Browse the evidence

A 4-week multimodal prehabilitation program (high-intensity exercise, nutritional support, psychological support, and smoking cessation) significantly reduces severe and medical postoperative complications in patients undergoing elective colorectal cancer surgery.

If you are having colorectal cancer surgery, ask your care team about a prehabilitation program. It typically involves 4 weeks of supervised exercise, nutritional support, and stress management before surgery. This can significantly lower your risk of serious complications and help you recover faster.

Overfeeding with saturated fat increases intrahepatic triglycerides (IHTG) and insulin resistance significantly more than overfeeding with unsaturated fat or simple sugars, primarily by stimulating adipose tissue lipolysis and increasing plasma ceramides.

If you are overweight and concerned about liver health, simply reducing calories is important, but the type of fat you eat matters significantly. Replacing saturated fats (found in butter, cheese, fatty meats) with unsaturated fats (found in olive oil, nuts, avocados) may help reduce liver fat accumulation and improve insulin sensitivity, even if total calorie intake remains the same. While simple sugars also increase liver fat, saturated fat appears to be particularly harmful by promoting fat release from body fat stores and increasing inflammatory markers like ceramides.

Minority status and lower socioeconomic position are associated with significantly shorter self-reported sleep durations, specifically very short (<5 hours) and short (5-6 hours) sleep, compared to normative sleep (7-8 hours).

If you belong to a minority group or have lower income, you are statistically more likely to get very short sleep. This is not necessarily a personal failure but a reflection of socioeconomic pressures. Prioritizing sleep health requires addressing these external stressors, such as food security and financial stability, alongside sleep hygiene.

Lower socioeconomic status, indicated by lower income, lower education, public insurance, and very low food security, is associated with increased odds of very short sleep (<5 hours).

If you have lower income, education, or food security, you are statistically more likely to get very short sleep. This is not necessarily a personal failure but a reflection of socioeconomic pressures. Prioritizing sleep health requires addressing these external stressors, such as food security and financial stability, alongside sleep hygiene.

Exercise improves mitochondrial function and muscle mass maintenance by activating mitochondrial biogenesis and mitophagy, counteracting catabolic signaling pathways triggered by dysfunctional mitochondria.

To maintain muscle mass, especially as you age or if you have chronic conditions, regular exercise is essential. It works by cleaning out damaged mitochondria (mitophagy) and building new, efficient ones (biogenesis). This process prevents the cellular signals that cause muscle wasting. Focus on consistent physical activity rather than complex supplements.

In type 2 diabetes, the presence of fatty liver is strongly correlated with visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and is associated with significantly higher insulin resistance, elevated plasma free fatty acids, and more severe dyslipidemia compared to diabetic patients without fatty liver.

If you have type 2 diabetes, getting a fatty liver is common and strongly linked to visceral fat and insulin resistance. It is not just about overall weight but specifically where fat is stored (visceral) and in the liver/muscle. This condition worsens insulin resistance and lipid profiles, so managing visceral adiposity is key to mitigating these risks.

Implementation of a sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) excise tax leads to a significant decline in the volume of SSB sales, accompanied by a substitution effect toward untaxed beverages (particularly water), without increasing overall consumer spending per transaction.

A tax on sugary drinks successfully reduces the amount of sugary drinks sold by making them relatively more expensive. Consumers respond by buying less sugary drinks and more water or other untaxed beverages, keeping their total grocery bill roughly the same. This policy lever works through economic substitution rather than direct health mandates.

Obesity is associated with impaired immune function, including higher incidence and severity of infectious illnesses and poor antibody responses to vaccines.

If you are obese, your immune system may not function as efficiently as that of a lean person, particularly in responding to vaccines and fighting infections. This is largely driven by hormonal factors like leptin. Maintaining a healthy weight and managing metabolic health are important for supporting robust immune defense.

Disruption of circadian rhythms (e.g., via shift work or jet lag) impairs health by desynchronizing peripheral tissue clocks from the central SCN pacemaker, leading to metabolic and endocrine dysfunction.

Your body has an internal master clock (SCN) and local clocks in organs like the liver. These must be synchronized. Shift work, late-night eating, or irregular sleep desynchronizes them, increasing disease risk. Align your sleep, light exposure, and meal times with your local day/night cycle to maintain metabolic health.

Consumption of pea fiber (specifically pea hull fiber) increases bowel movement frequency and fecal output, improving gastrointestinal health in elderly and pediatric populations.

If you struggle with constipation, adding pea hull fiber to your diet can help increase bowel movement frequency. For elderly individuals, 4 grams per day is effective. For children, pea fiber added to snacks (1.4-3.4g) combined with inulin significantly increases bowel movements. If you experience bloating, try pea starch instead of whole pea flour, as it is more tolerable.

Post-operative weight regain is a common long-term risk associated with bariatric surgery, driven by reduced energy expenditure and hormonal changes, requiring lifestyle adherence.

Expect that weight maintenance requires ongoing effort. Monitor your weight, adhere to dietary guidelines, and stay active, as biological changes (like reduced energy expenditure) can promote regain if lifestyle habits slip.

Consumption of mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) and its bioactive compounds (polyphenols, polysaccharides, peptides) ameliorates metabolic syndrome markers, including hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension, through mechanisms involving enzyme inhibition (alpha-glucosidase, ACE) and antioxidant activity.

Incorporate mung beans, particularly sprouted or fermented varieties, into your diet to help manage blood sugar and blood pressure. The seed coat contains high levels of flavonoids like vitexin and isovitexin, which contribute to these benefits. While whole bean consumption is beneficial, specific extracts or processed forms (sprouted/fermented) may offer higher concentrations of active compounds.

Multisensor armband monitors (SenseWear Pro3 and SenseWear Mini) provide valid estimates of total daily energy expenditure (TEE) in healthy adults under free-living conditions, though they consistently underestimate energy expenditure at higher activity levels.

Multisensor armbands (like SenseWear) are reliable for tracking your daily calorie burn in everyday life, provided you understand they tend to underestimate your burn when you are exercising intensely. For general tracking, they are accurate enough to guide lifestyle choices, but do not rely on them for precise high-intensity workout metrics.

Waist circumference (WC) is a stronger indicator of hypertension and diabetes risk compared to BMI or waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), especially in adults aged 60 and older.

For Chinese adults, especially those over 60, waist circumference is a better indicator of diabetes and hypertension risk than BMI. Consider using waist circumference alongside BMI for a more accurate health assessment.

In men, chronic insomnia combined with objectively measured short sleep duration (<6 hours) is associated with a significantly increased risk of all-cause mortality, independent of common comorbidities like hypertension and diabetes.

If you are a man with chronic insomnia and you objectively sleep less than 6 hours per night, your risk of death is significantly higher than men who sleep normally, even after accounting for high blood pressure, diabetes, and other factors. This risk is driven by physiological stress (HPA axis activation). You should seek objective sleep assessment (like a sleep study) rather than relying on how you feel, and prioritize treating the insomnia as a serious medical condition.

Chronotype significantly modulates sleep duration, social jet lag, and sleep disturbance in shift-workers, with early chronotypes suffering worse outcomes on night shifts and late chronotypes suffering worse outcomes on morning shifts.

If you work rotating shifts, your natural sleep preference (early bird vs. night owl) determines which shifts are hardest on you. Early birds struggle most with night shifts, while night owls struggle most with morning shifts. To minimize sleep loss and jet lag, employers should consider assigning shifts that align with an employee's chronotype, or at least be aware that mismatched shifts will cause significant sleep debt regardless of the employee's effort.

Gaining 9.0 kg (20 lb) or more over four years significantly decreases physical functioning, vitality, and increases bodily pain in women of all baseline BMI levels, regardless of age.

Avoid gaining weight, even if you are currently thin. Gaining 20 pounds or more over a few years will likely reduce your physical energy, increase pain, and limit your daily activities, regardless of your starting weight. Maintaining your current weight is the best strategy for preserving physical function.

Losing 9.0 kg (20 lb) or more improves physical function and vitality in overweight and obese women (BMI ≥30.0 kg/m2), but paradoxically decreases physical function and vitality in lean women (BMI <25.0 kg/m2).

If you are overweight, losing weight (especially 20+ pounds) can significantly improve your physical function and energy. However, if you are already lean, losing significant weight may be a sign of underlying health issues and could worsen your physical function. Focus on maintaining your weight if you are lean.

Gut microbiota composition serves as a predictive biomarker for obesity-related metabolic abnormalities, with specific genera (Bacteroides, Parabacteroides, Blautia, Alistipes, Romboutsia, Roseburia) consistently associated with metabolic health status in obese populations.

Your gut bacteria composition is a strong indicator of your metabolic health risk. If you are obese, specific bacteria levels (like Bacteroides and Roseburia) can predict issues like high blood pressure or lipids. While this paper doesn't prescribe a specific diet, it suggests that interventions targeting these specific microbes (e.g., through prebiotics or probiotics) could help improve metabolic risk. Focus on dietary patterns that support a diverse microbiome, as specific genera are linked to better metabolic outcomes.

Chronic sympathetic nervous system overactivity is a primary driver of metabolic syndrome components, including central obesity and insulin resistance, rather than merely a consequence.

If you have metabolic syndrome or central obesity, your body may be physiologically driving weight gain and insulin resistance through an overactive sympathetic nervous system. This is not just a willpower issue. Interventions that reduce sympathetic tone, such as weight loss, exercise, or specific medications (like imidazoline agonists) and devices (like renal denervation), may be necessary to break this cycle.

Therapeutic exercise (mechanotherapy) promotes tissue repair and remodeling in tendon, muscle, cartilage, and bone by converting mechanical loads into cellular biochemical responses via mechanotransduction.

If you have a musculoskeletal injury, complete rest is often insufficient for optimal healing. Physical therapists prescribe specific types of loading (exercise) to trigger your body's natural repair processes. This involves converting mechanical stress into cellular signals that rebuild tissue structure.

Daily oral administration of 100 mg DHEA for six months significantly decreases fat body mass and increases muscle strength in age-advanced men, but not in women.

If you are a man between 50 and 65, taking 100mg of DHEA daily for six months may help reduce belly fat and increase leg and back strength. However, if you are a woman, this specific protocol did not result in fat loss or muscle gain in this study, likely due to different hormonal interactions or concurrent hormone replacement therapy.

Daily oral administration of 100 mg DHEA for six months significantly increases serum IGF-I levels in both age-advanced men and women.

Taking 100mg of DHEA daily for six months will reliably raise your IGF-I levels, a marker associated with youth and anabolism, regardless of whether you are a man or woman. However, this hormonal shift alone does not guarantee muscle growth or fat loss in women.

Higher trunk fat mass is independently associated with higher fasting and postload glucose levels, indicating a detrimental effect on glucose metabolism.

Focus on reducing abdominal fat, as it is the strongest predictor of high blood sugar. Use waist circumference or DXA scans to monitor trunk fat specifically, rather than just total body weight or hip size.