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

Cognitive decline can be slowed down with lifestyle changes

smithsonianmag.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 92 posts

Re: Cognitive decline can be slowed down with lifestyle changes

#41

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

joduplessis wrote: post #38

Don't try to be healthy, try to be strong or try to do an ultra - or even crossfit. Community & nutrition usually follow IMO.

Maybe start with a 5k rather than an ultra?

I think that setting goals like "do an ultra" is more likely to have people stop entirely rather than downgrading their goal to something more doable when they hit that first roadblock.

Better to start small and catch the running bug than try to do something that the vast majority of the population will never even aspire to.

Re: Cognitive decline can be slowed down with lifestyle changes

#42

Post by icelancer »

apsurd wrote: post #36
pkaler wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm actually working on an app for myself to remind me of that. For example, there is a full glass of water sitting on my desk from 9am. It's noon. I haven't taken a sip. Until now. Constant reminders do work.

How come it's so hard for people to drink water? Honest question. Like why don't you just wake up in the morning, take a whiz, brush your teeth, and drink a glass of water? What gets in between? Because the first two are 99% success rate I'd bet.

Because most people drink to thirst, not out of habit.

Re: Cognitive decline can be slowed down with lifestyle changes

#43

Post by mvieira38 »

jobs_throwaway wrote: post #27
mvieira38 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you stop using your phone for anything other than communicating (yes, not just the loose "stop doomscrolling" advice) a lot of these will come naturally. It will lead you to using a real alarm clock and not using your phone after going to bed, which will make your sleep schedule that much more consistent, and also improve quality of sleep. These will probably give you more motivation, which you'll need because the…

But how to do that?

Honestly, the only way I found is to go cold turkey and really focus on hating the smartphone and "always online" culture. Reading up on the dangerous effects this stuff has on us and our children really helps with motivation, too. You won't stick to it if it's just for a specific reason like improving sleep or trying to read more books or whatever

Re: Cognitive decline can be slowed down with lifestyle changes

#44

Post by mr90210 »

joduplessis wrote: post #38

Don't try to be healthy, try to be strong or try to do an ultra - or even crossfit. Community & nutrition usually follow IMO.

Are you related to Dricus du Plessis?

Also, ultras will overwork the shit out of your heart. (Bro science)

Re: Cognitive decline can be slowed down with lifestyle changes

#45

Post by username135 »

joduplessis wrote: post #38

Don't try to be healthy, try to be strong or try to do an ultra - or even crossfit. Community & nutrition usually follow IMO.

Hard disagree with this.

The number one reason I see people fail their diet/exercise goals is because they go to big to fast.

Training to do an ultra marathon if youve never run a 5k, swam a mile in open water, or even mountain biked for 5 miles is a sure fire way to get injured. You need to build a base of knowledge, muscle, and nutritional habits or you set yourself up for failure, imo. Not a hard rule, but close.

Crossfit is the last thing I would recommend to anyone, especially a beginner.

Re: Cognitive decline can be slowed down with lifestyle changes

#46

Post by reducesuffering »

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #41
joduplessis wrote: post #38

Don't try to be healthy, try to be strong or try to do an ultra - or even crossfit. Community & nutrition usually follow IMO.

Maybe start with a 5k rather than an ultra? I think that setting goals like "do an ultra" is more likely to have people stop entirely rather than downgrading their goal to something more doable when they hit that first roadblock. Better to start small and catch the running bug than try to do something that the vast majority of the population will never even aspire to.

Agreed. And running actually gets a lot better if you start at an easy conversational pace (light jog) and get over the initial month or two. Huge cardiovascular and longevity benefits.

Re: Cognitive decline can be slowed down with lifestyle changes

#48

Post by robinhouston »

> Schott also notes that the clinical trial didn’t include a control group of participants who got no guidance and made no lifestyle changes. This makes it hard for researchers to pinpoint which aspect of the program might have been responsible for the positive effect. However, Heather M. Snyder, senior vice president for medical and scientific relations at the Alzheimer’s Association, tells the New York Times that the organization thought neglecting to offer an intervention to one group would be unethical.

One might counter that it’s unethical to hinder our ability to understand which interventions are effective by prejudging the outcome in this way?

Re: Cognitive decline can be slowed down with lifestyle changes

#49

Post by joduplessis »

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #41
joduplessis wrote: post #38

Don't try to be healthy, try to be strong or try to do an ultra - or even crossfit. Community & nutrition usually follow IMO.

Maybe start with a 5k rather than an ultra? I think that setting goals like "do an ultra" is more likely to have people stop entirely rather than downgrading their goal to something more doable when they hit that first roadblock. Better to start small and catch the running bug than try to do something that the vast majority of the population will never even aspire to.

I was of course generalizing, but the point I'm making is that you need to get some (very) long term fitness goals. This usually drives you to find like minded people and action long term nutritional changes. You can get to a 5km within 5 weeks.

Re: Cognitive decline can be slowed down with lifestyle changes

#50

Post by nemomarx »

apsurd wrote: post #36
pkaler wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm actually working on an app for myself to remind me of that. For example, there is a full glass of water sitting on my desk from 9am. It's noon. I haven't taken a sip. Until now. Constant reminders do work.

How come it's so hard for people to drink water? Honest question. Like why don't you just wake up in the morning, take a whiz, brush your teeth, and drink a glass of water? What gets in between? Because the first two are 99% success rate I'd bet.

Honestly I forget brushing more than I should too, and I skip breakfast most days even though I'm hungry. The friction required to pour the glass or set things up can be a lot early in the morning.

It helped me to get a water cooler or something to fill a bottle?

Post reply on HN