Browse the evidence

Athletes should consume high-quality protein distributed across 4-5 daily meals, targeting 0.3-0.4 g/kg per meal, to optimize muscle protein synthesis and adaptation to training.

Eat 4-5 meals a day, each containing about 0.3-0.4 grams of high-quality protein per kilogram of your body weight. For a 70kg athlete, this is roughly 21-28g of protein per meal. If you are trying to lose weight, aim for the higher end (0.4-0.5 g/kg) to protect muscle mass.

For events lasting longer than 90 minutes, consuming 30-90 g/hour of carbohydrates during the event improves performance by maintaining exogenous fuel supply as endogenous stores dwindle.

For races longer than 90 minutes, consume 30-60 grams of carbohydrates per hour. For races longer than 2 hours, aim for up to 90 grams per hour using a mix of carbohydrate sources (e.g., glucose and fructose). Practice this during training to avoid stomach issues.

Multicomponent exercise training (aerobic, strength, and balance) is the most effective intervention for improving mobility, increasing muscle mass and strength, and decreasing falls in older adults with physical frailty and sarcopenia.

If you are an older adult experiencing weakness or slowness, do not avoid movement. Engage in a structured program that combines walking (aerobic), resistance training (strength), and balance exercises. This combination is proven to preserve independence, reduce falls, and maintain muscle mass better than any single type of exercise.

Adhering to the Dutch 'Wheel of Five' dietary guidelines, which prioritize vegetables, fruit, wholegrains, dairy, and fats while limiting high-impact animal products, provides approximately 85% of daily energy requirements and meets all essential nutrient Dietary Reference Values for most adults.

Fill 85% of your daily calories with the 'Wheel of Five' foods: vegetables, fruit, wholegrain bread/cereals/potatoes, dairy, and fats. Eat these daily in the specified serving sizes (e.g., 250g veggies, 200g fruit). Limit 'outside the wheel' foods like processed meat, sugary drinks, and high-sugar snacks to occasional use. This pattern meets your nutrient needs without requiring expensive supplements or exotic foods.

Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (MD) prevents obesity and reduces cardiometabolic risk in children and adults, whereas adoption of Western diets (high in saturated fats, refined carbs, and processed meats) accelerates obesity epidemics.

Adopt a Mediterranean-style dietary pattern: prioritize vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, and olive oil; consume fish and poultry moderately; and minimize red meat, sweets, and processed foods. This approach is cost-effective, transferable to non-Mediterranean regions by substituting local equivalents, and is the most effective dietary strategy for preventing obesity and cardiometabolic disease in both children and adults.

For a fixed total volume of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), increasing the proportion of vigorous physical activity (VPA) to total MVPA is associated with significantly lower all-cause mortality.

If you currently do 150 minutes of moderate exercise (like brisk walking) per week, try replacing half of that time with vigorous exercise (like running or fast cycling) while keeping the total time at 150 minutes. This shift is associated with a 17% lower risk of death compared to doing only moderate exercise, according to this large study.

Regular moderate-intensity physical activity improves sleep quality and reduces sleep disorders (e.g., insomnia) in adults, with benefits observed across age groups including children and the elderly.

Aim for 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, three times a week. This is the most effective dose for improving sleep quality and managing insomnia. If you are short on time, even 10 minutes of light morning exercise can provide benefits. Avoid high-intensity exercise within 3 hours of bedtime, as it may disrupt sleep.

A modular multimodal exercise program (aerobic, resistance, flexibility) tailored to bone metastasis location preserves self-reported physical function and lower body muscle strength in prostate cancer patients with bone metastases without increasing skeletal complications or bone pain.

If you have prostate cancer that has spread to your bones, you can still exercise safely. The key is to work with a professional who can tailor your routine to avoid putting direct stress on your weak bones. Focus on moderate resistance training (lifting weights you can handle 10-12 times) and low-impact cardio like cycling or walking. This approach helps maintain your strength and daily function without increasing your risk of fractures or pain.

Obese individuals should consume at least 1 g/kg ideal body weight of protein per day to support muscle mass, with higher amounts recommended for high-risk groups.

Eat at least 1 gram of protein per kilogram of your ideal body weight every day. If you are older, sick, or losing weight rapidly, you may need even more. Combine this with exercise for best results.

Adherence to a Mediterranean dietary pattern reduces the risk of developing MASLD by 23% compared to a Western dietary pattern.

Adopting a Mediterranean diet lowers your risk of MASLD by 23% compared to a Western diet. Focus on healthy fats, vegetables, and whole grains.

Regular exercise training improves heat tolerance and glucose control in individuals with type 2 diabetes, potentially mitigating the reduced heat tolerance associated with the disease.

If you have type 2 diabetes, regular exercise can help your body handle heat better and improve your blood sugar control. Start with moderate exercise and gradually increase your intensity. This will not only improve your metabolic health but also help you tolerate heat stress better, reducing the risk of heat-related illnesses.

Adhering to the Portfolio Dietary Pattern (combining nuts, plant protein, viscous fiber, and plant sterols) significantly reduces LDL cholesterol by approximately 17% compared to a standard National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Step II diet.

To lower your LDL cholesterol significantly, adopt the Portfolio Dietary Pattern. This involves eating specific amounts of four plant-based food groups daily: nuts (42g), plant protein like soy or beans (50g), viscous fiber from oats or barley (20g), and plant sterols (2g). This combination, when used alongside a standard low-saturated-fat diet, has been shown to reduce LDL cholesterol by approximately 17% in clinical trials involving individuals with high cholesterol.

Progressive resistance training significantly improves functional mobility, gait speed, and balance in older adults (mean age >60) with skeletal muscle function deficits, thereby reducing fall risk.

Start resistance training 2-3 times per week. Focus on large muscle groups (legs, core) with progressive overload. Supervision by a professional is recommended to ensure safety and proper form. This improves your ability to walk, balance, and perform daily tasks, reducing fall risk.

Combining high levels of physical activity with other positive lifestyle choices (such as healthy diet, non-smoking, and moderate alcohol use) is associated with significantly lower risks of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all-cause mortality compared to being physically inactive with unhealthy lifestyle profiles.

To maximize your longevity and minimize disease risk, do not rely on exercise alone. Aim to meet physical activity guidelines while simultaneously addressing other key lifestyle factors: avoid smoking, maintain a healthy diet, and limit alcohol consumption. The combined effect of these healthy behaviors offers the strongest protection against heart disease, cancer, and early death.

Objectively measured light-intensity physical activity (LPA) is inversely associated with all-cause mortality and favorably associated with cardiometabolic risk factors (waist circumference, triglycerides, insulin, metabolic syndrome) in adults, even after adjusting for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA).

Incorporate more light movement into your daily routine. This includes activities like slow walking, standing, or light household chores. While vigorous exercise is important, adding light activity throughout the day provides independent health benefits, particularly for heart health and longevity, regardless of how much intense exercise you do.

Caffeine improves 10-km cycling time by 4.8-6.8% in athletes with the CYP1A2 AA genotype (fast metabolizers), but impairs performance by 13.7% in those with the CC genotype (slow metabolizers).

If you use caffeine for endurance sports, your CYP1A2 genotype matters. Fast metabolizers (AA) benefit from 2-4 mg/kg, seeing 5-7% performance gains. Slow metabolizers (CC) should avoid high doses (4 mg/kg) as it can worsen performance by nearly 14%. If you suspect caffeine hurts your performance, genetic testing or a self-experiment comparing placebo vs. caffeine is recommended before committing to a regimen.

Practicing Baduanjin Qigong significantly improves quality of life, sleep quality, physical balance, handgrip strength, trunk flexibility, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and resting heart rate in adults.

Incorporate Baduanjin Qigong into your routine 2-7 times a week for 30-90 minutes. It is a low-impact, easy-to-learn set of 8 movements that combines physical postures with breathing and mental focus. You can expect improvements in sleep quality, stress levels (quality of life), balance, grip strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular markers like blood pressure and resting heart rate. It is particularly suitable for older adults or those with chronic conditions who may find high-intensity exercise difficult.

An 8-week supervised concurrent training program (resistance and aerobic) significantly improves cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength, fatigue, and quality of life in post-COVID-19 patients compared to self-managed WHO guidelines.

If you have lingering symptoms from COVID-19 for more than 12 weeks, a supervised exercise program combining light cardio and resistance training, done 3 times a week for 8 weeks, can significantly improve your energy, strength, and quality of life compared to just following general advice. Start with low intensity and gradually increase under supervision.

Interpretive front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition labels that evaluate product unhealthfulness (e.g., stop signs, traffic lights) are more effective at guiding consumers toward healthier choices than positive signposts or non-interpretive labels.

If you are a policymaker, prioritize interpretive labels (like stop signs or traffic lights) that highlight unhealthiness over positive endorsements or raw numbers. Ensure the regulation is mandatory, clearly defined, and developed with independent experts to withstand legal challenges from the food industry. This approach is more likely to help consumers, especially those with lower literacy, make healthier choices.

In adults with type 2 diabetes, a low-carbohydrate, high-unsaturated fat diet provides superior glycemic stability and reduces diabetes medication requirements compared to a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet, despite achieving equivalent weight loss.

If you have type 2 diabetes, switching to a low-carbohydrate diet (around 14% of calories from carbs) while keeping saturated fat low can help you stabilize your blood sugar and potentially reduce your need for diabetes medication, even if you lose the same amount of weight as you would on a standard low-fat diet. This approach focuses on reducing glycemic spikes rather than just calories.

A low-carbohydrate, high-unsaturated fat diet improves cardiovascular risk markers (specifically triglycerides and HDL-C) compared to a high-carbohydrate diet in type 2 diabetes patients, without adversely affecting renal function.

For people with type 2 diabetes, choosing a low-carbohydrate diet rich in unsaturated fats can improve blood lipid levels (lower triglycerides, better HDL) without harming kidney function. This makes it a safe and effective option for managing cardiovascular risk alongside blood sugar control.

Maintaining higher daily step counts (median 7,731–8,290 steps) is associated with a significantly lower risk of incident chronic diseases, including obesity, sleep apnea, GERD, major depressive disorder, diabetes, and hypertension.

Track your daily steps using a wearable. Aim to consistently exceed 8,200 steps per day to gain protection against common chronic conditions like obesity, sleep apnea, and depression. You do not need to hit 10,000 to see benefits; the risk reduction is linear and starts lower. Consistency over years matters more than hitting a perfect daily number.

Lifestyle interventions targeting diet, body composition, physical activity, or stress are significantly more likely to produce positive health and wellbeing outcomes for nurses than interventions relying solely on education.

For nurses, simply attending health seminars or reading pamphlets is rarely enough to improve health. To see real results, interventions must be active and behavioral, focusing on concrete actions like dietary changes, physical exercise, or stress-reduction techniques (like mindfulness). Purely educational approaches are largely ineffective for changing long-term habits in this population.

A low-FODMAP diet significantly improves general symptoms and quality of life in adults with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) compared to a standard high-FODMAP diet.

If you have IBS, a low-FODMAP diet is more effective than standard dietary advice for reducing symptoms like pain and bloating. Because this diet restricts many healthy foods, you should work with a dietitian to ensure you stay healthy and get enough nutrients. This approach is recommended as a first-line treatment option.