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Ask HN: What to do to be healthy when old?

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Re: Ask HN: What to do to be healthy when old?

#71

Post by algoatecorn »

lifeplusplus wrote: post #63
jen729w wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Eat organic All this is gonna make you is poorer.

organic food is likely to have less of pesticide like glyphosate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw16LPVnNco added sources for other points as well in the comments

Conventional farming methods are responsible for increasing the average global lifespan by almost 20 years.

Organic produce is a luxury item for high-income citizens of developed countries.

Purely considering the elemental nitrogen required for supplying the global demand of calories, we currently have no viable system for eating all organic. The intensive nature of organic farming would require most city-dwellers to return to the fields, and we would still come up short by about half of the world's required calories. Please don't respond with an article about regenerative ag unless it truly addresses the process of implementation and realistic supply of calories.

This is a nuanced and complex subject. Our food system is dysfunctional and requires systemic change, but all organic farming is likely not the answer.

Re: Ask HN: What to do to be healthy when old?

#72

Post by thomascgalvin »

algoatecorn wrote: post #70

Every "thing" you do to improve health has a marginal benefit attached to it. There is so much crap out there which claims to have a huge impact, but at the end of the day, we have to compare the [cost and time] against marginal benefit. The following provide the greatest marginal benefit: 1. Body-weight: this is going to have downstream impacts on cardiovascular function and sleep, so I'll go ahead and claim this is…

> Grip strength is a leading indicator of whether or not an elderly person will recover from a fall.

I suspect that this is one of those things where the correlation falls apart as soon as you start training explicitly for it.

Many clinicians use grip strength can be used as a proxy for overall strength[1], but the actual correlation is often moderate, at best[2]. Grip strength is just much easier to measure than, say, someone's max deadlift, so some inaccuracy is allowed.

But _only_ training grip shouldn't have much effect on hip fractures. You can use one of those squeeze handles all day, every day, and not improve your overall survivability. Likewise, squats would have little effect on your grip strength, but should correlate highly to surviving a fall.

All of which is to say, ignore all the stories about how grip strength, or the sitting-rising test[3], or any other "trick" that is supposed to correlate on long life, and focus instead on being overall strong and limber. For most people, yoga is probably sufficient. Adding in some basic weight lifting would be excellent, too, for most people.

[1]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6778477/

[2]: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29935982/

[3]: https://www.artofmanliness.com/health-fitness/health/take-th...

Re: Ask HN: What to do to be healthy when old?

#73

Post by oicu812 »

Peter Attia [1] has a great podcast about many aging/healthspan issues. I listen to the free version but there is also a paid version of the podcast with more info.

The book Lifespan [2] from David Sinclair is also a fantastic source. Finally, if you can wade through some of the questionable statements and claims, the book The Longevity Paradox [3] from Steven Gundry does have some useful info.

[1] https://peterattiamd.com/ [2] https://www.amazon.com/Lifespan-Why-Age_and-Dont-Have/dp/150... [3] https://www.amazon.com/Longevity-Paradox-Young-Ripe-Plant/dp...

Re: Ask HN: What to do to be healthy when old?

#74

Post by algoatecorn »

thomascgalvin wrote: post #72
algoatecorn wrote: post #70

Every "thing" you do to improve health has a marginal benefit attached to it. There is so much crap out there which claims to have a huge impact, but at the end of the day, we have to compare the [cost and time] against marginal benefit. The following provide the greatest marginal benefit: 1. Body-weight: this is going to have downstream impacts on cardiovascular function and sleep, so I'll go ahead and claim this is…

> Grip strength is a leading indicator of whether or not an elderly person will recover from a fall. I suspect that this is one of those things where the correlation falls apart as soon as you start training explicitly for it. Many clinicians use grip strength can be used as a proxy for overall strength[1], but the actual correlation is often moderate, at best[2]. Grip strength is just much easier to measure than, sa…

Odd bit to fixate on. Hopefully no one reads my original comment and assumes they should only focus on grip strength. I thought that would have been obvious, but thanks for the extra info

Re: Ask HN: What to do to be healthy when old?

#76

Post by thomascgalvin »

algoatecorn wrote: post #74
thomascgalvin wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Grip strength is a leading indicator of whether or not an elderly person will recover from a fall. I suspect that this is one of those things where the correlation falls apart as soon as you start training explicitly for it. Many clinicians use grip strength can be used as a proxy for overall strength[1], but the actual correlation is often moderate, at best[2]. Grip strength is just much easier to measure than, sa…

Odd bit to fixate on. Hopefully no one reads my original comment and assumes they should only focus on grip strength. I thought that would have been obvious, but thanks for the extra info

I wasn't trying to argue with you, or point out any flaws in your post; just adding some context.

Re: Ask HN: What to do to be healthy when old?

#77

Post by wonnor »

oldsklgdfth wrote: post #68
wonnor wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand this at all. Do you also think like this about the "future you" that might have to shit themself on the bus ride if you don't go to the bathroom before you leave?

In such a scenario, I wouldn't put much thought into going to the bathroom. I think of it as setting my future self up for success. Go to bed early, go for groceries, have some food prepared, make plans to do something.

Why set your future self up for success if your only connection to that person is a story in your head? What is supposed to change when you take this view of being disconnected with your future self?

Re: Ask HN: What to do to be healthy when old?

#78

Post by wonnor »

hnfong wrote: post #57
wonnor wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand this at all. Do you also think like this about the "future you" that might have to shit themself on the bus ride if you don't go to the bathroom before you leave?

I don’t think you understood what the GP said, but then you claimed as much… That said, even with your interpretation, imagine that if you didn’t do something, somebody else would have to shit on the bus —- you’d have to be pretty selfish not to spend a bit of time to spare the other person of the embarrassment.

There are myriad other examples where you can take action now to avail yourself of a future mild inconvenience that you might not take if the inconvenience were experienced by someone else instead. And I can't imagine that you think telling me I don't understand what GP said, without offering clarification of your own, is a useful comment.

Re: Ask HN: What to do to be healthy when old?

#79

Post by matai_kolila »

lifeplusplus wrote: post #62
matai_kolila wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Be religious Er, seems like an outlier on this list. I doubt religion, which often suggests causes and effects originating from divinity rather than predictive behavior, will overall result in life extending decisions. Besides, just logically it would seem to be a source of acceptance of your impending death, when perhaps continuing to fight for life may be the superior strategy.

https://time.com/5159848/do-religious-people-live-longer added sources for other points in the comments as well

Pre-COVID data suggesting "gathering regularly in person makes you live longer" would seemingly be not as relevant now.

Additionally, I see no control for "religiousness" of the gathering, only "The simple act of congregating with a like-minded community might deserve much of the credit."

So, per your own source, "be religious" is not what would extend your life and is therefore not accurate advice.

Re: Ask HN: What to do to be healthy when old?

#80

Post by p0d »

thorin wrote: post #61
p0d wrote: post #19

I am 51 and lost 80lbs over the last two years walking 3 miles everyday. I have a lot of porridge/fruit for breakfast, vegetable curry etc at lunch and dinner can be pretty much anything, including some ice-cream. I drink a lot of coke zero. I think the takeaway is routine. Walk and don't eat a lot of sugar, bread. I generally eat bread once a week in what I call my Scooby Doo sandwich.

That all sounds great, but why would you drink a lot of coke zero, surely that has a lot of crap in it? If you're that dedicated with everything else why not just drink water or tea?

We learn how to roll, crawl, walk, run. No point shouting run at the crawling child. Maybe better to say well done .
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