‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers • Hacker News Board

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#961

Post by jamilton » Thu, Jan 05, 2023, 9:51 PM UTC

fxtentacle wrote: post #224

viro wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And it makes more logical sense to you that everyone is just weak-willed?

s/weak-willed/addicted/ There. Fixed it for you :) Yes, to me it seems like capitalism creates a society where most people get addicted just trying to cope with everyday life. For some it's alcohol, for some it's OxyContin, for some it's food, for some it's all-nighters in World of Warcraft. "59.3 million (21.4%) people over age 12 used illicit drugs in the past year." "Underage [..] 29% reported drinking alcohol" ht…

You're conflating use, unhealthy use, and addiction.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#962

Post by Firmwarrior » Thu, Jan 05, 2023, 9:53 PM UTC

anigbrowl wrote: post #711

Firmwarrior wrote: post #617

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Man, I'm really sick of this outlook. There's a whole solar system here full of unlimited space and resources. A hundred years from now, if someone feels like it they'll be able to live in an O'Neill cylinder the size of San Francisco by themselves, and it won't be any weirder than /r/vandwellers today

You've changed my mind. I now plan to live to at least 150 so I can be around to say 'I told you so' in 2123. Seriously, 30-40 years ago I would have eagerly agreed with you. Much as I continue to like technology and feel optimistic about it overall, I greatly doubt that a century from now there will be any non-military space colonies in existence; long term existence is more likely to exist in silico than for biolog…

ah, I think with the progress SpaceX has been making and other space commercialization efforts we're on a much better trajectory now

You could be right though, haha. I felt exactly the same way when I was growing up in the 80s and 90s. Space was dead, there's no future, etc etc

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#963

Post by ghostbrainalpha » Thu, Jan 05, 2023, 9:58 PM UTC

jononomo wrote: post #742

windpower wrote: post #526

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm also on one of these drugs (Tirzepatide) and have been for a few months. The first time I remember knowing I was fat was when a babysitter made fun of me for it at age 6. I've been fat ever since and I'm in my late 30s now. I've lost significant amounts of weight (60+ pounds) three times in my adult life, through simple calorie restriction (intermittent fasting, including before I'd ever heard the term). Every ti…

Please try eating only liver, eggs, and ribeye steaks and drinking only water. You can absolutely stuff yourself on this diet and you will nevertheless get in shape. It breaks my heart that people have such an upside down idea about what healthy food is -- people think they should avoid red meat and eat fruits and vegetables and "heart healthy grains" when in fact the only thing they should eat is red meat. It is a t…

I've been cycling "liver, eggs, & steak" + I add BONEMARROW.

Been doing this for 5 years, and I've lost an average of 1.5 Pounds per month, for a total of 90 pounds.

Pretty sustainable, considering I'm only keeping it up roughly 50% of the time.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#964

Post by SpeedilyDamage » Thu, Jan 05, 2023, 10:13 PM UTC

UK7 wrote: post #950

SpeedilyDamage wrote: post #670

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Seems like I'm late to the party, but I feel the idea of willpower is really underrated and misunderstood and I see it all over this thread. First, willpower is absolutely a trainable skill. In the late 90s there was scientific support for the idea that willpower was a limited resource. The let people choose weather they wanted to eat a healthy snack (radish or cucumber, I think) or a cookie, then after that had them…

Thank you. If I could go back and time and steal this comment's content and post it instead of what I did, I would. This is what I was trying to say but I lack the knowledge and writing skills to do so, apparently!

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#965

Post by npsimons » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 12:43 AM UTC

raegis wrote: post #802

Sophistifunk wrote: post #690

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fat guy here: these side effects are pretty scary for somebody like me. 3 months of noticeably extra fatigue on top of my current baseline level of exhaustion seems to threaten serious psychological effects. 3 months of brain-fog sounds like a great way to get fired and really fuck up my life. If my "gastro situation" was noticeably worse than the unpredictable wildy-swinging nightmare it already is, I honestly have…

Another fat guy here. I haven't taken any of these drugs, but I stopped eating processed food (or anything with added sugar), avoided late night snacks, and lost around 30 pounds in 8 months as a result. I had the fatigue and such early in the process, but it sorted itself out eventually. The most important thing I recognized was that if I avoided eating late at night, I didn't feel awful waking up in the morning. I'…

> I'm embarrassed to say it took more than a year to change my behavior, despite my clear understanding of the harm of snacking all the time.

You shouldn't be - this is the crux to why weight loss is so hard, and something I try to harp on any time I get.

Yes, just for reference, I was fat too once (more than 40lb above my ideal weight). I managed to lose the weight, just like parent, through small, sustainable lifestyle changes.

It's simple: eat less, move more.

But it's not easy. Start small, do things you can do do for the rest of your life.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#966

Post by npsimons » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 12:52 AM UTC

bioemerl wrote: post #182

> In the past, scientists and the public often thought that those with obesity simply lacked the willpower to lose weight. But evidence is growing that most people’s bodies have a natural size that can be hard to change. In the context where we have gone from obesity rates of 13 percent to 40, to suggest that people have a natural weight and that's the cause of this seems absurd to me.

> In the context where we have gone from obesity rates of 13 percent to 40, to suggest that people have a natural weight and that's the cause of this seems absurd to me.

It annoys me too! Human genes haven't changed radically over the last 100 years. We're not dogs or cats where generations can be measured in a year if not months, we're talking roughly 30 years between generations, so no, it's not "genes" or "set point". The answer is obvious for anyone paying even a passing interest to history: we largely went from an agrarian society to a sedentary one, eating more and moving less. It's that simple. Combine this with capitalism pushing the fast food industry to make profits at any externalized cost, and the results are obvious.

As an aside, it always amuses me how people talk about "set point" but never address that it only goes up. If "set point" is a thing, you'd think there would be some people with a lower one, or at a minimum it wouldn't go up (hence it being set), but no one likes to admit that . . .

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#967

Post by npsimons » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 1:05 AM UTC

rajin444 wrote: post #56

This drug is a net good for society, but we have to fix the root problem. Much of the food we eat is filled with addictive ingredients (sugar, excess fats/oils, etc) that provide little nutritional value but are highly addictive. We’re subsidizing companies that create unhealthy addictive food and subsidizing companies to create drugs to counter the unhealthy addictive food. This is an enormous waste of resources.

> We’re subsidizing companies that create unhealthy addictive food

People love to bitch about the "diet industry" (which as a whole, seems to be almost entirely bro-science and snake oil), but the profits made there pale in comparison to fast food and processed food. It's really something that we should fix, like we did with tobacco and alcohol.

Fixing food deserts, even though they are not really widespread enough to entirely account for the obesity epidemic, needs to happen as well.

And taking subsidies away from animal products like meat, dairy and corn (specifically for HFCS) would go a long ways to improving the standard American diet (aka, SAD).

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#968

Post by ashwagary » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 2:02 AM UTC

wink wrote: post #894

ashwagary wrote: post #652

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I've heard people say that the solution is to eat (healthy food) when you're hungry, and stop when you're full. The thing is, I'm never full. I can eat until I physically can't eat anymore (not something I do regularly, of course), and as soon as my stomach has emptied a bit, I feel fairly hungry again. "Eat until you feel full" is literally a human experience I had never really had. I hear people following a carniv…

I've heard people say "I'm only being sated by the extras/side dishes, give me 1kg of meat and I will eat 1kg of meat as the main course" and to a degree I understand, at least for "normal" dishes with meat and carbs. Maybe it actually works if you crank the fat contents up.

You are right.

The high fat requirement is neglected when most first start this diet. People have been trained to fear excess fat so it does take extra directed effort to break out of the mindset.

Many manufacturers also remove fat so nutrition labels are more attractive to misdirected consumers ...this will generally lead followers of this diet away from overly processed foods (added benefit).

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#969

Post by jononomo » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 2:14 AM UTC

Sparkyte wrote: post #947

jononomo wrote: post #750

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm doing carnivore -- it's like keto but better.

The lack of vegetables in some diets really hinders the processing food. I find fiber to be a very essential component meat on its own doesn't do it. I think the fat gimmick in keto is just that too. It certainly helps but don't be fooled into eating unhealthy amounts to lose weight.

You don't need fiber in your diet at all and when you remove it you will be amazed how much your digestion improves.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#970

Post by treeman79 » Fri, Jan 06, 2023, 3:17 AM UTC

antihero wrote: post #891

treeman79 wrote: post #433

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was put on topomax for extreme migraines. Turned out a side effect was zero appetite. Unfortunately another side effect was to lose of about 60 iq points. Loved the weight loss. Missed having a brain.

Was it literally like just being less smart? Or was it sedation/fog?

Like staying up 30 hours. But not feeling tired. You can function. But higher concepts are not possible. A “for loop” was very challenging. Also you make a lot of really stupid decisions.

Once I was hacking out of house and noticed garbage can needed put away. So I got out of car while driving away. Promptly got caught on seatbelt and got dragged away. Stopped driving until I was off that Medication.

The alternate med. Diamox makes me sleepy. But otherwise Doesn’t make me dumb.

I know people that do great on topomax. But it has a reputation