Browse the evidence

Adopting a proinflammatory diet (Energy-Adjusted Dietary Inflammatory Index > 0) is associated with significantly increased risks of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, whereas maintaining a neutral or anti-inflammatory diet minimizes these risks.

Focus on avoiding proinflammatory foods rather than striving for a perfect anti-inflammatory diet. A neutral diet is likely sufficient to minimize your risk of heart disease and early death. Small, sustainable improvements to reduce inflammatory potential are more effective and maintainable than extreme dietary restrictions.

When higher training frequency allows for greater total training volume (unequalized volume), higher frequency yields greater strength and hypertrophy gains due to the volume increase.

If you choose to train a muscle group 3 times a week, you likely will get better results than training it once, but this is because you can perform more total sets (volume). If you can match the total volume of the 3x/week program in a single 1x/week session, the frequency itself adds no extra benefit.

A single dose of a creatine-based multi-ingredient pre-workout supplement (MIPS) containing 3g creatine, 2g arginine, 1g glutamine, 1g taurine, and 800mg beta-alanine improves performance fatigability (measured by time to task and EMG conduction velocity) compared to placebo when ingested 2 hours before resistance exercise.

If you take a pre-workout containing creatine, beta-alanine, arginine, glutamine, and taurine, taking it 2 hours before your workout may help you sustain effort longer during high-intensity resistance training compared to taking a placebo. However, taking just creatine alone (3g) 2 hours before the workout did not show the same benefit, and the multi-ingredient mix was not superior to creatine alone in this study. Focus on the timing (2 hours prior) and the specific mix if you seek acute fatigue resistance.

Higher training volumes impose greater recovery demands, particularly when combined with proximity to failure, requiring strategic placement within the microcycle to avoid performance impairment in subsequent sessions.

Start with moderate volume (e.g., 10-15 sets per muscle group per week) and monitor recovery. If performance drops or fatigue accumulates, reduce volume before increasing it. Prioritize volume on less critical days or for specific muscle groups (specialization) while keeping other volumes lower.

High-intensity exercise training (77-95% max HR) improves walking performance and cardiorespiratory fitness more than low-intensity training in PAD patients.

To maximize your walking distance, aim for high-intensity exercise. Target 77-95% of your maximum heart rate or a Borg scale rating of 14-17. This may involve significant leg pain, which is expected and part of the adaptation process.

Greater variety of stretching exercises, longer mean duration of single stretching exercises, and increased time under stretching per session, week, and in total are associated with greater skeletal muscle hypertrophy.

To maximize any potential muscle growth from stretching, use multiple different stretching exercises, hold each for longer than 60 seconds, and increase the total time you spend stretching per week.

Combined aerobic and resistance exercise provides superior glycemic control in type 2 diabetes compared to either modality alone.

For best blood sugar control, mix your cardio with strength training. You don't need to do them separately; combining both types of movement is more effective for managing glucose than doing just one.

High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) achieves similar or superior glycemic and fitness benefits to endurance training in a shorter duration, making it a time-efficient option for T2D management.

If you are short on time, try High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). It can improve your blood sugar and fitness as well as or better than long, steady workouts, but in less time.

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.

Personalized diet counseling combined with exercise can lead to the reversal of Metabolic Syndrome in a subset of patients (19%) over 12 months.

A structured lifestyle intervention involving both diet and exercise can reverse Metabolic Syndrome in nearly 1 in 5 patients over a year.

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.

High-intensity exercise training (77-95% max HR or 14-17 Borg scale) improves walking performance and cardiorespiratory fitness more effectively than low-intensity training in PAD patients.

If you can tolerate it, aim for high-intensity walking during your supervised sessions. Use a heart rate monitor or the Borg scale (14-17) to guide your effort. This approach yields the best improvements in how far and how well you can walk.

A 12-week daily supplementation with a multi-ingredient formula containing forskolin, green coffee bean extract, green tea extract, beet root extract, alpha-lipoic acid, vitamin E, and CoQ10 significantly reduces body weight and fat mass in overweight and obese adults compared to a placebo.

If you are overweight or obese, adding this specific multi-ingredient supplement to your daily routine for 12 weeks may help you lose about 2-3 kg more than if you took a placebo, even without changing your diet or exercise habits. However, for best results, use it as a support to healthy eating and activity, not a substitute.

Regular exercise prevents and treats cardiometabolic diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, through pleiotropic effects on cardiorespiratory fitness and metabolic homeostasis.

Incorporate regular, structured physical activity into your routine to protect your heart and metabolic health. Focus on improving your cardiorespiratory fitness through a mix of aerobic and resistance exercises, as this combination is often more beneficial than either alone, especially for managing type 2 diabetes.