Browse the evidence

A task-specific warm-up does not improve peak or mean anaerobic power in untrained individuals and may increase fatigue index due to premature glycogen depletion.

If you are not highly trained, avoid high-intensity warm-ups before anaerobic tests like the Wingate. They may deplete your glycogen and increase fatigue without improving your power output. Focus on a low-intensity, non-fatiguing warm-up if you choose to warm up at all.

Lower Body Mass Index (BMI) is inversely associated with arterial stiffness in Japanese patients with Type 2 Diabetes, contradicting findings in non-Asian populations.

If you are Asian and have Type 2 Diabetes, do not rely solely on BMI to assess your cardiovascular risk. Even if your BMI is 'normal', you may have high visceral fat which increases arterial stiffness. Focus on body composition and metabolic health markers rather than just weight.

Swearing improves physical performance in short, intense tasks by increasing pain tolerance, state disinhibition, and physiological arousal.

If you are about to perform a short, intense physical task like a heavy lift or a sprint, using a swear word (either aloud or internally) may help you push harder. The effect comes from increased pain tolerance and mental focus. However, be mindful of social contexts where swearing might be inappropriate.

High-level mercury exposure (occupational/accidental) causes neurotoxicity, but low-level exposure from typical fish consumption has unclear or modestly decreased cardiovascular benefits in adults, without clear adverse effects.

For most adults, the cardiovascular benefits of eating fish outweigh any potential negative effects of low-level mercury. However, those who eat very high amounts of fish (>5 servings/week) should be mindful of mercury levels in their chosen species.

Emerging adults are heavily targeted by food and beverage marketing, which contributes to increased consumption of fast food and soft drinks, thereby driving weight gain.

Recognize that fast food and soda companies spend billions targeting your age group. Be skeptical of 'value' deals and late-night marketing. Opt for healthier alternatives when possible, as these products are engineered to be highly appealing and accessible.

Replacing saturated fats with omega-6 linoleic acid (LA) from safflower oil increases all-cause, cardiovascular, and coronary heart disease mortality in men with established coronary heart disease.

If you have established heart disease, replacing saturated fats with high-linoleic acid oils (like safflower oil) may increase your risk of death rather than decrease it. Current guidelines recommend this substitution, but this study suggests it might be harmful for this specific population. Consider discussing the specific type of fat (LA vs. n-3) with your cardiologist.

The cardiovascular risk associated with high linoleic acid intake is significantly modified by oxidative stress factors, specifically smoking and alcohol consumption.

If you smoke or drink heavily, consuming high amounts of linoleic acid (from safflower oil) may be particularly dangerous for your heart. The risk is less clear if you do not smoke or drink. This suggests that lifestyle factors interact with fat intake.

Mechanical load is sensed by specific proteins including filamin-C, BAG3, titin, and costameres (integrins, FAK), which transduce force into hypertrophic signaling via mTORC1 and Hippo pathway activation.

This node describes the internal biological machinery of muscle growth. For the average exerciser, understanding that specific proteins sense force reinforces the importance of progressive overload and mechanical tension. While you cannot directly control these proteins, ensuring your training provides adequate mechanical stress (via load and volume) is the way to engage these sensors.

In overweight or obese patients with cardiovascular risk factors, naltrexone-bupropion treatment does not increase the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) compared to placebo, although noninferiority was not formally proven due to early trial termination.

For patients with obesity and heart risk factors, naltrexone-bupropion does not appear to increase the risk of heart attacks or strokes compared to placebo, based on interim data. However, the study was stopped early, so doctors cannot yet definitively say it is safe for all purposes. It requires careful monitoring and is part of a broader weight management program.

Adolescent consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) is associated with an increased risk of early-onset colorectal cancer (EO-CRC) later in life.

For parents and adolescents, reducing SSB consumption during teenage years may help lower the risk of early-onset colorectal cancer in adulthood. Encouraging healthier beverage alternatives like water, milk, or coffee can be beneficial.

Chronic low-level mercury exposure from fish consumption does not significantly increase coronary heart disease (CHD) risk in the general adult population, and may only lessen the magnitude of benefit from fish intake without causing net harm.

You do not need to avoid fish due to mercury concerns if you are an adult eating modest amounts. The mercury levels in typical fish do not significantly increase your risk of heart disease, and the heart benefits of eating fish remain intact.

Training to volitional failure, contraction velocity, set configuration, inter-set rest, periodization, time of day, and exercise order do not significantly influence skeletal muscle hypertrophy.

You do not need to obsess over training to failure, specific tempos, exercise order, or rest periods to build muscle. These variables have little to no impact on hypertrophy compared to the main drivers: load, frequency, and volume. Choose what is sustainable for you.

Excessive dietary intake of linoleic acid (LA) leads to the formation of oxidized linoleic acid metabolites (OXLAMs) and alters cardiolipin composition, causing mitochondrial dysfunction and contributing to chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and Alzheimer's.

Reduce intake of seed oils (soybean, corn, canola, sunflower) to lower linoleic acid consumption. This may help reduce the production of harmful metabolites linked to chronic disease, though the process is slow due to LA's long half-life.

Obesity prevalence has increased significantly in the US since 1980 despite a plateau or decline in national energy intake and stable or increasing physical activity levels since 2000.

Focus on the quality and processing of your food rather than just counting calories. Prioritize minimally processed foods with intact cellular structures (fiber, phytonutrients) and avoid highly processed 'acellular' nutrients. This supports a healthy gut microbiome and metabolic function, which may help regulate body weight more effectively than caloric restriction alone.

Gene-based and microbiome-based personalized nutrition recommendations currently lack sufficient scientific evidence to improve weight loss outcomes compared to standard dietary counseling.

Do not pay for commercial genetic or microbiome tests to guide your weight loss diet. Current evidence shows they do not improve weight loss outcomes compared to standard dietary advice. Focus on creating a caloric deficit instead.

Oral administration of 30 mg deuterated creatine (D3-creatine) allows for the estimation of total body skeletal muscle mass via urine D3-creatinine enrichment, providing estimates that correlate strongly with MRI but exhibit high intraindividual variability compared to MRI or DXA.

This study validates a method to measure muscle mass using a specific labeled creatine tracer and urine analysis. It is not a supplement regimen for building muscle, but a diagnostic tool. For now, it remains a research method due to cost and complexity, though it aims to eventually replace expensive imaging like MRI for tracking muscle wasting in clinical settings.

Among overweight and obese adults, there is no statistically significant interaction between insulin resistance status and weight loss outcomes when comparing low-fat and low-carbohydrate diets, provided both diets emphasize high nutritional quality and macronutrient differentiation.

If you are overweight or obese, focusing on high-quality foods (minimally processed, nutrient-dense) and reducing either fat or carbohydrates to a low level can lead to substantial weight loss. Your insulin resistance status does not appear to determine which of these two approaches works better for you. Choose the diet you can adhere to long-term, ensuring it is nutritionally dense.

Formerly morbidly obese women exhibit significantly depressed lipid oxidation (increased carbohydrate reliance) during submaximal exercise compared to weight-matched controls, a defect that persists despite weight stability and may predispose individuals to obesity.

If you have lost significant weight after morbid obesity, your body may still burn less fat during exercise than someone who was never obese, even if you are now the same weight. This means you might feel like you are working harder to burn fat during physical activity. To manage weight, you may need to be mindful of this metabolic difference, potentially focusing on consistent physical activity and dietary strategies that account for a lower reliance on fat oxidation during exercise.

Evidence that behavioral weight management programs reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes is currently sparse and uncertain.

While BWMPs improve risk factors, do not expect them to definitively prevent heart disease or diabetes based on current evidence. The data is too sparse to draw firm conclusions about disease incidence reduction.

HMB supplementation provides minor, inconsistent support for increasing or retaining lean soft-tissue mass (LSTM) in older or clinical populations, but has no evidence of improving physical function.

If you are older or clinically frail, HMB might offer a small benefit for retaining lean mass, especially if you are not exercising. However, do not expect it to improve your strength or physical function. It is not a substitute for exercise or adequate protein intake. If you are healthy and exercising, HMB likely adds no value.

Transdermal TRT has a minimal or inconsistent effect on reducing fat mass (FM) in men with spinal cord injury, unlike its consistent effect on increasing lean body mass.

While testosterone therapy will likely help you build muscle, don't expect it to automatically melt away fat if you have a spinal cord injury. Your reduced mobility and lower energy expenditure make fat loss harder to achieve through hormones alone. You may need to focus more on dietary adjustments and any possible physical activity to see changes in fat mass, even as your muscle mass improves.

Nutritional interventions, including supplements, do not provide additional benefit to mobility outcomes when combined with physical activity in older adults.

Do not rely on nutritional supplements to improve mobility. Focus on physical activity instead, as supplements have shown no additional benefit when combined with exercise for this population.

Consuming milk or fortified milk does not improve muscle mass, strength, or physical performance in older adults compared to control groups, regardless of whether it is combined with resistance exercise.

If you are an older adult trying to maintain or build muscle, drinking milk or fortified milk alone, or even with exercise, has not been shown to provide additional benefits over your normal diet or exercise routine. Focus on ensuring you meet your overall daily protein needs (potentially >1.0 g/kg body weight) through a balanced diet, as milk alone is not a magic bullet for sarcopenia.

Auricular acupoint stimulation does not significantly reduce hip circumference or waist-to-hip ratio in overweight and obese adults.

Do not expect auricular stimulation to change your hip size or waist-to-hip ratio. It primarily affects overall weight, body fat percentage, and waist circumference.