Browse the evidence

Combining a multi-ingredient nutritional supplement (n-3 PUFA, whey protein, creatine, vitamin D, calcium) with 12 weeks of resistance exercise training and high-intensity interval training improves composite cognitive function, verbal memory, and processing speed in healthy older men.

For healthy older men, combining a specific multi-ingredient supplement (containing omega-3s, protein, creatine, vitamin D, and calcium) with a structured exercise program (resistance training twice a week and high-intensity interval training once a week) for 12 weeks can improve overall cognitive function, memory, and processing speed. The supplement alone did not improve cognition, and exercise alone had mixed results on composite scores, suggesting the combination is key. Ensure you are healthy enough for high-intensity exercise and consult a doctor before starting.

Anti-obesity medications (specifically GLP-1 agonists like Semaglutide and Liraglutide) facilitate significant weight loss in obese osteoarthritis (OA) patients, which reduces joint compressive forces and systemic inflammation, thereby alleviating pain and slowing structural progression.

For obese patients with knee OA, anti-obesity medications like Semaglutide (2.4 mg weekly) or Liraglutide (3.0 mg daily) are effective medical tools to achieve significant weight loss (up to 10-15% with other drugs, ~5-6kg with GLP-1s). This weight loss directly reduces the mechanical load on knees and lowers inflammatory markers, slowing OA progression. These drugs should be used as adjuncts to lifestyle changes, not replacements, and require long-term adherence as obesity is a chronic disease.

High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) or Sprint Interval Training (SIT) is more effective than moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) for inducing specific metabolic adaptations (such as PGC1-α, NRF1, TFAM) in individuals who do not respond to moderate-intensity training.

If moderate exercise (like jogging at a conversational pace) hasn't improved your fitness, try adding high-intensity intervals. This type of training triggers different metabolic pathways (like mitochondrial biogenesis) that moderate exercise might miss, especially if you are genetically predisposed to be a 'low responder' to steady-state cardio.

Younger men require longer rest intervals (3-5 minutes) than shorter intervals (1 minute) to maximize strength and hypertrophy gains.

If you are a young man, rest 3-5 minutes between sets for strength and muscle building. This allows you to lift heavier weights with more reps, leading to better results. Shorter rests will save time but reduce your strength gains.

Creatine monohydrate supplementation (loading then maintenance) significantly improves spike and block jump performance in elite volleyball players.

Consider a 4-week creatine loading protocol (5g daily after an initial loading phase) to potentially improve your vertical jump and blocking efficiency. This is one of the most researched and effective supplements for power sports.

Regular physical exercise reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and CVD mortality in a dose-dependent manner, with moderate activity providing significant risk reduction compared to sedentary behavior.

Start moving. You don't need to be an elite athlete. The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderate activity (like brisk walking) or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week. Even less than that provides benefits. Consistency matters more than intensity for initial gains. Make it a habit, as 50% of people drop out after 6 months.

Aerobic exercise training lowers systolic blood pressure by 5–7 mmHg, and dynamic resistance exercise lowers it by 2–3 mmHg, providing benefits comparable to first-line antihypertensive medications.

If you have high blood pressure, exercise is a first-line treatment, not just an add-on. Aim for aerobic exercise to get the biggest drop in systolic BP (5-7 mmHg). Resistance training also helps. This can be as effective as some blood pressure medications.

A high-protein total diet replacement (HP-TDR) with 40% protein increases total energy expenditure and induces negative fat balance compared to a control diet in healthy, normal-weight adults.

If you are healthy and normal weight, switching to a high-protein diet (around 40% of calories from protein) can increase your daily energy expenditure by about 80 calories and help your body burn more fat, even if you eat the same total number of calories as a standard diet. This suggests that high-protein diets may be more effective for fat loss than standard diets when calories are matched.

Isocaloric substitution of ultra-processed foods (NOVA 4) with minimally processed foods and culinary ingredients (NOVA 1+2) is associated with greater weight loss, body fat reduction, and trunk fat reduction in individuals following an energy-restricted diet.

If you are trying to lose weight, focus on swapping ultra-processed foods (like packaged snacks, sugary drinks, and processed meats) for minimally processed foods (like whole fruits, vegetables, and whole grains) while keeping your total calories the same. This swap can help you lose more weight and body fat than just counting calories alone.

Maintaining high cardiovascular health (defined by the AHA's Life's Simple 7 metrics: smoking status, physical activity, weight, diet, blood glucose, cholesterol, and blood pressure) is associated with a significant reduction in major cardiovascular disease events, with 70% of events attributable to low/moderate health and 2 million events potentially preventable annually if all US adults attained high health.

Focus on the 'Life's Simple 7': stop smoking, stay active, maintain a healthy weight, eat a heart-healthy diet, and keep your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar in check. You don't need to be perfect; moving from poor to moderate health on these metrics significantly lowers your risk of heart disease and stroke.

Consuming 1 to 2 servings of seafood per week reduces the risk of sudden cardiac death, coronary heart disease, ischemic stroke, and congestive heart failure, particularly when seafood replaces less healthy foods.

Eat 1 to 2 servings of fish per week, focusing on oily fish like salmon, sardines, or canned tuna. Avoid frying the fish. This simple change can significantly lower your risk of heart attack, stroke, and sudden cardiac death, especially if you swap out less healthy proteins like processed meats.

Mechanical load is the primary initiating stimulus for skeletal muscle hypertrophy following resistance exercise, with loads as low as 30% of 1RM being sufficient to trigger near-maximal hypertrophic gains when taken to failure.

To maximize muscle growth, you do not need to lift extremely heavy weights. Research indicates that using loads as low as 30% of your one-repetition maximum can produce near-maximal hypertrophy, provided you train close to muscular failure. Focus on consistent mechanical tension and volume rather than just maximizing the weight on the bar. This approach may reduce injury risk while still effectively stimulating muscle growth.

High intake of ultra-processed foods (UPF) is associated with increased risk of obesity and adverse health outcomes (CVD, cancer, T2DM, mortality), and this association remains significant and unchanged in magnitude even after adjusting for dietary quality or overall dietary pattern.

Prioritize minimally processed foods. While improving the nutrient profile of processed foods is good, simply choosing 'low-fat' or 'low-sugar' versions of ultra-processed items may not protect against obesity and chronic disease risks. The act of ultra-processing itself appears to contribute to health issues regardless of nutrient content.

Combining supervised exercise with GLP-1 receptor agonist (liraglutide) during weight loss maintenance significantly improves the sustainability of weight loss and body composition one year after treatment termination compared to using GLP-1 receptor agonist alone.

If you are using GLP-1 medications (like liraglutide or semaglutide) for weight loss, do not rely on the medication alone for long-term maintenance. The study shows that stopping the medication leads to significant weight regain. To prevent this, you must incorporate supervised exercise (specifically vigorous cycling and circuit training) during your treatment phase. This combination builds the behavioral and physiological resilience needed to maintain your weight loss even after you stop the medication.

Resistance training load (intensity) and weekly frequency impact muscular strength gains, whereas volume (number of sets) influences both strength and hypertrophy.

To maximize strength, prioritize higher loads and higher training frequencies. To maximize muscle size, prioritize higher training volumes (more sets per muscle group). These variables are distinct drivers for different adaptations.

Post-bariatric resistance training combined with whey protein supplementation significantly increases relative lower-limb muscle strength compared to usual care or protein supplementation alone.

If you've had Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, don't just rely on protein shakes to keep your strength. Start supervised resistance training about 6 weeks after surgery. Do 3 days a week, focusing on major muscle groups. Start with light weights (50% of what you can lift once) and gradually increase the weight as you get stronger. Also, make sure you're getting about 48 grams of whey protein daily in addition to your regular diet to support your muscles.

Excessive consumption of free sugars, particularly from sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and high-fructose corn syrup, negatively impacts human health by promoting obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cognitive impairment through mechanisms like insulin resistance, de novo lipogenesis, and neuroinflammation.

To protect your metabolic and cognitive health, prioritize reducing free sugars, especially from sugar-sweetened beverages and high-fructose corn syrup. Aim for less than 5% of your daily calories from added sugars (approx. 25g for women, 36g for men, per AHA/WHO). Focus on whole food sources of carbohydrates (vegetables, whole grains, whole fruits) which provide fiber and nutrients, rather than isolated sugars. This helps mitigate risks of insulin resistance, liver fat accumulation, and cognitive decline.

Performing resistance training through a full range of motion (ROM) confers beneficial effects on hypertrophy of the lower body musculature compared to partial ROM.

For building lower body muscle, prioritize exercises that allow you to move through a full range of motion (e.g., full squats, full leg presses). While partial ROM can be useful, current evidence suggests full ROM is superior for overall muscle growth in the legs. Ensure you are training 2-3 times per week with sufficient volume.

An 8-week low-carbohydrate diet combined with prescribed aerobic and resistance exercise significantly improves cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2peak) and reduces fat mass index more effectively than exercise with standard dietary advice in obese individuals.

If you are obese, combining a low-carb diet (under 50g carbs/day) with a structured exercise program (mix of cardio and weights, 4x/week) for 8 weeks will likely improve your heart health and reduce body fat more than just exercising with standard dietary advice. Be aware that you might lose some muscle mass, but the exercise helps mitigate this.

Adequate sleep (7-9 hours nightly) is a critical lifestyle factor that decreases risks of insulin resistance, hypertension, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, and inflammation.

Prioritize getting 7-9 hours of sleep each night. Poor sleep directly worsens your blood sugar, blood pressure, and inflammation.

Weight reduction in individuals with obesity and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) significantly reduces the Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI), with a 20% BMI reduction associated with a 57% AHI reduction, though the incremental benefit diminishes beyond this threshold.

If you have OSA and are overweight, losing weight is one of the most effective treatments available. Losing 20% of your body weight can reduce your sleep apnea severity by more than half. However, be aware that the biggest improvements happen in the first stages of weight loss; losing even more weight still helps, but the gains become smaller. Don't let the diminishing returns stop you—every bit of weight loss contributes to better sleep health.

Progressing resistance training by increasing repetitions while keeping load constant produces similar muscle hypertrophy and strength gains as progressing by increasing load while keeping repetitions constant over an 8-week period.

You do not need to add weight to the bar every week to keep building muscle. If you are stuck at a certain weight, focus on doing more repetitions with that same weight. As long as you are pushing close to failure, increasing your reps is just as effective for building muscle and strength as increasing the weight itself. This gives you a flexible way to progress, especially when you hit a plateau with adding weight.

Performing three sessions of high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) during a five-night period of sleep restriction (4 hours time in bed) mitigates the detrimental effects of sleep loss on glucose tolerance, mitochondrial respiratory function, and sarcoplasmic protein synthesis.

If you are going through a period of poor sleep (e.g., new parent, shift work, stress), do not skip exercise. Instead, perform short, high-intensity interval sessions (like 10x 60s sprints on a bike) 3 times during the week. This specific type of exercise appears to protect your body's ability to handle sugar and maintain muscle energy production, counteracting the negative effects of losing sleep.

Creatine supplementation combined with resistance training produces a small but statistically significant increase in regional skeletal muscle hypertrophy (measured by direct imaging like MRI/ultrasound) compared to resistance training alone.

If you are lifting weights, adding creatine (3-5g daily or 0.1g/kg) will likely help you build a small amount of extra muscle compared to lifting alone. The effect is small, not massive, but it is real and supported by direct imaging studies. It works for both young and older adults, though the benefit may be slightly larger in younger individuals.