Browse the evidence

Without immediate and effective intervention, the global prevalence of adult overweight and obesity will continue to increase, reaching 3.80 billion adults by 2050.

The current trajectory of global obesity is unsustainable and will affect over half the adult population by 2050. Individuals and policymakers must move beyond simple awareness and implement aggressive, targeted interventions tailored to local contexts to prevent this crisis.

A 3-month calorie-restricted ketogenic diet (KD) produces significantly greater weight loss than a calorie-restricted Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) in adults with obesity.

To lose more weight than a standard Mediterranean diet in 3 months, switch to a ketogenic diet with a 600-calorie daily deficit. This means eating very few carbs (5% of calories), moderate protein (30%), and high fat (65%). Ensure you are consuming enough calories to maintain basic function but below your maintenance level.

Bariatric surgery, particularly laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, provides durable weight loss and improves obesity-related conditions like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, making it an effective and durable treatment for obesity.

Bariatric surgery, especially sleeve gastrectomy, is a proven, durable treatment for obesity that significantly improves conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. If you are considering surgery, discuss the benefits and risks with a healthcare provider, and explore both public and private options to find the best fit for your financial and medical situation.

Spirulina supplementation significantly reduces body weight, BMI, and body fat percentage in adults, with effects being dose- and duration-dependent.

Take 2 grams or more of Spirulina daily for at least 12 weeks. This intervention is most effective for obese individuals or those over 40. It works best as part of a broader weight management strategy, leveraging its high protein content to aid satiety.

Wearing a weight vest loaded to 11% of body weight for 8 hours daily over 5 weeks significantly reduces fat mass and waist circumference while increasing lean mass in individuals with obesity, independent of changes in energy expenditure or physical activity levels.

To improve body composition, wear a weight vest loaded to 11% of your body weight for 8 hours a day for 5 weeks. You do not need to change your diet or increase your exercise routine; the mechanical load itself drives fat loss and muscle gain. Focus on standing as much as possible while wearing the vest. Expect some initial musculoskeletal discomfort, but this does not negate the benefits.

Beta-alanine and creatine significantly improve jump performance in athletes, with beta-alanine showing a marginally higher effectiveness ranking.

To improve your vertical jump, consider supplementing with beta-alanine or creatine alongside your training. Beta-alanine showed a slightly higher effectiveness ranking in this analysis. Ensure you are consistently training with strength and conditioning protocols.

Creatine supplementation significantly improves sprint speed in athletes, while beta-alanine and vitamin D do not.

If your sport relies on short sprints, creatine supplementation combined with training is likely to improve your speed. Beta-alanine and vitamin D did not show significant benefits for sprint speed in this analysis.

Performing past-failure partial repetitions in the lengthened position after reaching momentary failure during standing calf raises increases medial gastrocnemius hypertrophy compared to terminating sets at momentary failure in peak plantarflexion.

If you do calf raises, don't stop when you can no longer lift your heels all the way up. Once you fail a full repetition, immediately drop the heel as low as possible and do partial up-and-down movements until you can't lift your heels to that lowest point anymore. This adds significant volume and tension to the muscle, leading to more growth than stopping at the point of failure. Expect it to be uncomfortable, but for many, the extra growth is worth it.

Resistance training improves handgrip strength in older adults with sarcopenia, with an optimal dose of 3 sessions/week at 49% 1RM, 19 weeks duration, 15 exercises, 16 reps, 6 sets, totaling 1,400 reps/week.

If you are an older adult with sarcopenia, aim for 3 resistance training sessions per week. Use a weight that feels like 49% of your maximum lift (moderate effort). Perform 15 different exercises, doing 6 sets of 16 repetitions for each. Keep your total weekly repetitions around 1,400. Stick to this plan for 19 weeks to see the best improvement in your handgrip strength.

Consuming ≥2 servings/week of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) or artificially sweetened beverages (ASBs) is associated with a significantly higher risk of type 2 diabetes, even among adults who meet physical activity guidelines.

If you drink sugary or artificially sweetened beverages frequently (≥2 servings/week), your risk of type 2 diabetes increases, even if you exercise regularly. While exercise helps mitigate this risk, it does not cancel it out. To lower your diabetes risk, you should reduce your intake of these beverages in addition to staying active.

Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty (ESG) using full-thickness suturing produces durable weight loss (mean 64-67% Excess Weight Loss at 12 months) and significant improvement/remission of metabolic comorbidities (T2DM, hypertension, NAFLD) in patients with BMI 30-50 kg/m2, outperforming lifestyle modifications and intragastric balloons.

ESG is a minimally invasive endoscopic procedure that reduces stomach volume and delays emptying to promote satiety. It is suitable for adults with BMI 30-50 who want a durable alternative to lifestyle changes or balloons, with high success rates for weight loss and metabolic improvement. It requires general anesthesia and has a low risk of serious complications.

Combining bimagrumab (30 mg/kg IV every 12 weeks) with semaglutide (2.4 mg SC weekly) produces synergistic weight loss and body recomposition, achieving significantly greater fat mass reduction and lean mass preservation than either drug alone.

If you have obesity, combining a muscle-preserving antibody (bimagrumab) with a standard GLP-1 drug (semaglutide) yields significantly more fat loss and better muscle retention than using semaglutide alone. This suggests that targeting muscle preservation directly can enhance the efficacy of standard weight loss therapies.

Combining exercise with pharmacotherapy (specifically GLP-1 agonists or orlistat) significantly enhances weight loss, BMI reduction, and body fat percentage compared to exercise alone in overweight/obese adults.

If you are overweight or obese, adding a prescribed weight-loss medication (like GLP-1 agonists or orlistat) to your regular exercise routine will likely result in greater weight and fat loss than exercising alone. While exercise is foundational, medication can help overcome compensatory mechanisms like increased appetite, leading to more significant improvements in body composition.

A modified-release combination of orlistat (120 mg) and acarbose (40 mg) produces significantly greater weight loss (mean -7.73%) compared to modified-release orlistat alone (-5.78%) or conventional orlistat (-5.13%) over 26 weeks.

Take the specific combination pill (EMP16) containing 120mg modified-release orlistat and 40mg modified-release acarbose daily with meals for 6 months. Follow a diet limiting fat to 30% of calories and focusing on low-glycemic foods. Expect roughly 7.7% body weight loss, which is significantly better than taking orlistat alone.

Early and lifelong treatment of obesity is critical to prevent weight recurrence, preserve lean body mass, and reduce cardiometabolic risk.

Treat obesity as a chronic condition requiring lifelong management, not a short-term diet. Focus on early intervention to prevent complications and preserve muscle mass. Use comprehensive strategies including nutrition, physical activity, behavioral counseling, and medical interventions as needed. Regular follow-ups are essential to maintain health and prevent weight recurrence.

Bariatric surgery (sleeve gastrectomy, gastric bypass, duodenal switch) provides superior long-term total weight loss (23.4%–40.7%) compared to GLP-1 receptor agonists (up to 25.3% with tirzepatide).

If your primary goal is maximum, durable weight loss, bariatric surgery currently outperforms GLP-1 medications in long-term results. However, surgery requires accepting permanent anatomical changes and potential risks. GLP-1s offer a less invasive alternative with significant weight loss, but require lifelong adherence to avoid regain and manage side effects. Choose based on your tolerance for invasiveness versus daily medication burden.

Lengthened partial repetitions (LPs) elicit similar muscle hypertrophy and strength-endurance adaptations as full range of motion (ROM) repetitions in resistance-trained individuals.

If you are a trained lifter, you don't need to force full range of motion if it causes pain or joint issues. You can use lengthened partial reps (starting from the stretched position and going halfway up) and still build muscle and strength just as well as doing full reps. Just make sure you are training to failure and emphasizing the stretch.

Resistance training over a full range of motion is superior to partial range of motion for hypertrophy.

To build the most muscle, perform your exercises through a full range of motion. Partial reps are less effective for hypertrophy.

High effort (proximity to failure) is a necessary condition for muscle hypertrophy, particularly when using low loads, whereas high-load training inherently generates high effort.

To build muscle, you must train with high effort, meaning you should stop 0-3 reps before you physically cannot complete another repetition. This is true whether you are lifting heavy weights or light weights. If you use light weights, you MUST go close to failure to get similar growth as heavy weights.

Resistance exercise can be effectively performed using bodyweight, provided the intensity and effort are sufficient to overload the neuromuscular system.

You can build strength and muscle using only your body weight. Ensure you are performing exercises that challenge you (e.g., push-ups, squats) with sufficient intensity. If bodyweight exercises become too easy, increase the difficulty (e.g., elevate feet) rather than assuming you need weights.

Isometric training at long muscle lengths produces similar quadriceps femoris hypertrophy to full range of motion isotonic training in resistance-trained individuals.

If you want to build quad size, you don't necessarily need to do full squats or leg presses. You can use isometric holds at the bottom of the movement (long muscle length) for 30 seconds per set. Do 3-5 sets per session, twice a week, progressively adding sets over 6 weeks. This will build muscle just as well as traditional dynamic leg exercises, provided you are already trained in resistance training.

Strategies to minimize muscle loss during GLP-1 therapy include increasing protein intake to ≥1.2 g/kg/day and engaging in resistance training 2-3 times per week.

To keep your muscles while losing weight on these drugs, eat at least 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of your body weight every day. Also, lift weights or do resistance exercises 2-3 times a week. This combination helps protect your strength and metabolic rate.

Combined treatment with structured moderate-to-vigorous exercise and GLP-1 receptor agonist (liraglutide) significantly improves physical functional performance and cardiorespiratory fitness compared to pharmacotherapy alone, whereas pharmacotherapy alone fails to improve these fitness metrics despite weight loss.

If you are using GLP-1 medication for weight loss, do not skip exercise. The medication will help you lose weight, but it will not significantly improve your stamina or physical function. To improve your ability to perform daily tasks (like climbing stairs) and your heart health, you must engage in structured moderate-to-vigorous exercise (at least 150 minutes per week). Combining the medication with exercise yields the best results for physical fitness.

Resistance training combined with adequate protein intake (approx. 1.6 g/kg/day) maximizes muscle protein synthesis and hypertrophy by activating the mTORC1 pathway, whereas chronic mTOR hyperactivation without balance contributes to metabolic disease.

To maximize muscle growth, engage in resistance training and consume approximately 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily. Distribute this protein evenly across your meals, aiming for about 0.25 g/kg per meal if you are younger, or 0.40 g/kg per meal if you are older to overcome age-related anabolic resistance. Prioritize high-quality, leucine-rich protein sources like whey. To support long-term metabolic health, balance this anabolic focus with periodic AMPK activation through intermittent fasting or aerobic exercise.