Browse the evidence

Resistance exercise acts additively to protein ingestion to stimulate myofibrillar protein synthesis in middle-aged men, with the highest protein dose yielding the greatest combined response.

Combine your resistance training with a large protein meal (approx. 36g protein). The muscle-building signal is strongest when you do both together, rather than just eating protein or just exercising.

Older adults with low BMI (<22 kg/m2) who consume a low variety of micronutrient-dense foods are at extreme nutritional risk, with 0% meeting the Estimated Average Requirements (EAR) for all 14 micronutrients.

If you are an older adult with a low body weight, you are at high risk for missing essential vitamins and minerals. You must eat a wide variety of nutrient-rich foods (fruits, vegetables, dairy, grains) every day. Relying on a limited diet, even if it is 'healthy' low-calorie food, will likely result in severe nutrient deficiencies.

Antiobesity medications (AOMs) such as semaglutide and tirzepatide significantly reduce energy intake and appetite, necessitating a shift in nutritional focus from caloric restriction alone to ensuring nutrient density and adequate protein intake to prevent lean mass loss and deficiencies.

When starting semaglutide or tirzepatide, your appetite will drop significantly. Do not just eat less; eat smarter. Prioritize protein (aim for 60-75g daily or up to 1.5g per kg of body weight) and nutrient-dense foods like vegetables, lean meats, and whole grains. This protects your muscle and ensures you get necessary vitamins despite eating smaller portions.

Adequate dietary protein intake (60-75 g/day or up to 1.5 g/kg body weight/day) is critical during AOM therapy to preserve lean body mass and prevent complications like weakness and edema, especially in older adults.

To keep your muscles while losing weight, aim for 60-75 grams of protein daily, or up to 1.5 grams per kilogram of your body weight. Eat high-protein foods first at each meal. This is especially important if you are older to prevent falls and muscle loss.

In obese patients with type 2 diabetes, a 1-year lifestyle intervention (caloric restriction and exercise) significantly improves peripheral insulin sensitivity, fasting glucose, and free fatty acid levels, with these metabolic improvements being primarily determined by the magnitude of overall weight and fat mass loss rather than specific changes in regional fat distribution.

For people with Type 2 Diabetes, a one-year program combining a moderate calorie deficit (about 500 calories less per day) and regular exercise (over 175 minutes a week) significantly improves how the body handles sugar and fat. The key takeaway is that losing overall body weight is the most powerful way to improve metabolic health, more so than trying to target specific body areas for fat loss. Men tended to lose more weight and percentage of fat than women in this study, but both sexes saw significant benefits.

Whey protein supplementation accelerates the recovery of muscle contractile function (strength/torque) following resistance training, with small-to-medium effects observed between 24 and 96 hours post-exercise.

Take 25g of whey protein after your resistance training session to help your muscles regain strength faster over the next 24-96 hours. Note that this helps your strength return, but it may not stop you from feeling sore or lower inflammation markers.

Excessive consumption of free sugars, particularly from sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and high-fructose corn syrup, negatively impacts human health by promoting obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cognitive impairment through mechanisms like insulin resistance, de novo lipogenesis, and neuroinflammation.

To protect your metabolic and cognitive health, prioritize reducing free sugars, especially from sugar-sweetened beverages and high-fructose corn syrup. Aim for less than 5% of your daily calories from added sugars (approx. 25g for women, 36g for men, per AHA/WHO). Focus on whole food sources of carbohydrates (vegetables, whole grains, whole fruits) which provide fiber and nutrients, rather than isolated sugars. This helps mitigate risks of insulin resistance, liver fat accumulation, and cognitive decline.

Achieving a weight loss of ≥5% is clinically meaningful for improving cardiometabolic risk factors and is the threshold for FDA approval of anti-obesity medications, though greater losses (≥10-15%) are required for remission of conditions like type 2 diabetes and NASH.

Aim for a 5% weight loss as a primary, achievable goal to significantly improve your heart health and metabolic markers. If you have specific conditions like Type 2 Diabetes or NASH, discuss with your doctor if a higher target (10-15%) is needed for remission, but do not let the higher target discourage you from starting with the 5% goal, which brings substantial health benefits.

The barbell hip thrust elicits significantly greater electromyographic (EMG) activity in the gluteus maximus and biceps femoris compared to the back squat when performed at estimated 10-repetition maximum loads.

If your goal is to maximize glute and hamstring growth, include barbell hip thrusts in your routine. They activate these muscles significantly more than back squats do when using similar relative loads. You do not need to replace squats entirely, as both exercises activate the quadriceps similarly, but adding hip thrusts provides superior stimulus for the posterior chain.

Lifestyle-based weight loss interventions (diet and physical activity) for adults with type 2 diabetes achieve modest but statistically significant reductions in body weight and HbA1c compared to usual care.

Engage in structured lifestyle interventions focusing on diet and physical activity. While the average weight loss is modest (around 3-5 kg), it is statistically significant and improves health markers like HbA1c. Consistency is key, as maintenance of these effects is difficult and requires ongoing effort.

The combination of low-dose phentermine and extended-release topiramate produces significantly greater weight loss (up to 10.9%) than monotherapies or placebo, with a favorable benefit-risk profile regarding cardiovascular events despite increased heart rate.

Phentermine/topiramate is a highly effective combination drug for weight loss, achieving nearly 11% loss in high-dose users. It works by suppressing appetite and increasing energy expenditure. You start with a low dose and titrate up. If you don't lose at least 3-5% in 12 weeks, stop. Be aware of potential cognitive side effects like memory issues or tingling, and monitor your heart rate.

GLP-1 receptor agonists, specifically liraglutide, produce significant weight loss in obese patients with or without type 2 diabetes, representing a repositioning strategy for obesity treatment.

GLP-1 agonists like liraglutide help with weight loss by suppressing appetite. They are used in both diabetic and non-diabetic obese patients. The average weight loss is around 2.9 kg more than control groups in meta-analyses.

Performing resistance training through a full range of motion (ROM) confers beneficial effects on hypertrophy of the lower body musculature compared to partial ROM.

For building lower body muscle, prioritize exercises that allow you to move through a full range of motion (e.g., full squats, full leg presses). While partial ROM can be useful, current evidence suggests full ROM is superior for overall muscle growth in the legs. Ensure you are training 2-3 times per week with sufficient volume.

Lifestyle interventions, specifically a Mediterranean diet and 150-300 minutes of moderate or 75-150 minutes of vigorous exercise weekly, are recommended to induce weight loss and improve cardiovascular risk factors in patients with Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD).

Adopt a Mediterranean-style diet focused on reducing total calories, saturated fats, and processed sugars while increasing intake of fish, vegetables, nuts, and fiber. Combine this with at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise (like brisk walking) or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week. Aim for a 5-10% reduction in body weight to significantly improve liver health and cardiovascular risk.

Bariatric surgery provides superior weight loss and type 2 diabetes remission compared to non-surgical treatments across all obesity severities and follow-up durations.

For individuals with obesity (BMI > 30) who have not achieved sustained results with lifestyle changes, bariatric surgery is clinically superior to non-surgical methods for achieving significant weight loss and remission of type 2 diabetes, regardless of how severe the obesity is or how long the follow-up period is.

Combining resistance exercise with high-quality protein ingestion (specifically whey) induces a synergistic increase in muscle protein synthesis and net positive protein balance, effectively counteracting age-related sarcopenia.

To build or maintain muscle as you age, combine resistance exercise with protein. You don't need to lift extremely heavy weights; lifting lighter weights to the point of fatigue or doing more sets works just as well and is safer. Eat about 20-40 grams of high-quality protein (like whey, chicken, or soy) with each meal, especially around your workouts. Don't rely on leucine supplements alone; focus on whole protein sources.

Older adults exhibit 'anabolic resistance,' requiring a higher threshold of protein (approx. 20-40g) per meal to maximally stimulate muscle protein synthesis compared to younger adults.

As you age, your body becomes less efficient at using protein for muscle building. To fix this, aim for 20-40 grams of high-quality protein (like eggs, chicken, or whey) at each meal, rather than saving most of your protein for dinner. This helps your body build and maintain muscle more effectively.

Short-term (3 weeks) high-intensity single-leg cycle training elicits greater improvements in skeletal muscle oxidative potential (COX II/IV) and glucose transport (GLUT-4) compared to double-leg cycling, despite similar performance outcomes.

If you have access to a specialized cycle ergometer with a counterweight system, try single-leg intervals. Perform 3 maximal 4-minute intervals on one leg, rest 6 minutes, then repeat on the other leg. Do this twice a week for 3 weeks. You may see better improvements in your muscle's ability to use oxygen and process glucose compared to standard double-leg cycling, even if your race times don't change immediately.

Increasing physical activity, specifically walking, is a key factor in preventing weight gain and maintaining weight loss, with successful maintainers engaging in approximately one hour of moderate-intensity activity daily.

To prevent weight gain, aim for about 2,000 extra steps a day. If you have lost weight, aim for about an hour of moderate activity daily to maintain it. Use a pedometer to track your progress and integrate walking into your daily routine.

Weight loss is achieved through a negative energy balance, and macronutrient composition (low-carb vs. low-fat) has no major independent impact on weight loss outcomes when caloric deficit is matched.

To lose weight, you must consume fewer calories than you burn. The specific type of diet (low-carb, low-fat, etc.) matters less than maintaining a consistent daily energy deficit of about 500 kcal. Adjust your intake as you lose weight to maintain the deficit.

Structured low-calorie total diet replacement (825–853 kcal/day) for 12–20 weeks followed by food reintroduction can induce remission of type 2 diabetes in a significant subset of patients, defined as HbA1c <48 mmol/mol without diabetic medications.

If you have Type 2 Diabetes and obesity, ask your doctor about a Total Diet Replacement (TDR) program. This involves consuming 825-853 calories a day for 3-5 months using specific meal replacements, followed by a gradual return to solid foods. This approach has been shown to put diabetes into remission for over a third of participants, especially if you lose 10kg or more. It requires medical supervision to adjust your diabetes medications safely.

Bariatric surgery is a safe, effective, and durable treatment for severe obesity in people with Type 2 Diabetes, leading to significant weight loss and high rates of diabetes remission, yet it remains significantly underutilized.

If you have severe obesity and Type 2 Diabetes, bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment for long-term weight loss and diabetes remission. It is recommended for those with a BMI over 35, or over 30 if your diabetes is recent. Despite being safe and effective, it is underused. Discuss with your specialist if you are a candidate, keeping in mind the need for lifelong vitamin supplementation and monitoring.

High-dose GLP-1 receptor agonists (specifically semaglutide 2.4 mg) combined with lifestyle interventions produce significant, sustainable weight loss (-14.9% body weight) and improved glycemic control in patients with diabesity, making them superior to insulin and other antidiabetic agents regarding weight management.

If you have both diabetes and obesity, ask your doctor about GLP-1 agonists like semaglutide (2.4 mg). This treatment, combined with diet and exercise changes, has been shown to help patients lose nearly 15% of their body weight over 68 weeks while also controlling blood sugar. It is often more effective for weight loss than insulin, which tends to cause weight gain. Be aware that you might experience some nausea or vomiting at first, but these symptoms usually go away, and the long-term health benefits are significant.

Weight loss of 15 kg can induce remission of Type 2 Diabetes in approximately 70% of individuals, and even smaller weight losses (5 kg) improve insulin sensitivity and glycemic control, highlighting the primacy of lifestyle interventions in diabesity management.

Losing weight is the most powerful tool for managing Type 2 Diabetes. Losing 15 kg can put diabetes into remission for about 70% of people. Even losing 5 kg improves how your body uses insulin. To succeed, combine dietary changes (like Mediterranean or low-carb diets) with regular exercise. Focus on stepwise, realistic goals rather than quick fixes to ensure long-term success.