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Reasons not to take Lumina's anticavity probiotic

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Re: Reasons not to take Lumina's anticavity probiotic

#131

Post by pseudalopex »

jrd259 wrote: post #105

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?

> Previous work experience is irrelevant

Track record on similar projects was a question on the Manifund application. Those were Silverbook's answers. Were the footnote explaining this and the link to the application added after you read the article?

Re: Reasons not to take Lumina's anticavity probiotic

#132

Post by jbaber »

nikolay wrote: post #37
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…

Not just xylitol but also mastic gum, which, in addition to cavities prevention, kills H. pylori and strengthens your jaw muscles as it's a bit harder than regular chewing gum.

I really like mastic, but it cuts my tongue up.

Re: Reasons not to take Lumina's anticavity probiotic

#133

Post by mock-possum »

SkyMarshal wrote: post #101
gautamcgoel wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I think the deal is that the bacteria that eats sugar produce the byproducts that mess with your teeth. If they ate something else, their waste would be differently comprised, and wouldn’t present that same threat to your teeth.

Re: Reasons not to take Lumina's anticavity probiotic

#135

Post by comp_throw7 »

Aurornis wrote: post #4

> I’ve also been disappointed for some months to see how many people I respect (and some I don’t respect) have been using it/promoting it. Taking unapproved drugs is a bad idea, no matter what rationalist bloggers with MDs, porn star/escort/sex researchers, Twitter guys, or conservative firebrands who get sick immediately after taking the unapproved drug tell you. The "rationalist community" has always been quirky an…

> who has somehow remained prominent in the community despite the revelations

Hanania is just some dude on twitter. He's not prominent in the rationalist community in any meaningful sense.

Re: Reasons not to take Lumina's anticavity probiotic

#136

Post by comp_throw7 »

1939416836 wrote: post #12
deelowe wrote: post #5

I was hoping for a more thorough explanation for why this particular regimen is dangerous. Instead this is a rather lengthy essay which ultimately relies on the appeal to authority fallacy. Not to say I think people should just put random things into their bodies - It is indeed probably not the best idea. That said, I'm not sure I learned anything new after reading this.

The article lists several reasons why the regimen is dangerous: if you get the bacteria that you're supposed to be getting, that bacteria will be continuously producing an antibiotic. Having bacteria constantly dosing you with antibiotics can lead to all the sorts of issues that long-term antibiotics present. Secondly, the article claims, probiotic manufacturing is very susceptible to contamination. Luckily, there ar…

Many bacteria produce antibiotics to outcompete other bacteria, though, so this isn't new or alarming information. Especially given that, as the author admits, the mutation that causes it to produce that particular antibiotic is naturally occurring in S. mutans!

It'd be a more interesting claim if it was argued that mutacin-1140 was particularly dangerous in the relevant doses (and this somehow never came up in the wild-type S. mutans that produce it).

Re: Reasons not to take Lumina's anticavity probiotic

#137

Post by hhjinks »

ToValueFunfetti wrote: post #121
SamPatt wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously - this is interesting tech but it seems like a mostly solved problem. Brush your teeth when you wake up, then floss and brush them again before you sleep. Once it's routine (hopefully established in youth) it seems extremely easy to maintain.

It's evidently not a solved problem- 80% of Americans have had a cavity by their mid thirties. I very much doubt even 5% of them were never told to brush their teeth.

Then on the other hand, a dingle cavity isn't a big deal, and might be enough to scare people into better oral hygiene. It did for me, at least.

Re: Reasons not to take Lumina's anticavity probiotic

#138

Post by infotropy »

Came here to be “that guy”. Never had a single cavity in over 50years of being alive and have really bad dental care habits. I brush once a day for about 30 seconds, don’t really floss and have gone up to 6 years between cleanings.

I don’t eat a lot of processed foods or foods high in sugar, but I don’t completely abstain from them either.

Nothing to do with Lumina directly, but I’ve always been curious about my dental microbiome and how something about it is different from others.

I often worry about new products like Lumina upsetting whatever balance I’ve got going on.

Re: Reasons not to take Lumina's anticavity probiotic

#139

Post by devbent »

milesvp wrote: post #94
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…

Please be careful pushing xylitol, "sugar alcohols" are neither a sugar or an alcohol. This, of course, is exactly the thing that makes them desirable as a sweetener substitute, the body doesn't really know what to do with the stuff, and, presumably, neither do common mouth bacteria. Sugar alcohols are known for causing digestive troubles, for this very reason, with the most notorious example being the Haribo "sugar…

Sugar alcohols are naturally occuring in many foods. There are also many different types, some of which cause some people stomach problems.

(Personally I can eat an entire bag of sugar free gummies w/o any ill effect, ymmv!)

Re: Reasons not to take Lumina's anticavity probiotic

#140

Post by sitzkrieg »

twic wrote: post #52
pragma_x wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and that it'll stay genetically modified? I honestly think the play here is to have customers continually inoculate with the same, or even improved, versions of their modified bacteria. Possibly with a very strong antibiotic course in between if a clean slate is needed. That would provide ample room to stay on top of mutations and gene swapping in-situ. Otherwise, you don't have a continuous revenue model or a succ…

Or just brush your teeth twice a day.

dismissive advice like this completely ignores the fact you can brush several times a day and have way more dental issues than someone else due to different mouth flora.

but ya bro shoulda brushed! what is their problem!

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