Browse the evidence

Soy protein supplementation improves exercise performance, particularly in high-intensity, high-speed, and endurance activities, by delaying fatigue and improving isometric strength.

If you are an athlete, soy protein can help you perform better. It improves endurance, speed, and delays fatigue. It is particularly beneficial after strenuous exercise or muscle damage. You can use it to boost your performance without relying solely on animal proteins or other supplements.

High consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) is associated with a significantly increased risk of colorectal and breast cancer, with a 10% increase in UPF intake linked to a 4% higher risk of colorectal cancer.

Limit your intake of ultra-processed foods (UPFs), defined by the NOVA classification system as industrial formulations with little whole food content. This meta-analysis links high UPF consumption to increased risks of colorectal and breast cancer. For every 10% increase in UPF intake, colorectal cancer risk rises by 4%. Focus on whole or minimally processed foods to reduce this risk.

Resistance training (RT) and aerobic training (AT) induce distinct molecular signaling pathways in skeletal muscle, with RT primarily activating mTORC1 to drive myofibrillar hypertrophy and AT primarily activating AMPK to drive mitochondrial biogenesis.

If your goal is to build muscle size, focus on resistance training to activate the mTOR pathway. If your goal is to improve cardiovascular endurance and mitochondrial function, focus on aerobic training to activate the AMPK pathway. Doing both simultaneously may blunt specific adaptations due to the 'interference effect' where AMPK suppresses mTOR signaling.

Repeated (chronic) application of post-exercise cooling blunts muscle strength adaptations and decreases fatigue resistance following resistance training interventions.

If your goal is to build maximum strength over months, avoid using cold water immersion after every resistance training session. It may prevent you from gaining as much strength as you could have. Save the cold plunge for endurance events in the heat or for specific early recovery needs.

Glucagon receptor activation in triple agonists increases energy expenditure and lipid oxidation, contributing to weight loss without causing hyperglycemia when combined with GLP-1 and GIP.

The addition of glucagon receptor activation in triple agonists helps burn more energy and fat, contributing to weight loss without raising blood sugar, thanks to the balancing effects of GLP-1 and GIP.

Genetic variants that increase skeletal muscle expression of the mitochondrial supercomplex assembly factor COX7A2L are causally associated with improved cardiorespiratory fitness, lower body fat, and increased energy expenditure in humans and mice.

Your genetic makeup influences your mitochondrial efficiency and cardiorespiratory fitness. While you cannot change your DNA, recognizing that some individuals have a genetic advantage in fat oxidation and VO2max can help tailor expectations. Focus on consistent aerobic training to maximize your genetic potential, as even small genetic advantages in COX7A2L expression correlate with better fitness outcomes.

Plyometric jump training induces small to moderate skeletal muscle hypertrophy in healthy individuals, with larger effects observed in non-athletes compared to athletes and greater hypertrophy in knee extensors compared to plantar flexors.

If you want to build muscle without heavy weights, incorporate plyometric jumps (like squat jumps or box jumps) into your routine. Aim for about 2 sessions per week, with each session lasting around 30 minutes. You don't need to be an athlete to see results; in fact, beginners (non-athletes) may see larger muscle growth than experienced athletes. Focus on exercises that involve jumping, as these can effectively increase muscle size, particularly in the legs.

Increasing the weekly frequency of plyometric jump training sessions leads to larger hypertrophic gains, whereas total training duration, session duration, and total number of jumps per week do not significantly moderate hypertrophy.

To maximize muscle growth from jumping exercises, focus on how often you train rather than how long or how many jumps you do in one session. Aim for more frequent sessions per week (e.g., 3-4 times) rather than fewer, longer sessions. The total number of jumps or the length of the workout does not appear to significantly change muscle growth outcomes.

Real-world users of semaglutide (Wegovy) for weight management rarely follow recommended dose titration protocols, with the majority stopping at or below 1.0 mg rather than reaching the target 2.4 mg dose evaluated in clinical trials.

If you are using Wegovy, know that most people do not reach the maximum 2.4 mg dose. Many stop at 1.0 mg due to side effects or cost. This does not mean the drug isn't working for you, but it may mean your weight loss potential is lower than what is seen in clinical trials. Discuss your dose with your provider to see if escalation is appropriate for your tolerance and financial situation.

In older adults (55-70 years), long-term lifestyle interventions for weight loss in prediabetes result in greater sustained weight loss but inferior preservation of fat-free mass and bone mineral content compared to younger adults (25-45 years).

If you are over 55 and losing weight, expect to lose more muscle and bone than a younger person would for the same amount of weight lost. To counter this, you must prioritize resistance training and adequate protein intake, as standard lifestyle interventions alone may not preserve lean mass effectively in this age group.

In adults with prediabetes, women experience less sustained weight loss and greater loss of fat-free mass and bone mineral content compared to men during long-term lifestyle interventions, despite showing greater improvements in some cardiometabolic markers like fasting glucose and HDL.

Women in this study lost less weight and more muscle/bone than men following the same lifestyle program. To mitigate this, women should prioritize resistance training and protein intake to protect lean mass, and focus on metabolic improvements (like blood sugar and cholesterol) rather than just scale weight, as these may improve even if weight loss is modest.

Women tend to lose more weight than men when treated with GLP-1 receptor agonists (semaglutide, liraglutide) for obesity, despite men often losing more weight with lifestyle interventions alone.

If you are a woman being treated with GLP-1 medications like Wegovy or Saxenda, you are statistically likely to lose more weight than a man on the same drug. This is due to how your body processes the medication. Do not compare your progress to male baselines or lifestyle-only results; your pharmacological response is typically superior.

Men tend to lose more absolute weight than women when undergoing non-pharmacological lifestyle interventions (diet and exercise), although the difference is small.

If you are a woman doing lifestyle changes (diet/exercise), you might lose slightly less weight than a man on the same plan. This is normal. Focus on consistency, as women often have better long-term weight maintenance success.

Tirzepatide 15mg is associated with a higher risk of hypoglycemia compared to GLP-1 receptor agonists, although it has a lower risk of hypoglycemia compared to basal insulins.

If you are on the 15mg dose of Tirzepatide, especially if you also take insulin or sulfonylureas, your risk of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) is higher than if you were on a standard GLP-1 drug like semaglutide. Monitor your blood sugar closely and discuss dose adjustments with your doctor if you experience symptoms of low blood sugar.

Naltrexone/bupropion reduces food cravings and reward-driven eating by antagonizing opioid receptors, thereby decreasing the subjective delightfulness of energy-dense foods.

If you struggle with intense cravings for sugary or fatty foods, standard dieting may fail because your brain's reward system is driving your intake. Naltrexone/bupropion targets this by blocking opioid receptors, reducing the 'high' you get from these foods. This is prescribed alongside lifestyle changes for obesity management.

An 8-week vegan diet significantly reduces epigenetic age acceleration (GrimAge, PhenoAge, DunedinPACE) and extends telomere length compared to an omnivorous diet in healthy adults.

Adopting a vegan diet for 8 weeks can significantly slow down biological aging markers, including epigenetic age and telomere length, compared to a healthy omnivorous diet. To maximize these benefits, ensure you are getting adequate nutrients, particularly B12 and other 'epi-nutrients' mentioned in the study, through supplementation or careful food selection.

Metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) is associated with a significantly lower risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and all-cause mortality compared to treatment with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RA) in patients with type-2 diabetes and severe obesity.

For patients with type-2 diabetes and severe obesity, metabolic surgery appears to offer better protection against major heart events and death than treatment with GLP-1 medications alone. While surgery carries a small risk of complications, the long-term cardiovascular benefits outweigh these risks compared to pharmacological management. Patients should discuss these specific cardiovascular outcomes with their healthcare providers when choosing between surgical and medical management.

Asian populations develop obesity-related cardiometabolic morbidities at lower BMI thresholds than white populations, necessitating lower diagnostic cutoffs (BMI ≥25 or 27.5 kg/m²) for accurate risk identification.

If you are of Asian descent, do not rely on the standard BMI of 30 to define obesity. Your risk for diabetes and heart disease increases at lower weights. Use region-specific guidelines (BMI ≥25 or 27.5 kg/m²) or waist circumference measurements to assess your health risk accurately.

Gut microbiota composition and function are altered in type 2 diabetes, characterized by reduced diversity and decreased abundance of butyrate-producing bacteria, which is associated with insulin resistance and increased diabetes risk.

People with type 2 diabetes often have less diverse gut bacteria and fewer bacteria that produce butyrate. This is a consistent finding, but it doesn't mean there's a single 'bad bacteria' to target. Focus on dietary patterns that support overall microbial diversity.

Acute endurance exercise stimulates skeletal muscle mitochondrial biogenesis through integrated retrograde signaling from mitochondria to the nucleus, involving the activation of kinases (AMPK, CaMK, MAPK, PKA) and the translocation of transcriptional coactivators like PGC-1α to regulate nuclear gene expression.

To boost your muscle's energy production capacity (mitochondrial biogenesis), engage in endurance exercise. This can be moderate intensity continuous exercise (MICE), high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE), or sprint interval exercise (SIE). The specific intensity determines which fuel sources are used and which signaling pathways are prioritized, but all forms of endurance exercise trigger the necessary retrograde signaling from mitochondria to the nucleus to increase mitochondrial content and function.

Full range of motion (fROM) resistance training yields trivial to small advantages over partial range of motion (pROM) for overall muscle hypertrophy, strength, power, and body composition outcomes.

For most people, full range of motion is the best default for building muscle and strength because it offers a slight edge. However, the difference is small. If you have an injury that hurts at full depth, partial range of motion is still highly effective and better than nothing. If you are a powerlifter or sport-specific athlete, train the specific partial ranges relevant to your sport, as strength gains are specific to the angle trained.

If initial double combination therapy fails to control HbA1c, a triple combination of metformin, SGLT-2 inhibitor, and GLP-1 receptor agonist is recommended as the best treatment to reduce cardiovascular events and mortality.

If your first two medications don't control your blood sugar, add a third: a combination of metformin, an SGLT-2 inhibitor, and a GLP-1 receptor agonist. This is the most effective way to protect your heart and kidneys based on current real-world evidence.

Insulin should be the first-line treatment if insulin deficiency is the predominant factor at the onset of type 2 diabetes, followed by cardio-renal protective medications.

If your body isn't making enough insulin, start with insulin therapy first. After stabilizing your blood sugar with insulin, add medications that protect your heart and kidneys (SGLT-2 inhibitors or GLP-1 receptor agonists).

Resmetirom, a selective thyroid hormone receptor beta (THRβ) agonist, significantly reduces hepatic steatosis, liver fibrosis, and serum lipid levels (LDL, TG, ApoB) in patients with MASLD, particularly those with fibrosis.

For patients with fatty liver disease who have developed early scarring (fibrosis), Resmetirom is a new medication that targets the liver specifically to burn fat and reduce scarring. It also lowers bad cholesterol (LDL) and triglycerides. Clinical trials show it significantly improves liver health markers.