Health Claims

Drinking alcohol after a workout, even if you also eat protein, stops your muscles from rebuilding as well as they would if you just had protein alone—alcohol messes with muscle recovery, and protein can’t fully fix it.

Causal

If you drink alcohol after working out, it can cut in half the body’s signal to build muscle—compared to just drinking a protein shake after exercise.

Mechanistic

If you drink a lot of alcohol after a tough workout — like 12 drinks — your muscles won’t repair and grow as well, especially if you eat carbs afterward; even if you eat protein, your muscle recovery still takes a hit.

Causal

Your muscles don't grow while you're lifting weights—they grow later, while you rest, because that's when your body repairs tiny tears and builds more muscle tissue using the energy and nutrients you've eaten.

Mechanistic

Eating dairy products like milk and cheese doesn’t seem to make breast cancer come back or kill more women from breast cancer, but people who eat a lot of dairy tend to die sooner from other causes — probably because of the fat in dairy, not the dairy itself.

Correlational

Women who eat a lot of full-fat dairy like whole milk, cheese, and ice cream after being diagnosed with breast cancer may have a higher chance of dying sooner — and it seems to be because of the fat in these foods, not because one specific food is extra harmful.

Correlational

If you’ve had breast cancer, switching from full-fat milk or cheese to low-fat versions won’t make your cancer come back or affect how long you live — so it’s a safe swap if you want to eat healthier.

Correlational

If you’ve had breast cancer, eating a lot of full-fat dairy like whole milk, cheese, or butter might make you more likely to die from any cause — including things other than cancer — compared to eating only small amounts.

Correlational

If you’ve had breast cancer and eat a lot of full-fat dairy like whole milk or cheese every day, you might be more likely to die from breast cancer than if you eat only a little — possibly because the fat in dairy affects hormones that help cancer grow.

Correlational

A type of omega-3 fat called EPA might help the heart pump more efficiently and reduce scarring after it’s been under too much strain, possibly by turning on a special switch on heart repair cells.

Mechanistic

Taking fish oil supplements with EPA and DHA might help keep your blood from clotting too easily, which could lower your chance of having a heart attack or stroke if you already have heart disease.

Correlational

People with more of the good omega-3 fats (EPA and DHA) in their red blood cells tend to have less heart disease and do better over time if they already have heart problems.

Correlational

Omega-3 fats from fish can turn into natural chemicals that help your body calm down inflammation after a heart attack or when arteries are clogged, which helps heal the damage and shrink the plaques.

Mechanistic

Omega-3 fats from fish, called EPA and DHA, may help calm down harmful inflammation in your heart and blood vessels by blocking some of the body’s alarm signals, which could lower your risk of heart disease and heart failure.

Mechanistic

Omega-3 fats from fish, called EPA and DHA, help your blood vessels relax and stay flexible by boosting a natural chemical (nitric oxide) that opens up arteries and reduces harmful stress in your body.

Mechanistic

Taking fish oil supplements (EPA and DHA) may help your heart cells fight off damage during heart attacks by boosting a natural antioxidant shield and reducing harmful fat breakdown.

Mechanistic

When scientists added EPA (a healthy omega-3 fat) to human blood vessel cells that were already stressed by a harmful cholesterol particle, the cells made a lot more of a protective protein called HO-1 — and this wasn’t just a fluke, it was a real, significant boost.

Causal

When scientists added EPA (a healthy omega-3 fat) to blood vessel cells that were being irritated by a harmful form of cholesterol, the EPA stopped the cells from making too much of a sticky protein that causes inflammation.

Mechanistic

When you add EPA (a healthy omega-3 fat) and Lp(a) (a type of cholesterol particle) together to the lining of blood vessels in a lab, it turns up a special protein called PPARγ that helps calm down inflammation.

Mechanistic

When a harmful form of a blood fat called Lp(a) gets oxidized, it stresses the lining of blood vessels and makes them produce more protective proteins — but adding a type of omega-3 fish oil (EPA) stops this stress response.

Mechanistic

Scientists found that adding a specific amount of a fish oil component called EPA to blood proteins in a test tube cut down their damage from rust-like oxidation by more than half in just two hours.

Quantitative

When scientists add certain plant compounds called luteolin and apigenin to blood vessel cells that are stirred up by an inflammation signal, fewer immune cells stick to them—kind of like stopping sticky notes from clinging. Other similar plant compounds usually don’t help, except for quercetin, which helps a little.

Mechanistic

When cells lining blood vessels get stirred up by a protein called TNF-alpha (which happens during inflammation), two natural plant compounds—luteolin and apigenin—can calm them down by blocking a key internal signal (NF-kappa B) that tells the cells to stick to immune cells. This might help reduce swelling and inflammation.

Mechanistic

When scientists add a stress signal to blood vessel cells in a dish, those cells start making a sticky protein that can cause inflammation—but two natural plant compounds, luteolin and apigenin, stop this from happening, especially at higher doses.

Mechanistic