Browse evidence-based analysis of health-related claims and assertions
Squats make the outer part of the thigh muscle near the knee bigger than leg extensions do.
Causal
Doing leg extensions makes the front thigh muscle bigger along its whole length more than doing squats, especially near the knee.
Even though eating more protein every day makes you burn more calories at rest, it doesn’t make you burn more calories after meals over the long term—your body gets used to it.
When you eat a high-protein meal, your body burns less sugar and more fat for energy right after eating, which might help your metabolism stay flexible and healthy.
It doesn’t matter if your protein comes from chicken, tofu, or whey powder—your body burns about the same number of calories digesting it.
Eating more protein every day for weeks or months makes your body burn more calories even when you’re resting, which might help prevent slow weight gain over time.
Eating a meal with more protein makes your body burn more calories right after eating—but only if you’re not overweight; if you are, this calorie-burning boost doesn’t happen.
If you're a regular gym-goer, doing workouts that group similar muscle moves together or alternate them doesn't seem to make a difference in how much stronger or bigger your muscles get after 8 weeks.
Correlational
Even though eating more protein makes you burn more calories right after a meal, your body gets used to it over time — so after weeks, that extra calorie burn disappears.
When you eat a high-protein meal, your body starts burning more fat and less sugar for energy right after eating.
Whether you get your protein from chicken, tofu, milk, or fish, it doesn’t make your body burn more calories — the amount of protein matters more than the source.
Eating more protein every day for weeks or months makes your body burn more calories even when you’re resting — even if you don’t lose weight.
Eating a meal with more protein makes your body burn more calories right after eating — but only if you’re not overweight; if you are, this calorie-burning boost doesn’t happen.
When you compare both training styles on the same person (one leg vs. the other), you get clearer, more reliable results than comparing different people.
Descriptive
Doing more total work (more sets or weight) is what makes you stronger and bigger—not just doing it more often. Frequency only helps if it lets you do more work.
If you do leg presses for 9 weeks, your legs will get stronger and bigger—even if you do it once or three times a week.
If you train a muscle three times a week instead of once, and you end up doing more total work, you’ll get stronger and bigger muscles—better than if you kept the same total work.
When you compare both training styles on the same person (one leg vs. the other), you get clearer results than comparing different people, because everyone’s body responds differently.
When you do more total weight lifting, you get stronger and bigger muscles—whether you do it in one day or spread it out. Just doing more sessions doesn’t help unless you’re lifting more overall.
Quantitative
If you train your legs with the leg press machine for 9 weeks, you’ll get stronger and your thighs will get bigger—even if you do it just once a week or spread it out over three days.
If you do the same workout three times a week instead of once, and you end up doing more total weight lifted, you’ll get stronger and build more muscle—because you’re doing more work overall.
If you lift weights the same total amount each week, it doesn’t matter if you do it in one big session or split into three smaller ones—you’ll get just as strong and build just as much muscle.
Doctors don’t fully agree on the best way to treat early-stage prostate cancer, so finding it early doesn’t always mean better outcomes — it might just lead to more treatments that don’t help.
The PSA blood test isn't very good at telling the difference between harmless prostate changes and real cancer, so many men get scared and undergo painful tests they don't need.