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Review
. 2025 Jun 8;17(6):e85580.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.85580. eCollection 2025 Jun.

Harnessing Artificial Intelligence in Lifestyle Medicine: Opportunities, Challenges, and Future Directions

Affiliations
Review

Harnessing Artificial Intelligence in Lifestyle Medicine: Opportunities, Challenges, and Future Directions

Diana K Saeed et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Lifestyle medicine (LM) offers a transformative, evidence-based approach to preventing, managing, and potentially reversing chronic diseases by targeting modifiable lifestyle factors such as nutrition, physical activity, sleep, stress, substance use, and social connectivity. However, real-world implementation of LM is often hindered by patient adherence issues, limited clinical time, and the need for ongoing personalized support. Artificial intelligence (AI), with its capabilities in data processing, pattern recognition, and predictive modeling, presents a unique opportunity to overcome these barriers and enhance the reach and precision of LM interventions. This narrative review explores AI's integration into LM's core domains. In nutrition, AI facilitates real-time dietary assessment and personalized recommendations through image recognition and machine learning. In physical activity and fitness, AI-powered wearable devices deliver tailored feedback, support virtual coaching, and predict injury risk. AI applications in sleep medicine allow for continuous, non-invasive monitoring and the early detection of sleep disorders. AI-driven cognitive behavioral therapy chatbots and biosensor-based stress prediction tools provide scalable, cost-effective support for mental health and stress management. Moreover, AI is pivotal in chronic disease prevention by integrating lifestyle data with electronic health records to forecast disease trajectories and optimize interventions. Despite these advances, several challenges remain. Data privacy concerns, algorithmic bias, regulatory ambiguities, and varying user trust and engagement levels must be addressed to ensure equitable and ethical implementation. AI's integration with digital twin technology and precision LM represents the next frontier in personalized health. As LM continues to evolve, AI will be indispensable in driving a more proactive, participatory, and person-centered model of care that meets the complex demands of chronic disease management in the 21st century.

Keywords: ai-powered virtual coaching; artificial intelligence; behavioral change interventions; chronic disease prevention; digital health; digital twin technology; lifestyle medicine; precision medicine; prediction models; wearable technology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. AI Applications in LM
Credit: The figure was created by the author, Diana Saeed, using Napkin.ai. AI: artificial intelligence; LM: lifestyle medicine
Figure 2
Figure 2. AI Integration Challenges in LM
Credit: The figure was created by the author, Diana Saeed, using Napkin.ai. AI: artificial intelligence; LM: lifestyle medicine
Figure 3
Figure 3. Future Directions and Innovations of AI in LM
Credit: The figure was created by the author, Diana Saeed, using Napkin.ai. AI: artificial intelligence; LM: lifestyle medicine

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