Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Reasons not to take Lumina's anticavity probiotic

trevorklee.substack.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 160 posts

Re: Reasons not to take Lumina's anticavity probiotic

#101

Post by SkyMarshal »

gautamcgoel wrote: post #86
SkyMarshal wrote: post #17

A simpler alternative is xylitol. Not a drug, no FDA approval required. It's a plant-based sweetener that cavity-causing mouth bacteria love to ingest, but which provides no sustenance to them. It essentially fills them up and then causes them to starve them to death, helping maintain minimum mouth bacteria. No bacteria, no cavities. Get it in mints or gum like Zellies or PUR (the only two I've found that don't inclu…

But don't you need "good" bacteria in your mouth?

It seems that it reduces bad bacteria but has no effect on good bacteria, though I'm not sure if there are enough studies on that to be conclusive.

Re: Reasons not to take Lumina's anticavity probiotic

#102

Post by 0x457 »

polishdude20 wrote: post #40
maxbond wrote: post #8

Whenever this topic comes up on HN it strikes me as bizarre that anyone thinks they can genetically modify a bacteria, release it into the wild - and that it'll stay genetically modified? Like the author mentions, bacteria are constantly swapping genes via horizontal gene transfer. Surely the bacteria in our mouths have found the optimal metabolism for their environment? Why wouldn't we expect our genetically modifie…

On that note, I wonder how kissing affects our mouth bacteria. Like, does making out with someone transfer enough bacteria between the two people to make a difference?

Not sure about just kissing, but here is about couples living together: https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/msystems.00043-17

I have a friend who started having a lot of teeth issues after moving in together. She swears nothing else has changed (i.e. food or stuff)

Re: Reasons not to take Lumina's anticavity probiotic

#103

Post by Terr_ »

teeray wrote: post #36
maxbond wrote: post #8

Whenever this topic comes up on HN it strikes me as bizarre that anyone thinks they can genetically modify a bacteria, release it into the wild - and that it'll stay genetically modified? Like the author mentions, bacteria are constantly swapping genes via horizontal gene transfer. Surely the bacteria in our mouths have found the optimal metabolism for their environment? Why wouldn't we expect our genetically modifie…

> I imagine that you could, at least on paper, create a Rube Goldberg machine in their genes that, say, killed them if they produced lactic acid It’s like Jurassic Park’s “Lysine Contingency”, but in your mouth

In this case it sounds more like the dinosaurs would have a fatal allergy to human flesh.

Re: Reasons not to take Lumina's anticavity probiotic

#104

Post by tptacek »

bigstrat2003 wrote: post #70
cool_dude85 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I also think it's unlikely enough to hurt people that FDA approval shouldn't be required. The author has provided some solid arguments that this is not the case. Why do you think so?

I actually don't think the author provided very good arguments. It was my only real beef with the article: "this might do bad things" gets rounded off to "this is dangerous", even though his sources don't say the bad things will happen. They simply might happen.

The Precautionary Principle is problematic applied to public policy generally, but it's the accepted practice in medicine. You can argue it shouldn't be, but you shouldn't pretend you'd be in the mainstream with that argument.

Re: Reasons not to take Lumina's anticavity probiotic

#105

Post by jrd259 »

I'm disappointed by the somewhat ad-hominem attack on Silverbook for being a porn producer: "Aaron, based on his previous work as guy at a rationalist nonprofit, videogame producer, and porn producer, decided to recreate Hillman’s work." Previous work experience is irrelevant, and besides, don't at least some of aspire to being polymaths?

Re: Reasons not to take Lumina's anticavity probiotic

#107

Post by jeffbee »

adamsb6 wrote: post #92
jeffbee wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is associated with Bryan Johnson's book "Don't Die". The author advocates daily electrocution of your penis, among other moronic ideas. He has a bazillion followers among the petty VC crowd.

This was so shocking that I went to look it up, and discovered that there's a bit of a telephone game here. It's "shockwave therapy" that isn't eletric. It uses acoustics to cause microscopic damage, and which Johnson rates as a 9/10 on the pain scale, "at the tip."

My mistake for assuming there was only one way for a quack to "shock" a body part.

Re: Reasons not to take Lumina's anticavity probiotic

#108

Post by SkyMarshal »

clumsysmurf wrote: post #50
SkyMarshal wrote: post #17

A simpler alternative is xylitol. Not a drug, no FDA approval required. It's a plant-based sweetener that cavity-causing mouth bacteria love to ingest, but which provides no sustenance to them. It essentially fills them up and then causes them to starve them to death, helping maintain minimum mouth bacteria. No bacteria, no cavities. Get it in mints or gum like Zellies or PUR (the only two I've found that don't inclu…

Ehh, I tried it, like 15 years ago, but had to stop taking it for the reasons mentioned here: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-04-qa-xylitol-teeth-swee... What is the recommended daily dosage of xylitol for oral health? "The recommended amount for cavity protection is 6 to 10 grams. And it's best to spread doses out throughout the day. So, if you want dental benefit from chewing xylitol-added gum, you should chew…

Three a day seems like overkill. I think if you brush at least twice a day, then one xylitol gum at night after brushing is probably sufficient. Kills the bacteria that grew during the day and kills bacteria that try to grow in your mouth overnight.

Re: Reasons not to take Lumina's anticavity probiotic

#109

Post by card_zero »

russdill wrote: post #30
SkyMarshal wrote: post #17

A simpler alternative is xylitol. Not a drug, no FDA approval required. It's a plant-based sweetener that cavity-causing mouth bacteria love to ingest, but which provides no sustenance to them. It essentially fills them up and then causes them to starve them to death, helping maintain minimum mouth bacteria. No bacteria, no cavities. Get it in mints or gum like Zellies or PUR (the only two I've found that don't inclu…

Just to be clear, it's not that it's not good for them, it's highly toxic

I see it makes dogs release insulin and gives them fatal hypoglycemia, but doesn't do this to various other species. Quirky.

Re: Reasons not to take Lumina's anticavity probiotic

#110

Post by renewiltord »

SkyMarshal wrote: post #29
renewiltord wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gives some of us rocket powered shits though. I’ve been known to hit escape velocity at the border mall in Basel. Well contained within the inverted engine bell and served well by powerful flush mechanism.

Lol, true it can. Were you just eating one a day and still suffered that?

Haha, no, what happened was I ate about a third of a xylitol-based chocolate bar. So far higher dose than what you described, but it's given me a deathly fear of the substance, lest I transform myself into the fastest self-propelled man.

Perhaps I'll give it a crack some time.

Post reply on HN