improves steatohepatitis, hepatic steatosis, and inflammation in adults with MASH who do not have diabetes, but does not improve fibrosis.

If you have MASH and do not have diabetes, your doctor may recommend 800 IU of Vitamin E daily. This dose has been shown to reduce liver inflammation and fat over 96 weeks, though it does not reverse scarring (fibrosis).

Deuterated water (D2O) ingestion is a valid and increasingly used method for measuring long-term muscle protein synthesis in humans, providing insights that complement acute tracer infusion methods.

For researchers, D2O is a reliable tool for measuring long-term muscle protein synthesis. For practitioners, this validates that consistent, long-term training and nutrition strategies are what drive muscle changes, rather than just acute post-workout spikes.

Plasma Branched-Chain Amino Acid (BCAA) levels are significantly associated with lower body fat percentage and higher lean mass percentage in sedentary adults undergoing protein supplementation and exercise.

Higher levels of BCAA in your blood are linked to less body fat and more lean muscle in people who supplement protein and exercise. This suggests that ensuring adequate BCAA intake (via protein) is important for optimizing body composition.

The ratio of serum creatinine to cystatin C (Sarcopenia Index, SI) is a valid, non-invasive biomarker for estimating skeletal muscle mass and predicting mortality in sarcopenic populations, including those treated with GLP-1RA.

Ask your doctor about using a Sarcopenia Index (SI), calculated from your routine creatinine and cystatin C blood tests, to monitor your muscle health while on weight-loss medications. This simple calculation can help detect muscle loss early.

Standard body composition metrics (DXA) overestimate muscle loss in obesity because they misclassify visceral and subcutaneous fat as 'lean body mass'; MRI-based 'adipose tissue-free muscle volume' provides a more accurate assessment of true muscle mass.

If you are using DXA scans to track muscle loss on GLP-1s, be aware that these machines often mistake visceral fat for muscle. This can make it look like you are losing more muscle than you actually are. Focus on functional strength (grip, lifting) rather than just the DXA number.

Daily oral supplementation with 714 mg nicotinamide and 19 mg pyridoxine accelerates muscle regeneration by increasing muscle stem cell (MuSC) activation and differentiation following eccentric muscle damage.

If you suffer from muscle damage (e.g., from intense exercise or injury), taking 714 mg of Nicotinamide and 19 mg of Pyridoxine daily for about a week may help your body repair muscle faster by boosting stem cell activity. This is distinct from other B3 forms like Nicotinamide Riboside, which may not be effective at these specific cellular targets. Ensure you are healthy and not taking other B-vitamin supplements before starting.

Vitamin D and retinol insufficiency rates approach 100% in both genders across adult and elderly age groups in Iran, representing a critical public health gap.

Vitamin D and Retinol (Vitamin A) are critically low in this population, affecting nearly everyone. Dietary changes alone may not be enough; consider supplementation or fortified foods to address this widespread deficiency.

Sodium intake exceeds recommended levels in a significant portion of the population, particularly men (72.7% of adult men and 76.6% of elderly men), contributing to cardiovascular risk.

Men in this population consume excessive sodium, with over 70% exceeding recommendations. Reducing sodium intake is crucial for cardiovascular health. Focus on limiting processed foods and added salt.

Red yeast rice containing monacolins acts as a natural statin by inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase, effectively lowering LDL cholesterol with a safety profile comparable to low-dose statins.

If you cannot tolerate standard statins, red yeast rice is a viable alternative. It works by the same mechanism as statins (inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase) and can lower LDL cholesterol effectively. Consult your doctor for a product standardized to contain monacolins, typically dosed up to 10mg/day.

Consuming an unprocessed diet reduces energy intake because participants preferentially select low-energy-dense components (fruits/vegetables) to meet micronutrient requirements, a behavior termed 'micronutrient deleveraging' that limits total caloric intake despite larger meal mass.

To manage energy intake without counting calories, prioritize unprocessed foods that are rich in micronutrients, such as fruits and vegetables. Your body may naturally limit your calorie intake if it prioritizes meeting its micronutrient needs, a process the authors call 'micronutrient deleveraging.' By choosing these foods, you may consume larger volumes of food with fewer calories, satisfying your nutritional requirements without overconsuming energy.