Browse the evidence

Consuming dietary protein at approximately 1.6 g/kg/day, particularly when coupled with resistance exercise, promotes favorable muscle adaptations, hypertrophy, and strength gains in healthy adults, exceeding the minimum requirements of the current RDA (0.8 g/kg/day).

If you are lifting weights to build or maintain muscle, aim for about 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight each day. This is roughly double the old government minimum recommendation. You don't need to overcomplicate it; just spread your protein out across meals and ensure you get some protein after your workouts. This amount is safe for healthy kidneys and has been shown to maximize muscle growth and strength.

During moderate energy deficit (weight loss), higher protein intakes (approx. 1.6 g/kg/day) preserve muscle mass better than lower protein intakes, although this benefit diminishes in severe energy deficit.

If you are cutting calories to lose fat, make sure you eat about 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight each day. This helps protect your muscle from being broken down for energy. However, if your calorie deficit is extremely severe (more than 40% of your needs), this protection may not be enough, so keep your deficit moderate.

Long-term weight loss maintenance is achieved through high levels of physical activity (approx. 11,210 kJ/week or ~6.5 km brisk walking/day) and dietary restraint, rather than physiological adaptation alone.

To maintain weight loss, you likely need to engage in high levels of physical activity (equivalent to ~6.5 km of brisk walking daily) combined with dietary restraint. This is not optional; it is the primary strategy used by long-term successful maintainers to counteract the weight-gaining modern environment.

In older adults, higher walking pace (>3 mph) and greater leisure-time physical activity (>845 kcal/week) are independently associated with a significantly lower risk of incident heart failure, whereas high-intensity exercise intensity and walking distance are not.

For older adults, focusing on maintaining a brisk walking pace (over 3 mph) and engaging in moderate leisure activities that burn at least 845 kcal per week is a highly effective strategy for preventing heart failure. You do not need to engage in high-intensity exercise to gain these cardiovascular benefits.

Combining four or more healthy lifestyle factors (walking pace ≥2 mph, leisure activity ≥845 kcal/week, no current smoking, modest alcohol intake, and BMI <30 kg/m2) is associated with a 45% lower risk of incident heart failure compared to having zero or one such factor.

To significantly reduce your risk of heart failure as you age, aim to adopt at least four of these five habits: walk at a brisk pace (≥2 mph), engage in moderate leisure activity (≥845 kcal/week), quit smoking, drink alcohol in moderation (≥1 drink/week), and maintain a BMI under 30. You don't need to be perfect; even two or three of these factors offer substantial protection.

Prescribing a low-carbohydrate diet (LCD) for 2 years significantly reduces cravings for carbohydrates, sweets, and fast-food fats compared to a low-fat diet (LFD), and reduces preferences for high-carbohydrate and high-sugar foods.

If you follow a low-carb diet, expect your cravings for carbs, sweets, and fast food to decrease significantly over time compared to if you followed a low-fat diet. This happens because you are no longer pairing those foods with hunger or eating cues. You don't need to fear that cutting out a food group will make you obsessed with it; the data shows the opposite happens.

Engaging in weight training for at least 150 minutes per week is independently associated with a 34% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes in men, regardless of aerobic exercise levels.

Aim for 150 minutes of weight training per week to significantly lower your risk of type 2 diabetes. You do not need to do this alongside cardio to get the benefit, though combining them offers the greatest protection. Focus on consistency over intensity since the specific type of weight training was not defined in this study.

Combining weight training and aerobic exercise for at least 150 minutes each per week confers the greatest reduction in type 2 diabetes risk (59% reduction).

For the best protection against type 2 diabetes, aim for 150 minutes of weight training AND 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercise (like brisk walking or running) every week. This combination cuts your risk by nearly 60%, which is significantly better than doing either one alone.

Both in-person and telephone-based weight loss counseling result in significant weight loss and reduced inflammation (CRP) in breast cancer survivors, with telephone counseling being a time-effective alternative to in-person counseling.

If you are a breast cancer survivor looking to lose weight, both in-person and telephone counseling programs can help you lose about 5-6% of your body weight over 6 months. Telephone counseling is just as effective as in-person visits, so choose the format that fits your schedule and energy levels best. The key is sticking to the counseling sessions, as those who attended all 11 sessions lost more weight.

Weight loss of 5% or more in breast cancer survivors leads to significant decreases in inflammatory and metabolic biomarkers (CRP, insulin, leptin, IL-6), whereas less than 5% weight loss does not significantly alter these biomarkers.

To see improvements in inflammation and hormone levels linked to breast cancer risk, aim for a weight loss of at least 5% of your body weight. Losing less than 5% may not significantly change these specific biomarkers, even if you lose some weight.

Adherence to a high-quality diet (characterized by high intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and fish relative to meat) significantly reduces the risk of recurrent cardiovascular disease events (CV death, MI, stroke, or CHF) in high-risk patients already receiving standard secondary prevention drug therapies.

If you have heart disease or diabetes, your medications are essential, but they are not the whole story. Eating a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, and fish (and lower in red/processed meats and deep-fried foods) provides a significant additional layer of protection against heart attacks and strokes. This benefit holds true even if you are already taking standard heart medications. Focus on the quality of your food as a complementary strategy to your drug regimen.

Modest consumption of fatty fish (providing ~250 mg/day of EPA+DHA) significantly lowers the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality by approximately 36% compared to no intake, with benefits evident within weeks to months primarily through anti-arrhythmic mechanisms.

Eat 1-2 servings of fatty fish (like salmon, sardines, or herring) per week. This provides enough omega-3s (EPA+DHA) to significantly lower your risk of dying from heart disease, with benefits starting to show in just a few weeks. The mercury risk in these fish does not negate these heart benefits for the general adult population.

Post-exercise consumption of fat-free milk (1 L/day split into two 500 mL doses) combined with resistance training significantly increases lean mass and strength gains while reducing fat mass in young women compared to isoenergetic carbohydrate intake.

If you are a young woman doing resistance training, drink 500 mL of fat-free milk immediately after your workout and another 500 mL one hour later. Do this 5 days a week for 12 weeks. This strategy will help you build more muscle and lose more fat than if you drank a calorie-matched carbohydrate beverage, without requiring you to change your overall diet.

Ingesting 10–12.5 g carbohydrate per kg body mass per day for 1–7 days prior to competition increases muscle glycogen to 170–180 mmol/kg wet mass and enhances endurance performance in events lasting 90 minutes or more.

If you are competing in an event longer than 90 minutes, start eating 10–12.5 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of your body weight daily for 1–7 days before the race. You do not need to do extreme exercise during this time; light activity is fine. This maximizes your muscle glycogen stores, which is the primary fuel for long endurance efforts.

Ingesting 200–300 g of carbohydrate 3–4 hours before exercise enhances endurance performance by increasing muscle and liver glycogen and maintaining blood glucose, with effects persisting for up to 6 hours.

Eat a meal containing 200–300 grams of carbohydrates 3 to 4 hours before your event. This boosts your muscle and liver glycogen stores and keeps your blood sugar stable during the race, improving your performance. If you are prone to blood sugar crashes, test this timing in training to see how your body reacts.

Resistance-trained men using 3-minute inter-set rest periods achieve significantly greater increases in muscle strength and hypertrophy compared to those using 1-minute rest periods, provided volume is not artificially equated.

If you are an experienced lifter, take 3 minutes of rest between your working sets. This allows you to recover enough to lift heavier loads or perform more reps in subsequent sets, leading to greater strength and muscle gains compared to resting only 1 minute. While this makes your workouts longer, the increased volume and intensity per set drive better results.

Long-term consumption of whole fruits (excluding juices) at levels of ≥4 servings/day is associated with a statistically significant reduction in the risk of developing hypertension compared to low intake (≤4 servings/week).

To lower your risk of high blood pressure, aim to eat at least 4 servings of whole fruits every day. Focus on fruits like apples, raisins, grapes, and berries. Do not substitute whole fruit with fruit juice, as this study found no blood pressure benefit from juice. While vegetables are healthy, this specific research suggests that consistent, long-term fruit consumption is a more reliable dietary lever for preventing hypertension than total vegetable intake alone.

Post-resistance exercise consumption of milk protein stimulates greater muscle amino acid uptake and net protein deposition compared to isonitrogenous hydrolyzed soy protein, leading to greater lean mass gains over 12 weeks.

If you are doing resistance training, consuming milk immediately after your workout (and an hour later) may help you build more lean mass than consuming an equivalent amount of soy protein. While the difference in strength gains was not statistically significant in this study, the trend toward greater lean mass gain with milk suggests it might be a superior source for hypertrophy in young men.

Combining supervised exercise with GLP-1 receptor agonist (liraglutide) during weight loss maintenance significantly improves the sustainability of weight loss and body composition one year after treatment termination compared to using GLP-1 receptor agonist alone.

If you are using GLP-1 medications (like liraglutide or semaglutide) for weight loss, do not rely on the medication alone for long-term maintenance. The study shows that stopping the medication leads to significant weight regain. To prevent this, you must incorporate supervised exercise (specifically vigorous cycling and circuit training) during your treatment phase. This combination builds the behavioral and physiological resilience needed to maintain your weight loss even after you stop the medication.

Oral creatine monohydrate supplementation (20g/day loading followed by 2g/day maintenance) combined with resistance training significantly increases fat-free mass, upper arm muscle area, and 1RM strength compared to resistance training alone.

If you are an experienced lifter, adding creatine monohydrate to your routine can help you gain more strength and muscle mass than training alone. Start with 20g per day for 5 days, then drop to 2g per day. Ensure you are doing resistance training consistently.

Aging is associated with 'anabolic resistance,' where older adults require more protein to stimulate muscle protein synthesis (MPS) compared to younger adults, contributing to sarcopenia.

As you age, your muscles become less responsive to protein. To build or maintain muscle, you likely need 1.5 to 2 times more high-quality protein per meal than younger people do. Combine this with resistance exercise to overcome this 'anabolic resistance.'

GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) significantly reduce HbA1c levels and body weight in patients with type 2 diabetes and obesity, with efficacy increasing from single agonists to dual (GLP-1/GIP) and triple (GLP-1/GIP/glucagon) agonists.

GLP-1 based medications (single, dual, and triple agonists) are highly effective for treating type 2 diabetes and obesity. They work by mimicking hormones that regulate blood sugar and appetite. Newer dual and triple agonists (like Tirzepatide and Retatrutide) show greater improvements in blood sugar and weight loss than older single-agonist drugs. Treatment is typically chronic, as stopping the medication often leads to weight regain. Options include weekly or daily injections, and some oral formulations are available for those who prefer to avoid needles. Consult a doctor to determine the best agent and dose for your specific health profile.

High-intensity interval training (HIT) consisting of 6-12 sessions of sustained exercise at 80% peak power output significantly improves 40 km cycling time-trial performance in well-trained athletes within 2-3 weeks, independent of changes in VO2max.

If you are already a well-trained endurance athlete, adding 6-12 sessions of high-intensity interval training (replacing about 15% of your usual volume) can significantly improve your race performance in just 2-3 weeks. Focus on riding at your current 'race pace' intensity for sustained bouts (e.g., 5 minutes) with short recovery, rather than just riding longer distances. This builds fatigue resistance and metabolic efficiency without needing to increase your maximum oxygen uptake.

High-intensity interval training improves endurance performance by shifting fuel utilization towards fat oxidation and reducing carbohydrate reliance at submaximal absolute work rates, thereby delaying lactate accumulation and muscle acidosis.

To get faster, focus on training that forces your body to burn fat more efficiently at high speeds and improves your muscles' ability to handle acid buildup. This allows you to sustain higher speeds for longer without 'hitting the wall' or slowing down due to fatigue. This is achieved through high-intensity intervals, not just long, slow rides.