Biohacking Lite • Hacker News Board

Re: Biohacking Lite

#271

Post by teruakohatu » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 5:36 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…

> Japanese knife's edge sharpness(not durability) is no match for a surgical scalpel which is made by millions in quantities in fully automated fashion for less than $20

If you started hamming your scapal against a chopping board everyday, it would get blunt very quickly. Comparing two knives with completly different use cases makes no sense.

> "But they have no human-like imperfections"

Easier said than done. You would need some sorts of adversarial model that would quantify which random variations were pleasing and which were not. People. Often prefer inperfections, but that does not mean all or most inperfections are desired.

Re: Biohacking Lite

#272

Post by damowangcy » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 5:53 AM UTC

Reading through the post makes me thinks that are we eating unnecessarily?

3 meals a day have become the basic necessity for most. Our ancestors used to eat as much as they could because there's no guarantee that they will have enough food until the next hunt. So, the body will go into a state we call "hungry", which reminds us to eat.

However with such plentiful of food available (know it didn't came easily, at least for me, grateful for it, hope that more people is out of hunger), is the feeling of hunger just a placebo effect that we trained ourselves to feel?

I am able to reduce my daily meals to 2 by having a bulletproof coffee in the morning. There's urge to eat between meals but even if I skip them, I'm fine.

Since I have a desk job, I still have plentiful of energy left in the evening for gym time.

One point to argue is nutritions but even if one is eating a lot, there's no guarantee that much of that intake is nutritional.

Re: Biohacking Lite

#273

Post by joshvm » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 6:04 AM UTC

fudged71 wrote: post #206

joshvm wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You probably need to be more specific about your end goal. Is it to lift a particular amount, run a marathon, climb a certain route etc? There are usually specific trainers for certain skills, just like in video games :) If I wanted to get better at bouldering, I'd book a 1 on 1 at my climbing wall, not a generic trainer at the local gym (but maybe I would after advice from the climbing coach). For generic "get fit"…

I agree there's a lot of conflicting information and that specificity is key. But it can also be useful to have a guide for when you change goals, someone who knows your history and preferences etc. Body composition changes typically go through multiple different phases and cycles. It might seem like you'd want someone specific for each phase, yet some consistency is helpful across phases too. As an analogy, you woul…

I was trying to allude to this a bit, but maybe it didn't come across clearly. I was thinking more about how you approach getting help to achieve a goal. And probably a good way forward is a mixture of occasional 1-on-1 sessions with experts in your chosen activity, followed up with more regular sessions with a general trainer who can help you achieve what the expert says you need to improve. For example, specialist advice can range from very specific technique improvements, to more general comments like "technique is good, but you need better core strength" at which point a personal trainer might be a good call.

Re: Biohacking Lite

#274

Post by alach11 » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 6:20 AM UTC

gen220 wrote: post #240

fudged71 wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Perhaps if your macro ratio is consistent. The article’s author postulated that some daily weight swings he experienced were caused by increased water retention from glycogen after eating larger amounts of carbohydrates.

Re: Biohacking Lite

#275

Post by abellerose » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 6:46 AM UTC

abellerose wrote: post #70

choeger wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quick remark: Sugar, as other carbohydrates, is cheap . It also tastes well, objectively (as much as taste can be objectively measured). So if you go for industrial-level food production, you end up with a higher proportion of sugar than what would be considered healthy. Sugar per se ist not bad at all (try to have an apple without it ;)). But our economy demands cheap, somewhat tasty, calories. Hence we end up with…

I've never known that people add sugar to their apples. I have lived in US & Canada and I find that odd people need to add sugar to enjoy an apple. Croissants or baguettes are not a daily thing if my assumption is correct. My experience is buying them when walking home from work and if I'm in the mood because bread isn't generally healthy for people compared to something else that happens to be better. edit: okay, I…

Somehow I've received multiple downvotes on the original comment. I can no longer edit the comment but I think it's funny that people expected me to know he didn't just mean the natural sugars in apples. I mean apples are healthy in general compared to what the original discussion was about.

Re: Biohacking Lite

#276

Post by miku86 » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 7:12 AM UTC

shawxe wrote: post #81

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…

In general, I agree with a lot of what you're saying here about eating more vegetables and way less sugar being the way to go health-wise, but I do want to respond to some specific things you've said. > 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-added, except…

As a doctor, your primary job is to make sick people healthy, not to make healthy people more healthy.

This is why you want to have a high compliance, meaning that the sick person does what the doctor recommends. This is mostly caused due technical or behavioral complexity.

You can increase compliance by reducing complexity. At the same time, the accuracy decreases.

Example: High Accuracy / High Complexity: "Do not eat frugugle, fergerio, flululu and fnyvoo." Why low compliance? Because the behavioral complexity is very high, especially for sick people: 1. Find the food ingredients list. 2. Loop over the ingredients list and compare the current item with the "do not eat"-list. 3. Make a decision for every ingredient, if this is in the list ("frugugle" is on the list, but one ingredient is "fruguglelase", what's my decision?)

Lower Accuracy / Lower Complexity: "Do not eat products with more than 3 ingredients." Why higher compliance? Because the behavioral complexity is lower: 1. Find the food ingredients list. 2. Count the amount of ingredients. 3. Make a decision after reading max. 3 ingredients.

IMHO it's easier to start with the second approach, because you make progress faster, and keep the momentum going.

Re: Biohacking Lite

#277

Post by jacobedawson » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 7:13 AM UTC

ryeguy wrote: post #246

tonystubblebine wrote: post #37

If people are looking for alternative approaches to weight loss, I would consider simply buying a blood glucose monitor. They cost about $100 on Amazon or less and test strips less than $0.50. The thing that makes it alternative is that it sets you up to be reactive rather than prescriptive. A lot of people end up rebelling against prescriptive rules for eating and then fall off the wagon in frustration. The Blood Gl…

Insulin does not lead to increased weight gain. If this approach does work, it's because it's a roundabout way of eating lower calorie foods and thus lowering daily caloric intake.

Afaiu insulin in combination with elevated blood glucose levels specifically does lead directly to weight gain - it's like a vicious cycle in that high blood sugar = increased insulin levels = excess glucose is stored as fat.

Re: Biohacking Lite

#278

Post by agumonkey » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 7:21 AM UTC

karpathy wrote: post #27

andrewzah wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Intermittent fasting also helps. Many people do 16:8 (16 hours of fasting) and only eat from 12-8 or 10-6. With IF, I lost about ~5 lbs doing nothing besides being more mindful. Once I added in daily runs / walks of ~4-5 miles, I lost another ~10 lbs easily. I think the biggest challenge for people looking to lose weight is mindless eating / snacking. Initially I kept a diet journal and wrote down everything I ate or…

Agree, I didn't mention this in the post but I've become a big fan of intermittent fasting, which is a fancy way of saying "skip breakfast". I only eat from 12-8pm and most days from 12-6pm. I also found that even if I wake up a bit hungry my morning coffee suppresses my appetite and I rarely struggle to get to lunch. A hard threshold on 8pm also avoids most of the unhealthy snacking that tends to happen in late hour…

I need some polls about the relationship between 'hunger' and boredom. I felt skipping meals was difficult for a few minutes but then I turned the eating-stress into action and it made me slightly manically motivated into doing some task (electronics, cleaning, jogging) and few minutes later the hunger disappeared.

Re: Biohacking Lite

#279

Post by tom_mellior » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 7:34 AM UTC

lumberingjack wrote: post #178

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…

As an American that avoids sugar like the toxin it is I agree. The food manufacturers put it in everything. I got an off brand of milk the other day because of the shortage, a local brand it had added sugar, I took two gulps and said "WTF". Bread it's like a staple now in baking white bread fuck it pack it with sugar from corn. Pizza make %50 of the sauce sugar. Drinks, would you like 100MG of liquid sugars in every…

This isn't unique to America though. Here in Austria it's impossible to buy mayonnaise without sugar, for instance. Pesto is getting difficult as well. And many many other things that when you make then yourself would never be sweetened because they are not sweet foods. I don't think we're putting it in plain yogurt yet, but if I had to guess that's probably more due to food labeling laws than the manufacturers not wanting to.

Anyway, here in the EU we have strict rules on when/how foods may be labeled as "no added sugar". I think we should take those rules and turn them around and require "with added sugar" labels on basically everything that is not candy or patisserie, where you would clearly expect sugar as a main ingredient.

Re: Biohacking Lite

#280

Post by mdomans » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 8:09 AM UTC

jacobedawson wrote: post #277

ryeguy wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Insulin does not lead to increased weight gain. If this approach does work, it's because it's a roundabout way of eating lower calorie foods and thus lowering daily caloric intake.

Afaiu insulin in combination with elevated blood glucose levels specifically does lead directly to weight gain - it's like a vicious cycle in that high blood sugar = increased insulin levels = excess glucose is stored as fat.

No. I can elaborate but generally it's the glucose that stimulates the insulin release (the pancreas has glucose receptors).

Weight gain IS NOT driven by insulin or glucose. You can put someone on euglycemic clamp literally pumping him with insulin and glucose and he won't get fat from that. He will hover start storing fat IF we give him too much glucose for his needs.

Frankly, if you were a very mad you could theoretically put yourself on insulin/protein infusion to lose fat.

Idea being that insulin will drop your blood glucose (via insulin-dependant glucose transporter translocation) forcing liver to balance that out. When liver runs out of stored glucose it will start breaking down fat.

The downside of that is that eventually muscles won't store more glucose (you'd somehow need to get rid of that) and the risk of dying is pretty high.