Live data from Hacker News

Drugs that tamp down inflammation in the brain could slow cognitive decline

news.berkeley.edu

61–70 of 80 posts

Re: Drugs that tamp down inflammation in the brain could slow cognitive decline

#61
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The keto diet is a low fiber high saturated fat intake diet. The effects of low fiber consumption and high intake of saturated fat are well established, and they certainly aren't inflammation reducers. Also, fasting is not without risks.

Keto is a low carb high fat diet. With keto you can have as much fibre as you like as long as it's not paired with carbs.

> With keto you can have as much fibre as you like as long as it's not paired with carbs.

Plants, which are extremely high in carbs, are where fiber comes from.

High intake of saturated fat is associated with heart disease.

Re: Drugs that tamp down inflammation in the brain could slow cognitive decline

#62
post #6

Alternatively, you can quite dramatically reduce inflammation in the brain via some simple lifestyle modifications (cutting out sugar, intermittent fasting): Mattson, Mark P., Keelin Moehl, Nathaniel Ghena, Maggie Schmaedick, and Aiwu Cheng. “Intermittent Metabolic Switching, Neuroplasticity and Brain Health.” Nature Reviews. Neuroscience 19, no. 2 (February 2018): 63–80. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2017.156 . Pinto,…

> cutting out sugar

I'll assume you mean refined sugar here. I'd expect the benefits of eating fresh fruit and sugar-containing vegetables to outweigh most of the harm done by their sugar content.

Re: Drugs that tamp down inflammation in the brain could slow cognitive decline

#63
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The keto diet is a low fiber high saturated fat intake diet. The effects of low fiber consumption and high intake of saturated fat are well established, and they certainly aren't inflammation reducers. Also, fasting is not without risks.

Keto is a low carb high fat diet. With keto you can have as much fibre as you like as long as it's not paired with carbs.

In general, carbs / sugar paired with fiber are healthy. Sugar without fiber is unhealthy. Fiber is always healthy.

Re: Drugs that tamp down inflammation in the brain could slow cognitive decline

#64
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eight of those studies have been published only in the past 3 years. Until I see a pattern of repeated results, I'm going to file these under "pop science." "Keto is the shizzle, let's get our pubz!" Let's see what happens as others work on repro over the next 10+ years.

TIL the benefits of eating less refined carbs and intermittent fasting is still up for debate to some folks.

Add salt, fat, coffee, wine, eggs, and about a dozen other things researchers can’t agree on. nutrition research is hella sketchy

Re: Drugs that tamp down inflammation in the brain could slow cognitive decline

#65
post #62
post #6

Alternatively, you can quite dramatically reduce inflammation in the brain via some simple lifestyle modifications (cutting out sugar, intermittent fasting): Mattson, Mark P., Keelin Moehl, Nathaniel Ghena, Maggie Schmaedick, and Aiwu Cheng. “Intermittent Metabolic Switching, Neuroplasticity and Brain Health.” Nature Reviews. Neuroscience 19, no. 2 (February 2018): 63–80. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2017.156 . Pinto,…

> cutting out sugar I'll assume you mean refined sugar here. I'd expect the benefits of eating fresh fruit and sugar-containing vegetables to outweigh most of the harm done by their sugar content.

By eating the whole fruit, you're consuming the fiber, which changes how your body metabolizes the sugar (more slowly), as opposed to say, drinking a glass of apple juice.

The sugar itself between fruits and refined sugars contained in processed foods isn't all that different. Apples contain fructose, glucose, and sucrose, but in different ratios compared to table sugar. The more important factor is the quantity of sugar you're consuming.

Re: Drugs that tamp down inflammation in the brain could slow cognitive decline

#66
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TIL the benefits of eating less refined carbs and intermittent fasting is still up for debate to some folks.

Add salt, fat, coffee, wine, eggs, and about a dozen other things researchers can’t agree on. nutrition research is hella sketchy

The only fat that is really problematic is trans fats, and those are pretty much banned most places now. Fats, from particularly protein sources, contain more bioavailable micronutrients than fruits and vegetables.

Re: Drugs that tamp down inflammation in the brain could slow cognitive decline

#67
post #6

Alternatively, you can quite dramatically reduce inflammation in the brain via some simple lifestyle modifications (cutting out sugar, intermittent fasting): Mattson, Mark P., Keelin Moehl, Nathaniel Ghena, Maggie Schmaedick, and Aiwu Cheng. “Intermittent Metabolic Switching, Neuroplasticity and Brain Health.” Nature Reviews. Neuroscience 19, no. 2 (February 2018): 63–80. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2017.156 . Pinto,…

The keto diet is a low fiber high saturated fat intake diet. The effects of low fiber consumption and high intake of saturated fat are well established, and they certainly aren't inflammation reducers. Also, fasting is not without risks.

Keto has a concept of "net carbs". The calculation is: All carbs, minus fiber, minus sugar alcohols (most sugar alcohols are not metabolized or bioavailable). Keto doesn't restrict the subtracted types of carbs.

Re: Drugs that tamp down inflammation in the brain could slow cognitive decline

#68
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Keto is a low carb high fat diet. With keto you can have as much fibre as you like as long as it's not paired with carbs.

> With keto you can have as much fibre as you like as long as it's not paired with carbs. Plants, which are extremely high in carbs, are where fiber comes from. High intake of saturated fat is associated with heart disease.

There are a ton of low carb vegetables, you should google it.

Re: Drugs that tamp down inflammation in the brain could slow cognitive decline

#69
post #5

From the perspective of a non-biologist reader only seeing popular articles, the past ten years have been completely bewildering. Nutrition has seemingly been boiled down to a couple of magic totems that are always simplistically either good or bad. Antioxidants are good. Inflammation is bad. Telomeres are good. Carbs are bad. All the "bad" things get associated with each other and anti-associated with the good thing…

No, you are right. It is not so black and white, and it is a double-edged sword.

> Antioxidants are good.

Not necessarily. They could promote cancer growth[1][2] and are not inherently good for you[3][4].

[1] https://www.cancer.gov/news-events/cancer-currents-blog/2015...

[2] https://www.nature.com/articles/475043a

[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4094884/

[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3292009/ (see: "Harmful Effects of Antioxidants")

---

But yeah... antioxidants are not necessarily good. Or consider this: if you have an autoimmune disorder, you gotta be careful with immunomodulatory agents that are supposed to "boost" your immune system. What might be healthy for people without autoimmune disorders might be lethal for you. Here is an eye-opening article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3130893/

Re: Drugs that tamp down inflammation in the brain could slow cognitive decline

#70
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> cutting out sugar I'll assume you mean refined sugar here. I'd expect the benefits of eating fresh fruit and sugar-containing vegetables to outweigh most of the harm done by their sugar content.

By eating the whole fruit, you're consuming the fiber, which changes how your body metabolizes the sugar (more slowly), as opposed to say, drinking a glass of apple juice. The sugar itself between fruits and refined sugars contained in processed foods isn't all that different. Apples contain fructose, glucose, and sucrose, but in different ratios compared to table sugar. The more important factor is the quantity of s…

But we don't even need to eat sweet fruits. If you look at your plate size as a constraint, then fruit carries an opportunity cost. You're adding sweet fruit in place of something else which could add more nutritional value in that same space. If you do eat fruit, then eat something which isn't sweet (tomato for example.)
Post reply on HN