Browse the evidence

High-intensity strength training increases serum adiponectin levels and decreases inflammatory markers (CRP) and free fatty acids (FFA) in older adults with type 2 diabetes.

Strength training not only builds muscle but also improves your body's hormonal balance by increasing adiponectin (which helps insulin work) and reducing inflammation (CRP) and free fatty acids. This biochemical improvement contributes to better blood sugar control.

Activation of PPAR-γ by thiazolidinedione (TZD) agonists (e.g., pioglitazone, rosiglitazone) improves insulin sensitivity and glycemic control in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) by promoting lipid storage in adipose tissue, reducing free fatty acid release, and increasing adiponectin levels.

If you have Type 2 Diabetes, medications like pioglitazone work by helping your body store fat safely in your skin and fat tissue rather than in your liver and muscles. This reduces stress on your organs and helps your insulin work better. While you might gain some weight, it is often a sign that the medication is protecting your vital organs from harmful fat buildup.

Activation of PPAR-α by fibrates (e.g., fenofibrate, gemfibrozil) lowers triglycerides and raises HDL cholesterol by increasing fatty acid oxidation and lipoprotein lipase activity.

Fibrate medications help your body burn fat for energy and clear 'bad' fats (triglycerides) from your blood while boosting 'good' cholesterol (HDL). This reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke, especially if you have high triglycerides or metabolic syndrome.

Oral supplementation with propionic acid (500 mg twice daily for 8 weeks) significantly reduces LDL and total cholesterol levels in hypercholesterolemic humans by modulating intestinal cholesterol absorption via an immune-dependent pathway involving regulatory T cells and IL-10.

If you have high LDL, adding 500mg of propionic acid twice daily for two months can significantly lower your bad cholesterol. This works by boosting specific immune cells in your gut that tell your intestines to absorb less cholesterol. It is a targeted, immune-based approach distinct from standard statins.

Disruption of circadian rhythms (e.g., shift work, jet lag, or genetic clock gene mutations) directly contributes to obesity, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease by desynchronizing internal physiological processes and peripheral clock genes.

If you work shifts or have irregular hours, treat your 'biological day' as the time you are awake and active. Eat your largest meals during your active phase and avoid eating during your biological night. Consistency in timing is more important than the clock time itself.

In rodents, chronic total sleep deprivation leads to weight loss and negative energy balance due to increased sympathetic tone and brown adipose tissue thermogenesis, whereas in humans, chronic partial sleep restriction leads to weight gain and positive energy balance due to increased appetite.

Do not use sleep deprivation as a weight loss strategy. Unlike rodents, humans gain weight when sleep-deprived because the increase in hunger hormones (ghrelin) and caloric intake outweighs any metabolic changes.

Critically ill patients lose approximately 2% of skeletal muscle mass per day during the first week of ICU admission, with rectus femoris thickness decreasing by 1.75% and cross-sectional area by 2.10% daily.

If you or a loved one is in the ICU, expect rapid muscle loss (approx. 2% per day) starting immediately. This is driven by inflammation, immobility, and metabolic stress. While you cannot stop the illness, early mobilization (as tolerated) and adequate protein intake are critical to slowing this specific rate of tissue breakdown.

Structured physical activity counseling interventions (assistance and counseling) significantly improve cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2max) in inactive women compared to standard physician advice, but do not improve fitness in inactive men.

If you are a woman, structured counseling from a health educator (even with just ~3 hours of contact over 2 years) can significantly boost your heart health compared to just being told to exercise by your doctor. If you are a man, basic advice might be just as effective as intensive counseling for improving fitness, so focus on the activity itself rather than the counseling format.

Baseline insulin resistance does not predict the magnitude of weight loss achieved through calorie-restricted diets; both insulin-resistant and insulin-sensitive obese individuals lose similar amounts of weight.

If you are obese and have insulin resistance, do not believe that you are biologically incapable of losing weight. Research shows that you will lose the same amount of weight on a calorie-restricted diet as someone who is not insulin resistant. Focus on the caloric deficit, not your hormonal status, as the driver of weight loss.

Weight loss significantly improves cardiovascular disease risk factors (triglycerides, HDL, glucose, insulin, CRP) only in individuals who are insulin resistant; insulin-sensitive individuals see little to no improvement in these metabolic markers despite similar weight loss.

If you are overweight and insulin resistant, weight loss will significantly improve your blood fats, blood sugar, and inflammation markers. If you are overweight but insulin sensitive, you will still lose weight, but your blood fats and sugar may not improve as dramatically. This suggests that targeting weight loss is most critical for those who are insulin resistant.

Adherence to an animal-based low-carbohydrate diet is associated with significantly higher all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality compared to a vegetable-based low-carbohydrate diet.

If you follow a low-carbohydrate diet, ensure your fat and protein come primarily from plant sources (vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes) rather than animal products (meat, dairy). Animal-based low-carbohydrate diets are associated with higher mortality, while vegetable-based ones are associated with lower mortality.

Circadian misalignment, such as that experienced during shift work or social jet lag, causally impairs glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, thereby increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes.

If you work shifts or have irregular sleep schedules, prioritize managing light exposure and meal timing. Try to eat during your 'biological day' (when you are naturally alert) rather than your 'biological night'. If you must eat at night, be aware that glucose tolerance is impaired. On days off, try to keep your sleep/wake times closer to your workdays to minimize social jet lag.

Supplementation with 4 g/day of EPA or DHA accelerates chylomicron triglyceride clearance in healthy adults by increasing pre-heparin lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity during the fed state.

Taking 4 grams per day of EPA or DHA (purified ethyl esters) for at least 4 weeks can help your body clear fat from your blood faster after meals. This happens by boosting the activity of an enzyme called LPL. This effect is specific to the fed state (after eating) and was seen in healthy people with normal cholesterol levels.

Hyperinsulinemia alone inhibits whole-body protein synthesis and degradation by lowering plasma amino acid concentrations, whereas maintaining basal or elevated amino acid levels allows insulin to stimulate protein synthesis and suppress degradation.

To maximize muscle protein synthesis, you cannot rely on insulin alone. If you consume carbohydrates that spike insulin without adequate protein, your body may actually reduce protein synthesis because insulin lowers circulating amino acids. Ensure you consume sufficient protein alongside carbohydrates to maintain plasma amino acid levels, allowing insulin to effectively stimulate muscle building.

Supplementation with marine long-chain omega-3 fatty acids (EPA/DHA) reduces the risk of cardiovascular events, cardiac death, and coronary events in individuals with high cardiovascular risk.

If you are at high risk for cardiovascular disease, taking marine omega-3 supplements (EPA/DHA) in addition to your standard medical treatment can reduce your risk of heart events, heart-related death, and coronary issues. Aim for a daily intake consistent with clinical guidelines (often around 1g EPA/DHA for those with coronary disease), but consult your doctor to determine the right dose for your specific condition.

Vitamin E (96-week course) improves NASH resolution in non-diabetic patients, but its use is limited by potential risks of hemorrhagic stroke and prostate cancer.

If you have NASH and are not diabetic, ask your doctor about Vitamin E. A 96-week course can significantly improve liver health (43% resolution vs 19% placebo), but you must weigh this against potential risks like prostate cancer or stroke.

Poor cardio-respiratory fitness is an independent predictor of all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality, regardless of body mass index.

Don't just focus on your weight. Improve your cardio-respiratory fitness through regular aerobic exercise. This reduces your risk of death from heart disease and other causes, even if you are at a normal weight.

Men following vegan, vegetarian, fish-eater, and meat-eater diets exhibit significantly different plasma concentrations of lysine, methionine, tryptophan, alanine, glycine, and tyrosine, with vegans generally having the lowest concentrations of essential amino acids and highest concentrations of glycine.

If you are a man on a plant-based diet, your blood levels of certain amino acids (like lysine and methionine) will be lower than a meat-eater's, but your body maintains them at functional levels. You do not need to fear 'incomplete' protein; eating a variety of plant foods ensures you get what you need. Focus on overall dietary variety rather than specific amino acid pairing.

High intake of total and animal protein is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, whereas vegetable protein intake shows no such association.

If you are consuming high amounts of protein, particularly from animal sources like meat and dairy, be aware that long-term intake is linked to a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This risk appears to be driven by body fat levels (adiposity) and is less pronounced or non-existent for vegetable proteins. Focus on balancing your protein sources and maintaining a healthy body weight.

Oral testosterone supplementation (80 mg twice daily) increases lean body mass and decreases fat mass in healthy elderly men (aged 60+) with low-normal gonadal status over a 12-month period.

For older men with low-normal testosterone levels, oral testosterone therapy can effectively increase muscle mass and reduce body fat over a year. However, it does not necessarily improve muscle strength, and monitoring for side effects like increased hematocrit is crucial. This suggests that addressing hormonal deficits can be a viable strategy for managing body composition in aging, even without overt hypogonadism.

Short sleep duration (<6 hours) is significantly associated with higher body mass index, unmarried status, and poorer physical and mental health scores, suggesting it acts as a marker for adverse lifestyle and comorbidities rather than a direct causal risk factor.

If you sleep less than 6 hours, look at your lifestyle and health context, not just the clock. This study shows short sleep is strongly linked to being unmarried, having a higher BMI, and reporting poorer physical/mental health. Instead of stressing about sleep itself, address these underlying factors: manage stress, maintain a healthy weight, and check for underlying health issues. Sleep duration here acts as a signal of broader life stressors.

In patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), sarcopenia (defined by a low sarcopenia index of appendicular skeletal muscle mass relative to BMI) is independently associated with a significantly higher risk of significant liver fibrosis, regardless of obesity or insulin resistance levels.

If you have fatty liver disease, your muscle mass matters for your liver health. Low muscle mass (sarcopenia) is linked to a significantly higher risk of serious liver scarring (fibrosis), independent of how much you weigh or your insulin levels. You should prioritize resistance training and adequate protein intake to preserve muscle, not just weight loss, as this may help mitigate liver fibrosis risk.

Obesity is an independent risk factor for multiple cancers, with endometrial, post-menopausal breast, and colorectal cancers accounting for over 60% of cancers attributed to obesity.

Maintaining a healthy weight is one of the most effective ways to reduce your risk of developing endometrial, breast, and colorectal cancers. Focus on sustainable lifestyle changes rather than quick fixes, as even modest weight loss can significantly lower risk.

Rapidly Available Glucose (RAG) is a superior predictor of in vivo glycaemic response compared to Glycaemic Index (GI) because it accounts for the absolute amount of glucose absorbed per serving rather than just the digestibility rate.

To better control blood sugar, look at the Rapidly Available Glucose (RAG) of foods rather than just their Glycaemic Index (GI). RAG measures the actual amount of glucose likely to be absorbed from a standard serving. For example, instant potatoes have a high GI (fast absorption) but low RAG (low total carbs per serving), whereas white rice has a moderate GI but high RAG (high total carbs). Prioritize foods with lower RAG values per serving to minimize blood glucose spikes.