Browse the evidence

Lean NAFLD is a distinct phenotype characterized by visceral adiposity and metabolic abnormalities despite normal BMI, and it carries similar cardio-metabolic risks to obese NAFLD.

Being lean does not protect you from fatty liver. If you have visceral fat (belly fat) despite a normal weight, you are at risk for NAFLD and its complications. Focus on reducing visceral fat through exercise and diet, and get screened if you have risk factors like family history or metabolic issues.

Psychological stress induced by pandemic lockdown measures is significantly associated with an increased likelihood of engaging in binge eating and dietary restriction behaviors among university students.

If you are experiencing high stress from lockdown or isolation, be aware that your risk of binge eating or restrictive dieting increases. This is a common reaction to stress and negative affect, not a character flaw. Focus on maintaining social connections and managing stress through non-food means to mitigate this risk.

Pre-existing eating disorder symptoms (SCOFF score ≥2) are the strongest predictor of both binge eating episodes and dietary restriction during lockdown.

If you have a history of eating disorder symptoms, lockdown stress poses a significantly higher risk for relapse into binge eating or restriction. Prioritize screening and seek targeted psychological interventions or counseling to manage these risks effectively during stressful periods.

Greater exposure to COVID-19-related media is associated with increased dietary restriction intentions and binge eating intentions, but not necessarily past-week restriction behaviors.

High exposure to pandemic-related media is linked to increased intentions to restrict food or binge eat. To mitigate this, limit your consumption of pandemic news and focus on positive or neutral content to reduce anxiety-driven eating behaviors.

Consumer-grade wearable sleep-tracking devices (e.g., smartwatches, rings) provide sleep data that is comparable to or superior to traditional actigraphy when validated against polysomnography (PSG), primarily due to the integration of photoplethysmography (PPG) and machine learning algorithms.

For sleep research, modern consumer wearables (smartwatches/rings) are now more accurate than traditional actigraphy for estimating sleep stages, provided you account for their limitations in specific populations (e.g., obesity, darker skin). Do not assume 'research-grade' labels guarantee accuracy without validation; validate the specific device against PSG for your target population.

Females exhibit greater susceptibility to disuse-induced muscle atrophy compared to males, evidenced by faster onset of muscle loss and greater percent loss of oxidative (Type I) muscle mass during conditions like hindlimb unloading or ICU bed rest.

If you are female, be aware that your muscles may waste away faster than a male's during periods of inactivity (like bed rest or casting). This is partly because you naturally have more 'slow-twitch' muscle fibers, which are more vulnerable to disuse. Prioritize early, gentle movement or specific resistance strategies sooner than you might expect, as your body is biologically predisposed to lose this muscle type faster.

Dietary fiber and probiotic-induced short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) reduce blood pressure and improve vascular health through G-protein coupled receptor signaling and histone deacetylase inhibition.

Increase your intake of dietary fiber and consider probiotics to boost short-chain fatty acid production. This metabolic shift activates specific receptors (GPR41/43) and enzymes that help lower blood pressure and improve vascular function. Focus on non-starch polysaccharides and low-digestible saccharides found in whole plant foods.

Elevated plasma levels of Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, thrombosis, and atherosclerosis, primarily through platelet hyper-reactivity and macrophage scavenger receptor stimulation.

High levels of TMAO, produced when gut bacteria metabolize choline and carnitine from foods like red meat and eggs, are linked to higher cardiovascular risk and blood clotting. To mitigate this, balance your intake of these foods with high-fiber diets that may alter microbiota composition, and monitor TMAO levels if you have existing cardiovascular risk factors.

Visceral adiposity, rather than overall body mass index (BMI), is the critical driver of metabolic syndrome comorbidities, including insulin resistance and cardiovascular risk.

Do not rely on BMI alone to assess your health risk. Waist circumference is a better indicator of visceral fat, which drives metabolic syndrome. Even if you are lean, high abdominal fat increases your risk for diabetes and heart disease.

Letrozole is the first-line pharmacological treatment for anovulatory infertility in women with PCOS, offering higher live birth and clinical pregnancy rates compared to Clomiphene Citrate (CC).

If you have PCOS and are struggling with infertility due to lack of ovulation, Letrozole is now the preferred first medication. It works better than the older drug Clomiphene (CC) and has a lower risk of twins and complications. It is often used off-label, so discuss this with your doctor.

Short-term circadian misalignment (simulated night shift) significantly reduces skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity in healthy young men, primarily by decreasing nonoxidative glucose disposal.

If you work night shifts or have an irregular schedule, your body's ability to process glucose in your muscles is impaired, even if you get enough sleep and eat the same amount of food. This happens because your internal biological clock is out of sync with your behavior. To mitigate this, try to keep your meal and sleep times as consistent as possible relative to your work schedule, and be aware that your risk for insulin resistance is higher during periods of circadian disruption.

High-dose long-chain corn bran arabinoxylan supplementation increases fecal propionate concentrations in adults with overweight and obesity, driven by specific shifts in gut microbiota composition (Bifidobacterium longum, Bacteroides obeum, and Prevotella succinatutens) rather than baseline microbiota.

If you have overweight or obesity, adding high-dose corn bran arabinoxylan (25-35g/day) can boost beneficial gut bacteria that produce propionate, a metabolite linked to metabolic health. However, results vary by person; your specific gut bacteria determine if and how much propionate you produce. Consistency is key, as effects were seen within one week.

Specific nutrient intake accelerates the gastric emptying of that specific nutrient (e.g., glucose accelerates glucose emptying, fat accelerates fat emptying) through desensitization of intestinal feedback mechanisms.

If you need to absorb glucose quickly, train your stomach by consuming high glucose loads regularly. Similarly, high-fat diets accelerate fat emptying. This specificity means you should match your training nutrition to your race nutrition strategy.

Consuming 50g of extra virgin coconut oil daily for 4 weeks does not significantly increase LDL cholesterol compared to extra virgin olive oil, whereas butter significantly increases LDL cholesterol compared to both oils.

If you are replacing butter with coconut oil in your diet, you likely will not see a negative spike in your LDL cholesterol, and it may behave similarly to olive oil in this regard. However, coconut oil does raise HDL (good cholesterol) more than olive oil or butter. It is not a free pass to eat unlimited fat, but it is not as detrimental to LDL as butter.

Consuming 50g of extra virgin coconut oil daily for 4 weeks significantly increases HDL cholesterol compared to butter and olive oil.

You can expect your HDL (good cholesterol) to rise if you switch to coconut oil, more so than if you eat butter or olive oil. However, because coconut oil does not lower LDL (unlike olive oil) and butter raises it, the overall cardiovascular benefit is not clear-cut.

A two-year dietary intervention significantly slows epigenetic aging as measured by the DNAmGrimAge biomarker in healthy postmenopausal women.

Adopting a diet rich in plant foods, whole grains, and vegetables while reducing meat, cakes, and saturated fats can significantly slow biological aging in postmenopausal women. You do not need extreme restrictions; consistent, moderate improvements in dietary quality over two years are sufficient to see measurable epigenetic benefits.

A two-year physical activity intervention significantly reduces the Epigenetic Mutation Load (EML) in healthy postmenopausal women.

Increasing your regular recreational physical activity over two years can significantly reduce your Epigenetic Mutation Load, a marker associated with cancer risk and aging. You do not need to be an elite athlete; simply increasing your daily movement has measurable biological benefits.

The kidney benefits of semaglutide are largely mediated by weight loss, although direct GLP-1 receptor effects on the kidney may also contribute.

While semaglutide has direct kidney-protective properties, most of its benefit comes from the weight loss it induces. Therefore, maintaining weight loss is crucial for sustaining kidney protection.

Vegetarian and vegan diets are associated with a significantly lower risk of ischaemic heart disease compared to meat-eating diets, primarily mediated by lower body mass index, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels.

Adopting a vegetarian or vegan diet is associated with a lower risk of heart disease compared to eating meat. This benefit appears to be linked to lower body weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels often found in vegetarians. You do not need to eliminate all animal products to see benefits; fish eaters also showed reduced risk.

Engaging in high volumes of physical activity (up to 5000 MET min/week, approx. 10-12 hours of vigorous activity weekly) is associated with lower all-cause and cardiovascular mortality risk compared to recommended levels, with no evidence of increased mortality risk at these high volumes.

If you are already active, you do not need to worry that increasing your exercise volume to 10-12 hours of vigorous activity per week will harm your longevity. The data shows that doing significantly more than the standard recommendation continues to be associated with lower mortality risk, with no identified 'danger zone' for lifespan within these high volumes.

Accelerated metabolomic aging (mAA) is significantly associated with overweight/obesity, heavy alcohol use, diabetes, and depression, indicating that metabolic dysregulation accelerates biological aging markers.

Your biological age, as measured by metabolic markers, speeds up if you have obesity, diabetes, or drink heavily. This isn't just about looking older; it's about physiological decline. Managing weight, limiting alcohol, and controlling blood sugar are direct interventions to slow this specific type of biological aging.

Polysaccharides isolated from specific macrofungi (e.g., Ganoderma lucidum, Grifola frondosa, Pleurotus ostreatus) exhibit specific bioactivities including antitumor, immunomodulatory, and hypoglycemic effects.

If seeking specific health benefits, look for supplements containing specific mushroom polysaccharides (like Lentinan from Shiitake or Beta-Glucans from Reishi) rather than generic mushroom powder, as the specific structure determines the biological effect.

Treatment with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) is associated with a reduced incidence of dementia in patients with type 2 diabetes.

If you have Type 2 Diabetes, discuss GLP-1 receptor agonists (like liraglutide or semaglutide) with your doctor. This paper suggests these medications may lower your risk of developing dementia compared to other diabetes treatments. This is particularly relevant if you are at high cardiovascular risk.

Adherence to a healthful plant-based diet is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), specifically myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke, independent of genetic predisposition.

If you have a family history of heart disease, adopting a diet rich in whole plant foods (grains, fruits, veggies, nuts, legumes) and low in processed foods and animal products can still significantly lower your risk of heart attack and stroke.