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Ask HN: What is the biggest untapped opportunity for startups?

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Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest untapped opportunity for startups?

#621

Post by theseadroid »

Kiro wrote: post #402
DiabloD3 wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Calories in, calories out is not the golden rule, and this has been scientifically proven false. Also, hilarious adventure I went on once: I ate 4000 calories of bacon a day and nothing else for a month... ended up cutting it off a little early because I was losing weight too quickly. Your second and third points however are scientifically supported, but do not confuse this with "obesity is complicated." It is not ho…

> Calories in, calories out is not the golden rule, and this has been scientifically proven false. That's an extreme statement you definitely need to provide source for. I read a lot of scientific journals on the subject and have never heard anything like that.

This lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

Basically it says that the metabolic mechanism of fructose is different from other forms of nutrition. Our bodies have no good ways to break it down without harming ourselves. The long term effects of eating fructose are comparable to long term alcohol drinking. I assume nobody would say that calories from alcohol are the same as other food sources?

Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest untapped opportunity for startups?

#622

Post by rvdm »

aabajian wrote: post #151

The leading cause of death is cardiovascular disease. >90% of these cases can be attributed to an overweight population. It's not an easy problem to solve, but there has to be a way to fix it. Lots of calorie counting apps, activity trackers, motivational reminder apps, etc. Obesity is very complicated, but there are three basic facts: 1. Calories in, calories out is the golden rule. 2. The vast majority of calories…

So something like a GitHub timeline for exercise and healthy eating?

Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest untapped opportunity for startups?

#623

Post by techdragon »

rvdm wrote: post #622
aabajian wrote: post #151

The leading cause of death is cardiovascular disease. >90% of these cases can be attributed to an overweight population. It's not an easy problem to solve, but there has to be a way to fix it. Lots of calorie counting apps, activity trackers, motivational reminder apps, etc. Obesity is very complicated, but there are three basic facts: 1. Calories in, calories out is the golden rule. 2. The vast majority of calories…

So something like a GitHub timeline for exercise and healthy eating?

I have that. It's called a FitBit.

Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest untapped opportunity for startups?

#624

Post by RileyJames »

CaptainSwing wrote: post #595
ccvannorman wrote: post #542

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My gears are turning.. an app that tells you the viability of solving a given problem using an app. It would be powered by AWS array on the back end using google's latest AI, TensorFlow, and it would also be community driven like Yelp. We'd make our profits by taking advantage of platform network advantage to connect cofounders, investors, and customers for the startups who use us and move forwards.

10/10 would back this

Put this on indiegogo now, it fails, you win

Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest untapped opportunity for startups?

#625

Post by mgav »

SQL2219 wrote: post #315

Imagine if you had a nuclear powered aircraft carrier with a desalination plant on it. You could sail from country to country and fill 'em up with fresh water.

It may not be able to produce more water than a single city requires:

Charleston, SC uses 50 million gallons of water per day*

For reference, that's about 75 Olympic size pools (at 660,000 gallons per).

* source: https://sc.water.usgs.gov/infodata/wateruse.html

Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest untapped opportunity for startups?

#626

Post by winkle »

DiabloD3 wrote: post #187
aabajian wrote: post #151

The leading cause of death is cardiovascular disease. >90% of these cases can be attributed to an overweight population. It's not an easy problem to solve, but there has to be a way to fix it. Lots of calorie counting apps, activity trackers, motivational reminder apps, etc. Obesity is very complicated, but there are three basic facts: 1. Calories in, calories out is the golden rule. 2. The vast majority of calories…

Calories in, calories out is not the golden rule, and this has been scientifically proven false. Also, hilarious adventure I went on once: I ate 4000 calories of bacon a day and nothing else for a month... ended up cutting it off a little early because I was losing weight too quickly. Your second and third points however are scientifically supported, but do not confuse this with "obesity is complicated." It is not ho…

Based on all of the responses to this comment I can see how someone would be completely confused on what they need to do to lose weight.

While admitting the rest of this thread is bonkers, I'll explicitly list the formula you should follow right now (science is always evolving): Change in Body Stores = (Actual Calories In - Calories Not Absorbed) - (Resting Metabolic Rate + Thermic Effect of Eating + Physical Activity + Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis)

This is the more nuanced formula of calories in, calories out. Changing one variable in that equation can have an effect on the rest of the equation, which is why it appears calories is not equal to calories out. You can read about each variable here: http://www.precisionnutrition.com/metabolic-damage.

I should note that this program is published in scientific journals: http://www.invent-journal.com/article/S2214-7829(16)30006-9/... http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11764-016-0582-z http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/osp4.98/abstract

Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest untapped opportunity for startups?

#627

Post by sireat »

aabajian wrote: post #151

The leading cause of death is cardiovascular disease. >90% of these cases can be attributed to an overweight population. It's not an easy problem to solve, but there has to be a way to fix it. Lots of calorie counting apps, activity trackers, motivational reminder apps, etc. Obesity is very complicated, but there are three basic facts: 1. Calories in, calories out is the golden rule. 2. The vast majority of calories…

The problem is that eating well and in reasonable amounts does not offer much.

It is like that old joke about taking cold shower every morning for 100 years.

You know that cheesecake is not very good for you, but what is the alternative? You eat that celery stalk but where does it get you?

The best case scenario - raw food eating Jack Lalanne dead at 96. His death heavily shook my belief in healthy eating.

Worst case scenario his brother Norman Lalanne and everyones favorite Jeanne Clement neither of which were much for exercise and Jeanne indulged in smokes and chocolate.

Sure those are anecdotes but we do not have any healthy 150 year olds.

Obesity kills, but non-obesity kills just slightly slower. Slower I define as 10-70 years slower.

We need meaningful progress with other aspects of aging (telomere shortenings, cancers etc) before we can tackle obesity.

Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest untapped opportunity for startups?

#628

Post by Kalium »

paulojreis wrote: post #261
aabajian wrote: post #151

The leading cause of death is cardiovascular disease. >90% of these cases can be attributed to an overweight population. It's not an easy problem to solve, but there has to be a way to fix it. Lots of calorie counting apps, activity trackers, motivational reminder apps, etc. Obesity is very complicated, but there are three basic facts: 1. Calories in, calories out is the golden rule. 2. The vast majority of calories…

"1. Calories in, calories out is the golden rule." Yes, but I'd argue it's not a very helpful rule. As it has been said before, it's pretty much like saying that the golden rule to get rich is "money in vs. money out". Correct, but not very helpful.

I've found it to be a very useful golden rule in my own life. I used it to lost about a hundred and fifty pounds.

Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest untapped opportunity for startups?

#629

Post by rvdm »

techdragon wrote: post #623
rvdm wrote: post #622

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So something like a GitHub timeline for exercise and healthy eating?

I have that. It's called a FitBit.

The fact that you manually have to log your food intake seems like a hurdle though. It's an important part of the puzzle and it takes a lot of discipline to log every single thing you eat.

But automating food intake logging sounds difficult…

Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest untapped opportunity for startups?

#630

Post by carussell »

awjr wrote: post #225
awjr wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has been solved and it's not so much a technology thing as a built environment thing. By 2030, the Netherlands will have an obesity rate of 8.5% DOWN from 10% http://www.ukhealthforum.org.uk/who-we-are/our-work/ukhf-wha... The problem is very much political with a move away from highways design focusing on strategic mobility, the movement of people and goods over long distances, to sustainable mobility, the move…

Focusing on the bicycle, there is huge effort going into electric bicycles around battery and powertrain technology Ebikes enable people that would not cycle in 'hilly' cities to use bicycles as a way of getting around. The key problem however always comes down to the perception that the roads are too dangerous and this is a political in nature usually requiring the re-allocation of road space from parking.

The key problem is surely weather. Politics are surmountable, but climate is not. The experience of the Netherlands is not generalizable worldwide.
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