Even when overweight mice eat much less food, their leg muscles don’t shrink — as long as they get enough protein — showing that muscle loss isn’t inevitable during weight loss.

When overweight mice eat significantly less food, they lose body fat no matter if their diet is low in carbs, low in fat, or high in protein — the key is eating fewer calories overall.

When overweight mice eat fewer calories, their blood sugar control gets better — but if their diet is very low in carbs, their blood sugar doesn’t improve as much as if they ate more carbs.

When overweight mice lose weight by eating less, their cholesterol levels go down — no matter what kind of food they eat — because the drop in cholesterol is tied to how much weight they lost.

Mice with higher levels of MOTS-c in their muscles tended to have more muscle mass after immobilization.

When athletes are trying to lose weight by eating fewer calories, eating more protein (about 2.3 grams per kilogram of body weight) helps them keep more of their muscle compared to eating less protein (about 1 gram per kilogram).