Beetroot juice lowers blood pressure by changing oral microbiome: study • Hacker News Board

Re: Beetroot juice lowers blood pressure by changing oral microbiome: study

#101

Post by JumpCrisscross » Sun, Jul 27, 2025, 6:41 PM UTC

hinkley wrote: post #73

cjbgkagh wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lower intelligence would likely surface as hedonistic behavior which is probably hard to distinguish from decadence. Decadence and hedonism were constantly being complained about long before the eventual fall.

Violence in the US declined as children born around and after leaded gas was banned reached the average age of first offense. It’s quite a line.

> Violence in the US declined as children born around and after leaded gas was banned reached the average age of first offense

My pet hypothesis for the generation born after in the mid postwar era having been a general scourge on America is that we had a population boom amidst lead.

Re: Beetroot juice lowers blood pressure by changing oral microbiome: study

#102

Post by Etheryte » Sun, Jul 27, 2025, 6:46 PM UTC

SapporoChris wrote: post #57

Etheryte wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lead pipe thing is one of the best known urban legends that's both completely false and also constantly making rounds on the internet.

Not sure where you get completely false. Like most urban legends it's a little truth and a lot of falsehoods. Lead pipes are a known health hazard. Lead pipes didn't lead to the fall of the Roman Empire.

It's completely false as in lead pipes didn't have anything to do with the fall of the Roman Empire as originally mentioned in the top comment.

Re: Beetroot juice lowers blood pressure by changing oral microbiome: study

#103

Post by darth_avocado » Sun, Jul 27, 2025, 6:49 PM UTC

throawaywpg wrote: post #89

declan_roberts wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention the fact that their pipes immediately become mineralized, and very little lead leeches in cold water. Headline science has a way of sticking around for a long time.

spelling pedant: "leaches," not "leeches"

It’s lychees

Re: Beetroot juice lowers blood pressure by changing oral microbiome: study

#104

Post by bongodongobob » Sun, Jul 27, 2025, 6:54 PM UTC

bigmattystyles wrote: post #80

bognition wrote: post #3

Back in school I was often told the lead pipes in Roman aqueducts likely played a key role in the fall of Roman. We know lead is a poison with negative long term effects on cognition. The aqueducts were also responsible for Romes ability to proliferate and grow. Lead was both a blessing and a curse. I wonder what future generations will say about our highly enriched and processed diets. Calories have never been cheap…

Don’t lead pipes or any pipes for water actually get a patina of calcium carbonate or something so while not great it’s not as bad as told. Only if the ph of the water changes because you change the water source, kinda like in flint?

Yes. There's nothing wrong with lead pipes.

Re: Beetroot juice lowers blood pressure by changing oral microbiome: study

#105

Post by yawboakye » Sun, Jul 27, 2025, 7:03 PM UTC

edwardbernays wrote: post #15

papercrane wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lead pipes theory is mostly just pop-science. Romans were likely getting more lead exposure from using lead cooking vessels and utensils.

So is the idea that widespread lead exposure led to the decline of the Roman empire largely pop science? Are you saying that's not accurate, or that the source of the lead exposure is miscounted?

there are many ways to account for the fall of the roman empire, and everyone chooses their favorite (usually depending on where their interest bends). for example, it could be explained by the increased usage of mercenaries in the roman army. i like this theory because the fall was brought by losses to renegade forces. it could also be explained by bad leadership.

Re: Beetroot juice lowers blood pressure by changing oral microbiome: study

#106

Post by dinfinity » Sun, Jul 27, 2025, 7:03 PM UTC

bapak wrote: post #43

dinfinity wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For people who don't like drinking beetroot juice, you can also regularly (French) kiss with people with healthy oral microbiomes [0][1]. Best to really get in there. [0] https://www.adelaide.edu.au/newsroom/news/list/2024/02/20/mo... [1] https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186...

Ok but what happens when unhealthy kisses healthy? Does it balance out? If it's not risky, I'm about to embark on a mission.

> Ok but what happens when unhealthy kisses healthy? Does it balance out?

If you're lucky, sparks fly ;-)

> If it's not risky, I'm about to embark on a mission.

"Hey baby, can I sample your oral microbiome?"

Re: Beetroot juice lowers blood pressure by changing oral microbiome: study

#107

Post by bayindirh » Sun, Jul 27, 2025, 7:10 PM UTC

papercrane wrote: post #8

bognition wrote: post #3

Back in school I was often told the lead pipes in Roman aqueducts likely played a key role in the fall of Roman. We know lead is a poison with negative long term effects on cognition. The aqueducts were also responsible for Romes ability to proliferate and grow. Lead was both a blessing and a curse. I wonder what future generations will say about our highly enriched and processed diets. Calories have never been cheap…

The lead pipes theory is mostly just pop-science. Romans were likely getting more lead exposure from using lead cooking vessels and utensils.