Browse the evidence

Breaking up prolonged sedentary time with short interruptions (breaks) improves metabolic health markers (waist circumference, triglycerides, glucose) independent of total sedentary time.

Set a timer to stand up and move for 1-2 minutes every 30-60 minutes while sitting. This 'breaking up' of sedentary time is associated with better metabolic health (lower triglycerides, glucose, waist circumference) than sitting continuously, even if your total sitting time remains high.

Insomnia is bidirectionally related to anxiety and depression, meaning insomnia predicts the onset of these mental health conditions and vice versa.

If you suffer from chronic insomnia, it is critical to screen for and treat anxiety or depression, as they likely fuel each other. Conversely, treating sleep problems may prevent the development of these mental health conditions. Do not treat sleep and mental health in isolation.

Dietary patterns high in fat and carbohydrates exacerbate oxidative stress and inflammation in obese individuals, while antioxidant intake (e.g., fruit) may mitigate lipid peroxidation.

In obesity, both high-fat and high-carb diets can increase oxidative stress. Incorporating fruits and antioxidant-rich foods may help reduce this damage. Focus on reducing processed foods high in both fats and sugars.

Elite-level exercise combined with high protein intake significantly increases gut microbial diversity compared to sedentary controls, with diversity positively correlating with creatine kinase levels and protein consumption.

If you are highly active, your gut microbiome likely benefits from that activity level, showing greater diversity than sedentary peers. This benefit appears linked to both the physical stress of exercise and the higher protein intake often associated with athletic diets. To support this, maintain your training intensity and ensure adequate protein consumption.

Gut microbiota composition and diversity play a significant role in obesity development, and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) from lean donors may improve weight loss and insulin sensitivity.

Research suggests that your gut microbiota plays a role in obesity. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) from lean donors shows promise in improving weight loss and insulin sensitivity, but it is still in early stages of research. Focus on a healthy diet to support a diverse gut microbiome.

Limiting added sugar intake to 100 calories/day for women and 150 calories/day for men reduces cardiovascular risk factors including dyslipidemia, hypertension, and obesity.

To support heart health, limit added sugars to about 6-8 teaspoons (100 calories) for women and 9-12 teaspoons (150 calories) for men daily. The easiest way to do this is to cut back on sugar-sweetened beverages, which are the biggest source of added sugars in the typical diet.

Aerobic physical activity improves cognitive function in healthy older adults, with the largest effects observed on motor function and auditory attention.

Engage in regular aerobic exercise to support cognitive health, particularly focusing on activities that improve motor function and auditory attention. While aerobic exercise is beneficial, the specific mechanism (cardiovascular fitness) is not the only pathway, so consistency in physical activity is key.

Increasing microbial production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) via dietary fiber or prebiotic intake improves gut barrier integrity and reduces intestinal inflammation.

To support gut health, focus on consuming diverse sources of indigestible carbohydrates (prebiotics and soluble fibers) to feed your gut bacteria. This encourages the production of SCFAs like butyrate, which fuel colon cells and strengthen the gut barrier. Do not rely on faecal SCFA tests to gauge success, as they are unreliable indicators of total production.

Artificially sweetened beverages (ASBs) are associated with a 25% increased risk of type 2 diabetes before adjustment for adiposity, which attenuates to 8% after adjustment, but likely involve bias and are not healthy alternatives.

Switching from sugar-sweetened to artificially sweetened beverages may not reduce your diabetes risk as much as expected, and the association may be influenced by bias. Neither is a clearly healthy option for diabetes prevention.

Long-term caloric restriction (3-15 years) significantly reduces the risk of atherosclerosis in humans by improving multiple metabolic risk factors and reducing carotid artery intima-media thickness.

To reduce atherosclerosis risk, long-term caloric restriction (approx. 75% of energy needs) focused on nutrient-dense whole foods can significantly improve metabolic health and arterial thickness. This approach requires strict adherence to high-quality food sources to ensure all nutrient needs are met despite lower calorie intake.

In pregnant women, higher fecal abundance of Bifidobacterium and Bacteroides is associated with normal pre-pregnancy BMI and normal gestational weight gain, whereas higher abundance of Staphylococcus, Enterobacteriaceae, and Escherichia coli is associated with overweight status and excessive weight gain.

This observational study suggests that maintaining a healthy weight during pregnancy is associated with a gut microbiome rich in Bifidobacterium and Bacteroides, and lower in E. coli and Staphylococcus. While this paper does not prescribe a specific probiotic regimen, it highlights the importance of dietary patterns (like fiber intake, which was slightly higher in normal-weight women) that support these beneficial bacterial populations. Pregnant women should focus on a balanced diet to support a healthy microbiome, as aberrant microbiota may be transferred to the newborn.

Continuously high levels of exercise (e.g., marathon running) may have detrimental effects on cardiovascular health, including increased coronary artery calcification, suggesting a U-shaped or J-shaped dose-response curve.

For most people, moderate exercise is optimal. If you are an endurance athlete, be aware that very high volumes (like multiple marathons per year for decades) may increase coronary calcification, though this does not necessarily mean higher event rates due to potentially more stable plaques. Consult a physician if you engage in extreme endurance training.

Consumption of 3-4 cups of coffee per day is associated with the largest reduction in relative risk for all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and cardiovascular disease compared to non-consumption.

If you drink coffee, 3-4 cups a day appears to offer the greatest protection against early death and heart disease based on current observational data. If you do not drink coffee, this review does not strongly recommend starting, as causation is not proven, but it suggests that moderate consumption is likely safe and potentially beneficial for most adults.

Coffee consumption is associated with a lower risk of several specific cancers (e.g., liver, colorectal) and metabolic conditions (e.g., type 2 diabetes, gout).

Regular coffee consumption is linked to a lower risk of certain cancers and metabolic diseases. This adds to the potential benefits of moderate coffee drinking.

Sarcopenic obesity, characterized by low muscle mass combined with high body fat, is a distinct condition that increases the risk of metabolic disorders and mortality more than either condition alone.

If you are normal weight but weak, you may have sarcopenic obesity. This combination is dangerous for your metabolism and heart. Focus on building muscle and managing fat, not just weight.

Long-chain omega-3 fats may have an early protective effect on mortality that diminishes or reverses over longer follow-up periods, particularly in specific subgroups like men with angina.

If you take omega-3s, do not assume they provide lifelong protection against heart disease. The benefits may be short-lived, and in some cases (like men with angina), long-term use might not help or could even be harmful.

For secondary prevention of coronary heart disease, exercise interventions provide mortality benefits statistically equivalent to standard drug therapies (statins, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, antiplatelets).

If you have coronary heart disease, engaging in exercise rehabilitation (aerobic, resistance, or mixed) is a viable strategy for reducing mortality risk, offering benefits comparable to standard drug treatments like statins or beta-blockers. Consult your doctor to integrate exercise into your care plan.

Insufficient sleep imposes substantial economic costs on OECD countries, estimated at up to $680 billion annually in lost GDP across five major economies.

While this is a macroeconomic finding, it underscores the importance of sleep for societal well-being. On an individual level, prioritizing sleep contributes to economic stability and personal productivity.

Adherence to meat-based or 'Western' dietary patterns is positively associated with elevated levels of inflammatory biomarkers, particularly C-reactive protein (CRP), whereas vegetable- and fruit-based or 'healthy' patterns are inversely associated with these markers.

Focus on building your diet around vegetables, fruits, and whole grains rather than meat and refined grains. This pattern is consistently linked to lower levels of inflammatory markers like CRP, which are associated with chronic diseases. While individual food choices matter, the overall pattern of eating has a stronger impact on inflammation.

Higher overall diet quality, as measured by adherence to national dietary guidelines or specific scoring indices (e.g., HEI, MDS), is consistently associated with a reduced risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and certain cancers.

Adhere to established national dietary guidelines by focusing on the quality and variety of your entire diet rather than isolating single nutrients. Higher adherence to these patterns (measured by indices like HEI or MDS) is consistently linked to lower risks of death, heart disease, and cancer. Prioritize fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats while limiting processed foods and excess saturated fats.

Higher household availability of ultra-processed food products is positively and independently associated with higher average BMI and increased prevalence of obesity across all age groups.

Focus on reducing the availability of ultra-processed foods in your home. These are industrial formulations with little whole food (e.g., soft drinks, packaged snacks, instant noodles). The study shows that higher availability of these items is linked to higher obesity rates, independent of other factors. Simple processed foods (like canned vegetables or cheese) do not show the same association. Public health policy should target the production and consumption of these ultra-processed items.

Higher time spent in sedentary behavior is associated with a 73% increased odds of metabolic syndrome in adults, independent of physical activity levels.

If you spend a lot of time sitting, your risk of metabolic syndrome is significantly higher, regardless of how much you exercise. To lower this risk, actively reduce your total sitting time (e.g., stand up more, take walking breaks) in addition to maintaining an active lifestyle.

Resveratrol acts as a SIRT1 activator to inhibit NF-κB activation and suppress proinflammatory molecules (IL-1β, IL-6) in a dose-dependent manner, thereby inhibiting inflamm-aging.

Resveratrol is a supplement that activates SIRT1, which helps turn off inflammatory pathways like NF-κB. While effective in cell studies, specific dosing for humans is not defined in this review, so consult a healthcare provider before use.

Multisensory wearable sleep trackers (using HR, HRV, temperature, and motion) offer improved sleep stage classification (light, deep, REM) compared to motion-only devices, but still struggle with accurate wake detection and slow-wave sleep classification.

Multisensory wearables are better at distinguishing sleep stages than older models, but they are still not accurate enough for medical diagnosis. Use them to track general trends, not specific sleep stage durations.