Browse the evidence

Acute caffeine supplementation (6 mg/kg) improves cycling time-trial performance regardless of habitual caffeine consumption levels (low, moderate, or high).

If you consume caffeine regularly, you do not need to stop or reduce your intake before using caffeine as a performance supplement. A standard dose of 6 mg per kg of body weight taken 60 minutes before exercise will improve your performance just as much for high consumers as it does for non-consumers. There is no need for a multi-day withdrawal period.

Vitamin D3 supplementation (average ~3,000 IU/day) for at least 3 months significantly reduces systolic and diastolic blood pressure, serum parathyroid hormone (PTH), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and total cholesterol, while increasing HDL cholesterol.

If you are considering vitamin D3 for heart health, aim for a daily dose around 3,000 IU, taken consistently for at least 3 months. This approach has been shown in large-scale reviews to modestly lower blood pressure, reduce inflammation, and improve cholesterol profiles. It is not a magic bullet for arterial stiffness, but it is a low-risk strategy to support overall cardiovascular metrics, especially if you have low baseline levels.

Exercise training, specifically aerobic and combined aerobic/resistance exercise, significantly improves endothelial function (measured by flow-mediated dilation) in patients with type 2 diabetes.

If you have type 2 diabetes, engaging in 8-12 weeks of moderate aerobic exercise (like brisk walking or jogging) 3-5 times a week for 20-60 minutes will improve your blood vessel health. Combining this with resistance training (weights) may provide even greater benefits than aerobic exercise alone. You do not need to perform high-intensity interval training to see these vascular improvements.

Substituting low-calorie sweetened (LCS) beverages for sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) is an effective strategy to reduce energy intake and promote weight loss in adults, particularly habitual SSB consumers.

If you drink sugary sodas regularly, switching to diet or zero-sugar versions is a scientifically supported way to cut calories and lose weight. It works best if you use it to replace sugary drinks, not to add on top of them. If you have diabetes, this can help manage blood sugar spikes, but you should still prioritize water when possible.

Higher adherence to plant-based dietary patterns is associated with significantly lower risks of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all-cause mortality.

Adopting a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes while reducing animal products is associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and early death. Focus on 'healthy' plant foods rather than refined carbohydrates for the best results.

Emphasizing healthy plant-based foods (vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes) strengthens the inverse association with type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer compared to overall plant-based patterns.

When following a plant-based diet, prioritize whole, unprocessed plant foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes. This approach offers greater protection against chronic diseases than plant-based diets high in refined carbohydrates.

Increasing dietary fiber intake improves LDL cholesterol and fasting blood glucose levels in patients with cardiovascular disease or hypertension.

For patients with heart disease or high blood pressure, increasing fiber intake helps lower bad cholesterol (LDL) and improve blood sugar control. This is achieved by simply eating more fiber-rich foods like whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.

Replacing 30 minutes of sedentary time with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) significantly reduces cancer mortality risk by 31%, while replacing it with light-intensity physical activity (LIPA) reduces risk by 8%.

You don't need to run marathons to lower your cancer mortality risk. Simply swapping 30 minutes of sitting for 30 minutes of moderate exercise (like brisk walking) cuts your risk by 31%. Even swapping that time for light activity (like standing or slow walking) cuts risk by 8%. Prioritize breaking up sitting time with any form of movement.

Resistance training is effective in the early stages (pre-sarcopenia/pre-frailty) of these syndromes, improving gait speed and functional strength, suggesting its value as a preventive strategy.

Don't wait until you feel frail to start strength training. If you are over 65, incorporating resistance training into your routine can help maintain your walking speed and functional strength, acting as a buffer against age-related decline. It is never too early to start building this resilience.

Aerobic or mind-body exercise performed at moderate intensity for 3-5 sessions per week over 4-16 weeks significantly reduces depressive symptoms in adults with major depressive disorder, with efficacy comparable to pharmacotherapy.

For adults with depression, aim for 3-5 sessions of moderate-intensity aerobic (e.g., brisk walking, cycling) or mind-body (e.g., yoga, tai chi) exercise per week, lasting 45-60 minutes, for at least 12 weeks. Supervision, either in a group or individually, is recommended to boost adherence. This approach is clinically effective, comparable to medication, and avoids drug side effects.

Exercise reduces depressive symptoms through multiple physiological mechanisms including increased BDNF, reduced neuroinflammation (IL-6, CRP), and improved neuroplasticity, alongside psychological benefits like increased self-esteem and social support.

Understanding that exercise works through both brain chemistry (BDNF, inflammation) and psychology (self-esteem) can help patients appreciate its value beyond just 'feeling good' in the moment.

Increasing the daily quantity and frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption leads to a dose-response improvement in mental well-being (GHQ-12) and subjective life satisfaction, independent of time-invariant confounders.

To boost your mental well-being, aim to increase both how many portions of fruits and vegetables you eat on days you consume them, and how many days per week you eat them. You do not need to reach a specific 'magic number' like five portions; the study shows a linear, dose-response benefit where even small increases in quantity and frequency correlate with higher mental well-being scores over time.

Adherence to Mediterranean or DASH dietary patterns significantly reduces the risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) in the general population.

Adopt a Mediterranean or DASH-style eating pattern. This means prioritizing vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and olive oil, while limiting red meat and sugar-sweetened beverages. This approach has been shown to significantly lower the risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes.

High consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and artificial sugar-sweetened beverages significantly increases the risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Avoid both sugar-sweetened beverages and artificially sweetened beverages. Both are associated with a significantly increased risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes. Choose water, unsweetened tea, or coffee instead.

Curcumin supplementation (150–1500 mg/day) administered before and/or after exercise reduces exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD), subjective muscle pain, and inflammatory markers (CK, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8) in physically active populations.

If you engage in intense exercise, particularly eccentric movements, taking 150-1500mg of curcumin (preferably a bioavailable form) before and after your workout can help reduce muscle soreness and inflammation. Most studies show benefits when taken for several days surrounding the exercise event. It is generally safe for humans even at higher doses.

Interrupting prolonged sitting with brief bouts of light-intensity walking or simple resistance activity significantly lowers systolic and diastolic blood pressure, with effects being more pronounced in individuals with hypertension or prehypertension.

If you have high blood pressure or are at risk, do not just sit for hours. Every 20-30 minutes, stand up and move for 2-3 minutes. You don't need to go for a walk; simple exercises like calf raises, half-squats, or gluteal squeezes done right at your desk work effectively to lower blood pressure. This is especially important if you are overweight or have hypertension, as the blood pressure-lowering effect is stronger in these groups.

In overweight or obese patients with type 2 diabetes, each kilogram of weight loss achieved through non-surgical interventions (diet or pharmacotherapy) results in a mean reduction of 0.1 percentage points in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c).

For every kilogram (2.2 lbs) of body weight you lose, your HbA1c is expected to drop by 0.1 percentage points. This applies to overweight or obese adults with Type 2 Diabetes using diet or non-surgical drugs. The benefit is linear: more weight loss equals more HbA1c reduction. This holds true regardless of whether you use low-carb, low-fat, or pharmacological weight loss strategies, as long as weight is lost. Note: This model applies to non-surgical interventions over 3-24 months.

High levels of physical activity preserve mitochondrial capacity and exercise efficiency in older adults, effectively negating the negative impacts of chronological aging on these metrics.

If you are an older adult, maintaining a high level of physical activity, particularly endurance exercise, is crucial for preserving mitochondrial health. This preservation directly supports better muscle quality, exercise efficiency, and physical performance, effectively counteracting many negative effects typically associated with aging. Focus on staying active rather than accepting decline as inevitable.

Personalized nutrition recommendations must be derived from validated models and algorithms that demonstrate acceptable predictive performance on external populations.

If you use an app or service that gives you diet advice based on algorithms, check if they validate their models on diverse groups of people. This ensures the advice is likely to be accurate for you.

Empagliflozin (10 mg/day) leads to significant reductions in body weight and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) area in patients with T2DM and NAFLD, whereas pioglitazone increases these metrics.

Empagliflozin (10 mg daily) not only helps control blood sugar but also significantly reduces body weight and visceral fat in patients with Type 2 Diabetes and fatty liver disease. This is in contrast to pioglitazone, which tends to increase weight and fat. This weight loss benefit supports liver health improvement.

Lifestyle modifications, specifically diet, physical exercise, and weight loss, are the primary effective therapeutic interventions for Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and Metabolic Syndrome (MS), as they directly improve insulin resistance and histological liver outcomes.

To treat fatty liver, you must change your lifestyle. There are no approved drugs that work as well as losing weight and moving more. Aim for a 7-10% reduction in body weight through a healthy diet (like the Mediterranean diet) and regular physical activity. This improves insulin resistance and reduces liver fat and inflammation.

Vitamin E is recommended for patients with NASH and advanced fibrosis who do not have diabetes, and pioglitazone is recommended for patients with NASH and diabetes.

If you have NASH with advanced fibrosis and no diabetes, ask your doctor about Vitamin E. If you have NASH and diabetes, ask about Pioglitazone. These are guideline-recommended options to manage the disease.

Interrupting prolonged sitting with frequent stand-up transitions significantly improves cardio-metabolic biomarkers (BMI, waist circumference, HDL, triglycerides, and glucose) compared to accumulating the same total sitting time in long, uninterrupted bouts.

If you must sit, do not sit for more than 30 minutes at a time. Stand up and move briefly (sit-stand transitions) as often as possible. This pattern of interrupting sitting is more beneficial for your waistline, cholesterol, and blood sugar than simply having the same total amount of sitting time but doing it in long, uninterrupted blocks.

Physical activity interventions, particularly those combining resistance and balance training, significantly improve physical performance outcomes (gait speed, strength, mobility) in pre-frail and frail older adults.

Engage in supervised physical activity, specifically focusing on resistance and balance exercises. This approach has been shown to significantly improve gait speed, strength, and mobility in pre-frail and frail older adults. Supervision is key to ensuring safety and adherence, which are critical for success.