Browse the evidence

High intake of animal protein, particularly red and processed meat, is associated with increased all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular mortality in middle-aged adults, whereas plant protein is protective.

If you are under 65, try replacing some animal proteins (especially red and processed meats) with plant proteins like legumes, nuts, and seeds. This substitution is linked to lower risks of heart disease, cancer, and early death.

In adults over 66 years, high protein intake is associated with reduced all-cause and cancer mortality compared to low protein intake, likely to prevent sarcopenia and frailty.

If you are over 66, ensure you are getting adequate protein. Low protein intake in this age group is linked to higher death rates, likely due to muscle loss and frailty. Focus on high-quality protein sources.

Adopting a low-risk lifestyle profile (non-smoking, regular physical activity, healthy social network, and leisure activities) significantly extends median survival in adults aged 75 and older, adding approximately 5-6 years compared to high-risk profiles.

If you are over 75, your lifestyle still matters significantly for how long you live. Focus on staying physically active (walking, swimming, gymnastics), avoiding smoking, maintaining social connections, and engaging in leisure activities. These combined behaviors can add roughly five to six years to your life expectancy compared to a high-risk profile, even if you have chronic health conditions.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for insomnia significantly reduces hypnotic drug use and improves sleep quality in long-term users, with effects sustained for at least 12 months.

If you have been using sleeping pills for a long time, consider asking your doctor for a referral to a CBT for insomnia program. This therapy, often delivered by primary care counsellors, involves about six weekly sessions focusing on sleep habits and thoughts about sleep. It has been shown to help many people reduce or stop their medication while improving their sleep quality, with benefits lasting at least a year. Age is not a barrier to success.

The joint use of Body Mass Index (BMI) and A Body Shape Index (ABSI) provides a significantly better assessment of cardio-metabolic risk factors (high triglycerides, low HDL, high fasting glucose) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) thickness than using BMI alone.

If you are assessing metabolic health, do not rely on BMI alone. Calculate your A Body Shape Index (ABSI) using your waist circumference, height, and weight. Using both BMI and ABSI together provides a much more accurate picture of your risk for high triglycerides, low HDL, and high blood sugar than BMI by itself. This is especially important if you have a 'normal' BMI but carry weight around your midsection.

Protracted metformin therapy (1500-2550 mg/day) induces significant weight loss in obese women with PCOS, with higher doses (2550 mg) yielding greater weight reduction in moderately obese patients (BMI 30-37) compared to lower doses.

If you have PCOS and are overweight, metformin can help you lose weight, especially if you take a higher dose (around 2550 mg/day). However, this benefit is most clear if your BMI is between 30 and 37. If you are morbidly obese, higher doses may not give you more weight loss than lower doses. Be prepared for potential stomach issues, which are common.

Testosterone treatment significantly reduces depressive symptoms in men compared to placebo, with efficacy dependent on dosage and baseline symptom homogeneity.

If you are a man experiencing depressive symptoms, testosterone therapy may offer a clinically relevant reduction in symptoms, particularly if your symptoms are consistent (low variability) and you are prescribed a higher dosage (over 500mg/week). This benefit appears regardless of whether you are clinically hypogonadal. Consult a physician to evaluate if this adjunct therapy is appropriate for your specific symptom profile.

In women with PCOS, the risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is primarily driven by overweight and obesity rather than the syndrome itself; normal-weight women with PCOS do not have an increased risk of T2DM or prediabetes.

If you have PCOS, your weight is the most critical factor in your diabetes risk. If you are overweight or obese, you are at significantly higher risk, but this risk is driven by the weight, not just the PCOS diagnosis. If you are normal weight, your risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes is not significantly higher than women without PCOS. Focus on maintaining a healthy weight, especially during early adulthood, as this is the most effective way to prevent diabetes in PCOS.

Native inulin supplementation (16g/day) combined with dietary advice to consume inulin-rich vegetables promotes greater weight loss and metabolic improvements in obese patients compared to placebo, but this efficacy is significantly compromised by concurrent metformin treatment.

If you are obese and not taking metformin, adding 16g of native inulin daily (starting with 8g for the first week) along with eating more inulin-rich vegetables (like garlic, onions, and artichokes) and eating 30% fewer calories can help you lose more weight and improve metabolic markers than just dieting alone. However, if you are already taking metformin, this specific supplement may not offer the same benefits, so discuss this with your doctor before starting.

Metabolically normal obese (MNO) individuals, defined by low intrahepatic triglyceride content, are protected from adverse metabolic effects such as insulin resistance and dyslipidemia following moderate weight gain, unlike metabolically abnormal obese (MAO) individuals.

If you are obese but have low liver fat (metabolically normal), moderate weight gain is unlikely to trigger diabetes or heart disease risks. However, if you have high liver fat (metabolically abnormal), even small weight gains can significantly worsen your metabolic health. Focus on liver fat reduction (via diet/exercise) rather than just weight loss if you are in the metabolically abnormal group.

Edible seaweeds serve as a highly concentrated source of essential macro- and trace minerals (such as K, Ca, Na, Mg, Fe, Zn, and I), providing mineral content 10 to 50 times higher than terrestrial plants by dry weight, thereby contributing significantly to daily mineral intake and functional food development.

Incorporate edible seaweeds into your diet to boost your intake of essential minerals like potassium, calcium, magnesium, and iodine. Seaweeds are naturally concentrated sources of these nutrients, often containing 10-50 times more minerals per dry weight than land vegetables. To maximize safety, choose varieties from regulated aquaculture or known safe species, as some wild-harvested seaweeds may accumulate higher levels of toxic metals like arsenic or lead.

Different classes of seaweed (green, red, brown) exhibit distinct mineral profiles, with brown seaweeds being particularly rich in iodine and sodium, red seaweeds high in potassium and iodine, and green seaweeds varying widely but often high in calcium and sodium.

If you are looking to boost specific minerals, choose your seaweed type carefully. Brown seaweeds like Kombu and Wakame are exceptionally high in iodine. Red seaweeds like Nori are rich in potassium. Green seaweeds like Sea Lettuce often provide higher levels of calcium and sodium. Diversifying your seaweed intake can help balance your mineral profile.

The implementation of a tiered Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) in the UK accelerated the reformulation of soft drinks, resulting in a 30% reduction in per capita sugar sales from 2015 to 2018.

Government policies that financially penalize high-sugar products (like the UK's Soft Drinks Industry Levy) effectively drive manufacturers to reformulate their recipes. This results in a significant, measurable decrease in the amount of sugar available to consumers, demonstrating that fiscal policy can successfully alter industry behavior and public health outcomes.

Plant-based meat alternatives (PBMAs) often have higher sodium and saturated fat content than conventional meat, and their health benefits are largely inferred from traditional plant-based diets rather than direct evidence on the processed products themselves.

If you are switching to plant-based meats for health, read the label. They often have much more sodium than regular meat. For better health outcomes, prioritize whole plant proteins like beans, lentils, and tofu over highly processed meat alternatives.

Substituting animal meat with plant-based meat alternatives (PBMAs) may improve cardiovascular risk factors like TMAO levels, but may also negatively impact bone health markers compared to meat consumption.

If you switch to plant-based meats, monitor your overall diet. While it might help some heart health markers, it may not support bone health as well as meat. Ensure you are getting enough calcium and vitamin D from other sources.

Low levels of spontaneous physical activity (SPA) are associated with a higher rate of subsequent body weight and fat mass gain in Pima Indian males.

Focus on increasing your daily non-exercise movement. This includes fidgeting, pacing, or just staying generally active throughout the day. In this study, men with lower levels of this spontaneous activity gained more weight over time, suggesting that keeping your body in motion outside of formal exercise is a key factor in weight maintenance.

Caloric restriction via a hypocaloric protein diet reduces blood pressure in obese patients by lowering sympathetic nervous system activity (norepinephrine levels) and suppressing the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone axis.

For obese individuals with hypertension, a short-term, medically supervised very-low-calorie protein diet (approx. 320 kcal/day) can significantly lower blood pressure by reducing sympathetic nervous system activity and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone levels, independent of sodium intake. This suggests that caloric deficit itself, rather than just salt reduction, drives blood pressure improvements in obesity.

Consuming a higher percentage of daily caloric intake at dinner (specifically the highest tertile, ≥48% of daily kcal) significantly increases the risk of developing obesity, metabolic syndrome, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) over a 6-year period.

If you tend to eat the majority of your daily calories during the evening meal, you may be increasing your risk of obesity and metabolic issues, even if your total daily calorie count is healthy. Try shifting more of your energy intake to earlier in the day (breakfast and lunch) to align with your body's natural metabolic rhythms.

Acute exercise generally does not increase hunger or energy intake, and chronic supervised exercise in overweight/obese individuals typically fails to trigger compensatory increases in energy intake sufficient to negate the energy deficit, although individual variability exists.

If you are overweight, exercise is likely to help you lose weight or improve your health without making you eat enough to cancel out the benefits. Don't stop exercising because you heard it doesn't work for weight loss; it works for health and often for weight loss, even if the amount varies by person.

Individual variability in exercise-induced weight loss is significant, with some individuals losing very little weight ('non-responders') despite high adherence, often due to compensatory increases in energy intake or changes in food preference.

If you exercise consistently but don't lose much weight, don't stop. You are likely still improving your cardiovascular health and body composition. This is common and does not mean the exercise was wasted.

Psychological traits, specifically high Disinhibition and low Restraint, are associated with greater compensatory eating and poorer weight loss outcomes following exercise.

If you struggle with impulsive eating, exercise might help you gain better control over your food choices over time. Focus on building self-restraint, as this is linked to better weight loss results from exercise.

The cognitive benefits of weight loss are stronger in younger seniors (under 70) for memory/fluency and in APOE4 carriers for executive function.

Older adults with MCI who are closer to 60 years old or who carry the APOE4 gene variant may see greater cognitive improvements from weight loss compared to those over 70 or non-carriers.

Reductions in insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), inflammation (CRP), and caloric/macronutrient intake are associated with cognitive improvements in MCI patients.

Improving your diet by reducing calories, carbs, and fats not only helps you lose weight but also lowers inflammation and insulin resistance, which may further support your memory and thinking skills.

Macronutrient composition (high-carb/low-fat, high-fat/low-carb, or high-protein) has no significant independent effect on long-term weight loss compared to isocaloric diets when behavioral adherence and caloric deficit are controlled.

Stop searching for the 'perfect' macronutrient ratio (keto, low-fat, high-protein). The specific type of diet matters less than your ability to stick to a caloric deficit. Focus on behavioral strategies, counseling, and sustainable habits rather than restricting specific food groups, as all diets yield similar modest weight loss (3-4 kg) over 2 years if adherence is maintained.