Browse the evidence

Consuming 3 servings of dairy foods per day reduces the risk of osteoporosis by maximizing peak bone mass during growth, slowing age-related bone loss, and reducing fracture risk.

Eat 3 servings of dairy every day to protect your bones. This means 3 cups of milk, yogurt, or cheese. If you are sensitive to lactose, choose low-lactose options or take a lactase enzyme with your dairy. Prioritize low-fat or non-fat versions to align with current guidelines.

Adherence to a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra virgin olive oil or mixed nuts significantly reduces diastolic blood pressure compared to a low-fat control diet in high cardiovascular risk adults, while systolic blood pressure differences are not statistically significant after multivariate adjustment.

If you are at high risk for heart disease or have high blood pressure, switching to a Mediterranean-style diet can help lower your diastolic blood pressure more effectively than a standard low-fat diet. You do not need to eliminate fat; instead, focus on consuming extra virgin olive oil (about 1 liter per week for the household) and a small daily handful of mixed nuts (30 grams, specifically walnuts, almonds, and hazelnuts). This approach improves blood pressure control without requiring calorie restriction or sodium targeting, though these may also decrease naturally.

Engaging in physical activity reduces all-cause and cardiovascular mortality risk in a graded, inverse manner, with a threshold of approximately 1,000 kcal/week required for significant benefit.

Aim for at least 1,000 calories of exercise per week (e.g., brisk walking, cycling, or gardening) to significantly lower your risk of dying from heart disease or other causes. You do not need to be an elite athlete; moderate intensity is sufficient. If you were sedentary in your youth, starting now still provides substantial protection, and maintaining activity throughout life is key.

Administration of replacement-dose metreleptin (recombinant leptin) restores menstruation and normalizes neuroendocrine axes (gonadal, thyroid, adrenal, GH) in women with hypothalamic amenorrhea caused by chronic energy deficiency.

If you have hypothalamic amenorrhea due to over-exercising or undereating, standard estrogen therapy won't fix your fertility or bone health. This research shows that replacing the missing hormone leptin (via metreleptin injections) can restart your period and restore hormonal balance, even if you haven't gained weight yet. The treatment requires careful dose adjustment to prevent unwanted weight loss, but it addresses the root hormonal signal missing in your body.

A very low energy diet (2.3 MJ/day) for 7 weeks followed by gradual reintroduction significantly reduces the severity of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnoea (AHI) in obese men, with the greatest clinical benefit observed in patients with severe baseline disease.

For obese men with moderate to severe sleep apnoea, a strict liquid very low energy diet (approx 550 kcal/day) for 7 weeks, followed by a 2-week transition to normal eating, can significantly reduce sleep apnoea severity. This approach is particularly effective for those with severe symptoms, potentially allowing them to reduce or stop CPAP use. The key is rapid, significant weight loss, which reduces neck circumference and airway obstruction.

Daily beta-alanine supplementation of 4-6 grams for 2-4 weeks significantly increases muscle carnosine concentrations, acting as an intracellular pH buffer to attenuate exercise-induced acidosis.

Take 4-6 grams of beta-alanine daily, split into doses of 2 grams or less, for at least 4 weeks to maximize muscle carnosine stores. Expect harmless tingling (paraesthesia), which can be reduced by using sustained-release versions or smaller individual doses. This loading phase is necessary to gain the buffering benefits.

Beta-alanine supplementation improves exercise performance in high-intensity tasks lasting between 60 seconds and 4 minutes, with the most pronounced effects on open-endpoint tasks (time to exhaustion) and fixed-endpoint time trials.

If your sport involves high-intensity efforts lasting 1-4 minutes (e.g., 800m run, rowing sprints, HIIT), supplement with 4-6g of beta-alanine daily for 4 weeks. It will likely improve your time to exhaustion or time trial performance modestly. It will not help short sprints or long-distance endurance.

Engaging in a minimum of 2.5 hours per week of moderate-intensity recreational physical activity significantly reduces cancer mortality in the general population.

Aim for at least 2.5 hours of moderate-intensity activity each week, such as brisk walking. This level of activity is sufficient to significantly lower your risk of dying from cancer. You do not need to perform vigorous exercise to gain this benefit.

Cancer survivors who engage in 15 MET-h/week of physical activity experience a 27% lower risk of cancer mortality compared to inactive survivors.

If you are a cancer survivor, aim for 15 MET-h/week of physical activity. This level of activity is associated with a 27% lower risk of cancer mortality. Consult your oncology team to determine safe activities.

During caloric overfeeding, increasing dietary protein from 5% to 15-25% of energy significantly reduces total weight gain by increasing energy expenditure and preserving lean body mass, without altering the amount of body fat gained.

If you are in a caloric surplus, your body will store the excess energy as fat regardless of whether you eat high or low protein. However, eating a higher amount of protein (15-25% of calories) will cause your body to burn more energy and build more muscle, resulting in less *total* weight gain compared to a low-protein diet, even though the amount of fat gained is the same. To minimize total scale weight gain while overeating, prioritize protein.

Chronic β-alanine supplementation (3.2–6.4 g/day for 4+ weeks) significantly improves exercise capacity and performance, with the greatest benefit observed in high-intensity exercise lasting 1–10 minutes.

If you engage in high-intensity exercise lasting between 1 and 10 minutes (like rowing, swimming, or interval training), taking 3.2 to 6.4 grams of β-alanine daily for at least 4 weeks can improve your performance. The benefit is most pronounced in 'capacity' tests (going to exhaustion) rather than 'performance' tests (time trials with pacing). For very short sprints or long-distance aerobic events, this supplement is unlikely to help.

Physical exercise improves insulin sensitivity and glucose disposal in skeletal muscle, partly through AMPK activation.

Regular moderate-intensity exercise combined with a healthy diet is the most effective way to prevent type 2 diabetes in high-risk individuals.

Semaglutide 2.4 mg administered subcutaneously once weekly, used as an adjunct to lifestyle interventions, produces clinically significant weight loss in adults with obesity or overweight, with efficacy superior to the previously approved GLP-1 receptor agonist liraglutide.

If you have obesity or overweight and have struggled to lose weight with diet and exercise alone, adding semaglutide 2.4 mg (a once-weekly injection) to your lifestyle changes can lead to significantly greater weight loss than lifestyle changes alone. This medication works by mimicking a hormone that reduces hunger and increases fullness. It is most effective when combined with a modest calorie deficit and regular physical activity. Previous medications may not be as effective, and this treatment offers a more durable solution for weight management, including maintenance over time.

Low energy availability, rather than the physical or psychological stress of exercise itself, causes exercise-induced amenorrhea, and this dysfunction can be reversed by increasing caloric intake while maintaining the exercise regimen.

If you are experiencing menstrual irregularities or amenorrhea due to strenuous exercise, the primary driver is likely low energy availability (not eating enough for your activity level). The solution is to increase your caloric intake significantly (often requiring 400+ extra calories daily) while maintaining your current exercise routine. This should restore hormonal balance and menstruation within weeks, confirming that energy deficit, not exercise stress, was the cause.

Engaging in physical activity at four times the guideline-recommended minimum level (2000 MET-min/week) reduces the risk of heart failure by 35% compared to no physical activity, whereas meeting only the minimum guideline (500 MET-min/week) yields only a modest 10% risk reduction.

To significantly lower your risk of heart failure, aim for roughly 1000-2000 MET-minutes per week, which is about 2 to 4 times the standard minimum recommendation of 150 minutes of moderate activity per week. While meeting the minimum helps, higher volumes of activity provide substantially greater protection.

Leptin deficiency, whether genetic or acquired (e.g., lipodystrophy, hypothalamic amenorrhea), leads to severe metabolic and reproductive dysfunction, which can be reversed by leptin replacement therapy.

If you have very low body fat or a condition like lipodystrophy, your body may shut down non-essential functions like reproduction and metabolism because it thinks it is starving. Leptin therapy can reverse these effects, restoring fertility and metabolic health, even if you don't gain significant weight.

A green-Mediterranean diet (enriched with Mankai, green tea, and walnuts, and restricted in red/processed meat) significantly reduces intrahepatic fat (IHF) and NAFLD prevalence more effectively than standard Mediterranean or healthy dietary guidelines, independent of weight loss.

To maximize liver fat loss, adopt a Mediterranean-style diet that specifically includes 28g of walnuts daily, 3-4 cups of green tea, and Wolffia globosa (Mankai) if available, while strictly limiting red and processed meats. This specific combination reduces liver fat twice as much as a standard Mediterranean diet, even when weight loss is similar. Ensure you engage in moderate aerobic exercise.

Testosterone treatment in older men with unequivocally low testosterone levels significantly improves sexual activity, libido, and erectile function.

If you are an older man with confirmed low testosterone and sexual concerns, testosterone therapy can significantly improve your sexual activity, desire, and erectile function. The treatment involves daily application of a gel, with dose adjustments to keep levels in the normal range for young men. While long-term safety requires more data, this study found no increase in prostate or heart issues over one year.

Testosterone treatment in older men with low testosterone improves hemoglobin levels and corrects anemia, regardless of the cause of anemia.

If you are an older man with confirmed low testosterone and anemia, testosterone therapy can significantly improve your hemoglobin levels and correct your anemia, regardless of the cause. The treatment involves daily application of a gel, with dose adjustments to keep levels in the normal range for young men. While long-term safety requires more data, this study found no increase in cardiovascular or prostate issues over one year.

Lorcaserin (10 mg twice daily) provides sustained weight loss without increasing the rate of major cardiovascular events compared to placebo in high-risk overweight or obese patients.

If you are overweight or obese and have heart disease or risk factors, taking lorcaserin (10mg twice daily) along with diet and exercise helps you lose more weight than diet and exercise alone, without increasing your risk of heart attack or stroke compared to just doing diet and exercise.

Combining moderate-intensity aerobic exercise with calorie restriction produces significantly greater initial weight loss and fat mass reduction than calorie restriction alone.

To maximize weight loss, do not rely on diet alone. Combine a moderate calorie deficit (1,200-2,100 kcal/day) with at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise per week (spread over 5 days). This combination yields significantly more weight and fat loss than dieting by itself.

Standardized endurance training significantly increases maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) across all demographic groups, with no significant difference in absolute trainability between men and women, blacks and whites, or across age groups (17-65 years).

If you are sedentary, starting a structured endurance program (like cycling or running) 3 times a week for 20 weeks will significantly improve your cardiovascular fitness, regardless of whether you are young or old, male or female, or Black or White. Do not let demographic myths stop you from training; your body will adapt.

Modest weight loss (5%-10% of initial weight) is associated with improvements in cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension and dyslipidemia.

You don't need to lose a huge amount of weight to improve your health. Losing just 5-10% of your body weight can improve blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes risk. Focus on this modest goal.

Intensive lifestyle modification (ILS) is significantly more effective at preventing type 2 diabetes in older adults (60-85 years) compared to younger adults, primarily due to greater adherence resulting in higher weight loss and physical activity levels.

If you are over 60 and at risk for diabetes, an intensive lifestyle program focusing on moderate exercise (like brisk walking) and modest weight loss (7% of body weight) is highly effective. Older adults in the study actually benefited more than younger ones, likely because they had more time and fewer distractions to stick to the program. Focus on consistency and weight loss rather than high-intensity training.