Browse the evidence

Caffeine supplementation (3-6 mg/kg body mass) taken 60 minutes before exercise consistently improves endurance performance by approximately 3.2% and high-intensity sprint performance by approximately 6.5%.

Take 3-6 mg of caffeine per kg of body weight about an hour before your event. For a 70kg athlete, this is roughly 210-420mg. This dose is proven to improve endurance by ~3% and high-intensity efforts by ~6.5%. Do not exceed this dose, as higher amounts increase side effects like anxiety and nausea without improving performance. This works regardless of whether you are a regular coffee drinker.

Higher adherence to the Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS) is associated with a statistically significant reduction in all-cause mortality.

Adhere to a Mediterranean-style eating pattern, emphasizing vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, fish, and olive oil, with moderate alcohol consumption if applicable. This dietary pattern is associated with a significant reduction in the risk of death from all causes.

Higher levels of total, occupational, and nonoccupational physical activity are inversely associated with the risk of major cardiovascular diseases (CVD), including coronary events, stroke, and CVD death, in Chinese adults.

Aim for about 1 hour of moderate activity (like brisk walking) daily. This benefit applies whether you get it from work, chores, commuting, or leisure time. If you have high blood pressure, talk to your doctor before starting vigorous exercise, as the benefits may be less clear or potentially risky at very high intensities if uncontrolled.

Adherence to a Mediterranean Diet reduces the risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes by 19-30% and improves glycemic control (HbA1c) in existing patients.

Adhere to a Mediterranean Diet to significantly lower your risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes. This dietary pattern is recommended by major diabetes associations for improving glucose and lipid metabolism.

Adherence to a Mediterranean Diet improves cardiovascular risk factors (lipids, blood pressure) and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease events in patients with Type 2 Diabetes.

If you have Type 2 Diabetes, following a Mediterranean Diet can significantly improve your blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure levels, reducing your risk of heart disease and stroke.

Adherence to the Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015) dietary pattern is associated with a significantly reduced risk of all-cause, cardiovascular disease, and cancer mortality in multiethnic adult populations.

To lower your risk of dying from heart disease, cancer, or other causes, aim for a diet that closely follows the 2015 Dietary Guidelines. This means eating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins, while limiting refined grains, sodium, added sugars, and saturated fats. You do not need a perfect diet; simply moving from a low-quality diet to a higher-quality one (as measured by the HEI-2015) significantly reduces your mortality risk over the long term.

Increasing dietary fiber intake significantly reduces systolic and diastolic blood pressure in adults with hypertension, regardless of concurrent antihypertensive medication use.

If you have high blood pressure, increasing your daily fiber intake by about 6-12 grams (e.g., adding more beans, oats, or vegetables) can significantly lower your blood pressure. This benefit holds true even if you are already taking blood pressure medication, making it a powerful addition to your current treatment plan.

Resistance training interventions lasting 8 weeks or more significantly improve muscular strength, physical performance, and body composition in older adults (≥65 years) diagnosed with pre-sarcopenia, sarcopenia, pre-frailty, or frailty.

If you are 65 or older and experiencing signs of frailty or muscle loss, start a supervised resistance training program at least twice a week. Focus on progressive overload, meaning you gradually increase the weight or difficulty over time. Consistency is key, with benefits seen even after just 8 weeks, though longer programs (around 23 weeks on average in studies) yield more robust results. This approach helps build muscle, improve balance, and maintain independence.

Adherence to healthy dietary patterns (e.g., Mediterranean, DASH) significantly reduces the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) events and all-cause mortality, with effect sizes comparable to pharmacological interventions.

Focus on eating more plants (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts) and fish, while cutting back on sugary drinks, refined grains, and processed meats. This pattern, whether called Mediterranean or DASH, is as effective for heart health as many prescription drugs.

Higher circulating levels of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids (EPA, DPA, DHA) are associated with a 15-18% lower risk of all-cause mortality compared to the lowest levels.

To potentially lower your risk of premature death, aim for higher blood levels of long-chain omega-3s (EPA, DHA, DPA). This study suggests that individuals with lower baseline levels may benefit most from increasing these fatty acids, potentially through supplementation if dietary intake is insufficient, as biomarker levels are a stronger predictor of longevity than self-reported fish consumption.

Higher circulating levels of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids are associated with lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other causes.

Maintaining higher blood levels of marine omega-3s (EPA, DHA, DPA) is associated with a reduced risk of dying from heart disease, cancer, and other causes. This suggests that optimizing omega-3 status may support overall longevity beyond just heart health.

Training to muscle failure is not required for maximizing muscular strength or hypertrophy gains compared to training non-failure, provided training volume is equated.

You do not need to train to absolute muscular failure on every set to build maximum strength or muscle size. As long as you are close to failure (e.g., 1-3 reps in reserve) and you match the total number of reps/sets (volume) between your failure and non-failure groups, your results will be statistically identical. Prioritize non-failure training to reduce joint stress and improve recovery, unless you are a highly trained individual where failure might offer a slight hypertrophy edge.

The proportion of T2D attributable to diet is inversely correlated with age, being highest in younger adults (83.5% for ages 20-25) and lowest in older adults (27.7% for ages 95+).

Start eating well early in life. The proportion of diabetes cases driven by diet is highest in young adults, meaning early dietary habits have a massive impact on lifetime risk.

Genetically elevated body mass index (BMI) causally increases the risk of 316 distinct clinical diagnoses across circulatory, metabolic, respiratory, and genitourinary systems, with risk burden increasing significantly as BMI categories rise.

Your body weight is not just a cosmetic issue; it is a causal driver for hundreds of health conditions, including heart failure, diabetes, and sleep apnea. The risk increases as your BMI rises. Managing your weight through diet and activity is one of the most effective ways to reduce your risk for these specific, serious diseases, regardless of your genetic background.

High body weight (obesity) causes increased psychological distress and depressive symptoms, primarily through weight stigma and biological mechanisms like HPA-axis dysregulation and systemic inflammation.

If you have obesity, be aware that societal stigma and biological factors like inflammation can contribute to depression. Focus on mental health support and reducing stigma rather than self-blame. Healthcare providers should adopt weight-inclusive attitudes to improve patient wellbeing.

Endurance-based exercise training induces skeletal muscle mitochondrial biogenesis through a hormetic feedback loop triggered by acute disruptions in cellular energy and ionic homeostasis.

To build more mitochondria and improve endurance, you must challenge your body's energy balance. This happens through endurance exercise (like running or cycling) or high-intensity interval training (HIIT). The key is that the exercise must be intense enough to disrupt your muscle's normal energy state (depleting ATP/creatine phosphate and raising AMP/Calcium), which signals your cells to build more mitochondria over time. Consistency and progressive overload are necessary because your body adapts to the stress.

Higher body mass index (BMI) is a strong, linear, and likely causal risk factor for severe COVID-19 outcomes, including hospitalization and death, with risk increasing by approximately 5-10% per kg/m² increase in BMI.

Maintaining a healthy weight is one of the most effective ways to reduce the risk of severe illness from COVID-19. The risk of hospitalization and death increases linearly with BMI. While weight loss is challenging, even modest reductions in weight (e.g., through bariatric surgery or lifestyle changes) have been associated with significantly lower risks of severe outcomes. Public health efforts should prioritize obesity prevention and management as a key strategy to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.

Physical activity reduces the risk of chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and dementia independent of weight loss.

Aim for 10,000 steps a day to lower your risk of heart disease, cancer, and early death. You get these benefits even if you don't lose weight on the scale.

Obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m²) is associated with the highest risk of incident atrial fibrillation and ischemic stroke in young adults (20-39 years), with risk attenuating significantly in those over 60.

Maintain a healthy weight starting in your 20s. The cardiovascular damage from obesity (atrial fibrillation and stroke risk) is most potent when you are young. Waiting until middle age to manage weight misses the window where obesity causes the most severe relative risk increase.

Waist circumference (WC) is a more consistent predictor of atrial fibrillation and stroke risk across all age groups than BMI, which shows a J-shaped or attenuated relationship in the elderly.

Track your waist circumference, not just your weight. For predicting heart rhythm issues and stroke, visceral fat (waist size) is a more reliable indicator across all ages than total body mass (BMI).

Being underweight (BMI < 18.5 kg/m²) is associated with an increased risk of atrial fibrillation, particularly in adults over 60 years.

If you are over 60, do not aim for extreme thinness. Being underweight increases your risk of atrial fibrillation, likely due to loss of muscle mass and malnutrition. Focus on maintaining a healthy, robust weight.

Network meta-analyses (NMA) provide superior clinical utility for diabetes management compared to standard pairwise meta-analyses by simultaneously comparing multiple treatments using both direct and indirect evidence.

When choosing between multiple diabetes medications (like SGLT-2 inhibitors, GLP-1 RAs, or finerenone), rely on Network Meta-Analyses (NMA) rather than single-trial results. NMAs allow you to compare all options simultaneously against standard care, revealing which drugs best reduce specific risks like heart failure or kidney disease for your patient's specific profile.

Interval training (IT) and moderate intensity continuous training (MICT) produce equivalent changes in whole-body fat mass and lean mass when compared directly.

You do not need to train at high intensities to lose fat or build muscle. Moderate intensity continuous training (MICT) is just as effective as interval training (IT) for changing body composition. Choose the intensity you can sustain consistently, as the physiological outcome regarding fat and lean mass is essentially the same.

Lower grip strength is significantly associated with higher risks of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease mortality, respiratory disease mortality, and mortality from specific cancers (colorectal, lung, breast), independent of traditional risk factors.

Measure your grip strength regularly using a dynamometer. If your score is low (below sex-specific thresholds, e.g., <26 kg for men, <16 kg for women), it is a strong signal to review your overall health, including cardiovascular and metabolic markers, even if you feel healthy. Focus on building strength through resistance training, as higher grip strength is linked to lower mortality risk.