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

The Most Expensive Eating Disorder

desmolysium.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 80 posts

Re: The Most Expensive Eating Disorder

#21

Post by bitzun »

Mistletoe wrote: post #15
maz1b wrote: post #12

It seems a bit.. abrasive and brash to label this an eating disorder, no? As a doctor and technical founder/CEO myself, I really like patients who are into their own health and fitness, obviously this guy has the means and resources to take it to an extreme, but I think the lesson he wants to impart is that there are benefits to investing in your own health, the same as people invest in self-tooling such as expensive…

I don’t think you understand how down the rabbit hole this guy goes. > Bryan Johnson’s supplements list includes more than 100 compounds taken as powders, tablets, and capsules, designed to support different aspects of his health. This is an insane thing to do and I have delved deeply into supplements myself and it is stunning how hard it is to find evidence that any of them do anything beneficial long term. This mat…

He sells supplements, including specific ingredients for which there isn't much evidence of efficacy. Even if you assume most of what he preaches and sells is scientific, some of it is unscientific which sort of undermines the entire pitch, I think.

Re: The Most Expensive Eating Disorder

#22

Post by BadHumans »

Mistletoe wrote: post #15
maz1b wrote: post #12

It seems a bit.. abrasive and brash to label this an eating disorder, no? As a doctor and technical founder/CEO myself, I really like patients who are into their own health and fitness, obviously this guy has the means and resources to take it to an extreme, but I think the lesson he wants to impart is that there are benefits to investing in your own health, the same as people invest in self-tooling such as expensive…

I don’t think you understand how down the rabbit hole this guy goes. > Bryan Johnson’s supplements list includes more than 100 compounds taken as powders, tablets, and capsules, designed to support different aspects of his health. This is an insane thing to do and I have delved deeply into supplements myself and it is stunning how hard it is to find evidence that any of them do anything beneficial long term. This mat…

Testosterone in the form of steroids and TRT? Not judging just curious.

Re: The Most Expensive Eating Disorder

#23

Post by fy20 »

at-w wrote: post #8
xnx wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> is caused by genetic sensitivity to DHT and DHT levels in the body, not aging Is the formula something like: DHT sensitivity * time = hair loss ?

I'm not super well versed but my understanding is that that's right, with your actual DHT levels being the third variable. There are other non-hormonal causes of hair loss, like alopecia areata, but they're much less common. DHT damages the hair follicles that are sensitive to it, causing them to grow back thinner after each growth and shedding cycle (which is typically a few years). As a result most men don't have v…

It's interesting because there are medicines that can block DHT or reduce it's effectiveness, but they have other negative side-effects. It's almost like if you have this gene and are a healthy man, you should loose your hair - I wonder what the evolutionary mechanism of that is.

Re: The Most Expensive Eating Disorder

#24

Post by slibhb »

mynegation wrote: post #18
slibhb wrote: post #16

> Also, in the interviews I have seen of him, his blinking frequency is quite high, presumably because he is so low in body fat that his lacrimal ducts cannot manufacture the lipid portion of tear fluid properly. Bryan Johnson is one weird dude and I would bet against his regimen's effectiveness. But stuff like this is just silly and makes me doubt the rest of this post.

Are you an MD like the author? And even if not - what is your rebuttal here?

I'm not an MD. Jumping from "he blinks a lot in interviews" to "his lacrimal ducts cannot manufacture the lipid portion of tear fluid" is silly. It's like something from a TV show doctor. He's being interviewed and some people blink a lot when they're nervous!

Re: The Most Expensive Eating Disorder

#25

Post by inopinatus »

lemming wrote: post #11

I saw Bryan recently on a Magnus Midtbo episode on YouTube. In that they discussed that his body fat had been extremely low, and he had gone up to around 10% subsequently on medical advice, i.e. that his body fat had previously reduced to unhealthy levels. 10% is low, but it's not what he looks like in the photos on this article, and it should be sustainable long term with some effort. He says on his website under hi…

I bounced off 3% body fat (also measured by a DEXA scan) back when I was cycling competitively. This was surprisingly easy to achieve with high volume structured training and a food plan. Coach advised me to only remain so lean for target races. Coach was right, my immune system was weak and my mood was terrible until it got back up to 8%. Good racing results though.

I can’t imagine bothering with any of that if I didn’t have something I wanted to win.

Re: The Most Expensive Eating Disorder

#26

Post by tom_ »

voisin wrote: post #14
tom_ wrote: post #13

Feels like a bit more body fat would suit him a lot better. The lean look is fine if you're under 25, but at some point you have to admit that it's over. > the way he looked while taking “TRT” looked nothing like a “testosterone replacement dose” but rather like a (mild?) steroid cycle This seems to be common with TRT takers, who tend to have the physique (or some slightly strange-looking approxmation thereof) of a m…

> but at some point you have to admit that it's over I am confused by what you mean. Being lean should be a goal throughout life, no?

It should, but you can't expect to be as lean aged 45 as you were aged 20. And if you manage it anyway, you'll probably find (as - in my view - Johnson shows) that you look weird, in a way that you wouldn't have done when you were 20.

Regarding how much, I did say "a bit more". I'm not suggesting he should be watching My 600 lb Life for inspiration. 15% body fat, say? Maybe a bit less? Maybe a bit more? I dunno. He can afford his own dietician. I'm just going by my eyes here. He is lean, but in my view it just doesn't look very good on him.

(EDIT: this did prompt me to update my other post. TRT takers often exhibit a similar phenomenon: they've got the muscles and leanness of somebody rather younger, but the overall effect still just looks... kind of odd.)

Re: The Most Expensive Eating Disorder

#27

Post by hobs »

maz1b wrote: post #12

It seems a bit.. abrasive and brash to label this an eating disorder, no? As a doctor and technical founder/CEO myself, I really like patients who are into their own health and fitness, obviously this guy has the means and resources to take it to an extreme, but I think the lesson he wants to impart is that there are benefits to investing in your own health, the same as people invest in self-tooling such as expensive…

GDP is a pointless metric, if we all get cancer GDP is going to go way up.

Re: The Most Expensive Eating Disorder

#28

Post by drooby »

at-w wrote: post #5

>It seems that he is spending a lot of his time & effort on maintaining his hair (huge kudos for admitting that!). If his body was functioning like an 18-year old he should not need to do that. If Bryan really set back his true aging clock he probably would not be battling with ongoing hair loss (as he most likely did not battle hair loss 20 years prior), or at least it would stop (which does not seem to be the case)…

Biological aging is a fuzzy concept that we define relative to various social constructs and other objective markers compared to the general population.

I don't see much issue with its usage in this context.

Re: The Most Expensive Eating Disorder

#29

Post by mplewis »

voisin wrote: post #14
tom_ wrote: post #13

Feels like a bit more body fat would suit him a lot better. The lean look is fine if you're under 25, but at some point you have to admit that it's over. > the way he looked while taking “TRT” looked nothing like a “testosterone replacement dose” but rather like a (mild?) steroid cycle This seems to be common with TRT takers, who tend to have the physique (or some slightly strange-looking approxmation thereof) of a m…

> but at some point you have to admit that it's over I am confused by what you mean. Being lean should be a goal throughout life, no?

No? What makes you think that lean is the optimal body state for all individuals?

Re: The Most Expensive Eating Disorder

#30

Post by jraines »

tom_ wrote: post #26
voisin wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but at some point you have to admit that it's over I am confused by what you mean. Being lean should be a goal throughout life, no?

It should, but you can't expect to be as lean aged 45 as you were aged 20. And if you manage it anyway, you'll probably find (as - in my view - Johnson shows) that you look weird, in a way that you wouldn't have done when you were 20. Regarding how much, I did say "a bit more". I'm not suggesting he should be watching My 600 lb Life for inspiration. 15% body fat, say? Maybe a bit less? Maybe a bit more? I dunno. He c…

Had to click through and look, he looks great IMO. There are people who look odd at a sub 15% bf at any age but he isn’t one, to my eye. He does have a bit of the TRT look but not extreme.

Edit after actually reading: the article is a compelling analysis & critique. While I think he looks good physique-wise, even bodybuilders would say it’s grueling & suboptimal for health & performance to stay very lean all the time. I thought he looked lean but not to that point where the body rebels; the markers seem to say otherwise

Post reply on HN