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

New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

sustainableplastics.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

261–270 of 403 posts

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#261

Post by HyprMusic »

aziaziazi wrote: post #210
lotsofpulp wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It feels to me like there is something besides diet changes happening to us. That's part of it, but I wonder if microplastics or some kind of gut biome disruption is playing a role as well. Based on what many people have in their shopping carts and the sugar water many people are constantly chugging, I see no reason to think anything other than excess calories is the cause. And lack of exercise as an exacerbating f…

Maybe fat as well ? Not the one in walnuts and linen seeds but the pork, diaries and coconut. Not an expert at all, just wondering in what extend we should avoid them comparing to sugar.

Fat by itself is very satiating, you'd struggle to rack up the calories eating purely fat unless you were really trying. However too much sugar without fibre will spike your blood sugar levels which triggers an insulin response, causing your body to effectively store any glucose in your bloodstream into muscle and fat cells[0]. The end result is you're hungry again and able to eat more calories. Combine that with a high fat diet and you have a recipe for obesity.

When I used to weight train, during my cuts (weight loss phases), I had much more success with a high fat/low carb diet than I ever did calorie counting (which naturally makes you avoid fat since they have a higher calorie density).

[0] Not an expert but this is my layman's understanding after reading lots of books on the subject.

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#262

Post by chewmieser »

remarkEon wrote: post #227
drewcon wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Citation needed. These comments read like Reddit/TikTok. Lots of frantic fearful hand waving, not a lot of evidence presented.

I don't understand this perspective, the need to wait for mountains of published evidence that something is "bad", or "bad enough" to do something about it. Plastic is toxic, we all know this. It's everywhere, it's in the food and in the water. In reality it's the "Citation needed" reflex that's the reddit-tier reaction to stuff like this, because it pretends that humans can't or shouldn't make decisions unless we al…

I don't understand the perspective of criticizing a request for a citation? This is exactly how misinformation spreads.

The parent hand-waved away the substantial differences between various plastics and made bold blanket statements on plastics as a whole that may or may not be true.

There's plenty of material out there to cite with and providing a cite that supported your understanding would help the discussion. Here's a random one:

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.1c01103

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#263

Post by flir »

ethbr1 wrote: post #247
saberience wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obesity is caused by eating too much. If you don’t eat then you won’t gain weight, there is no subverting the laws of thermodynamics. It sounds callous but if you go to Africa or visit a prisoner of war camp you won’t find many fat people and so blaming chemicals in America for so many fat people doesn’t make much sense to me.

Obesity is caused by eating too much of the wrong thing. Which happens to be the cheap thing in industrialized mass produced Western food chains. Cheap in terms of dollars and personal time. So obesity is really an economic problem. We should come down like a ton of bricks on fast food and require they offer healthier options at low prices, subsidized by taxes on their unhealthier options.

Or more simply, you could not subsidize the cheap unhealthy options at source (eg corn subsidies).

But until very recently, I would absolutely have still chosen the unhealthy option. I'm not sure how much impact 20% on a bag of Doritos is really going to have.

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#264

Post by userbinator »

bhouston wrote: post #75

There are two macro population health trends that suggest we are somehow poisoning ourselves at a large scale. Most people do not relate the two, but I personally wouldn't be surprised if they have related causes. The first is the Flynn effect, which was rising IQ levels decade over decade, which halted and then reserved for most Western nations around 1990s/2000s and is now declining: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F…

I suspect those trends are more political rather than environmental.

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#265

Post by I_Am_Nous »

bhouston wrote: post #165
constantly wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you please share this simple explanation for those of us who aren’t as smart as you?

I'm pretty sure he is going to either say either immigrants or something related to Chad vs Incel. But more concretely, there is evidence that conservatives out reproduce liberals in the US and in part it is related to the urban - country divide and that could also be related to both pollution, but also likely cost of living: https://ifstudies.org/blog/the-conservative-fertility-advant...

Something else it could be is that the internet is a great tool for learning and connecting, but it's also a great tool for turning your brain off and being passively entertained for hours on end. Even worse than that would be the concept of algorithmic thinking patterns being trained into people as they allow a social media site to "tell" them what to think about.

An example would be people who go onto Twixxer to find out what they are supposed to be mad about today. I understand that there are legitimate issues which need a spotlight put on them and social media can be a great tool for that. But it also thrives on that level of anger and energy, so there is a decent amount of less-than-dire issues being flogged just for engagement.

If enough people are just entertaining their brain away/being directed by an algorithm more often than not, I can see this moving the needle on general intelligence since "the brain is a muscle" and not using it means you can lose it over time.

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#266

Post by throwaway92837 »

bawolff wrote: post #211
bhouston wrote: post #75

There are two macro population health trends that suggest we are somehow poisoning ourselves at a large scale. Most people do not relate the two, but I personally wouldn't be surprised if they have related causes. The first is the Flynn effect, which was rising IQ levels decade over decade, which halted and then reserved for most Western nations around 1990s/2000s and is now declining: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F…

> The first is the Flynn effect, which was rising IQ levels decade over decade, which halted and then reserved for most Western nations around 1990s/2000s and then started to reverse a bit: Same point in time where people started to get cell phones and be always connected to the internet.

[dead]

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#267

Post by wickedsight »

saberience wrote: post #225
bhouston wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obesity is caused in part by environmental toxins, probably to different extents in different people: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/19/environm... https://www.webmd.com/obesity/what-to-know-obesogens These so called "obesogens" just increase the propensity towards obesity and depending on exposure and your sensitivity to then, you can overcome them or not via exercise and dieting and other means.

Obesity is caused by eating too much. If you don’t eat then you won’t gain weight, there is no subverting the laws of thermodynamics. It sounds callous but if you go to Africa or visit a prisoner of war camp you won’t find many fat people and so blaming chemicals in America for so many fat people doesn’t make much sense to me.

Your argument is that forcing people to go without food causes them to lose weight, which is impossible to deny. You argument says nothing about what causes people to gain weight, however.

Just look up 'hormonal weight gain' to see that it isn't just about eating less. Then look at research into the influence of chemicals/micro plastics on those hormones.

Yes, all calories have to go in through the mouth. How those calories are processed, however, is influenced by a great many factors.

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#268

Post by throwawayfear »

bee_rider wrote: post #220
bowsamic wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is how they do it in Germany. Most working Germans I know of eat at the work canteen and have a small bread meal at home in the evening Weird that you're getting downvoted for this. HN is on a weird one recently

Is a canteen the same thing as a cafeteria? Lots of Americans have their lunch at a work cafeteria as well. A big lunch and a small dinner would probably be a good change for lots of us.

It’s just a weasel wording to say “lots.” How many and where did you get your number from? How many of those are using a designated sitting area to eat food they brought from home?

And if you think something is a good change, make it for yourself and don’t impose it on someone else. Vast majority of people given the choice will pick independence and purchasing/making their own food whenever they want, not being dependent on their work or state cafeteria.

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#269

Post by [deleted] »

DrThunder wrote: post #179
njovin wrote: post #22

I'm still shocked that there hasn't been more of a regulatory push to eliminate single-use plastics. In the US the closest we've gotten is banning plastic straws and charging for plastic carry bags. Everything I've read about plastic recycling points to it being ineffective and requiring massive amounts of fossil fuel to move the waste around the globe, often with much of it just getting burned or dumped into the env…

You have to have a good alternative first. Paper items sprayed with harmful chemicals is not a good replacement. https://fortune.com/well/2023/08/24/paper-straws-harmful-for...

[deleted]

Re: New study finds microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, alter behaviour

#270

Post by throwawayfear »

bowsamic wrote: post #117
jokoon wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem of replacing plastic in food is the cost. If you use glass or steel or aluminum, you need new logistics to reuse them. Also, glass is heavier, and requires a lot of energy to be made, so it would require a production chain that ships back empty containers. The best silver bullet solution would be to have local canteen, a bit like in the army or at school, where you just get a subscription with a calendar…

This is how they do it in Germany. Most working Germans I know of eat at the work canteen and have a small bread meal at home in the evening Weird that you're getting downvoted for this. HN is on a weird one recently

Source that this is the norm in Germany? How many Germans do you know who do this and how did you conclude that the sample is indicative of the broader population? How expensive is food in Germany that people have no independence to buy and prepare food?

Parent is getting downvoted because the vast majority of people won’t agree with that nonsense. Leave it in the 1900s.

Post reply on HN