For how we live.
In 69 people across normal weight, overweight and type 2 diabetes, a stevia drink behaved like water — no shift in glucose, insulin, gut hormones, appetite or how much they ate next.
In nearly 12,000 US children, tree and park cover was linked to sharper directed attention and higher crystallized intelligence — and cleaner air seemed to explain part of it.
Both brands sell drug-free external nasal dilators with much the same evidence behind them. The differences are range, materials, and the fact that only one also sells a mouth tape.
A Swiss study tracking people who switched to remote work found no measurable change across 13 health outcomes. A review of pandemic homeworking found the relationship varies so much that no consensus emerged.
In a study of 543,167 cycles, calendar-based apps misclassified a fertile day as safe in two-thirds of cycles. Apps that track a real biological signal do better, but plain calendar apps remain the most common kind.
External nasal strips have real, repeatable evidence behind mild snoring relief. They have never been shown to treat sleep apnea, and the two problems are not the same problem.
The practice has real theory behind it and a genuine safety warning attached to it. The studies are small, mostly low quality, and say less than either side of the debate claims.
A placebo-controlled trial in 164 children reduced fine particles 64% and found no improvement in symptoms. A smaller crossover trial found a benefit, but only in children whose asthma was poorly controlled.
A Cochrane review found sit-stand desks reliably reduce workplace sitting, but graded the evidence low quality and could not tie it to better health. WHO backs cutting sedentary time but set no number.
The scrotal-cooling theory is sound and the semen findings are real. A 2026 review found the prospective data show no difference in pregnancy outcomes by underwear type.
Oil pulling and miswak have real short-term data on plaque and gum inflammation. Charcoal dentifrices have almost none, and a third of the products reviewed contained bentonite clay.
A systematic review of 43 studies judged cups a safe option, with leakage similar to or lower than pads and tampons. For the newer reusable products, published research is mostly about acceptability, not safety.
A Cochrane review found they may not reduce eye strain and could not determine whether they help sleep. A separate meta-analysis found small effects. Neither found the evidence anyone assumes exists.
A European allergy task force concluded the antibody these tests detect is a marker of tolerance, not hypersensitivity. Meanwhile 19% of US adults believe they have a food allergy and about 10.8% have one.
A Cochrane review of 11 trials found flight stockings sharply cut silent deep-vein clots. But across nearly 2,900 passengers, the trials recorded no pulmonary embolism, death, or symptomatic clot at all.
Two Cochrane reviews back scopolamine and first-generation antihistamines for preventing motion sickness. Both found the same gap: not a single randomised trial has looked at relieving symptoms already under way.
A Cochrane review of 18 trials and an NIH-funded randomised trial both failed to show that milk thistle improves liver disease. Product quality is also inconsistent, with some pills contaminated or mislabelled.
In 390,124 US adults followed up to 27 years, daily multivitamin use showed no mortality benefit. Randomised trials within COSMOS found a real but modest effect on memory, and none on physical function.
No randomised controlled trial has tested a commercial detox diet in people, and the reviews that exist find no compelling evidence they remove toxins or aid weight. Some carry real risks.
There is no trial showing a cleanse product improves kidney function, which already filters blood continuously. One class of herbal kidney remedy is a proven cause of kidney failure and cancer.
A Cochrane review found melatonin reduced jet lag in nine of ten trials. Sleep medicine's own guideline rates it a first-tier option for jet lag disorder. Take it at the wrong hour and it can make things worse.
A 2002 review went hunting for the origin of "8 x 8" and found nothing. Two decades later, isotope measurements in 5,604 people put daily water use anywhere from about 1 litre to about 6.
A review of two decades of research found ten studies on alkaline water and muscle outcomes — and every single one excluded adults over 65, the exact population the marketing targets.
The sinuses really do produce nitric oxide at concentrations far above the lower airway. Whether routing more of it through your lungs at night does anything measurable is a separate, unanswered question.
The best-validated sleep apnea screener works by being wrong in a specific direction. A 47-study meta-analysis of 26,547 people shows what a questionnaire can and cannot conclude about you.
A pooled analysis of 30 randomized trials finds cold-water immersion reduces muscle damage markers and soreness, but showed no benefit for restoring strength.
A meta-analysis of continuous glucose monitors in people without diabetes found a real effect on blood sugar — but only in those with prediabetes. In healthy users, the evidence for a metabolic benefit was not there.
Breathing through the mouth in sleep tracks closely with sleep apnea severity. The direction of the arrow is the part the research has not settled, and it changes what any intervention can claim.
One proposes a rate-of-change benchmark from 153 non-diabetic wearers. The other put ten young adults through food, exercise and a laboratory stress test to see what actually moves the line.
Forty-two trials show sleep-hygiene education helps a little and helps less than the alternatives. The sleep-medicine guideline suggests clinicians not use it on its own.