Browse the evidence

Red meat consumption does not significantly differ from various comparison diets combined in its effect on total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, apolipoproteins, or blood pressure.

Eating red meat does not inherently worsen your cholesterol or blood pressure if you replace it with a variety of other foods. The key is not just removing meat, but understanding what you put in its place. If you swap meat for plants, you may see better cholesterol results.

Acute, transient increases in endogenous anabolic hormones (testosterone, GH, IGF-1) induced by resistance exercise do not enhance muscle protein synthesis (MPS) or intracellular signaling in the fed state.

Stop designing your workouts to spike hormones. High-volume, short-rest routines that cause massive hormonal surges do not build more muscle than moderate routines that don't. Focus on local muscle tension, adequate protein intake (25g+ post-workout), and consistency. The 'hormonal response' is not a proxy for hypertrophic potential.

DHA is most strongly associated with reduced risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) death, particularly arrhythmic CHD death, while DPA is most strongly associated with stroke death.

If you are concerned about heart rhythm issues, ensuring adequate DHA levels might be particularly important. For stroke prevention, DPA levels also show strong protective associations. This suggests that a balanced intake of all long-chain omega-3s (EPA, DHA, DPA) is beneficial, rather than focusing on just one.

Hypothalamic inflammation and neuronal injury, triggered by high-fat diets and elevated lipid metabolites, contribute to leptin resistance and the defense of elevated body fat mass.

High-fat diets can cause inflammation and injury in the hypothalamus, leading to leptin resistance. This biological resistance makes it harder to lose weight and maintain weight loss.

In prepubertal children, higher fasting plasma insulin concentrations predict increased rates of body weight gain and fat deposition, suggesting hyperinsulinemia may precede and drive obesity rather than being solely a consequence of it.

For families with a history of obesity or diabetes, monitoring fasting insulin levels in young children may be more predictive of future weight issues than current weight alone. High fasting insulin in lean children might signal a metabolic predisposition to store fat, suggesting early lifestyle interventions focused on insulin sensitivity (e.g., reducing refined carbohydrate intake) could be beneficial before significant weight gain occurs.

Post-diagnosis weight loss of >10 kg is associated with a 2.66 times greater all-cause mortality compared to maintaining stable weight.

Significant weight loss after a breast cancer diagnosis (more than 10kg) is associated with a much higher risk of death. While weight loss is often seen as positive, unexplained or large weight loss can be a sign of underlying health problems. Survivors should report significant weight loss to their care team to rule out other causes, rather than assuming it is a positive outcome.

Sprint interval training does not increase the muscle content of fatty acid transport proteins (FAT/CD36 or FABPpm) in humans, suggesting that lipid oxidation capacity may adapt differently or slower than carbohydrate metabolism.

Don't worry if you don't see immediate changes in your body's fat-burning machinery after starting sprint training. Your body adapts to handle glucose and energy production more efficiently first. Focus on the performance benefits and overall metabolic health improvements, as these are the primary drivers of long-term fitness gains from SIT.

Carbohydrate co-ingestion with protein does not enhance muscle protein synthesis or muscle hypertrophy beyond protein ingestion alone, although it may aid in glycogen restoration.

You do not need to eat carbohydrates with your post-workout protein to build muscle. Protein alone is sufficient for muscle growth. Only add carbohydrates if you need to restore energy levels (glycogen) for your next training session.

Ethnicity influences beta-cell functional capacity, with Asians having lower beta-cell regenerative capacity and insulin secretion compared to Caucasians, leading to T2DM at lower BMI levels.

If you are of Asian descent, be aware that you may develop Type 2 Diabetes at a lower body weight than Caucasians. This is due to biological differences in beta-cell capacity. Prioritize weight management and lifestyle changes even if your BMI is in the 'normal' range.

Frequent alcohol consumption (≥5 days/week) is inversely associated with the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, even when the total amount of alcohol consumed per day is low.

If you currently drink alcohol, spreading your consumption across at least 5 days a week appears to offer the greatest protection against type 2 diabetes, regardless of whether you drink a full drink or just a small amount on those days. The type of alcohol (beer, wine, liquor) does not significantly change this risk reduction. However, this does not mean you should start drinking if you don't already.

Self-reported intensity of exercise (medium/high vs. none/low) was not significantly associated with any HRV indices in older adults.

You don't need to do high-intensity exercise to improve your heart health. Focus on walking at a good pace and staying active throughout the day.

Training with reduced carbohydrate availability does not necessarily improve exercise performance (e.g., time trial performance) despite enhancing molecular markers of adaptation.

Do not expect that training with low carbs will automatically make you faster. While it improves your body's metabolic efficiency, it may blunt your ability to train at high intensities. Use 'train low' strategically for specific sessions, but ensure you also train 'high' (with adequate carbs) to maintain your speed and power capacity for races.

Consuming carbohydrates before and during exercise blunts the molecular signaling pathways (AMPK, p38MAPK) that are normally enhanced by low carbohydrate availability.

If your goal is to improve your body's metabolic efficiency (mitochondria and fat burning), avoid eating carbohydrates before and during your training session. Eating carbs will blunt the specific cellular signals (AMPK, p38MAPK) that drive these adaptations. If you need to maintain intensity, try caffeine or mouth-rinsing instead of ingesting carbs.

Insulin resistance in the myocardium serves as a protective mechanism against glucolipotoxicity by limiting glucose entry; overriding this resistance with high-dose insulin leads to mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and cardiac injury.

Your body's insulin resistance in the heart is a shield against nutrient overload. Forcing more insulin into your system removes this shield, allowing too much glucose and fat into heart cells, which damages them. Respecting this resistance is key to heart health.

The obesity epidemic is primarily driven by changes in the caloric quantity and quality of the food supply, specifically the industrialization of cheap, highly processed foods with supernormal appetitive properties, rather than by specific macronutrients like protein, fat, or carbohydrates.

Focus on the overall food environment rather than isolating single nutrients. The rise in obesity is linked to the availability of cheap, highly processed, convenient foods that are engineered to be overconsumed. Reducing reliance on these foods and increasing home-prepared meals may help mitigate intake.

SGLT2 inhibitors produce significantly less weight loss than predicted by urinary glucose excretion because of compensatory hyperphagia (increased energy intake).

If you are taking an SGLT2 inhibitor (like Jardiance or Farxiga), expect about 2-3 kg of weight loss, not the 7 kg you might calculate based on urine sugar loss. Your body will likely increase your hunger to compensate for the calories lost in urine. To maximize weight loss, you must actively manage your appetite and food intake, as the drug alone will not overcome this biological compensation.

Adults residing in low-income countries (LICs) exhibit significantly higher diabetes prevalence (12.3-14.0%) compared to those in high-income countries (6.6-5.6%), a disparity that persists even after adjusting for conventional risk factors such as BMI, physical activity, and diet.

This research highlights that diabetes risk is not uniform globally. Living in a low-income country is associated with a significantly higher risk of diabetes, independent of standard risk factors like weight or exercise. This suggests that environmental, genetic, or early-life factors in these regions play a critical role, and standard risk assessments based on high-income country norms may underestimate risk in low-income settings.

Increasing red meat consumption by at least half a serving per day over an eight-year period is associated with a 10% higher risk of all-cause mortality in the subsequent eight years, with processed meat showing a stronger association (13% higher risk) than unprocessed meat (9% higher risk).

If you are currently eating red meat, try to avoid increasing your intake by more than half a serving per day over time. If you do increase it, be aware that your risk of death increases, especially if it is processed meat. Simply reducing red meat without replacing it with healthier options may not lower your mortality risk; instead, focus on replacing red meat with healthier protein sources like nuts, fish, or legumes, or whole grains and vegetables.

Long-term metformin treatment (up to 2,000 mg/day) significantly alters gut microbiota composition by increasing Escherichia coli and Ruminococcus torques while decreasing Intestinibacter bartlettii and Roseburia species, effects that persist for at least 12 months.

If you take metformin, expect your gut bacteria to change in a specific way: more E. coli and Ruminococcus torques, less Intestinibacter bartlettii and Roseburia. These changes don't just happen briefly; they stick around for at least a year. Importantly, these changes happen regardless of how much weight you lose, meaning the drug itself is driving this shift. While this might sound concerning because E. coli can be harmful, in this context, it is linked to increased production of short-chain fatty acids like acetate, which may help improve insulin sensitivity. If you experience stomach upset, talk to your doctor about slow dose titration.

Metabolic surgery reduces long-term cardiovascular mortality and microvascular complications in patients with Type 2 Diabetes compared to medical management.

For patients with Type 2 Diabetes and obesity, metabolic surgery not only improves blood sugar but also significantly reduces the risk of heart disease death and kidney/eye complications over the long term compared to standard medical care.

High sodium intake (>5 g/d) increases cardiovascular risk primarily in individuals with hypertension, whereas in normotensive individuals, the risk increase is less prominent or occurs only at much higher levels.

If you have high blood pressure, keeping your sodium intake below 5 grams per day is crucial to avoid increased cardiovascular risk. For those with normal blood pressure, the risk from high sodium may be lower, but moderation is still advised.

The apparent non-linear relationship between coffee consumption and mortality (benefit at moderate doses, null at high doses) in the general population is largely driven by confounding from smoking, as the relationship becomes linear and inverse when restricted to never smokers.

If you do not smoke, drinking coffee (even heavily, >5 cups) is associated with a lower risk of death compared to non-drinkers. The 'danger' of heavy coffee drinking seen in general population studies is likely due to the high correlation between heavy coffee drinking and smoking. For non-smokers, more coffee (up to 5+ cups) may offer greater mortality benefits than moderate drinking.

Coffee consumption is inversely associated with mortality from cardiovascular disease, neurological diseases, and suicide, but not with cancer mortality.

Drinking coffee is associated with a lower risk of death from heart disease, neurological conditions, and suicide. It does not appear to increase the risk of dying from cancer. This supports the view that moderate coffee consumption is a safe and potentially beneficial habit for long-term health.

Poststratification of UK Biobank data to match general population demographics reveals that the protective association between heavy alcohol consumption and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality observed in unweighted analyses is spurious and disappears.

If you drink heavily (≥5 times/week), do not rely on alcohol for heart health. The perceived protective effect seen in older studies likely disappears when looking at the general population. Focus on proven lifestyle factors like physical activity and diet for cardiovascular protection.