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Blood sugar level follows perceived time rather than actual time in diabetics

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Re: Blood sugar level follows perceived time rather than actual time in diabetics

#11
post #9

Suggestion works on taste buds too. In the nineties I had a thing for salsa and ate it most days at the office over things I steamed in the microwave. But I ate the mild salsas and couldn't tolerate the hot stuff. Still can't. So my boss decides to spice it up a bit, and mixes in some hot salsa. I didn't notice. Each day he gradually added more until it was all the hot stuff. I didn't notice. He went out and bought h…

Your story "proves" all the studies with sommeliers where they duped them into rating white wines (with red food coloring) as fancy red wines. All the sommeliers failed the blind tests. In fact all those studies showed was that the taste of wine stemmed primarily from the perception of the bottle rather than the actual taste.

Re: Blood sugar level follows perceived time rather than actual time in diabetics

#12
post #9

Suggestion works on taste buds too. In the nineties I had a thing for salsa and ate it most days at the office over things I steamed in the microwave. But I ate the mild salsas and couldn't tolerate the hot stuff. Still can't. So my boss decides to spice it up a bit, and mixes in some hot salsa. I didn't notice. Each day he gradually added more until it was all the hot stuff. I didn't notice. He went out and bought h…

You build up tolerance to hot stuff pretty quickly (and lose it pretty quickly). And most commonly-available salsas (even labeled "hot") top out at not-actually-very-hot. If your boss was only gradually adding more and more of the hot stuff, I absolutely believe that he could have just built up your tolerance such that you didn't notice; regardless of suggestion.

Re: Blood sugar level follows perceived time rather than actual time in diabetics

#13
post #12
post #9

Suggestion works on taste buds too. In the nineties I had a thing for salsa and ate it most days at the office over things I steamed in the microwave. But I ate the mild salsas and couldn't tolerate the hot stuff. Still can't. So my boss decides to spice it up a bit, and mixes in some hot salsa. I didn't notice. Each day he gradually added more until it was all the hot stuff. I didn't notice. He went out and bought h…

You build up tolerance to hot stuff pretty quickly (and lose it pretty quickly). And most commonly-available salsas (even labeled "hot") top out at not-actually-very-hot. If your boss was only gradually adding more and more of the hot stuff, I absolutely believe that he could have just built up your tolerance such that you didn't notice; regardless of suggestion.

> And most commonly-available salsas (even labeled "hot") tops out at not-actually-very-hot.

Yeah, that's what I always thought. Then I moved to New Mexico, and got my tongue, gums and throat handed to me on a plate.

Re: Blood sugar level follows perceived time rather than actual time in diabetics

#14
post #12
post #9

Suggestion works on taste buds too. In the nineties I had a thing for salsa and ate it most days at the office over things I steamed in the microwave. But I ate the mild salsas and couldn't tolerate the hot stuff. Still can't. So my boss decides to spice it up a bit, and mixes in some hot salsa. I didn't notice. Each day he gradually added more until it was all the hot stuff. I didn't notice. He went out and bought h…

You build up tolerance to hot stuff pretty quickly (and lose it pretty quickly). And most commonly-available salsas (even labeled "hot") top out at not-actually-very-hot. If your boss was only gradually adding more and more of the hot stuff, I absolutely believe that he could have just built up your tolerance such that you didn't notice; regardless of suggestion.

But is there a biological mechanism for "building up a tolerance"? Seems possible that building up a tolerance is merely a mental exercise as well. Perhaps in the subconscious part of the brain at least.

Re: Blood sugar level follows perceived time rather than actual time in diabetics

#15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I only read the abstract and it suggests a direction of causation that the experiment does not give. I'll read this in full when I have time but I would be very surprised if the causation is not completely reverse of what is suggested.

What are you suggesting the causation is exactly? That blood sugar levels affect our perception of time?

That doesn't sound impossible. Like a CPU running slower when the power is janky, there's something appealing to the thought that we experience the passage of time differently based on internal physical processes. There's the trope of "time standing still" when some intense experience is happening - perhaps flooding the system with adrenaline has the opposite effect and speeds up perceived time?

Re: Blood sugar level follows perceived time rather than actual time in diabetics

#16
post #11
post #9

Suggestion works on taste buds too. In the nineties I had a thing for salsa and ate it most days at the office over things I steamed in the microwave. But I ate the mild salsas and couldn't tolerate the hot stuff. Still can't. So my boss decides to spice it up a bit, and mixes in some hot salsa. I didn't notice. Each day he gradually added more until it was all the hot stuff. I didn't notice. He went out and bought h…

Your story "proves" all the studies with sommeliers where they duped them into rating white wines (with red food coloring) as fancy red wines. All the sommeliers failed the blind tests. In fact all those studies showed was that the taste of wine stemmed primarily from the perception of the bottle rather than the actual taste.

Might want to refresh your reading on this. AFAIK this is reference to one (unpublished) study where undergrad wine science students tended to choose from a list of descriptive terms usually associated with red wine to refer to dyed white wine, most of the time.

It's certainly true that suggestion can change ones perception of wine (or any flavor), but I don't think it's clear that it's the primary factor.

Re: Blood sugar level follows perceived time rather than actual time in diabetics

#17
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You build up tolerance to hot stuff pretty quickly (and lose it pretty quickly). And most commonly-available salsas (even labeled "hot") top out at not-actually-very-hot. If your boss was only gradually adding more and more of the hot stuff, I absolutely believe that he could have just built up your tolerance such that you didn't notice; regardless of suggestion.

> And most commonly-available salsas (even labeled "hot") tops out at not-actually-very-hot. Yeah, that's what I always thought. Then I moved to New Mexico, and got my tongue, gums and throat handed to me on a plate.

Which brand? “Red or Green?” Even Sadie’s is quite a bit hotter than anything I generally find in California.

XX Hot (cultivar) are particularly good - clocking in at 60k Scoville units

Re: Blood sugar level follows perceived time rather than actual time in diabetics

#18
post #2

The brain seems to have control over more of the body than we thought. Is there potential treatments that could result from this? I wonder if type one also exhibits this trait?

The brain and body are very much connected. Being bipolar, I am keenly aware of this.

Depression is a lot like being severely sick. Even if you manage to keep up exercise and diet, physical health takes a dive.

Mania… everything goes into overdrive. The necessary repair work isn’t being done, even if you get enough sleep.

Eating the wrong food or too much exertion can trigger episodes.

Mental health is very much tied to physical health. And vice-versa.

Re: Blood sugar level follows perceived time rather than actual time in diabetics

#19
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You build up tolerance to hot stuff pretty quickly (and lose it pretty quickly). And most commonly-available salsas (even labeled "hot") top out at not-actually-very-hot. If your boss was only gradually adding more and more of the hot stuff, I absolutely believe that he could have just built up your tolerance such that you didn't notice; regardless of suggestion.

> And most commonly-available salsas (even labeled "hot") tops out at not-actually-very-hot. Yeah, that's what I always thought. Then I moved to New Mexico, and got my tongue, gums and throat handed to me on a plate.

[deleted]

Re: Blood sugar level follows perceived time rather than actual time in diabetics

#20
There is no such thing as time in this context.

It is an abstraction superimposed and assumed by an external observer.

Molecular biology does not have notion of time, only phases of other cyclical processes which is a completely different "mechanical" notion.

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