Browse the evidence

Combining diet and exercise is preferable to diet alone because it preserves fat-free mass and improves cardiorespiratory fitness, whereas diet alone reduces fat-free mass.

If you are losing weight postpartum, combine diet with exercise. Dieting alone might cause you to lose muscle mass, while adding exercise helps maintain your muscle and improves your heart health, making the weight loss more beneficial for your long-term health.

Post-exercise ingestion of carbohydrate combined with protein and free leucine significantly increases mixed muscle fractional synthetic rate and whole-body net protein balance compared to carbohydrate alone.

After resistance training, consume a drink containing carbohydrates and protein within the recovery window. Adding extra leucine (or using a whey protein source, which is naturally high in leucine) alongside carbohydrates maximizes muscle protein synthesis and shifts your body into a net positive protein balance, whereas carbohydrates alone are insufficient to stop muscle breakdown.

Moderate-protein diets (30% energy) combined with carbohydrate restriction (40%) and fat restriction (30%) produce greater fat mass loss, better body composition, and higher long-term adherence compared to conventional high-carbohydrate diets (15% protein, 55% carbohydrates).

To lose fat and keep it off, shift your plate to 30% protein, 40% carbs, and 30% fat. This ratio increases satiety and helps you stick to the diet longer than traditional low-fat, high-carb plans. Ensure you are healthy (no kidney issues) before making this change.

Reducing dietary carbohydrate intake improves the atherogenic dyslipidemia profile (lowering triglycerides and small LDL particles) in individuals with metabolic syndrome or insulin resistance, whereas altering total or saturated fat content has little to no effect on this specific lipid phenotype.

If you have metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, or high triglycerides, your primary dietary lever is carbohydrate reduction, not fat restriction. Lowering carbs significantly improves your lipid profile by reducing small, dense LDL particles and triglycerides. Changing the amount or type of fat in your diet (saturated vs. unsaturated) has minimal impact on this specific risk profile. Focus on reducing carbohydrates to improve your atherogenic dyslipidemia.

Regular, supervised, individualized exercise (aerobic, resistance, balance, or combined) is safe and effective for improving cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength, fatigue, and quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), without triggering disease exacerbation.

Start with a medical screening to ensure safety. Begin with low-to-moderate intensity aerobic exercise (like walking or cycling) for 10-40 minutes, 2-5 times a week. Add resistance training 2-3 times a week using machines for safety. If you get hot or tired, use cooling strategies (fans, cool water) and take breaks. Focus on consistency and gradual progression rather than intensity. Consult a specialist to tailor the program to your specific disability level.

Physical exercise is the only therapeutic strategy currently shown to have a positive effect in managing and preventing sarcopenia and its adverse health outcomes.

If you are older and losing muscle, exercise is the only proven way to fight back. Focus on progressive resistance training. Hormones and supplements are not currently proven to work for this specific condition.

A 12-week home-based program of heavy-load eccentric calf muscle exercises significantly reduces pain and improves function in patients with mid-portion Achilles tendinopathy, with effects persisting for at least one year.

If you have mid-portion Achilles tendon pain, start a home-based eccentric calf exercise program. Perform 3 sets of 15 repetitions, twice daily, focusing on lowering your heel slowly below the level of your forefoot. Do this with both straight and bent knees. Expect some muscle soreness in the first week, which should decrease. Continue this for 12 weeks. This approach is more effective than using a night splint alone for reducing pain and returning to sports.

Adherence to the DASH diet is associated with greater weight loss and weight maintenance compared to standard diets, particularly when combined with behavioral interventions.

Follow the DASH diet principles: eat more fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy, and less red meat and sugar. This approach helps with both weight loss and keeping the weight off, especially when combined with behavioral strategies like tracking intake.

Microalgae species such as Chlorella vulgaris and Arthrospira platensis provide high-quality protein with essential amino acid scores (AAS) equal to or exceeding those of animal-derived proteins, making them viable alternatives for human nutrition.

If you are looking for a high-quality protein source, consider microalgae like Chlorella or Spirulina. They contain all essential amino acids in amounts that meet or exceed the requirements for human health, rivaling the quality of animal proteins. This makes them a sustainable and effective option for meeting your daily protein needs.

Weight loss interventions (calorie-restricted diet, intragastric balloon, bariatric surgery) significantly improve lung function parameters (ERV, FRC, TLC) and reduce metabolic syndrome in obese individuals.

If you are obese and experiencing breathing difficulties or reduced lung capacity, losing weight is the most effective way to reverse these specific physical impairments. You do not need to reach a 'normal' BMI to see benefits; even modest weight loss through diet, medical devices like intragastric balloons, or surgery can significantly improve your lung volumes (ERV, FRC) and reduce the mechanical load on your respiratory muscles. Focus on any sustainable weight loss strategy, as the pulmonary benefits are directly proportional to the reduction in excess adipose tissue.

Consuming dietary protein at 1.6 g/kg/day (2x RDA) during a 40% energy deficit preserves fat-free mass and maintains muscle protein synthesis sensitivity to feeding, whereas 2.4 g/kg/day (3x RDA) provides no additional fat-free mass protection.

If you are losing weight, aim for 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily. This amount is sufficient to protect your muscle mass while you lose fat. Eating significantly more (e.g., 2.4 g/kg) does not provide additional muscle protection and may be unnecessary. Ensure you are in a moderate caloric deficit and maintain your usual activity level.

During an energy deficit, muscle protein synthesis (MPS) sensitivity to feeding is preserved with 2x and 3x RDA protein intake, but is inhibited with RDA protein intake.

When cutting calories, your body's ability to use protein for muscle building can be blunted if you don't eat enough protein. Ensure you consume at least 1.6g/kg of protein daily to keep your muscles responsive to meals and prevent muscle loss.

Higher consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) is positively associated with increased body weight and BMI in both children and adults, based on prospective cohort studies and randomized controlled trials.

To manage weight, reduce or eliminate sugar-sweetened beverages. The evidence shows a consistent positive link between SSB intake and weight gain/BMI in both children and adults. Replacing SSBs with water or other non-caloric beverages is a recommended public health strategy.

Monetary subsidies (price discounts or vouchers) on healthier foods significantly increase the purchase and consumption of those promoted products in field settings.

To increase healthy food consumption, implement price discounts (at least 10%) or vouchers (at least $7.50) on fruits, vegetables, and low-fat snacks. These subsidies are effective across various settings (cafeterias, supermarkets, vending machines) and populations. While effects may vary, substantial financial incentives are required to overcome the high cost barrier of healthy foods.

Caffeine ingestion of 3-6 mg/kg body mass improves sport-specific endurance performance (time-trial >5 minutes) by approximately 3.2% on average, primarily through central adenosine receptor antagonism.

To get the most out of caffeine for endurance events, consume 3-6 mg per kg of body weight. You can take it before or during the event, and it works whether you take it in a capsule, water, or a sports drink. Crucially, if you drink coffee or soda daily, you need to stop completely for 7 days before your race to reset your brain's caffeine sensitivity. Do not exceed 6 mg/kg, as higher doses offer no extra benefit and increase side effects.

Higher self-efficacy for eating and exercise behaviors prospectively predicts greater engagement in weight control behaviors (adherence, effort, monitoring) during active treatment, which in turn mediates weight loss.

Your confidence in your ability to stick to your plan matters, but only because it drives your actual actions. To lose weight, you must build self-efficacy by successfully executing specific behaviors like monitoring calories and sticking to exercise plans. The paper proves that self-efficacy only leads to weight loss if it translates into these concrete actions; believing you can do it is not enough—you must do it.

Postprandial glucose response to identical meals varies significantly between individuals, suggesting that personalized nutrition based on glycemic response is more effective than standardized dietary guidelines focused solely on macronutrient composition.

Generic dietary advice (like 'low carb') may not work for everyone. Your body's response to specific foods (e.g., milk/cereal vs. protein bars) varies. Using CGM to test your response to specific foods can help you identify which foods cause severe glucose spikes for you personally, allowing for personalized nutrition.

A stage-matched behavioral intervention (Pathways To Change) significantly increases the likelihood of patients moving to action/maintenance stages for self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG), healthy eating, and smoking cessation compared to Treatment As Usual (TAU).

If you or your patients are not ready to make big changes, standard advice often fails. Use a staged approach that meets them at their current level of readiness (precontemplation, contemplation, or preparation) with tailored feedback and support, rather than generic education. This increases the likelihood of actually adopting self-monitoring, healthy eating, or smoking cessation.

Moving to an action stage for Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose (SMBG) and healthy eating leads to a significant reduction in HbA1c, whereas intention-to-treat analysis of the intervention alone did not reach statistical significance.

Simply receiving education or tools does not guarantee better blood sugar control. The benefit to HbA1c comes specifically from the act of testing more frequently and eating healthier. Focus on helping patients actually perform these behaviors to see metabolic improvements.

Providing free blood glucose testing strips significantly increases the frequency of SMBG and the likelihood of moving to the action stage, particularly when combined with a behavioral intervention.

Financial barriers to testing supplies can prevent patients from monitoring their blood sugar. Providing free strips significantly increases testing frequency and helps patients move from 'thinking about changing' to 'actually doing it,' especially when paired with behavioral support.

An intensive lifestyle intervention combining individualized dietary advice (reduced saturated fat, increased fiber) and increased physical activity significantly reduces body weight and improves glucose tolerance, blood pressure, and serum triglycerides in overweight individuals with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) compared to general health advice.

If you are overweight and have impaired glucose tolerance, a structured lifestyle program focusing on losing 5-10 kg, eating more fiber and less saturated fat, and increasing physical activity can significantly improve your blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. This approach is feasible and can be managed with regular support from healthcare professionals, potentially delaying or preventing type 2 diabetes.

In postmenopausal women with vitamin D insufficiency, a daily vitamin D3 dose of 800 IU (with adequate calcium) raises serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels above 50 nmol/L in 97.5% of the population, meeting the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA).

If you are a postmenopausal woman with low vitamin D levels, taking 800 IU of Vitamin D3 daily along with adequate calcium (1200-1400 mg total) will raise your blood levels above the recommended threshold for nearly everyone in your demographic. You do not need extremely high doses; levels plateau around 3200 IU, making 800 IU the efficient target.

Using a smartphone application to track steps and set goals significantly increases daily physical activity (step count) compared to receiving standard physical activity advice alone.

Download a free step-tracking app on your smartphone. Set a daily goal of 10,000 steps. Carry your phone with you during waking hours. The app will automatically track your steps and show you your progress. This simple intervention can increase your daily step count by over 1,000 steps compared to just being told to exercise more.

A calorie-restricted vegetarian diet improves insulin sensitivity and reduces visceral fat more effectively than a conventional diabetic diet in patients with Type 2 diabetes, with benefits augmented by aerobic exercise.

For Type 2 diabetes management, switching to a calorie-restricted vegetarian diet (focusing on vegetables, grains, legumes, fruits, and nuts, with minimal low-fat dairy) can improve insulin sensitivity and reduce visceral fat more effectively than standard diabetic diets. Adding aerobic exercise enhances these benefits. The study provided all meals, suggesting that structured support is key to adherence.