Browse the evidence

Exercise training produces significant weight loss (1.5–3.5 kg) and fat loss (1.3–2.6 kg) in adults with overweight or obesity, with no significant difference between aerobic and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) when energy expenditure is equalized.

To lose weight, you need to create a caloric deficit through exercise. Both moderate-intensity continuous training (like brisk walking) and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) work equally well for weight and fat loss, provided you burn the same amount of energy. Choose the intensity that you enjoy and can sustain long-term, as adherence is key.

Exercise training, particularly aerobic and HIIT, leads to significant loss of visceral adipose tissue, which may provide cardiometabolic health benefits.

Exercise helps reduce dangerous visceral fat, which improves heart health. Both aerobic and high-intensity exercises are effective for this.

Resistance training at moderate-to-high intensity is advised to preserve lean body mass during weight loss in adults with overweight or obesity.

If you are dieting to lose weight, include resistance training (weights or bodyweight) at moderate-to-high intensity. This prevents your body from burning muscle for fuel, ensuring you lose fat, not muscle. Aerobic exercise alone is not sufficient for this purpose.

High-intensity endurance training (≥70% VO2max or HRmax for 30-minutes, 3-4x/week) or interval training is more effective for body composition changes than low-to-moderate intensity steady-state exercise.

If you prefer cardio, make it count by increasing the intensity. Aim for 30 minutes, 3-4 times a week, at 70% of your max heart rate or VO2 max, or try interval training. This is more effective for fat loss and muscle retention than long, slow, steady-state cardio.

Once-weekly semaglutide 2.4 mg significantly improves control of eating (specifically craving control and craving for savory foods) and sustains these improvements over 104 weeks, facilitating substantial weight loss in adults with overweight or obesity.

If you struggle with food cravings and hunger, especially when trying to lose weight, semaglutide 2.4 mg can help. It improves your ability to control what and how much you eat, particularly cravings for savory foods, and this effect lasts for at least two years. This helps you lose more weight and keep it off compared to lifestyle changes alone.

Regular endurance exercise combined with a low-fat, energy-appropriate diet is the most effective strategy for achieving and maintaining energy balance.

For sustainable weight management, combine regular endurance exercise with a diet that is low in fat and appropriate in total calories. This combination is presented as the most effective strategy for maintaining energy balance.

A 12-week multifaceted lifestyle intervention combining High-Intensity Intermittent Exercise (HIIE), a Mediterranean diet (Mediet), and daily omega-3 supplementation significantly reduces total body fat, abdominal adiposity, fasting insulin, and inflammatory markers (IL-6) in young overweight women.

For young overweight women, a 12-week program combining 3 days/week of 20-minute high-intensity interval cycling (8s sprint/12s rest), a Mediterranean-style diet, and daily fish oil supplements significantly reduces body fat, abdominal fat, and inflammation markers like IL-6 and insulin. This approach is more effective for fat loss and metabolic improvement than regular aerobic exercise alone.

Twelve weeks of either aerobic or strength training (3 sessions/week, 60-90 mins) significantly reduces body weight and BMI in overweight/obese young adults without dietary intervention.

If you are overweight or obese and under 25, committing to 3 hours of exercise per week (either cardio or weights) for 12 weeks will significantly reduce your weight and BMI, even if you don't change your diet. Supervision and progressive intensity help maintain adherence.

Aerobic training is superior to strength training for reducing total body fat mass and body fat percentage in overweight/obese young adults.

If your primary goal is to lose body fat (not just weight), prioritize aerobic exercise (walking, cycling, running) over strength training. While both help, aerobic exercise resulted in significantly greater fat loss in this study.

Semaglutide (GLP-1 receptor agonist) significantly reduces body weight, BMI, and waist circumference in overweight or obese adults, with or without type 2 diabetes, compared to placebo or other glucose-lowering medications.

If you are overweight or obese (BMI ≥24), semaglutide is a highly effective medical intervention for weight loss, working for both diabetic and non-diabetic individuals. It significantly reduces body weight, BMI, and waist circumference compared to placebo. While it can cause gastrointestinal side effects like nausea, serious adverse events are not more common than with a placebo. Be aware that stopping the medication may lead to weight regain, so long-term management and lifestyle changes are crucial.

Semaglutide increases the proportion of patients achieving significant weight loss thresholds (>5%, >10%, >15%, and >20%) compared to control groups.

Semaglutide significantly increases the likelihood of achieving major weight loss milestones (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%) compared to placebo or other treatments.

Cagrilintide-Semaglutide (CagriSema) produces superior weight loss and metabolic improvements compared to monotherapies and placebo in adults with overweight or obesity, with or without type 2 diabetes.

CagriSema is a potent, non-surgical weight loss option that significantly outperforms current GLP-1 monotherapies. It requires weekly (implied) injections and lifestyle changes. Expect transient GI side effects that usually subside. It is suitable for those with BMI ≥30 (or ≥27 with comorbidities), including those with T2D.

Sustained weight loss (≥10%) achieved through a multidisciplinary lifestyle intervention (low-energy Mediterranean-style diet and increased physical activity) significantly reduces circulating vascular inflammatory markers (IL-6, IL-18, CRP) and increases anti-inflammatory adiponectin in obese women.

To reduce inflammation and cardiovascular risk, obese women should aim for a 10% or greater weight loss using a Mediterranean-style diet (high in complex carbs, fiber, and monounsaturated fats; low in saturated fat) combined with increased physical activity (aiming for ~175 minutes/week). This should be supported by regular professional guidance and self-monitoring to ensure long-term adherence.

In free-living adults consuming ad libitum diets, reducing intake of free sugars or sugar-sweetened beverages causes a statistically significant decrease in body weight, while increasing intake causes a comparable increase.

If you are eating freely without strict calorie counting, reducing your intake of free sugars (added sugars, honey, syrups, fruit juices) will likely lead to modest weight loss (approx. 0.8 kg), while increasing it will lead to weight gain. This happens because sugar does not make you feel full enough to compensate for the calories, leading to higher total energy intake. Replacing sugary drinks with water or unsweetened alternatives is the most effective lever.

Intensive lifestyle intervention targeting 7-10% weight loss through diet, exercise, and behavioral modification significantly improves liver histology (NAS) and steatosis in patients with biopsy-proven NASH.

To improve liver health in NASH, aim for a 7-10% weight loss over 6-12 months using a structured lifestyle program. This involves eating 1000-1500 calories daily with 25% fat, and walking 200 minutes per week. Use tools like pedometers and portion-controlled foods to help adhere to these goals.

Increasing dietary fiber intake by 14 g/day for more than 2 days under ad libitum conditions reduces energy intake by 10% and results in an average body weight loss of 1.9 kg over approximately 3.8 months.

To lose weight without strict calorie counting, simply add 14 grams of fiber to your daily diet for at least two days. This natural increase in fiber reduces your overall calorie intake by about 10% and leads to modest weight loss (approx. 2 kg) over a few months. You can achieve this by swapping refined grains for whole grains and increasing fruit and vegetable consumption.

Increased dietary fiber intake increases postmeal satiety and decreases subsequent hunger, regardless of whether the fiber is soluble or insoluble, or derived from food or supplements.

To feel fuller and eat less, increase your fiber intake. It does not matter if you choose soluble (e.g., oats, fruits) or insoluble (e.g., whole grains) fiber, or if you get it from food or supplements; all forms tend to increase satiety and reduce hunger.

Exercise interventions result in small but significant weight loss in adults with overweight or obesity, with greater reductions achieved when exercise is combined with dietary changes or when exercise intensity is increased.

To lose weight, you must exercise consistently (3-5 days/week for 15-60 minutes). However, exercise alone yields small results. For meaningful weight loss, combine exercise with dietary changes. Increasing the intensity of your exercise will further increase the amount of weight you lose.

Exercise improves cardiovascular risk factors (blood pressure, lipids, glucose) in overweight/obese individuals, even in the absence of significant weight loss.

Even if you do not lose weight, regular exercise will lower your blood pressure, improve your cholesterol profile (specifically increasing HDL and lowering triglycerides), and improve your fasting blood glucose. These are independent benefits of exercise.

A low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet (initially <20 g carbohydrate/day) produces greater weight loss, greater fat mass loss, and improved triglyceride/HDL lipid profiles compared to a low-fat, reduced-calorie diet over 24 weeks in overweight, hyperlipidemic adults.

Follow a strict low-carbohydrate diet (under 20g carbs daily) for 24 weeks. You will likely lose more weight and fat than if you followed a standard low-fat, calorie-restricted diet. Your triglycerides will likely drop and HDL will rise. Monitor your LDL cholesterol, as it may increase in some individuals, but the overall lipid profile often improves. Expect some initial side effects like constipation or headaches, which may be mitigated by hydration and supplements.

A low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet leads to greater decreases in serum triglycerides and greater increases in HDL cholesterol compared to a low-fat diet, while LDL cholesterol changes are not statistically different between groups on average.

If you have high triglycerides or low HDL, a low-carbohydrate diet may improve these markers more effectively than a low-fat diet. While LDL may not change significantly on average, individual responses vary, so regular monitoring is recommended.

In severely obese adults with high prevalence of diabetes or metabolic syndrome, a low-carbohydrate diet (<30g carbs/day) produces more favorable metabolic outcomes (lower triglycerides, preserved HDL, improved HbA1c in diabetics) than a conventional low-fat diet, despite similar weight loss.

If you are severely obese and have diabetes or metabolic syndrome, switching to a very low-carbohydrate diet (under 30g carbs daily) can significantly improve your blood fats and blood sugar control compared to a standard low-fat diet, even if you lose the same amount of weight. This requires strict adherence and likely professional support to maintain.

A very-low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet (VLCKD) produces greater long-term weight loss compared to a conventional low-fat diet (LFD) in overweight or obese adults, with a weighted mean difference of 0.91 kg favoring VLCKD over 12+ months.

If you are overweight or obese, a very-low-carb ketogenic diet (under 50g carbs/day) leads to slightly more weight loss than a standard low-fat diet over the long term (12+ months). While the difference is small (less than 1kg on average), it is statistically significant. You must be willing to restrict carbohydrates significantly.

A combined energy deficit of 500–1000 kcal/day and exercise of 150–300 minutes/week is the recommended standard for effective weight loss and prevention of weight regain in adults.

To lose weight and keep it off, aim to eat 500-1000 calories less than you burn each day. Start with 150 minutes of moderate exercise (like brisk walking) per week. If you want to prevent weight regain, gradually increase your exercise time to 200-300 minutes per week. Focus on reducing dietary fat to under 30% of your total calories. This combination is the most effective strategy for long-term success.