Browse the evidence

Higher levels of physical activity significantly reduce the prospective risk of incident depression, with effects persisting across age groups and geographic regions.

To lower your risk of depression, aim for higher levels of physical activity. This doesn't necessarily mean intense gym sessions; regular movement, including walking, cycling, or swimming, has been shown to reduce the risk of developing depression across all age groups. Consistency matters more than intensity for this preventive benefit.

The addition of orlistat or sibutramine to a weight maintenance diet is associated with significant weight loss and generally improved cardiovascular risk factors in adults with obesity.

If you have obesity, adding orlistat or sibutramine to a weight maintenance diet can help you lose about 3-3.4 kg over 1.5-2 years and improve risk factors like cholesterol, though sibutramine may not help diastolic blood pressure.

Low-fat diets are associated with continuing weight loss for up to 3 years, prevention of type 2 diabetes, and improved control of hypertension.

Adopting a low-fat diet, potentially with a 600 kcal/day deficit, can help you lose about 5.3 kg in the first year and continue losing weight for up to 3 years, while helping prevent type 2 diabetes and control hypertension.

Adding exercise or behavior therapy to a diet improves weight loss and risk factors for at least 1 year.

Combine your diet with exercise or behavior therapy to get better weight loss and risk factor improvements for at least a year compared to diet alone.

Regular physical activity in older adults (aged 60+) significantly reduces all-cause mortality, with each additional 15 minutes of daily activity up to 100 minutes per day resulting in a 4% decrease in mortality risk.

If you are over 60, aim to add 15 minutes of daily physical activity to your routine. You do not need to reach 100 minutes to see benefits; every 15-minute increment you add reduces your risk of death by 4%. Start small and build up.

Higher levels of leisure-time physical activity are associated with a significantly reduced risk of developing colon cancer in men, with those in the highest activity quintile having approximately half the risk of those in the lowest.

Engage in regular leisure-time physical activity to lower your risk of colon cancer. You do not need to be an elite athlete; the study shows that even moderate activity levels (equivalent to about 1 hour of running or 3 hours of walking per week) are associated with a significantly reduced risk compared to being sedentary.

High intake of trans fatty acids (partially hydrogenated vegetable fats) increases the risk of coronary heart disease by lowering HDL and raising LDL and lipoprotein(a).

Avoid foods made with 'partially hydrogenated oils' on the ingredient list. These trans fats are particularly harmful to heart health because they lower good cholesterol and raise bad cholesterol. Choose whole foods and minimally processed oils instead.

High consumption of vegetables and fruits is associated with a significantly reduced risk of various cancers, including lung, stomach, colon, and oral cancers, primarily due to micronutrients like carotenoids, vitamin C, and folic acid.

Aim to eat at least five servings of vegetables and fruits every day, focusing on a variety of colors. This habit is strongly linked to a lower risk of many cancers. Prioritize whole foods over supplements to get the full spectrum of protective nutrients.

Adapting Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) elements—specifically stimulus control, sleep restriction, and cognitive interventions—is the primary effective treatment for managing sleep problems during home confinement, with pharmacotherapy reserved only for short-term use when CBT-I is ineffective or unavailable.

Treat your sleep like a skill, not a switch. Go to bed only when you are sleepy, and get up at the same time every day, regardless of how much you slept. If you can't sleep, get out of bed and do something boring in dim light until you are sleepy again. Do not work, eat, or watch TV in bed. If stress is keeping you up, schedule 15 minutes earlier in the day to write down your worries, so they don't interfere with night-time sleep. Reserve medication for severe, short-term cases only, and only after trying these behavioral steps.

Consumption of plant sterols or stanols lowers plasma total and LDL cholesterol levels by competing with cholesterol for absorption in the gut.

To lower cholesterol, include foods enriched with plant sterols or stanols (like specific margarines or mayonnaises) in your diet. These compounds work by blocking cholesterol absorption. While effective for lowering LDL (10-15%), they are not a replacement for prescribed medication if you have high cardiovascular risk, and excessive absorption of regular sterols can be problematic for certain genetic conditions.

Structured cardiac prevention and rehabilitation programs significantly reduce all-cause and cardiac mortality in coronary patients compared to standard care.

If you have coronary disease, ask your doctor for a referral to a structured cardiac rehabilitation program. These programs combine exercise, diet, and smoking cessation advice, and are proven to save lives compared to standard care alone. Do not wait for symptoms to worsen; access is a key part of secondary prevention.

Aerobic endurance training favorably affects concomitant cardiovascular risk factors, including reducing body weight, body fat, waist circumference, and insulin resistance, while increasing HDL cholesterol.

Regular aerobic exercise helps you lose a small amount of weight and body fat, reduces belly fat, and improves how your body handles insulin. These changes contribute to better overall heart health, even if the weight loss isn't dramatic.

Higher levels of physical activity reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events, with the magnitude of risk reduction (30-50%) being comparable to not smoking, mediated substantially by improvements in inflammatory/hemostatic biomarkers and blood pressure.

Aim for at least 600 to 1500 kilocalories of moderate-intensity physical activity per week (roughly 2 to 5 hours of brisk walking or similar activity). This level of activity is associated with a 27% to 41% reduction in cardiovascular disease risk compared to being sedentary. The benefit comes largely from improvements in blood pressure and inflammatory markers, not just weight loss. You do not need extreme exercise to see significant health benefits; consistency with moderate activity is key.

Habitual consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) increases the incidence of type 2 diabetes independently of obesity status, with an estimated 13% increased risk per serving per day after adjusting for adiposity.

Drinking sugar-sweetened beverages increases your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, even if you maintain a healthy weight. To lower your risk, reduce or eliminate SSBs, as switching to artificially sweetened options does not appear to offer a safe alternative for diabetes prevention.

Supervised resistance exercise training significantly increases muscle strength and functional capacity in frail elderly individuals, demonstrating that physical frailty is not an irreversible consequence of aging.

If you or a loved one is experiencing frailty or loss of strength, do not accept it as inevitable. Supervised resistance training (approx. 45 mins, 3x/week) can significantly restore muscle strength and mobility, even in nursing home residents in their 80s. The key is consistency and supervision to overcome the high dropout rates typical of self-directed exercise.

Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages contributes to a substantial number of new type 2 diabetes cases in the USA and UK, estimated at 1.8 million and 79,000 excess events over 10 years, respectively.

On a population level, reducing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption could prevent approximately 1.8 million new diabetes cases in the USA and 79,000 in the UK over a decade. This highlights the importance of public health policies aimed at reducing SSB availability and consumption.

Switching to a high-fiber, low-fat diet reduces colonic mucosal proliferation and inflammation biomarkers, thereby lowering colon cancer risk.

Adopting a diet high in fiber (especially resistant starch) and low in animal fat and protein can rapidly reduce biological markers of colon cancer risk. This involves shifting away from Western-style diets toward traditional African-style diets rich in plant fibers.

Direct supplementation of EPA and DHA is significantly more effective for increasing their levels in the body than consuming their precursor, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), due to inefficient conversion rates in humans.

If you are not eating fatty fish regularly, do not rely solely on plant sources like flaxseed or walnuts (ALA) to get your omega-3s. Your body converts ALA to EPA and DHA very poorly. To ensure adequate levels for heart and brain health, consider direct supplementation with EPA and DHA, such as from fish oil or algae oil.

Weight loss, particularly through bariatric surgery or intentional lifestyle changes, significantly reduces the incidence of obesity-related cancers.

If you are obese, achieving and maintaining significant weight loss (e.g., >10kg) can cut your risk of postmenopausal breast cancer by half. This applies to both surgical and lifestyle-induced weight loss.

Moderate to high levels of physical activity reduce the risk of functional limitations and disability in older adults (aged 65-85) by approximately 50% compared to sedentary levels.

To maintain independence as you age, aim for at least moderate physical activity. This means activities like brisk walking or gardening for 30 minutes, 3-5 days a week, or engaging in more vigorous exercises. Simply doing light daily tasks is likely insufficient to significantly lower your risk of becoming functionally limited.

Vigorous physical activity reduces the risk of limitations in higher-level performance outcomes (e.g., stair climbing, walking distance) in older adults.

If you want to maintain the ability to perform complex tasks like climbing stairs or walking long distances, incorporate vigorous activity into your routine. This level of exertion is specifically linked to preserving these higher-level functions.

Regular aerobic activity and short-term exercise programs (aerobic and resistance) improve physiological and functional measures in older adults.

Engaging in structured exercise programs, whether aerobic or resistance-based, leads to immediate improvements in physical function and fitness, which may help delay mobility disability over time.

Structured Internet behavioral weight loss programs with weekly therapist contact and individualized feedback produce significantly greater initial weight loss and waist circumference reduction compared to providing access to educational web resources alone.

To lose weight using internet technology, you need more than just information. You need a structured program that includes weekly lessons, regular self-monitoring of your diet and activity, and direct, personalized feedback from a therapist. This approach was shown to be significantly more effective than just having links to weight loss websites.

Dietary carbohydrate restriction is the most effective first-line intervention for reducing blood glucose and HbA1c in type 2 diabetes, often allowing for medication reduction or elimination without requiring weight loss.

To manage Type 2 Diabetes effectively, restrict carbohydrates to 20-50 grams per day. This approach directly lowers blood glucose and HbA1c, often allowing you to reduce or eliminate diabetes medications. You do not need to lose weight to see these metabolic benefits, although weight loss often occurs. Monitor your blood sugar closely and work with your doctor to adjust medications as your levels improve.