Browse the evidence

Consuming low nutritive value foods (defined by high saturated fat, sugar, or sodium thresholds) is associated with increased body mass index, waist circumference, and unfavorable lipid profiles (higher triglycerides and cholesterol:HDL ratio) in adults.

To improve your lipid profile and reduce waist circumference, focus on reducing foods high in saturated fats, added sugars, and sodium (like pastries, alcohol, sweets, and chips). These foods make up nearly 30% of the average diet in this population and are directly linked to higher BMI and worse cholesterol ratios. Replacing these with nutrient-dense options can improve health markers even without immediate weight loss.

Co-ingestion of caffeine with creatine may blunt the ergogenic effects of creatine on performance, although it does not appear to alter creatine uptake into muscle.

If you use both caffeine and creatine, consider taking them at different times. Caffeine might cancel out the strength benefits of creatine, even if it doesn't stop your muscles from absorbing it. Try taking caffeine before your workout and creatine after.

A multidimensional primary prevention program targeting classic cardiovascular risk factors (blood pressure, lipids, obesity, physical inactivity) in 70-year-olds is associated with a significantly decreased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events compared to matched controls.

For 70-year-olds, engaging in a comprehensive health check that includes blood pressure, cholesterol, and lifestyle assessment can significantly lower the risk of heart attack or stroke. The key is not just the check-up, but acting on the results: if risk factors are high, seeking medical treatment (like blood pressure or cholesterol medication) and making lifestyle changes based on professional feedback is effective. This approach works better in older adults with existing risk factors than in younger, healthier populations.

Combining carbohydrate-restriction (<30% caloric intake) with high-intensity interval training (HIIT) synergistically maximizes cardiometabolic health benefits in patients with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) compared to either intervention alone.

If you have Type 2 Diabetes, consider combining a low-carbohydrate diet (less than 30% of calories from carbs) with High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). You don't need to do hours of exercise; short bursts of intense effort (like 4 minutes of hard cycling followed by rest, repeated 4 times) a few times a week can be highly effective. Timing your exercise after meals or before high-fat meals may help manage blood sugar spikes and protect your blood vessels. This approach targets the root causes of metabolic disease more potently than standard low-fat, moderate-intensity exercise guidelines.

The Mediterranean diet yields the largest estimated reduction in Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events (MACE) risk among dietary patterns for T2DM patients, primarily driven by reductions in HbA1c and Systolic Blood Pressure, although this estimate is not statistically significant.

While no diet is statistically proven to prevent heart attacks in T2DM patients in this study, the Mediterranean diet showed the strongest potential to reduce cardiovascular risk by improving blood pressure and blood sugar. It is a strong candidate for heart health, even if the statistical certainty is low.

Lifestyle interventions, particularly those involving Mediterranean diets enriched with polyphenols, can reduce DNA methylation age (epigenetic aging) in overweight and obese individuals.

Healthy lifestyle choices, including diet and exercise, can slow down your biological aging process. This means you can potentially age slower than your chronological age suggests by maintaining a healthy weight and diet.

Slower eccentric tempos (4s vs 2s) produce similar lower limb hypertrophy and strength gains in untrained individuals, with the exception of greater vastus medialis growth at 4s.

You do not need to slow down your eccentric (lowering) phase to 4 seconds to maximize muscle growth in your legs. A moderate 2-second eccentric is just as effective as a 4-second one for overall quadriceps size and strength in beginners. Focus on getting close to failure with good form rather than obsessing over exact timing, unless you specifically want to target the vastus medialis (inner thigh) with a slower tempo.

Intraweek Training Monotony (ITM) and Acute:Chronic Workload Index (ACWI) provide distinct, non-redundant information compared to Foster's Training Monotony and Acute:Chronic Workload Ratio (ACWR) by incorporating load orientation, session duration, and weekly density.

Use ITM to monitor variety within a single week and ACWI to track workload trends over the season. Unlike standard metrics that only look at volume and intensity, these indices also account for what type of training (technical, tactical, physical) is being performed. This helps identify if a player is doing similar work repeatedly (high monotony) or varying loads effectively, allowing for more personalized adjustments.

Two weeks of combined energy restriction and severe step reduction (<750 steps/day) causes a significant reduction in whole-muscle isometric strength (MVC) in healthy older adults, but this loss is not explained by changes in single muscle fiber contractile function, which instead shows increased power and tension.

If you are an older adult and must reduce your activity due to illness or injury, expect your maximum strength to drop slightly after two weeks. However, do not panic: your muscle fibers may actually become more efficient (producing more power/tension) to compensate. Most importantly, if you maintain high protein intake, your strength is likely to recover once you resume normal activity, especially for men. Women may take longer to recover strength, so a gradual return to activity is advised.

Older women fail to recover whole-muscle isometric strength after resuming normal activity following a period of combined energy restriction and step reduction, whereas older men fully recover their baseline strength.

If you are an older woman recovering from a period of reduced activity or illness, be aware that your maximum strength might not bounce back as quickly as a man's, even if you return to normal activity. You may need to focus on gradual strength retraining rather than just resuming normal daily activities to regain lost muscle function.

Five weeks of campus board training improves climbing-specific performance, but optimal frequency depends on the specific outcome: two sessions per week maximize bouldering performance, while four sessions per week maximize rate of force development (RFD).

If you are an advanced climber using a campus board, split your weekly volume into 4 shorter sessions to boost explosive power (RFD). If your goal is bouldering performance specifically, 2 sessions per week may be sufficient and potentially more effective for that specific outcome, provided you maintain maximal intensity.

Five weeks of campus board training improves maximal force in large holds (jugs) and rate of force development (RFD) in advanced climbers, but does not significantly increase maximal finger strength on small holds (rungs) or arm circumference in this short timeframe.

Don't expect significant finger strength gains on small holds from just 5 weeks of campus board training. Instead, focus on the explosive power (RFD) and strength on larger holds (jugs) which this training effectively improves.

Higher frequency, power-focused intensity, and traditional strength training programs yield superior improvements in walking capacity, speed, and quality of life compared to other prescriptions.

To get the most out of strength training after a stroke, focus on moving quickly (power) rather than just lifting heavy weights. Aim for more frequent sessions and traditional exercises that target specific muscle groups. This approach has been shown to significantly improve walking speed and quality of life.

A hybrid intensive lifestyle intervention (HM) combining 2 in-person and 10 virtual sessions is as effective as fully in-person or fully virtual models for reducing body weight and improving glycemic control in patients with diabetes and obesity over 12 weeks.

If you have diabetes and obesity, a hybrid lifestyle program that mixes a few clinic visits with online coaching can help you lose weight and control blood sugar just as well as going to the clinic every week. This approach saves you travel time and money while still providing the necessary medical supervision and support to succeed.

Consuming at least 3 servings (approx. 216g) of legumes daily significantly reduces cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevalence in adults with a BMI between 26 and 34 kg/m2.

If your BMI is between 26 and 34, aim for 3 servings of legumes daily to help lower your cardiovascular disease risk. One serving equals 72 grams (e.g., 1 cup of cooked beans or 2 pieces of tofu). This is a specific target for your weight range; general guidelines of one serving may not be enough for this benefit.

A complex lifestyle intervention combining high-intensity interval training (HIIT), dietary counseling, and behavioral habit-change strategies is feasible and safe for inactive older adults (55-75 years) with obesity and elevated cardiovascular disease risk, provided the intervention schedule is optimized to prevent early dropout.

For inactive older adults with obesity and heart disease risk, a supervised program combining high-intensity cycling intervals, resistance training, and dietary/behavioral counseling is safe and feasible. Key to success is staggering the schedule: do not overload participants with dietary and psychological counseling simultaneously with the start of intense exercise. Ensure the program includes social components, as this improves adherence.

Higher Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) scores are independently associated with an increased risk of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD), with a 1-unit increase in DII corresponding to an odds ratio of 1.049 for CHD after adjusting for confounders.

Focus on reducing pro-inflammatory foods and increasing anti-inflammatory ones, specifically paying attention to carbohydrate quality, ensuring adequate Vitamin C and Iron intake. While you don't need to calculate a complex index, these specific nutrients appear to drive the inflammatory response linked to heart disease risk.

The association between Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) and Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is mediated by metabolic and lipid indicators, specifically Triglyceride-Glucose (TyG) index, Visceral Adiposity Index (VAI), Body Mass Index (BMI), Waist-to-Height Ratio (WHtR), High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL), and Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR).

Managing weight, blood sugar, and cholesterol through diet can help mitigate the heart disease risk associated with inflammatory diets. Specifically, improving HDL and reducing visceral fat are key steps.

The adverse impact of Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) on Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is more pronounced in individuals aged <75 years, females, those with low cholesterol levels, and those with low Framingham risk scores.

If you are young, female, or have low traditional heart disease risk, your diet's inflammatory potential may have a disproportionately larger impact on your heart health compared to high-risk individuals.

Resistance training improves cognitive function and psychological well-being in older adults, and this benefit may be potentiated by high-quality protein intake.

Lift weights regularly. It helps your brain, mood, and memory. Combining it with good protein intake may offer the best protection against cognitive decline.

Loaded inter-set stretch (20s) during resistance training selectively enhances soleus muscle thickness compared to traditional rest, while having ambiguous or negligible effects on the gastrocnemii in untrained men.

If you are untrained and want to maximize soleus growth, add a 20-second loaded stretch using your working weight immediately after each calf raise set. This may help the soleus grow more than the gastrocnemii. However, do not expect this to significantly increase the size of your calf muscles (gastrocnemii) compared to just resting between sets. Strength gains are maintained regardless of the method.

Ingestion of 5g/day of fish protein (Alaska pollack protein) during 8 weeks of resistance training induces specific neural adaptations (changes in motor unit firing rates and patterns) without inducing measurable muscular hypertrophy in young adults.

If you are a young adult doing resistance training, consuming 5g of fish protein (Alaska pollack) daily alongside your training may improve your nervous system's efficiency (how your muscles fire) without necessarily making your muscles larger. This is different from older adults, where fish protein might help build muscle size. For young people, focus on the strength/efficiency gains rather than expecting this small dose of fish protein to cause visible muscle growth.

Combining a ketogenic diet with resistance training reduces body fat mass without compromising lean body mass in untrained individuals, whereas resistance training with a normal diet increases lean body mass without significantly altering body fat mass.

If your goal is to lose fat while keeping your muscle, combine resistance training with a ketogenic diet. This study found that doing both together resulted in significantly more fat loss than resistance training with a normal diet, without sacrificing muscle mass. Ensure you eat enough protein (around 2g per kg of body weight) and progressively challenge your muscles with weights.

An eight-week healthy vegan diet significantly reduces epigenetic age acceleration (PC GrimAge, PC PhenoAge, DunedinPACE) and systems-specific aging (Inflammation, Heart, Hormone, Liver, Metabolic) in adults, whereas a healthy omnivorous diet does not produce these epigenetic changes.

Adopting a healthy vegan diet for just eight weeks can significantly slow down biological aging markers, including inflammation, heart, and metabolic aging. This suggests that plant-based eating patterns can have rapid, measurable benefits on how your body ages at a molecular level, outperforming a healthy omnivorous diet in this specific context.