Browse the evidence

Long-term high-intensity interval training (HIIT) using leg ergometry causes significant regional fat loss in the thighs and visceral adipose tissue, but does not significantly reduce total body fat mass or trunk fat.

If you want to lose fat specifically from your thighs and belly without necessarily dropping total body weight, try 16 weeks of HIIT using a leg bike. Do 8-12 sets of 1-minute sprints at >90% effort, twice a week, with 1-minute recovery. Expect your thigh fat to decrease, but don't be surprised if the scale stays the same because you might be building muscle.

The Swallowable Gastric Balloon Program (SGBP) combined with remote monitoring maintains 95% of total body weight loss (TBWL) one year after the device naturally passes, achieving a mean 13.2% TBWL.

If you are avoiding surgery, a swallowable gastric balloon combined with a strict remote monitoring program (app, scale, regular check-ins) can help you lose about 13% of your body weight and keep it off for at least a year after the device passes naturally. Success depends heavily on sticking to the behavioral program and using the provided digital tools for accountability.

A fully health-insurance-financed, long-term (4-year) conservative multimodal obesity therapy program achieves clinically significant weight loss (average 5 kg or 4%) and metabolic improvements in patients with obesity grade 2 and 3 under real-world conditions.

If you have obesity grade 2 or 3, a fully funded, long-term conservative therapy program combining diet, exercise, and behavioral therapy can help you lose an average of 5 kg and improve your metabolic health. This program is available in Germany through specific health insurance contracts and may be more cost-effective than some medications.

A 7-day diet-induced energy restriction of 50% TDEE reduces body mass and fasting blood glucose without eliciting compensatory decreases in basal metabolic rate (BMR) or physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE) in overweight and obese adults.

If you are overweight or obese, a strict 7-day liquid diet cutting your calories in half can produce initial weight loss and improve blood pressure and glucose without causing your body to immediately slow down its metabolism or reduce your spontaneous movement. This suggests short-term aggressive restriction can be a viable strategy for initial health improvements, though long-term maintenance requires different strategies.

A 12-week very low-calorie ketogenic diet (800-1000 kcal/day, 70% fat, 20% protein, 10% carbs) significantly reduces body weight and body fat percentage in overweight/obese adults, but also significantly decreases resting metabolic rate (RMR) and total energy expenditure.

A 12-week very low-calorie ketogenic diet (800-1000 calories, high fat) leads to significant fat loss in obese individuals, but it also significantly slows down your resting metabolism. This metabolic slowdown is a normal adaptive response to severe calorie restriction and should be expected. Long-term maintenance requires careful refeeding strategies to mitigate metabolic adaptation.

Very low-calorie ketogenic diets (VLCKDs) containing whey or vegetable proteins reduce visceral adipose tissue (VAT) more effectively than those containing animal proteins, while also promoting a healthier gut microbiota composition (increased Bacteroidetes, decreased Firmicutes).

If you are using a very low-calorie ketogenic diet for visceral fat loss, choose whey or vegetable proteins over animal proteins. This study suggests you will lose more belly fat, have better gut health, and avoid potential kidney stress markers compared to animal-based protein sources. Ensure your total calories remain under 800 kcal/day for the first 45 days.

Intermittent energy restriction (IER) produces weight loss comparable to continuous energy restriction (CER) in overweight and obese adults over short-term periods (up to 12 months).

If you are overweight or obese, intermittent fasting (eating very little on 1-6 days a week) will help you lose weight just as well as eating a little less every day. It is not a magic bullet for superior weight loss, but it is a valid alternative strategy. Choose the pattern that you can stick to for at least 12 weeks.

Intermittent Caloric Restriction (ICR) helps overcome metabolic adaptation (slowed resting metabolic rate) associated with continuous caloric restriction.

If you feel your metabolism slowing down on a strict diet, try an intermittent approach (like ICR) which might help overcome metabolic adaptation.

Lactobacillus sp. supplementation significantly decreases leptin levels and increases adiponectin levels in non-comorbid obese individuals.

Lactobacillus supplementation may help improve your hormonal profile by lowering leptin (which can promote fat storage) and raising adiponectin (which improves insulin sensitivity and fat burning). This hormonal shift supports weight management efforts.

Ketogenic diets are effective for fat mass reduction but are less effective than carbohydrate-rich diets for muscle mass gain, potentially due to reduced testosterone and IGF-1 levels.

If your main goal is to build muscle, avoid ketogenic diets as they may hinder growth. If your goal is fat loss, keto works, but monitor your strength training performance.

Intermittent Fasting (IF) produces weight loss comparable to continuous caloric restriction, but is generally not recommended for Type 2 Diabetes patients due to hypoglycemia risk.

Intermittent fasting can help you lose weight just as well as counting calories every day. However, if you have Type 2 Diabetes, do not try this without a doctor's supervision due to the risk of low blood sugar.

Increasing the regularity of meal times (reducing mealtime variability) leads to significant weight loss without requiring calorie restriction or changes in macronutrient composition.

Use a smartphone app to track your meals for two weeks to identify your most frequent eating times. Then, create a personalized schedule that restricts your meals to those specific times for six weeks. Do not worry about changing what or how much you eat; focus only on making your meal times consistent and regular. This approach led to an average weight loss of 2.6 kg in the study without calorie counting.

Personalizing meal schedules to an individual's chronotype (specifically aligning meal times with their mid-sleep phase) enhances weight loss effectiveness compared to generic regularity.

If you have a flexible schedule, try to align your main meals with your natural sleep rhythm. If you are a 'night owl', your optimal eating window might be later than the standard 9-5 worker's. The study suggests that correcting large discrepancies between your workday and weekend eating times (meal jet lag) can boost weight loss.

Intermittent fasting (IF) produces weight loss comparable to continuous calorie restriction while offering superior improvements in insulin sensitivity and lipid profiles through a metabolic switch to ketone-based energy.

Intermittent fasting is a viable weight loss strategy that works as well as traditional calorie counting but may offer better metabolic benefits like improved insulin sensitivity. You can choose from several methods: eating normally on 2 days and restricting calories on 2 others (5:2), alternating between fasting and eating days (ADF), or limiting your daily eating to an 8-hour window (16:8). The key is consistency and allowing your body to switch from burning glucose to burning fat (ketones). Start with a protocol that fits your lifestyle, such as 16:8, and adjust based on your hunger and energy levels.

Intermittent fasting produces weight loss equivalent to daily caloric restriction, with no statistically significant difference in efficacy between the two methods.

If you are overweight or obese, intermittent fasting is a viable weight loss strategy that works just as well as counting calories every day. You can choose a schedule that fits your life (e.g., fasting 2 days a week or eating within a 12-hour window), but expect similar results to traditional dieting. It may be preferable if you find constant daily restriction difficult to maintain.

Intermittent fasting is associated with minor, non-significant adverse events such as headache and constipation, comparable to control groups.

You may experience headaches or constipation when starting intermittent fasting, but these are common and manageable. They are not significantly worse than what you might experience on a standard diet, so they should not deter you from trying it.

In overweight and obese adults, higher lean mass in the presence of excess fat mass may benefit metabolic health by increasing resting energy expenditure, potentially offsetting risks associated with high fat mass.

For overweight individuals, building muscle is crucial for metabolic health. Even if you carry extra fat, having more muscle helps burn more calories at rest and may help manage blood glucose levels better than having high fat and low muscle.

Combining 16:8 time-restricted eating (TRE) with structured exercise yields modest additional reductions in body weight and fat mass compared to exercise alone.

If you already exercise regularly, adding a 16:8 time-restricted eating schedule (fasting for 16 hours, eating within 8 hours) may help you lose an extra 1-1.5 kg of body weight and about 1 kg of fat mass over 4-8 weeks compared to exercising without dietary timing restrictions. This benefit is modest but real, particularly if you perform aerobic exercise.

Aerobic exercise combined with 16:8 TRE yields greater reductions in body weight and fat mass than resistance training combined with 16:8 TRE.

If you prefer resistance training, adding 16:8 TRE may still help with fat loss, but the additional benefit from TRE appears greater when combined with aerobic exercise. For maximal short-term fat loss with TRE, aerobic exercise may be the more synergistic choice.

Engaging in more than 300 minutes of moderate-intensity or 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity per week provides additional health benefits, though the relative benefits tend to diminish at higher levels.

If you have the time and capacity, increasing your aerobic activity beyond 300 minutes of moderate or 150 minutes of vigorous exercise per week can provide additional health benefits. However, be aware that the benefits diminish at higher levels, so focus on maintaining the baseline 150-300 minute recommendation consistently before aiming for higher volumes.

Long-term consumption of diets rich in plant polyphenols provides protection against the development of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, and neurodegenerative diseases.

Prioritize whole plant foods known to be high in polyphenols, such as berries, tea, coffee, red wine (in moderation), dark chocolate, and vegetables like onions and tomatoes. The goal is long-term dietary patterns rich in these compounds rather than isolated high-dose supplements, as the synergy of food matrices appears beneficial for chronic disease prevention.

Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, 18:3 n-3) is significantly associated with improved prognosis in post-MI patients, whereas long-chain n-3 fatty acids (EPA/DHA) showed only a non-significant trend.

Focus on plant-based sources of omega-3s, such as flaxseed oil and vegetable margarine, which were significantly linked to better outcomes in this study. While fish oil is often recommended, this specific trial did not find a significant benefit for long-chain omega-3s, possibly due to the small number of fatal events.

A lower omega-6 to omega-3 ratio (2-3:1) suppresses inflammation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and a ratio of 5:1 has a beneficial effect on asthma, whereas a ratio of 10:1 has adverse consequences.

If you have rheumatoid arthritis, aim for a very low omega-6 to omega-3 ratio of 2-3:1. If you have asthma, a ratio of 5:1 may be beneficial. This involves reducing omega-6 oils and increasing omega-3 sources. The optimal ratio depends on your specific health condition.

Curcumin supplementation (400 mg/day) reduces biological inflammation (CK, TNF-α, IL-8) following eccentric exercise in healthy subjects, though it does not significantly reduce subjective muscle soreness.

If you do intense eccentric exercise, taking 400 mg of curcumin daily starting 2 days before and ending 4 days after can significantly lower your blood markers of muscle damage and inflammation. However, you might not feel less sore, as subjective pain relief was not consistently observed.