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Ask HN: The habit adopted in 2016 that had the greatest impact on your health?

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Re: Ask HN: The habit adopted in 2016 that had the greatest impact on your health?

#71

Post by smashd »

tracker1 wrote: post #67
smashd wrote: post #63

Potato hacking. I normally follow the "potatoes by day" variant. The process is simple: steam/boil at least a couple pounds of potatoes, then let them cool in the fridge overnight. The next day, you can only eat potatoes (no condiments whatsoever!) until dinnertime, at which point you can eat a normal dinner. Coffee, tea and water are fine during the day as long as they don't have added sugar/cream/etc. Don't forget…

Interesting... I tend not to eat just potatoes (I'm diabetic), but wonder if it would work with my typical "mash" (cauliflower, celeriac, parsnip, potato, butter, cream, salt, pepper) it isn't just potato, but may be able to get a similar effect if I cut the butter, cream, salt and pepper down. Will definitely look into it.

Yes, there are cautions for people that are diabetic or pre-diabetic. I suspect that you can't do the strict "hack" but there could be useful ideas in there, e.g., related discussions on resistant starch.

Re: Ask HN: The habit adopted in 2016 that had the greatest impact on your health?

#72

Post by tomkha »

napsterbr wrote: post #30
tomkha wrote: post #25

I quit drinking coffee and start drinking liquid guarana instead (Scitec Nutrition brand specifically). It's like legal cocaine. I'm using it for morning and early evening boost.

I replaced coffee and energy drinks with caffeine pills. Same (or better) results, no sugar. Question: do you think this guarana drink is more powerful than coffee? It's quite common to see guarana drinks (mostly soda) here in Brazil, but I don't see them as energy drinks.. To be honest, I feel as I'm lacking energy for everyday activities.. Do you or anyone know whether any of these scitec nutrition products (or whe…

Guarana energy drinks and (for example Scitec) pure liquid Guarana are two different things, that's the reason I mentioned some brand. You need to try pure guarana. For me it's like 5-coffees at one 40ml shot, few hours lasting effect and no shaking. But be careful, you can overdose pretty quickly (start with recommended dosage on package and gradually add few milliliters each day to find your optimal/maximal dosage).

Re: Ask HN: The habit adopted in 2016 that had the greatest impact on your health?

#75

Post by emrex »

I started doing Hijama (cups with complete toxic blood extraction idk if I described it well) every 3 months. They say it has allot of health benefits. The most amazing thing I experienced is sleep like a deer which I was not able to do and wake up with a clear head.

Re: Ask HN: The habit adopted in 2016 that had the greatest impact on your health?

#78

Post by snovv_crash »

smnplk wrote: post #59
snovv_crash wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was in the same boat. I cut out sugar (except for a banana in a protein shake each day) and made sure that I get enough protein. After a few weeks the sugar cravings stopped and I also lost a bunch of water weight. I also seem to have a smaller appetite, and when I eat I stop when I feel satisfied, which never seemed to happen before, instead I would stop when my stomach felt uncomfortably full because I never felt s…

Well done. I hope I can do the same. Do you think I can ease off sugar in small steps, like substituting candy with sweetened tea (agave syrup) ? I also heard that lemon juice helps when you get a sugar craving.

I substituted sugary snacks with fatty snacks. Having some good cheese in your fridge helps a ton - a few slices on some fancy bread is much more satisfying than cookies or candy or cake ever was. I don't end up craving more in 10 minutes time, so my total calorie consumption goes down.

And no, I think substituting one source of sugar for another is just an expensive way of continuing to eat sugar. If you were trying to get an alcoholic to stop drinking, you wouldn't suggest they switch from cheap wine to "just a glass of Bordeaux before bed", although that sounds like a suggestion they might make :-). You'd suggest they find something else to do that fills the social and metabolic hole the alcohol leaves behind. That's what good cheese has done for me.

And yeah, sometimes I do have something sweet, usually in an unavoidable social situation, but it has been getting easier to stop eating sugar after a relapse each time it happens.

Re: Ask HN: The habit adopted in 2016 that had the greatest impact on your health?

#79

Post by Fnoord »

benevol wrote: post #50
Fnoord wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In addition, you may be able to access your spiritual dimension Spiritual dimension is just vague new age rhetoric. I don't want to be fear mongering but you may end up with a psychosis as well. Recommending random strangers to use recreational psychedelic drugs under the guise of getting "similar mid- and long-term effects to those of meditation" is flat out irresponsible. For those who are interested in using psy…

As I said: It however requires one to literally read/understand/know everything about the substance before applying it If you follow this, you will know if you belong to the category of people who should not use the substance to discover more of what we perceive as reality. It seems obvious to me that a comment on HN will never be able to fully cover the subject. I agree however 100% with your suggestion to add yoga.

>> It however requires one to literally read/understand/know everything about the substance before applying it

> If you follow this, you will know if you belong to the category of people who should not use the substance to discover more of what we perceive as reality. It seems obvious to me that a comment on HN will never be able to fully cover the subject.

Yes, I saw that disclaimer as well. Do you want me to address it? Your usage of "literally read/understand/know everything about the substance" fits CYA due to being extensively broad. Nobody in the world ever read/understand/know everything about any subject. Even those who maintain Erowid, studied psychology in university, or Albert Hofmann for that matter know everything about LSD. Those who know very little are arrogant about their knowledge whereas those who do know a lot are modest and acknowledge there's so much they do not know.

It is also not how drug usage should work. If you get drugs prescribed from your MD you need to follow his directions as well as the directions from the drugs. You're basically under his supervision and guidance, he's partly responsible for your well being. The best you have as recreational user is your own knowledge (while your psyche is impacted by the drugs), and hopefully a knowledgeable, emotionally stable sitter.

Please, don't recommend psychedelic drugs (or even drugs) to random strangers [1]. You may think they are intelligent and responsible, but many just aren't. Recommend it only to those people you know very well, and follow the advice I told you about not using full dose first time as well as sitter. The options of more mindfulness, yoga, and Vipassana 10 day course are much less dangerous. (Even those can be dangerous though which is why I follow yoga via an experienced yoga instructor who is finishing their physiology study, instead of following online free YouTube videos.)

[1] And especially not while using a good introduction, with sources, about the benefits of mindfulness & meditation while not providing any for psychedelic drug usage while suggesting it as the next step of mindfulness & meditation.

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