Browse the evidence

Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) is a common complication (25-40% prevalence) after bypass surgery, causing malabsorption of thiamine, B12, and fat-soluble vitamins.

If you have bypass surgery and experience ongoing digestive issues, ask about SIBO. It is common and can block nutrient absorption. Treatment with antibiotics may be necessary to restore nutrient levels.

Intensive insulin therapy in Type 1 Diabetes causes significant weight gain, which subsequently increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and metabolic complications.

If you have Type 1 Diabetes, intensive insulin therapy is necessary for survival and complication prevention, but it will likely cause weight gain. Do not restrict insulin to control weight, as this leads to dangerous hyperglycemia and increased mortality. Instead, work with your care team to manage weight through lifestyle adjustments and potentially adjunctive therapies that do not compromise glycemic control.

The 7-day Physical Activity Recall (PAR) questionnaire provides group-accurate estimates of PAEE comparable to DLW, but fails to accurately estimate absolute PAEE for individuals, overestimating low activity and underestimating high activity.

Use self-reported activity logs to gauge general trends, not precise calorie counts. Be aware that you likely overestimate your effort when you are less active and underestimate it when you are highly active. For precise energy balance tracking, self-report is insufficient.

Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and ectopic fat accumulation are stronger predictors of insulin resistance and metabolic comorbidities than total body fat mass (BMI), primarily due to increased lipolysis, free fatty acid (FFA) spillover, and inflammatory cytokine secretion.

Don't just look at your weight. Focus on reducing visceral and ectopic fat through lifestyle changes that improve metabolic health, as fat distribution is a stronger predictor of disease risk than total body fat. Regular physical activity and nutritional management can help shift fat storage away from visceral and ectopic sites.

Peripheral adiposity (large hip and thigh circumference) is associated with a better metabolic profile, including better glucose tolerance and reduced incidence of type 2 diabetes, compared to central/visceral adiposity.

If you store fat in your hips and thighs, you may have a lower risk of metabolic diseases compared to those who store fat in their abdomen. However, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is still important for overall well-being.

Hormonal responses to exercise (glucagon, epinephrine, GH, cortisol) are enhanced by glucose privation, as evidenced by faster and higher increases in these hormones after a fat diet compared to a carbohydrate diet.

When your body runs low on glucose (as happens on a low-carb diet during exercise), it releases more stress hormones like glucagon, epinephrine, and cortisol to try to maintain energy. This hormonal surge is a sign of metabolic stress due to glucose privation.

Leptin deficiency causes hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and delayed puberty, which is reversible with leptin replacement therapy.

If you have leptin deficiency, you may experience delayed puberty. Starting leptin treatment can trigger normal pubertal development, including the onset of menstruation in females and secondary sexual characteristics in males.

Activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) by metabolic stressors such as exercise or pharmacological agents like metformin mediates key metabolic adaptations including increased fatty acid oxidation, glucose uptake, and mitochondrial biogenesis, which protect against insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

Regular physical activity and certain medications (like metformin for diabetics) work by triggering your cells' energy sensors (AMPK). This sensor detects low energy states and switches your metabolism to burn fat and glucose more efficiently. You cannot directly 'activate' this sensor with a supplement in the same way a drug inhibits an enzyme; it responds to actual metabolic stress like exercise or caloric restriction.

Heart-rate variability (HRV) serves as a valid biomarker for assessing the physiological and psychological health impacts of dietary interventions, with higher HRV indicating better autonomic regulation and resilience.

Use HRV as a key indicator of how your diet affects your overall health and stress resilience. Higher HRV is generally associated with better health outcomes, including lower risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and psychiatric disorders. While more research is needed on specific foods, maintaining a diet that supports high HRV (e.g., Mediterranean diet, omega-3s) is a valid strategy for improving long-term physiological and psychological well-being.

Nurses with more than 30 quick returns (less than 11 hours between shifts) per year have a significantly higher risk of insomnia, excessive sleepiness, and shift work disorder compared to those with no quick returns.

If you work shifts, ensure you have at least 11 hours between your last shift and your next start time. Failing to do so (a 'quick return') significantly increases your risk of insomnia, excessive sleepiness, and Shift Work Disorder, especially if you have more than 30 such instances per year. Prioritize schedules that allow for adequate recovery time over those that offer longer consecutive days off at the expense of daily recovery.

Inhibiting Nuclear Factor-κB (NF-κB) activation using therapeutic doses of salsalate significantly improves endothelium-dependent vascular function in overweight or obese middle-aged and older adults.

For middle-aged or older adults with excess body weight, high levels of internal inflammation (specifically NF-κB activity) may be stiffening your blood vessels. This research suggests that a specific, high-dose non-acetylated salicylate (salsalate) taken daily for a short period can reverse this stiffness by calming that specific inflammatory pathway. While lifestyle changes remain foundational, this highlights inflammation as a direct, targetable cause of vascular aging in this demographic.

Quitting smoking is independently associated with significantly higher odds of gaining >5 kg over 5 years (OR ~2.94) compared to never smokers, even after adjusting for physical activity, sitting time, and energy intake.

If you are a midage woman planning to quit smoking, be aware that you are at higher risk for significant weight gain (approx 5 kg over 5 years). Proactively manage this by making small, sustained increases in physical activity and decreases in sitting time, as energy intake adjustments alone may not be sufficient for all.

Higher sitting time (>8 hours/day) and lower habitual physical activity (<150 minutes/week) are independently associated with increased odds of gaining >5 kg over 5 years in midage women.

To prevent significant weight gain, aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week and reduce sitting time to under 3 hours per day. These are modifiable targets that can help counteract the energy imbalance driving weight gain.

Dietary trends in France are strongly age-stratified, with young adults adopting a 'snacking and convenience' diet (more rice, pasta, meat, less eggs/fish) while the elderly maintain a 'traditional' diet (more bread, potatoes, cheese).

Tailor your nutrition strategy to your age group. If you are young, prioritize convenient, nutrient-dense options like rice, pasta, and lean meats. If you are older, leverage your preference for traditional foods like bread, potatoes, and cheese, but monitor dairy intake if necessary.

Menopause significantly increases cardiovascular risk in women by altering lipid profiles and promoting central adiposity, which worsens coronary artery disease outcomes more than in men.

After menopause, your cardiovascular risk profile changes significantly due to the loss of estrogen. This leads to worse lipid profiles and increased central fat, which disproportionately harms heart health compared to men. If you have diabetes or high blood pressure, your risk of heart failure is significantly higher than a man with the same conditions. Post-menopausal women should prioritize cardiovascular screening and lifestyle interventions tailored to this hormonal change.

Chronic insomnia combined with objectively measured short sleep duration (<6 hours) causes significant deficits in neuropsychological performance, specifically in processing speed, set-switching attention, and visual memory.

If you have chronic insomnia, your cognitive performance is likely normal unless your actual sleep time is short (less than 6 hours). The key to protecting your brain function is not just treating the insomnia complaint, but ensuring you get sufficient objective sleep duration. Focus on increasing total sleep time to mitigate cognitive deficits.

Genetically predicted accelerometer-assessed physical activity causally decreases the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization.

Prioritize physical activity measured by devices (accelerometers) over self-reported estimates, as it is causally linked to reduced COVID-19 hospitalization risk. While the effect size is modest, combining this with reduced leisure sedentary time (like TV watching) may offer better protection.

The Triglyceride-Glucose (TyG) index provides accurate discrimination of prediabetes and diabetes, performing comparably to the gold-standard HOMA-IR marker, particularly in women and individuals under 65 years of age.

If you are concerned about prediabetes, ask your doctor to calculate your Triglyceride-Glucose (TyG) index using your standard fasting glucose and triglyceride levels. This index is a reliable, low-cost screening tool for insulin resistance and diabetes risk, especially for women and those under 65, potentially saving you the cost and discomfort of an oral glucose tolerance test.

Hummus consumption attenuates post-prandial blood glucose and insulin responses compared to carbohydrate-only foods, due to its low glycemic index and fat content slowing gastric emptying.

Pair hummus with high-carb foods like bread or crackers. The fat and fiber in hummus slow down digestion, resulting in a significantly lower blood sugar spike compared to eating the carbs alone.

Regular physical activity improves cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (sulphate) levels in older adults, contributing to healthy ageing.

Engage in regular physical activity, such as moderate-intensity exercise, to help regulate stress hormones like cortisol and DHEA(S), which supports healthy ageing and reduces frailty risk in older adults.

Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (insulin pump therapy) is associated with significantly lower cardiovascular mortality and all-cause mortality compared to multiple daily insulin injections in patients with type 1 diabetes.

For individuals with type 1 diabetes, switching from multiple daily injections to an insulin pump therapy is associated with a significantly reduced risk of fatal cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality. This benefit persists even after adjusting for various risk factors, suggesting that the precision of continuous insulin delivery may offer superior long-term protection compared to injection regimens.

Daily supplementation with 2000 IU of Vitamin D3 reduces the incidence of advanced (metastatic or fatal) cancer in adults without prior cancer diagnosis, with the effect being statistically significant only in individuals with a normal body mass index (BMI < 25).

If you are maintaining a healthy weight (BMI < 25), taking 2000 IU of Vitamin D3 daily may help reduce your risk of developing advanced or fatal cancer. However, if you are overweight or obese, this specific dose may not provide the same protective benefit against advanced cancer, likely due to how fat stores sequester the vitamin. Consult your doctor before starting, especially if you have existing health conditions.

Dietary restriction and attempted food deprivation increase the frequency and intensity of food cravings, whereas fasting generally suppresses them.

Do not assume that craving means you are nutritionally deficient. If you are restricting foods, expect cravings to increase due to psychological factors like thought suppression and cue reactivity. This is a normal psychological response to restriction, not a biological signal. To manage it, focus on the psychological triggers (mood, cues) rather than just the food itself, and consider that fasting may actually suppress cravings while partial restriction increases them.

Thought suppression and cognitive load increase the accessibility and salience of forbidden foods, leading to ironic rebound effects on craving and consumption.

Do not rely on thought suppression to manage cravings. Trying to force yourself not to think about a forbidden food often makes it more salient. Instead, use techniques that interfere with the vividness of food imagery, such as staring at dynamic visual noise, to reduce the intensity of the craving.