Browse the evidence

Adherence to a Mediterranean Diet (MeDi) slows cognitive decline and reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and dementia in elderly populations.

Adopt a Mediterranean-style eating pattern as your long-term dietary baseline. Prioritize vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, and nuts. Use olive oil as your primary cooking fat. Consume fish and poultry in moderation, and limit red meat. This pattern is associated with slower cognitive decline and a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease in older adults.

Twelve weeks of progressive aerobic exercise training increases markers of mitochondrial biogenesis (PGC-1α, CS, βHAD, SDH, COXIV) and dynamics (MFN1, MFN2, FIS1) in older men (74 ± 3 y) to a similar extent as in young men (20 ± 1 y).

If you are a healthy older man, engaging in 12 weeks of progressive aerobic exercise (like cycling) 3-4 times a week at 60-80% of your heart rate reserve will significantly boost your mitochondrial health and muscle size. Your body's ability to adapt to this exercise is comparable to that of a young adult, meaning you can achieve substantial improvements in aerobic capacity and muscle quality regardless of your age.

Repeated exercise-induced increases in arterial blood flow and shear stress directly cause structural remodeling (lumenal expansion) and functional improvements (endothelial NO-mediated dilation) in human conduit and resistance arteries.

To improve your blood vessel health, you need to generate high blood flow and shear stress. This happens during dynamic exercises like running, cycling, or swimming, and even resistance training if you use moderate weights with higher reps. Simply sitting still or doing very low-intensity movement won't trigger the structural changes in your arteries. Consistency is key: repeated bouts of exercise are required to remodel the vessel walls.

Radiologically determined sarcopenia significantly predicts increased post-operative morbidity and mortality following abdominal surgery.

If you are scheduled for abdominal surgery, ask if your pre-operative scans (CT/MRI) were used to assess your muscle mass. If sarcopenia is present, discuss a prehabilitation program focusing on resistance training and nutrition to potentially reduce your risk of complications and improve recovery.

Long-term consumption of high fructose diets causes non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) by disrupting gut barrier integrity, leading to endotoxin translocation and hepatic inflammation.

Avoid high-fructose corn syrup and sugary beverages. While fruit is healthy, concentrated fructose (especially in drinks) damages the gut lining, allowing toxins to reach the liver and cause inflammation and fat accumulation. Focus on whole foods rather than added sugars.

Probiotics (specifically Lactobacillus strains) and prebiotics (fructooligosaccharides) can mitigate fructose-induced NAFLD by restoring gut barrier integrity and reducing inflammation.

If you consume high amounts of sugar, consider adding specific probiotics (like Lactobacillus strains) and prebiotics (like FOS). These help repair the gut barrier, preventing liver inflammation caused by sugar-induced gut leakage.

Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH) testing can be used as an alternative to ultrasound for diagnosing PCOS in adults, offering a low-cost, convenient option without evidence of overdiagnosis.

If you are an adult being evaluated for PCOS, ask your doctor if Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH) blood testing is a suitable alternative to ultrasound. This may be a more convenient and cost-effective diagnostic option with strong supporting evidence.

In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the presence of chronic conditions and multimorbidity is significantly associated with lower levels of physical activity, particularly in adults aged 50 and older.

If you have a chronic condition or multiple conditions, you are statistically much less likely to be physically active, especially if you are over 50. This isn't just about willpower; it's often mediated by pain, mobility issues, depression, and sleep problems. To increase activity, interventions should target these specific barriers (e.g., pain management, mental health support) rather than just prescribing exercise.

High-frequency low-dose caffeine administration (0.3 mg/kg/hour) effectively counteracts cognitive performance degradation and prevents accidental sleep onsets during extended wakefulness, particularly during the circadian performance nadir.

If you are facing a long shift or extended wakefulness, take small doses of caffeine (approx 0.3 mg per kg of body weight) every hour rather than one large dose. This strategy keeps your cognitive performance sharp and prevents accidental sleep, especially during your body's natural low-energy window (circadian nadir). Be aware that you might feel more subjectively sleepy than usual, but your objective performance will be protected.

Diabetic neuropathy causes accelerated muscle weakness and atrophy in the lower extremities, which alters foot biomechanics and significantly increases the risk of foot ulcers and amputation.

If you have diabetes and nerve damage, your foot muscles may be shrinking and weakening. This changes how you walk and puts dangerous pressure on your feet, increasing the risk of ulcers. Focus on balance and strength training to improve stability and reduce this risk, as recommended by your healthcare provider.

Visceral adipose tissue volume, rather than total body fat or subcutaneous fat, is the primary driver of insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome through the flux of free fatty acids and TNF-alpha to the liver and peripheral tissues.

Focus on reducing visceral fat through lifestyle changes (diet and exercise) rather than just chasing a specific BMI number. Visceral fat is the key driver of insulin resistance, and reducing it improves metabolic health even if total body weight doesn't change drastically.

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) actively clears circulating triglycerides and disposes of glucose, thereby reducing risk factors for metabolic syndrome and obesity.

Maintaining or recruiting brown adipose tissue (BAT) may help manage blood sugar and fat levels. While cold exposure is a known activator, the key takeaway is that BAT is a metabolic organ in adults that can clear dietary fats and glucose. Strategies to keep BAT active (like mild cold exposure) might support metabolic health, particularly for those with obesity or metabolic syndrome risk.

Gut microbiota composition influences obesity and diabetes risk through mechanisms including energy harvesting, regulation of fat storage, and induction of metabolic endotoxemia.

Maintaining a diverse gut microbiome through diet may help regulate energy extraction and satiety hormones. While not a substitute for healthy eating, a healthy microbiome may support metabolic health and reduce inflammation associated with obesity.

Acute administration of glucocorticoids (prednisolone or cortisol) increases brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity, thermogenesis, and UCP-1 expression in humans, whereas chronic glucocorticoid exposure suppresses BAT activation.

While chronic steroid use is linked to obesity and suppressed brown fat, acute exposure to glucocorticoids (like prednisolone) actually boosts brown fat activity and heat production in lean humans during cold exposure. This suggests a complex, time-dependent relationship where short-term stress hormones might temporarily enhance metabolic rate via brown fat, but long-term excess leads to suppression and weight gain.

Green tea extract supplementation increases serum Zinc and Magnesium levels while decreasing Iron levels in obese patients, thereby improving total antioxidant status.

Green tea extract supplementation improves your body's antioxidant status and increases Zinc and Magnesium, which are often low in obesity. However, it also lowers Iron levels. If you are prone to anemia, monitor your iron status, as green tea may reduce iron absorption.

High adherence to a Mediterranean diet is associated with a lower likelihood of incident cognitive impairment in nondiabetic adults, but this protective association is not observed in individuals with diabetes mellitus.

If you do not have diabetes, maintaining a high adherence to a Mediterranean diet (high plant foods, olive oil, low saturated fat/meat) is associated with a reduced risk of developing cognitive impairment over time. However, if you have diabetes, this specific dietary pattern did not show a protective effect against cognitive decline in this study, suggesting that diabetes may override or interact with the diet's benefits through other mechanisms like insulin resistance.

LCHF diets improve cardiovascular risk profiles by lowering triglycerides, increasing HDL cholesterol, and reducing small dense LDL particles, even if total LDL cholesterol increases in some individuals.

Monitor your full lipid panel, not just LDL. If your LDL rises, check your triglycerides and HDL. LCHF diets typically lower triglycerides and raise HDL, and shift LDL particles to a less harmful size, which may indicate improved heart health despite a higher LDL number.

Higher consumption of whole grains is associated with a lower incidence of and mortality from cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers, largely due to improved dietary carbohydrate quality and gut microbiota modulation.

Replace refined grain products (white bread, white rice, regular pasta) with whole grain versions (whole wheat bread, brown/red rice, whole wheat pasta) as often as possible. This increases dietary fiber and phytochemical intake, which improves blood sugar control and supports gut health, reducing your risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Start by swapping one meal component at a time.

Whole grains modulate the gut microbiota by providing indigestible carbohydrates (dietary fiber) that serve as substrates for microbial fermentation, leading to the production of beneficial short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) like butyrate.

Include a variety of whole grains in your diet to support a diverse gut microbiota. Different grains provide different types of fiber, which feed different beneficial bacteria. This fermentation process produces short-chain fatty acids like butyrate, which support gut health and reduce inflammation. Increase fiber intake gradually to minimize digestive discomfort.

Caffeine enhances contractile force during submaximal contractions by potentiating calcium release from the ryanodine receptor, independent of habitual caffeine consumption.

If you consume caffeine before exercise, it may help your muscles produce more force during submaximal efforts by improving calcium release in muscle cells. This benefit applies regardless of whether you drink coffee regularly.

Supplementation with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) during pulmonary rehabilitation significantly improves exercise capacity (peak workload and submaximal endurance) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), independent of changes in fat-free mass or systemic inflammation.

If you have COPD and are doing pulmonary rehab, adding a specific polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) supplement to your routine can help you exercise longer and harder than rehab alone. This benefit comes from improved muscle metabolism, not from building more muscle or lowering blood inflammation. The study used a specific blend of fatty acids (including EPA, DHA, ALA, GLA, and STA) totaling 9 grams daily for 8 weeks. While this is a high dose and specific blend, it suggests that targeted nutritional support can enhance the physical gains from exercise training in lung disease.

Metformin treatment (1-2 g/day) improves hyperandrogenism, hyperinsulinemia, and menstrual cyclicity in nonobese women with PCOS primarily by increasing hepatic insulin clearance and reducing abdominal adiposity, without significantly altering whole-body insulin sensitivity.

For nonobese women with PCOS, metformin (1-2g/day) can effectively lower testosterone and improve menstrual cycles by helping the liver clear insulin faster, rather than by changing how muscles use glucose. This suggests that even without weight loss or improved muscle sensitivity, hormonal balance can be restored.

Night-shift nurses who use voluntary sleep deprivation (staying awake >24 hours) to switch between day and night schedules exhibit significantly poorer adaptation to their work schedule compared to those using other sleep strategies.

If you work night shifts, avoid staying awake for more than 24 hours to force a switch to day schedules on your days off. This 'No Sleep' strategy is linked to the poorest adaptation, higher fatigue, and increased reliance on caffeine. Instead, consider strategies that involve napping or gradual shifting, as these are associated with better adaptation scores.

Genetic polymorphisms in circadian clock genes (specifically PER2, PER3, NPAS2, and CLOCK) interact with shift work environment to influence sleep duration, caffeine consumption, and adaptation levels.

Your ability to adapt to night shifts may be influenced by your genetics, specifically variations in clock genes like PER2, PER3, and NPAS2. While you cannot change your genes, understanding that your genetic makeup might make you more susceptible to sleep issues or caffeine dependence on nights shifts can help you proactively manage your sleep hygiene and caffeine intake.