Browse the evidence

Adopting a cluster of healthy health behaviors (high physical activity, never smoking, excellent diet, moderate alcohol consumption) is associated with higher energy vitality, lower psychological distress, better self-rated health, and higher quality of life compared to clusters with multiple risk factors.

Don't try to fix everything at once, but recognize that your habits are linked. If you are physically inactive, you are more likely to smoke or eat poorly. Start by improving one area, like adding moderate activity, as this often correlates with better mental energy and vitality. The goal is to move into a 'healthier cluster' (e.g., becoming a former smoker, eating well, and staying active) rather than optimizing just one metric in isolation.

A home-based, multicomponent diet and exercise intervention delivered via mailed print materials and telephone counseling produces durable improvements in diet quality, physical activity, and body mass index, and slows functional decline in older, overweight/obese cancer survivors.

If you are an older cancer survivor struggling to stay active, this program shows that a home-based plan using mailed guides and phone coaching can help you improve your diet, exercise more, lose weight, and stay independent longer. It works by tailoring the advice to your specific situation and providing regular support, making it easier to stick with than going to a gym.

An 18-month weight loss intervention combining energy restriction and moderate exercise significantly reduces blood pressure in overweight adults with high-normal diastolic blood pressure, with the magnitude of reduction directly proportional to the amount of weight lost.

If you are overweight with high-normal blood pressure, losing weight through a combination of eating less (without going below 1200 calories) and moderate exercise (walking 4-5 times a week) will lower your blood pressure. The more weight you lose, the more your blood pressure drops. This effect is seen in both men and women, though men may lose more weight initially due to higher baseline weight.

High intake of rapidly digestible starches and sugars, particularly fructose, promotes obesity and metabolic disturbances through rapid glucose elevation, hyperinsulinemia, and increased energy intake, whereas resistant and slowly digestible starches improve satiety, insulin sensitivity, and weight management.

Focus on the quality of carbohydrates rather than just quantity. Prioritize whole grains, legumes, and vegetables which contain slowly digestible and resistant starches. These foods promote satiety, stabilize blood sugar, and improve insulin sensitivity. Minimize added sugars, especially fructose and sugar-sweetened beverages, which are linked to obesity and metabolic syndrome. Total energy intake remains the primary driver of weight loss, but carbohydrate quality influences adherence and metabolic health.

Highly processed, fiber-depleted carbohydrate foods lead to rapid digestion and absorption, which is associated with overconsumption and obesity-related diseases, whereas slow-release carbohydrates from unprocessed plant foods are beneficial to health.

Choose whole, unprocessed plant foods over highly processed, fiber-depleted products. The physical structure of the food (cell walls) slows digestion, which is linked to better health outcomes and reduced obesity risk. You don't need to count carbs, but you should prioritize foods where the starch is encapsulated by fiber.

Progressive resistance training significantly improves functional mobility, gait speed, and balance in older adults (mean age >60) with skeletal muscle function deficits, thereby reducing fall risk.

Start resistance training 2-3 times per week. Focus on large muscle groups (legs, core) with progressive overload. Supervision by a professional is recommended to ensure safety and proper form. This improves your ability to walk, balance, and perform daily tasks, reducing fall risk.

Combining high levels of physical activity with other positive lifestyle choices (such as healthy diet, non-smoking, and moderate alcohol use) is associated with significantly lower risks of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all-cause mortality compared to being physically inactive with unhealthy lifestyle profiles.

To maximize your longevity and minimize disease risk, do not rely on exercise alone. Aim to meet physical activity guidelines while simultaneously addressing other key lifestyle factors: avoid smoking, maintain a healthy diet, and limit alcohol consumption. The combined effect of these healthy behaviors offers the strongest protection against heart disease, cancer, and early death.

Objectively measured light-intensity physical activity (LPA) is inversely associated with all-cause mortality and favorably associated with cardiometabolic risk factors (waist circumference, triglycerides, insulin, metabolic syndrome) in adults, even after adjusting for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA).

Incorporate more light movement into your daily routine. This includes activities like slow walking, standing, or light household chores. While vigorous exercise is important, adding light activity throughout the day provides independent health benefits, particularly for heart health and longevity, regardless of how much intense exercise you do.

Caffeine improves 10-km cycling time by 4.8-6.8% in athletes with the CYP1A2 AA genotype (fast metabolizers), but impairs performance by 13.7% in those with the CC genotype (slow metabolizers).

If you use caffeine for endurance sports, your CYP1A2 genotype matters. Fast metabolizers (AA) benefit from 2-4 mg/kg, seeing 5-7% performance gains. Slow metabolizers (CC) should avoid high doses (4 mg/kg) as it can worsen performance by nearly 14%. If you suspect caffeine hurts your performance, genetic testing or a self-experiment comparing placebo vs. caffeine is recommended before committing to a regimen.

Practicing Baduanjin Qigong significantly improves quality of life, sleep quality, physical balance, handgrip strength, trunk flexibility, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and resting heart rate in adults.

Incorporate Baduanjin Qigong into your routine 2-7 times a week for 30-90 minutes. It is a low-impact, easy-to-learn set of 8 movements that combines physical postures with breathing and mental focus. You can expect improvements in sleep quality, stress levels (quality of life), balance, grip strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular markers like blood pressure and resting heart rate. It is particularly suitable for older adults or those with chronic conditions who may find high-intensity exercise difficult.

Consumption of Lactobacillus gasseri SBT2055 (LG2055) in fermented milk at doses of 10^6 or 10^7 cfu/g significantly reduces abdominal visceral fat area, BMI, waist circumference, and body fat mass in adults with large visceral fat areas.

To reduce abdominal fat, consume fermented milk containing Lactobacillus gasseri SBT2055 daily. A dose providing 10^6 to 10^7 colony-forming units per gram (totaling approx. 10^8 cfu per day) is effective. This should be done consistently for at least 12 weeks. Note that stopping consumption leads to a reversal of benefits, so ongoing intake is necessary to maintain results.

Early postoperative unilateral progressive resistance training (initiated by Day 7) significantly reduces hospital length of stay and increases quadriceps muscle cross-sectional area and strength in elderly hip surgery patients compared to standard rehabilitation.

For elderly patients recovering from hip surgery, starting progressive resistance training (3 days/week) as early as one week post-op significantly shortens hospital stays and rebuilds muscle mass. Start with light loads (50% of max) and progressively increase weight every few weeks under supervision. This is safer and more effective than standard walking and basic exercises alone.

An 8-week supervised concurrent training program (resistance and aerobic) significantly improves cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength, fatigue, and quality of life in post-COVID-19 patients compared to self-managed WHO guidelines.

If you have lingering symptoms from COVID-19 for more than 12 weeks, a supervised exercise program combining light cardio and resistance training, done 3 times a week for 8 weeks, can significantly improve your energy, strength, and quality of life compared to just following general advice. Start with low intensity and gradually increase under supervision.

Vegetarians experience significantly greater increases in muscle total creatine, lean tissue mass, and exercise performance compared to nonvegetarians when supplementing with creatine monohydrate alongside resistance training.

If you are vegetarian, creatine supplementation combined with resistance training will likely yield greater gains in muscle mass and strength compared to nonvegetarians doing the same routine. This is because vegetarians typically have lower baseline muscle creatine levels. To replicate the study's protocol, consume creatine monohydrate at 0.25g per kg of lean body mass daily for the first week, then drop to 0.0625g per kg of lean body mass daily for the next seven weeks, while following a structured resistance training program.

Adhering to current physical activity guidelines and expending approximately 4200 kJ (1000 kcal) of energy per week significantly reduces all-cause mortality in women, with a magnitude of benefit similar to that observed in men.

To reduce your risk of death, aim to burn about 1000 calories (4200 kJ) through movement each week. This can be achieved through a mix of leisure exercise, walking, and household activities. You do not need to be a professional athlete; consistent, moderate activity is sufficient to gain a mortality benefit comparable to men.

Weight loss of at least 10% body weight significantly reduces knee osteoarthritis pain and improves physical function in obese adults, regardless of the method used (exercise, diet, or surgery).

If you have knee osteoarthritis and are overweight, losing 10% or more of your body weight is the most effective way to reduce pain and improve function. You can achieve this through diet, exercise, or surgery. Combining exercise with diet often yields the best results. Start with supervised, low-impact activities to overcome fear of movement.

Maintaining or initiating regular physical activity is associated with improved cardiorespiratory fitness (measured by maximal treadmill test time) in healthy adults aged 25-55, with the greatest improvements seen in those with lower baseline fitness who transition from sedentary to active.

If you are currently sedentary, starting any regular physical activity (like walking or jogging) will significantly improve your cardiorespiratory fitness, potentially more so than if you were already active. You do not need to be an athlete to see benefits; simply moving more is the key lever for improving treadmill endurance.

For patients with type 2 diabetes, consuming a hypoenergetic diet as two larger meals (breakfast and lunch) yields superior reductions in body weight, hepatic fat content, fasting glucose, and insulin resistance compared to consuming the same caloric restriction across six smaller meals.

If you have type 2 diabetes, try eating all your daily calories in just two meals: a substantial breakfast and lunch. Stop eating by mid-afternoon. This approach, even with the same total calories as eating six small meals, leads to greater weight loss, less liver fat, and better blood sugar control. Skip the snacks.

Interpretive front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition labels that evaluate product unhealthfulness (e.g., stop signs, traffic lights) are more effective at guiding consumers toward healthier choices than positive signposts or non-interpretive labels.

If you are a policymaker, prioritize interpretive labels (like stop signs or traffic lights) that highlight unhealthiness over positive endorsements or raw numbers. Ensure the regulation is mandatory, clearly defined, and developed with independent experts to withstand legal challenges from the food industry. This approach is more likely to help consumers, especially those with lower literacy, make healthier choices.

Resistance training, particularly power training, is the most effective strategy to combat sarcopenia by improving muscle strength, power, and physical functioning, with power training showing greater improvements in power performance than strength training alone.

Start resistance training 2-3 times per week. Focus on power training by using lighter weights (20-80% of your max) and moving them quickly. Do 3-4 sets of each exercise. This is more effective than just walking or cycling for maintaining muscle and preventing falls. If you are new to this, start with lighter loads and progress gradually.

In adults with type 2 diabetes, a low-carbohydrate, high-unsaturated fat diet provides superior glycemic stability and reduces diabetes medication requirements compared to a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet, despite achieving equivalent weight loss.

If you have type 2 diabetes, switching to a low-carbohydrate diet (around 14% of calories from carbs) while keeping saturated fat low can help you stabilize your blood sugar and potentially reduce your need for diabetes medication, even if you lose the same amount of weight as you would on a standard low-fat diet. This approach focuses on reducing glycemic spikes rather than just calories.

A low-carbohydrate, high-unsaturated fat diet improves cardiovascular risk markers (specifically triglycerides and HDL-C) compared to a high-carbohydrate diet in type 2 diabetes patients, without adversely affecting renal function.

For people with type 2 diabetes, choosing a low-carbohydrate diet rich in unsaturated fats can improve blood lipid levels (lower triglycerides, better HDL) without harming kidney function. This makes it a safe and effective option for managing cardiovascular risk alongside blood sugar control.

Carbohydrate loading (10–12 g/kg/day for 36–48 hours) improves performance by 2–3% and delays fatigue in endurance events lasting longer than 90 minutes.

If you are competing in an event lasting over 90 minutes (like a marathon or long triathlon), eat 10–12 grams of carbohydrates for every kilogram of your body weight each day for the 2 days before the race. This maximizes your muscle fuel stores and helps you delay fatigue.

Hypocaloric dieting is the primary driver for improving insulin sensitivity and reducing hyperinsulinaemia in obese women with PCOS, whereas pharmacological interventions (metformin, flutamide) provide no significant additional benefit for these specific metabolic markers.

For obese women with PCOS, prioritizing a caloric deficit (approx. 1200-1400 kcal/day) is the most effective strategy to improve insulin sensitivity. Adding medications like metformin or flutamide does not provide additional metabolic benefits regarding insulin levels compared to diet alone. Medications may still be used for other symptoms (like hirsutism or menstrual regulation), but they should not replace dietary intervention for metabolic health.