Browse the evidence

Higher intake of n-3 fatty acids (from fish or plant sources) substantially lowers the risk of cardiovascular mortality.

Include sources of n-3 fatty acids, such as fatty fish or plant sources (like walnuts or flaxseed), in your diet to support heart health and reduce mortality risk.

Low plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels (specifically <15 ng/mL, indicating deficiency) are associated with a significantly increased risk of developing incident hypertension in both men and women, independent of traditional risk factors.

If you have high blood pressure or are at risk, check your vitamin D levels. This study links low levels (below 15 ng/mL) to a higher chance of developing hypertension. While this doesn't prove that taking supplements cures high blood pressure, it suggests that maintaining adequate vitamin D might be a helpful part of a heart-healthy strategy, especially if you are deficient.

High adherence to a Mediterranean dietary pattern is associated with significantly lower mortality from combined cardiovascular disease (fatal CHD and stroke) in women.

Adopting a Mediterranean-style diet over many years can significantly reduce your risk of dying from heart disease or stroke. Focus on plant-based foods, healthy fats, and limiting processed meats.

The protective effect of a Mediterranean dietary pattern on coronary heart disease is stronger in women with a BMI of 25 kg/m2 or higher compared to those with a BMI below 25 kg/m2.

If you are overweight or obese, adopting a Mediterranean-style diet may offer even greater protection against heart disease than it does for those with a normal BMI. Focus on plant-based foods, healthy fats, and limiting processed meats.

Orlistat, a gastrointestinal lipase inhibitor, provides modest additional weight loss (4-6% of initial weight) and improves weight maintenance when used as an adjunct to lifestyle modification in patients with type 2 diabetes who fail to lose 10% of initial weight.

If you struggle to lose 10% of your weight in the first 6 months despite your best efforts, ask your doctor about Orlistat. It blocks about 30% of dietary fat absorption, providing a modest additional boost (4-6% loss). It is not a magic bullet and requires strict adherence to a low-fat diet to minimize side effects. It is only recommended if you have not achieved significant weight loss through lifestyle changes alone.

Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet is associated with reduced risk of cognitive decline, dementia, and Alzheimer's disease, and improves cognitive function in older adults.

To protect your brain health as you age, follow a Mediterranean diet pattern rich in vegetables, fruits, nuts, olive oil, and fish. This way of eating has been linked to a lower risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease and better cognitive function in older adults. It is a sustainable long-term strategy rather than a quick fix.

In men under 65, higher BMI is a strong independent predictor of coronary heart disease, whereas in men 65 and older, BMI is a weak predictor and waist-to-hip ratio is a much stronger predictor of risk.

If you are a man over 65, do not rely on BMI alone to assess your heart disease risk. Instead, measure your waist and hip circumferences. A higher waist-to-hip ratio is a significantly stronger predictor of coronary heart disease in this age group than BMI or weight gain. If you are under 65, maintaining a lower BMI is the primary strategy to reduce risk.

Adult weight gain after age 18 increases the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer incidence and mortality, particularly in women who do not use postmenopausal hormones.

If you are postmenopausal, avoiding significant weight gain after age 18 is one of the most effective ways to lower your risk of breast cancer. This is especially true if you do not use hormone replacement therapy. Focus on maintaining a stable weight through diet and physical activity, as weight gain is a stronger predictor of risk than your current body weight alone.

High consumption of ultra-processed foods is strongly and linearly associated with excessive intake of added sugars, with ultra-processed foods contributing nearly 90% of added sugar energy in the US diet.

To significantly reduce your added sugar intake, focus on minimizing ultra-processed foods. These items, which make up nearly 60% of US calories, are responsible for almost 90% of added sugars. Look for products with long ingredient lists containing additives, emulsifiers, and added sugars, and prioritize whole or minimally processed foods instead.

Global dietary patterns based on the consumption of healthy items (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, etc.) improved modestly between 1990 and 2010, whereas patterns based on the consumption of unhealthy items (sugar-sweetened beverages, processed meats, sodium, etc.) worsened significantly.

To improve your diet quality, you must address both increasing healthy foods (fruits, vegetables, whole grains) and decreasing unhealthy foods (sugar-sweetened beverages, processed meats, sodium). Focusing only on adding healthy items while ignoring the reduction of harmful ones will not improve your overall dietary score, as these trends often diverge.

Higher national income is associated with better adherence to healthy dietary patterns but significantly worse adherence to unhealthy dietary patterns, creating a divergence in diet quality metrics.

If you live in a high-income country, you likely have better access to healthy foods but are also exposed to aggressive marketing of unhealthy options. To improve your diet, you must actively reduce unhealthy items (sugar, sodium, processed meats) even if your healthy item consumption is already good.

Middle-income nations experienced the largest deterioration in dietary patterns based on unhealthy items between 1990 and 2010, despite showing the largest improvement in healthy dietary patterns.

If you are in a middle-income country, you may have access to more healthy foods than before, but you are also exposed to the greatest increase in unhealthy options. Prioritize reducing unhealthy items (sugar, sodium, processed meats) to prevent the deterioration of your overall diet quality.

Testosterone replacement therapy in men with acquired hypogonadism significantly increases spinal and trabecular bone mineral density (BMD) and lean muscle mass while decreasing body fat percentage over 18 months.

If you are a man diagnosed with hypogonadism (low testosterone), testosterone replacement therapy (typically 100mg/week) can significantly increase your bone density and muscle mass while reducing body fat over 18 months. This treatment addresses the underlying hormonal deficiency, leading to measurable structural improvements in the body.

Implementing a specific excise tax of 1 cent per ounce on sugar-sweetened beverages reduces consumption by at least 10% and generates significant revenue for public health programs.

Support or advocate for specific excise taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages rather than general sales taxes. A per-ounce tax is more likely to reduce consumption and encourage manufacturers to lower sugar content. Ensure tax revenues are earmarked for public health initiatives to maximize community benefit.

Higher dietary fiber intake is independently associated with a significantly lower risk of developing hypertension in men, whereas potassium and magnesium lose their independent protective effect when fiber is accounted for.

To lower your risk of hypertension, prioritize increasing your daily dietary fiber intake to at least 24 grams. This study suggests fiber is the most critical nutrient for this benefit, potentially more so than potassium or magnesium when considered together. Focus on fruit sources of fiber, as fruit fiber showed a specific inverse association with hypertension incidence.

Calcium intake is inversely associated with hypertension risk, but only in men with low relative body weight (lean men).

If you are lean, ensuring adequate calcium intake may help lower your risk of hypertension. However, if you are overweight or obese, calcium intake does not appear to have the same protective effect on blood pressure in this study.

Fruit fiber, but not vegetable or cereal fiber, is inversely associated with the incidence of hypertension.

To benefit your blood pressure, focus on consuming fruit fiber rather than just any fiber. This study suggests that fruit fiber specifically is linked to a lower risk of hypertension, whereas vegetable and cereal fiber did not show the same association.

High dietary intake of phytoestrogens (specifically isoflavones and lignans) is associated with reduced incidence of hormone-related cancers (breast, prostate, endometrial) in epidemiological studies.

Maintaining a diet rich in soy and flax products is associated with lower rates of breast and prostate cancer. This benefit is observed in populations with long-term high intake.

Replacing sugar-sweetened beverages with noncaloric beverages reduces BMI and body weight in overweight and obese adolescents, but this effect is statistically significant only during the active 1-year intervention phase and disappears after one year of follow-up without intervention.

For overweight adolescents, replacing sugary drinks with water or diet drinks can help reduce weight gain, but only as long as the habit is actively supported. Once the support stops, the benefit disappears, suggesting that long-term success requires permanent behavioral change or environmental adjustments, not just a temporary fix.

Strength training increases maximum motor neuron firing frequency in the elderly, eliminating age-related differences in this neural parameter.

Strength training improves how fast your nerves can signal your muscles, making your movements faster and more powerful, even in old age.

Resistance exercise training shifts the acute protein synthesis response to be specific to myofibrillar proteins, whereas endurance exercise training shifts it to be specific to mitochondrial proteins, despite both stimulating mixed muscle protein synthesis acutely in the untrained state.

If your goal is to increase muscle size and strength, you must perform resistance training. This type of training specifically triggers the synthesis of myofibrillar proteins, which are responsible for muscle contraction and size. If you only do endurance exercise (like running or cycling), you will not stimulate myofibrillar protein synthesis, even if you are in a fed state. Conversely, if your goal is endurance performance, endurance training specifically targets mitochondrial proteins. Do not assume all exercise builds muscle equally; the type of exercise dictates the type of protein built.

Omega-3 PUFA supplementation reduces coronary heart disease (CHD) death and possibly sudden cardiac death (SCD) in patients with prior clinical CHD, but does not reduce nonfatal myocardial infarction.

If you have existing heart disease, taking fish oil supplements may help lower your risk of dying from heart causes, possibly by preventing sudden cardiac death. However, it will not stop you from having a heart attack. It is a reasonable addition to your care, but not a cure-all.

Population-level economic incentives, specifically subsidies for healthful foods and taxes on less healthful foods/beverages, are effective strategies to improve dietary habits.

Support or advocate for local policies that subsidize fresh produce and impose taxes on sugary drinks or high-fat processed foods. These economic levers are among the most evidence-based ways to shift population diet quality.

Media and educational campaigns, particularly when sustained and focused on specific healthful foods, effectively increase consumption of those foods.

Look for or support community health campaigns that use multiple channels (TV, radio, in-store) to promote specific healthy foods. These are proven to increase consumption.