Browse the evidence

Long-term (9 months) recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) treatment in men with abdominal/visceral obesity reduces visceral and subcutaneous fat mass, improves insulin sensitivity, lowers total cholesterol and triglycerides, and reduces diastolic blood pressure.

For men with central obesity, long-term GH therapy (under medical supervision) can significantly reduce visceral fat and improve metabolic health markers like cholesterol and blood pressure, despite potential initial side effects that often resolve with dose adjustment.

Bariatric surgery (specifically Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy) significantly reduces excess body weight (average 50-70% excess weight loss) and durably improves or resolves severe obesity-related comorbidities including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia, leading to prolonged survival compared to non-surgical management.

If you have a BMI of 40 or higher, or 35 or higher with serious health issues like diabetes or high blood pressure, and you have tried other treatments without lasting success, bariatric surgery is the most effective long-term option for significant weight loss and improving those health conditions. It is not a quick fix; it requires lifelong medical supervision, nutritional supplements, and dietary changes to maintain results and prevent complications.

Bariatric surgery, particularly malabsorptive and hybrid procedures like Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, can completely reverse established type 2 diabetes mellitus in a large percentage of patients, often within days of surgery, independent of significant weight loss, likely due to hormonal changes.

If you have type 2 diabetes and undergo bariatric surgery, there is a high chance your diabetes may go into remission, often within days of the procedure, even before you lose significant weight. This is due to hormonal changes in your gut that improve how your body handles insulin. However, long-term remission depends on maintaining your weight loss and following up with your healthcare team.

Bariatric surgery significantly improves lipid profiles, particularly by reducing triglycerides and increasing HDL cholesterol, with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass showing greater effects on triglycerides than restrictive procedures.

Bariatric surgery often leads to significant improvements in cholesterol levels, especially triglycerides and HDL ('good' cholesterol). This improvement is often greater with gastric bypass than with restrictive procedures like gastric banding. Many patients can stop taking lipid-lowering medications after surgery.

Individuals meeting clinical criteria for 'food addiction' exhibit significantly higher obesity severity, including greater body weight, BMI, and body fat percentage, compared to non-addicted controls.

If you struggle with compulsive eating and loss of control, this behavior is a significant driver of obesity severity, not just a minor habit. Addressing the behavioral aspects of food addiction (e.g., through specialized psychological support or behavioral therapy) may be necessary to reduce body fat and BMI, as standard caloric restriction alone may not address the underlying compulsive intake.

Individuals with food addiction consume a significantly higher percentage of calories from fat and protein compared to non-addicted individuals.

People with food addiction tend to derive a higher percentage of their calories from fat and protein. This dietary pattern may contribute to the compulsive eating behavior and should be considered when designing dietary interventions for this subgroup.

Aerobic exercise training reduces systemic inflammation (hs CRP, IL-18) and increases anti-inflammatory markers (IL-10) in patients with type 2 diabetes, independent of significant weight loss.

If you have type 2 diabetes, engaging in a structured aerobic exercise program (like brisk walking or cycling) for about 45-60 minutes, four times a week, can significantly lower your body's chronic inflammation levels. This happens even if you don't lose weight, suggesting that the exercise itself triggers protective biological changes in your blood and immune system.

Energy density is the primary determinant of satiety; when energy density is controlled, macronutrient composition has a minor impact on satiety.

To maximize fullness, prioritize foods with low energy density (high water or fiber content) rather than focusing solely on macronutrients. High-fat foods naturally have higher energy density, while high-water foods have lower density. If you control for energy density, the specific macronutrient (protein vs. carb vs. fat) matters less for satiety than the physical bulk and energy concentration of the food.

The glucose-lowering benefits of physical activity breaks are greater in individuals with higher body mass index (BMI).

If you have a higher BMI, making small physical activity breaks during your workday might be especially effective at keeping your blood sugar levels stable after meals compared to those with a lower BMI.

Mediterranean Diet (MD) is the recommended first-choice diet for NAFL/NASH patients, improving hepatic steatosis and visceral fat, though its efficacy in advanced NASH requires further investigation.

Adopt a Mediterranean Diet rich in whole grains and healthy fats (MUFAs). This is the recommended first-line dietary approach to reduce liver fat and visceral fat. While it helps with insulin resistance and may reduce cardiovascular risk, its ability to reverse advanced NASH is not yet fully proven.

Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) does not effectively substitute for eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in preventing chronic diseases because human conversion of ALA to EPA and DHA is highly inefficient.

If you do not eat fatty fish, eating flax or walnuts (ALA) will not fully protect your heart or brain because your body converts very little of it into the active forms (EPA/DHA). To get the proven benefits of long-chain omega-3s, you should consume marine sources directly or take a fish/algal oil supplement, rather than relying solely on plant oils.

Sharper change of direction angles (≥60°) and higher approach velocities significantly increase knee joint loading and injury risk due to greater braking forces and lateral ground reaction forces, creating a performance-injury conflict.

When coaching change of direction, recognize that sharper cuts (60 degrees or more) and faster approaches place significantly higher loads on the knees. To reduce injury risk, focus on strengthening the athlete's ability to produce force rapidly and improving their neuromuscular control, which helps them tolerate these higher loads safely.

An 'angle-velocity trade-off' exists where faster approach velocities compromise the execution of the intended change of direction angle, mediated by the athlete's physical capacity.

Understand that as athletes move faster, they may not be able to execute the exact intended angle of their cut. This is normal and depends on their strength and control. Train athletes to manage this trade-off by improving their physical capacity, allowing them to maintain better control at higher speeds.

Daily supplementation with vitamin D (400-800 IU) combined with calcium (1000-1200 mg) reduces the risk of hip fracture by 16% in older adults, whereas vitamin D alone provides no significant fracture protection.

If you are an older adult looking to prevent hip fractures, taking Vitamin D alone is likely ineffective. You should take a daily combination of Vitamin D (400-800 IU) and Calcium (1000-1200 mg). This specific combination has been shown to significantly reduce hip fracture risk, whereas Vitamin D by itself does not.

Higher blood concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) are associated with lower risks of fracture in observational studies, but this association is not replicated when using vitamin D supplementation alone in randomized trials.

Don't rely on Vitamin D alone to protect your bones. While people with naturally high Vitamin D levels have fewer fractures, taking Vitamin D supplements by themselves does not reduce fracture risk. You need to combine it with Calcium to see benefits.

Creatine supplementation alters the expression of myogenic transcription factors (increasing MRF4, preventing myogenin increase) during rehabilitation, which may mediate enhanced muscle hypertrophy.

This finding explains why creatine might work better for some people during rehab, but it does not change the practical advice to take 5g daily. The biological mechanism involves shifting which genes are active in muscle repair.

Consuming broccoli or glucoraphanin-rich sources provides health benefits primarily through the formation of sulforaphane, but efficacy depends on the bioavailability of the source and individual microbiome capacity to convert glucoraphanin to sulforaphane.

To get the most benefit from broccoli, focus on getting enough glucoraphanin. This means choosing broccoli varieties known to be high in this compound (like certain sprouts or specific hybrids) rather than just any generic head. If you take supplements, be aware that sulforaphane is unstable, so look for stabilized formulations. Your gut bacteria play a key role in converting the precursor to the active form, so individual results may vary.

Intentional weight loss in the elderly yields clinical benefits and quality of life improvements, whereas unintentional weight loss is associated with increased mortality and poor prognosis.

If you are older and losing weight without trying, see a doctor immediately. This is often a sign of illness or muscle loss, not health. If you are choosing to lose weight, do it intentionally through diet and exercise to gain health benefits.

A green tea-caffeine mixture (270 mg EGCG + 150 mg caffeine/day) improves weight maintenance and promotes continued fat loss in moderately obese subjects with low habitual caffeine intake, primarily by increasing resting energy expenditure and fat oxidation.

If you rarely consume caffeine, adding a green tea extract supplement (specifically containing EGCG and caffeine) after losing weight can help you keep it off by boosting your metabolism and fat burning. However, if you already drink several cups of coffee or tea daily, this supplement likely won't provide additional weight maintenance benefits.

Meal timing and frequency are largely determined by environmental cues, learning, and opportunity rather than immediate physiological energy deficits.

Your meal times are often habits and environmental cues, not just hunger. You can learn to associate specific times or contexts with eating. Being aware of these learned cues (like time of day or social settings) can help you distinguish between true physiological hunger and habitual eating triggers.

Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation likely results in a slight reduction in all-cause mortality in patients with coronary heart disease.

While the reduction in death risk from exercise-based cardiac rehab is slight in the short term, it is a statistically significant benefit that contributes to overall survival.

Consumption of prebiotics (specifically inulin-type fructans) and probiotics reduces serum total and LDL cholesterol levels in hypercholesterolemic or dyslipidemic individuals.

Adding prebiotic fibers like inulin or probiotic-enriched foods to your diet can help lower bad cholesterol (LDL) and total cholesterol levels in people with high cholesterol.

Phlebotomy in humans with high-normal ferritin and impaired glucose tolerance increases adiponectin and improves glucose tolerance.

For individuals with pre-diabetes and high-normal ferritin, therapeutic phlebotomy can be an effective non-pharmacological intervention to improve insulin sensitivity and glucose control.

Higher consumption of dietary cholesterol (specifically >300 mg/day) is significantly associated with a higher risk of incident cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality in a dose-response manner among US adults.

If you are concerned about heart disease, limiting dietary cholesterol to under 300 mg per day and moderating egg intake (less than half an egg per day) is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular events and death. This is particularly important if you have existing risk factors like high blood pressure or diabetes.