Biohacking Lite • Hacker News Board

Re: Biohacking Lite

#231

Post by travisporter » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 1:23 AM UTC

dialamac wrote: post #170

gdebel wrote: post #51

I'm French (and incidentally a doctor,and my post is not judgemental in any way, this is not the point). Everytime I travel to the USA, I'm puzzled by how difficult it is to "eat normally" (= by my own standards). You can find really good junk food everywhere, or pay a really high price to eat in high-level Italian restaurants for example, but it is very difficult to eat standard meat-with-vegetable-without-sugar-add…

> We did not evolved to eat processed sugar, which is not easily found naturally in the environment The flour you make French bread with is not found any more or less naturally in the environment than the sugar you get from cane or beet. This whole thing about evolution and nutrition is entirely pseudoscientific woo. If humans had to eat the same way as our ancestors (ie actual paleo, not some hipster fad diet) human…

I was curious about your comment on sugar vs flour. I think it's much easier to make wheat compared to sugar at home. https://www.invidio.us/watch?v=5WbYu9XHQPw.

In the end, I think it's good to know how much raw stuff go into making any ingredients. It takes a lot of sugarcane to get a soda's worth of sugar.

Re: Biohacking Lite

#232

Post by gen220 » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 1:43 AM UTC

groby_b wrote: post #204

david_shaw wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I find it incredibly hard to get nuts that aren't roasted and/or salted I don't see plain nuts as often as I'd like in stores, but they are super easy to find online: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=raw+almonds

Here's where Amazon's reputation for cheap fakes is biting them - I'm not risking food from them, since I can't fully trust the integrity of their goods. But Trader Joe's usually has them too. Safeway sometimes does. It's not that it's impossible, it's just that they don't have the same "staples" status they have in Europe. Usually, you find raw nuts in the cooking/baking ingredients area, while salted & roasted are…

In my house, we've been buying costco-brand (Kirkland) walnuts in mega-bulk from amazon for at least a year, and we've not yet encountered issues with their quality.

Trader Joe's has decent nuts, but their prices are not competitive when you buy in bulk.

Walnuts, in my opinion at least, don't vary in flavor that much (compared to almonds for example). So... walnuts are walnuts: always buy the cheapest! :)

Re: Biohacking Lite

#233

Post by virtualritz » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 1:45 AM UTC

RealityVoid wrote: post #185

gdebel wrote: post #51

I'm French (and incidentally a doctor,and my post is not judgemental in any way, this is not the point). Everytime I travel to the USA, I'm puzzled by how difficult it is to "eat normally" (= by my own standards). You can find really good junk food everywhere, or pay a really high price to eat in high-level Italian restaurants for example, but it is very difficult to eat standard meat-with-vegetable-without-sugar-add…

I am totally not convinced by this argument against sugar. Yes, sugar is calorie dense. Yes, it's easy to eat a lot of calories from sugar. But in the end, even eating NO sugar, if you eat a ton of things, you'll get fat. An then you go on to recommend honey as though there is something magic about it and not pretty much the same thing with sugar.

> But in the end, even eating NO sugar, if you eat a ton of things, you'll get fat.

Not really. Try a ketogenic diet. You can eat tons food (including tons of fat) and still loose weight.

Re: Biohacking Lite

#234

Post by charliemil4 » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 1:45 AM UTC

systemvoltage wrote: post #180

dpoochieni wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But then there are things that do make a difference. Take for instance homogenized vs non-homogenized milk. This processing destroys lactoferrin which is a molecule that strongly binds iron and reduces its absorption. Before someone argues this is actually bad, understand first why milk has lactoferrin and how this apparently only cosmetic process of homogenization has nutritional and health consequences.

Definitely, if you want imperfections, artisan value and appreciate craftsmanship, there is nothing wrong with handmade goods. Just don't tell me that your Japanese knife when hand sharpened cannot be as good as something done by a robotic arm. Otherwise, I have some news - Japanese knife's edge sharpness(not durability) is no match for a surgical scalpel which is made by millions in quantities in fully automated fas…

/Play that piano, Kurt/

Re: Biohacking Lite

#235

Post by chrisin2d » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 1:48 AM UTC

mettamage wrote: post #147

ricardobeat wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is also becoming increasingly difficult to find "plain bread" in Dutch supermarkets. The majority of them now have additives like soy lethicin, 15 kinds of leftover flours/powders from some other industrial process, even the 'artisan' labeled ones.

That saddens me. I must confess that I'm used to my brands, so I don't look around that much at the Albert Heijn (the supermarket I go to, for reference: an upscale-ish supermarket that tries to be normal and sort of is? Looking at fellow Dutchies here to see what they think ).

I think (as an American in Amsterdam) —

Low-end: LIDL, VOMAR

Lower-middle: Dirk van der Broek

Middle: Albert Heijn, Jumbo

Middle—high: EkoPlaza, Landmarkt

High-end: Marqt

I buy my bread from Vlaamsch Broodhuys—an upscale bakery chain—as there’s one by my home.

Diverse good breads are easily accessible in the Netherlands, I find. Back in the US, getting good bread is requires research and a drive. In my college town, both of the only two good artisanal bakeries were started by Europeans who were too fed up with American bread culture!

Re: Biohacking Lite

#236

Post by wait_a_minute » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 1:48 AM UTC

gdebel wrote: post #51

I'm French (and incidentally a doctor,and my post is not judgemental in any way, this is not the point). Everytime I travel to the USA, I'm puzzled by how difficult it is to "eat normally" (= by my own standards). You can find really good junk food everywhere, or pay a really high price to eat in high-level Italian restaurants for example, but it is very difficult to eat standard meat-with-vegetable-without-sugar-add…

It is not actually that hard to do, we just have a rushed culture that ends up encouraging people to pick the fastest option. A lot of us are too lazy to cook properly.

Re: Biohacking Lite

#237

Post by eebynight » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 1:56 AM UTC

akiselev wrote: post #69

byproxy wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a lot of that last point can be attributed to gradual improvement and acclimation to that improvement. If you were able to snapshot mood and mental health like you could a picture of your body, you might see a marked improvement over pre-healthy-lifestyle vs., say, post-1-year-healthy-lifestyle. For example, I've been losing weight and doing body-weight training the last month-and-a-half and a picture of my b…

A lot of people also aren't "in tune" with their bodies, especially those with weaker autobiographical memories. Many just don't internalize or remember how they feel over different time periods except for extreme events (emotional, strong smells, etc.). Unless they have a hangover, they don't much consider how they feel on a relative scale, let alone try to tie it back to their past diet or lifestyle. Throw in a lot…

I can very much relate to this. I have tended to always be someone that pays attention to these minor details. To me, it is absolutely insane that people don't remember or internalize how they feel regularly. For example, I can tell you with ease that I had a long string of extreme productivity and focus in March lasting until the middle of April which dipped during May and is now peaking again. I can tell you what I believe to have caused it and what also ruined it. Productivity, Energy, sleep quality and overall mood are things I think about daily.

For me developing this skill was a necessity after I encountered frequent headaches from eating and drinking the "wrong" things. I was basically forced to take my awareness of general overall wellbeing up a notch to really figure out what was causing them. Noticing small signs became important to prevent being sidelined from life with a nasty headache.

I have it down pretty well now and there are certain very small, but distinct, signals and feelings that tell me when headaches are coming so I can work to prevent them.

Anecdotal, but I've talked to lots of acquaintances about this and no one seems to understand what I'm talking about. I've also been meditating for 4+ years perhaps that adds to the heightened awareness.

I don't want to say that people are "unconscious" but is sad that many are missing out on a more nuanced experience of life.

Re: Biohacking Lite

#238

Post by eebynight » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 2:09 AM UTC

ssijak wrote: post #223

I do not understand the obsession with keto/low carb diets. There are no long term studies showing the touted magical benefits. Even Gary Taubes, author who amassed wealth bashing carbs and touting keto diet, funded studies that he thought would confirm what he was saying, but then results came in slight favor of high carb diets against low carb high fat diets in terms of losing weight. Yes, processed sugar is crap,…

Not trying to be nitpicky but urine sticks are notoriously unreliable:

False-positive when you are first starting because you are not well adapted to utilizing ketones and urinate out most of the BHB.

False-negative when you are well adapted because usable fuel will not be wasted in urine.

It is generally accepted that the only foolproof way to truly know if you are in ketosis is to do a blood BHB measurement.

Other than that, I would only comment that it seems there are certain phenotypes that have much more success with low carb diets and vice versa with high carb diets. I don't think it is as easy as dismissing it because you had a poor experience.

Also, not particularly a fan of many of the observational nonsense coming out of both camps (low carb vs plant based) over the last few years. There was a HN article posted a while back but we really have a legitimacy problem in nutritional science right now. P-value hacking and nonsense correlation is just far too common and then most never read the study to get the true story behind the results.

Finally, this is anecdotal but I have known people whose libidos have dropped on low carb diets and also others who lost libido when they went most vegan (whole food, plant based). This supports the idea:

"Figure out what works for you and ignore the rest."

Crazy concept...

Re: Biohacking Lite

#239

Post by TJSomething » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 2:10 AM UTC

OJFord wrote: post #228

cbsks wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

McDonalds lists the ingredients in their foods here: https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/about-our-food/nutrition-... Their hamburger doesn't look any different than what I would make at home. I don't have any grocery store bought buns in front of me, but I assume it would have similar ingredients. The pickles are not the most natural, but once again, it's not much different than what I would buy in a grocery store. T…

> The bun is white bread, just like you can buy at the grocery store > Regular Bun: Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Water, Sugar, Yeast, Soybean Oil, Contains 2% or Less: Salt, Wheat Gluten, Potato Flour, May Contain One or More Dough Conditioners (DATEM, Ascorbic Acid, Mono and Diglycerides, Enzymes), Vinegar. Each to their own! > You can…

They aren't saints, but McDonald's has several different salads and they're pretty healthy if you don't use dressing.

Re: Biohacking Lite

#240

Post by gen220 » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 2:20 AM UTC

fudged71 wrote: post #168

thechao wrote: post #11

If anyone else wants to get into this, there are a few really strong measures that correlate fairly well to the DEXA scans. My favorite (because its easy): measure your waist just above your belly button. This area has virtually no "bulky" muscle and is one of the principle deposits of "internal" body fat. The two measures I take everyday are: 1. Body weight; and, 2. Waist size. I use the following routine for weight…

The problem with daily measurements is it can lead to frustration. The daily number may change constantly but it's the moving average that matters. Few people can track a number without asking themselves what that number means for them. I want a scale without a screen and a measuring tape without numbers. Track often but only see the trend when you ask for it.

This is a super interesting idea, that maybe hasn't been explored deeply enough. Of course, for some people, the obsession with precise, day-to-day numbers is an almost-unmitigated inspiration.

In my experience, the trick with body weight is that you actually do have almost perfect control over the day to day.

Assuming you take it in the morning before breakfast and after the bathroom, it's almost a pure function of your weight yesterday and the caloric balance from the day prior. If you control your caloric balance with diet and exercise, you can predict your 1-2lb swings (aka constant swings) pretty accurately.