Browse the evidence

Adopting a Healthy Low-Fat (HLF) diet results in significantly higher total dietary fiber intake compared to a Healthy Low-Carbohydrate (HLC) diet over a 12-month period.

If you follow a low-fat diet, you will naturally consume more fiber (around 23g/day) because you can eat more grains and legumes. If you follow a low-carb diet, your fiber intake will be lower (around 18g/day) because you restrict grains and fruits, but you can still get adequate fiber by focusing on non-starchy vegetables, nuts, seeds, and avocados. The difference is modest, so low-carb diets are not fiber-deficient if focused on whole plant foods.

The primary source of dietary fiber shifts from whole grains and legumes in low-fat diets to non-starchy vegetables and plant-based fats (nuts, seeds, avocados) in low-carbohydrate diets.

To maximize fiber on a low-fat diet, focus on whole grains, legumes, and fruits. To maximize fiber on a low-carb diet, focus on non-starchy vegetables, nuts, seeds, and avocados. Both diets can provide significant fiber, but from different food groups.

Metformin is the most effective pharmacological intervention for preventing type 2 diabetes in prediabetic patients, significantly reducing diabetes incidence and improving glucose tolerance compared to lifestyle interventions alone.

If you have prediabetes, metformin is a highly effective, safe, and well-tolerated medication recommended by the American Diabetes Association to prevent diabetes. Start with a low dose (500 mg) to minimize gastrointestinal side effects like diarrhea, and work up to 1000 mg twice daily. Monitor Vitamin B12 levels if taking it long-term. It is particularly useful if you find sustaining strict lifestyle changes difficult.

SGLT2 inhibitors reduce blood glucose and body weight in prediabetic patients by increasing urinary glucose excretion, effectively delaying diabetes development.

SGLT2 inhibitors (like dapagliflozin) lower blood sugar by excreting glucose in urine. They help with weight loss and delay diabetes. Side effects include increased risk of genital yeast infections and ketoacidosis. Monitor kidney function.

Obesity increases the risk and severity of acute pancreatitis (AP) through mechanisms including gallstone formation, hypertriglyceridemia-induced lipotoxicity, and intrapancreatic fat infiltration.

If you have obesity, your risk of acute pancreatitis is significantly higher due to factors like gallstones and fat breakdown products. Losing weight, particularly visceral fat, can reduce this risk.

Activation of brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis via sympathetic nervous system signaling increases whole-body energy expenditure and improves metabolic profiles, including lower fasting glucose and reduced visceral adiposity.

You can support your metabolic health by staying active and maintaining a healthy weight. While cold exposure might activate brown fat, it is not a magic bullet for weight loss. Focus on sustainable lifestyle habits that support your body's natural energy regulation systems.

Higher quality primary care consultation experiences (characterized by empathy, listening, and shared decision-making) are associated with a statistically significant increase in the likelihood of Type 2 diabetes remission over a 5-year period.

If you have Type 2 diabetes, actively seek a doctor who listens to you, explains things clearly, and involves you in decision-making. This 'soft skill' of your care is not just nice-to-have; it is statistically linked to a higher chance of reversing your diabetes over 5 years, likely because it helps you stick to the necessary lifestyle changes.

Steep, excessive weight loss (>17% average) during the post-intervention follow-up phase in older adults with type 2 diabetes is strongly associated with increased mortality risk, particularly when the loss is unintentional.

If you are an older adult with type 2 diabetes, do not pursue aggressive weight loss strategies without medical supervision. Monitor your weight closely; if you lose more than 5% of your body weight unintentionally or rapidly, consult your doctor immediately, as this may indicate underlying health issues like frailty or depression rather than improved health.

Implementing 2020–2025 DGA-aligned school meal standards (limiting added sugars and sodium, increasing whole grains) reduces childhood BMI and systolic blood pressure, leading to significant long-term reductions in cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer mortality in adulthood.

For policymakers and school administrators, updating school meal standards to limit added sugars and sodium while increasing whole grains is a high-impact intervention. It modestly improves children's immediate health (BMI, BP) and yields massive long-term societal benefits, including thousands of prevented deaths and billions in healthcare savings in adulthood.

Weight stigma and internalized bias in healthcare settings negatively impact obesity treatment outcomes by reducing care access, increasing weight gain, and causing exercise avoidance, whereas weight-inclusive, body-positive messaging improves exercise intention and adherence.

Healthcare providers should use weight-inclusive language (e.g., 'movement' instead of 'exercise') and create a stigma-free environment. Patients should seek providers who focus on health behaviors rather than just weight loss, as this improves adherence and reduces the psychological burden of obesity.

Consuming a gluten-free meal results in a significantly lower postprandial thermogenic response (calorie burn) compared to iso-caloric whole food or ultra-processed meals in young women.

If you are eating gluten-free products for weight loss, be aware that they may not offer a metabolic advantage. This study found that gluten-free meals resulted in lower calorie burning (thermogenesis) after eating compared to both whole food and ultra-processed meals, provided the calories and macronutrients were the same. Focus on whole, unprocessed foods rather than just the absence of gluten for optimal metabolic response.

Remote behavioral weight loss interventions deliver clinically comparable weight loss to in-person interventions at a significantly lower cost per kilogram lost.

If you are looking for a weight loss program, remote support via phone and web tools can be just as effective as meeting in person, but it costs less. The key is sticking to the weekly check-ins and dietary goals, regardless of whether you see a coach face-to-face or over the phone.

Lifestyle interventions for type 2 diabetes prevention in women with a history of gestational diabetes are only effective in reducing T2DM risk if participants have a baseline mean BMI of 30 kg/m2 or higher.

If you have a history of gestational diabetes and a BMI of 30 or higher, lifestyle interventions (diet and exercise) are highly effective at preventing type 2 diabetes. If your BMI is lower, these interventions may not significantly reduce your T2DM risk, though they may still help with weight management.

Lifestyle interventions for type 2 diabetes prevention in women with a history of gestational diabetes are only effective if they are underpinned by a behavior change theory.

For women with a history of gestational diabetes, lifestyle interventions are most effective at preventing type 2 diabetes when they are designed using established behavior change theories (like Social Cognitive Theory or Health Belief Model). Simple advice without a structured behavioral framework may not be sufficient.

Telemedical lifestyle intervention (TeLIPro) significantly improves HbA1c, body weight, and BMI in Type 2 Diabetes patients with long-standing disease (≥5 years) compared to routine care, but effects are not sustained after coaching ends.

For long-standing Type 2 Diabetes, structured telemedical coaching with self-monitoring (glucose, weight, steps) significantly lowers HbA1c and weight compared to standard care. However, these benefits disappear if coaching stops, suggesting that ongoing support is necessary to maintain metabolic improvements.

Physiologic adaptation to a low-carbohydrate diet (LCD) creates a prolonged carry-over effect that persists into a subsequent low-fat diet (LFD) period, resulting in lower energy intake and higher fat oxidation compared to those who started with LFD.

If you switch from a low-carb to a high-carb diet, do not judge the high-carb diet's effectiveness in the first week. Your body is still metabolically 'primed' from the low-carb state (higher fat oxidation, lower insulin). This adaptation takes weeks. Short-term judgments during this transition are misleading.

Food vouchers restricted to fruits and vegetables, delivered weekly, increase fruit and vegetable intake specifically in low-income adults with moderate baseline consumption (25th-55th percentile), but not in those with very low or very high baseline intake.

If you are designing a food assistance program, do not assume a flat $20 monthly voucher works for everyone. For people who already eat a moderate amount of produce, weekly $5 vouchers for produce only will likely increase their intake. For those who eat very little produce, money alone isn't enough; you must pair the subsidy with education, transportation, or cooking skills. For those who already eat a lot, the subsidy has diminishing returns.

Fixed-amount food vouchers are less effective per person in larger households, requiring higher dollar values to achieve the same dietary improvement as in smaller households.

If you manage a food assistance program, do not give a flat $20 voucher to a family of 8 and expect the same per-person dietary benefit as for a single person. The subsidy is diluted. To help larger families achieve similar health outcomes, you must either increase the total dollar amount or provide additional non-financial support to help them navigate purchasing for more people.

SGLT2 inhibitors provide modest but sustained weight loss and blood pressure reduction, and synergize with other anti-obesity medications.

SGLT2 inhibitors offer modest weight and blood pressure benefits. They are best used in combination with other treatments (like GLP-1 RAs) to synergize benefits, rather than as a standalone primary therapy for obesity-related hypertension.

Achieving short-term (2-year) diabetes remission in patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes is associated with significantly reduced long-term overall mortality and increased life expectancy, primarily driven by decreased cardiovascular mortality.

If you have obesity and type 2 diabetes, working towards diabetes remission (normal blood sugar without medication) is one of the most powerful things you can do for your long-term survival. This study shows that even if you only achieve remission for two years, it is linked to living longer and a significantly lower risk of dying from heart disease. You do not need to stay in remission forever to gain this longevity benefit, and you can achieve it through various means, including lifestyle changes, not just surgery.

Inorganic nitrate supplementation (316-860 mg/day) improves vascular function and lowers blood pressure in older adults, which may indirectly support skeletal muscle health by enhancing nutrient delivery.

Older adults can improve blood pressure and vascular health by consuming inorganic nitrate (e.g., from beetroot juice) at doses of 316-860 mg per day. This may help deliver more nutrients to muscles, though direct muscle-building effects are not yet fully proven.

Higher consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) is associated with an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), with hazard ratios typically ranging from 1.12 to 1.53 for incremental increases in UPF intake.

Limit your intake of ultra-processed foods, particularly those high in added sugars, saturated fats, and specific additives like emulsifiers (e.g., carrageenan) or containing endocrine disruptors from packaging (e.g., BPA). Focus on reducing sugary beverages and processed meats, as these show the strongest link to T2DM risk, while noting that some processed items like whole grain breads may not carry the same risk.

Skeletal muscle hypertrophy following resistance training is associated with distinct, cell-type-specific non-coding RNA (ncRNA) expression patterns, including MYREM (myonuclear), MEG3 (satellite cells), and CARMN (linear association with lean mass gain), which mediate growth via discrete functional pathways rather than uniform bulk tissue changes.

Resistance training works for most people (61% in this large multi-study analysis). If you are not seeing expected gains, it may not be that you 'can't grow,' but that your body uses different molecular switches (ncRNAs) than the average responder. Focus on consistent, supervised resistance training; individual molecular responses vary, but the mechanical stimulus is the primary driver. Do not use 'non-response' as an excuse to stop training, as measurement error often masks small gains.

A one-week complete cessation from resistance training (deload) at the midpoint of a 9-week program does not enhance hypertrophy, power, or local muscular endurance compared to continuous training, and results in inferior strength gains.

If your goal is maximizing strength, do not take a full week off from resistance training. Continuous training yields better strength gains than a one-week complete break. If you take a break for hypertrophy, expect no loss in muscle size, but do not expect any extra growth. Use deloads to manage fatigue, not to force adaptation.