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This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again

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Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again

#401

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, you can't. This is quack science.

Well, I could link you to a bunch of studies that say otherwise, but then you would tell me all the reasons that those studies are bogus, and then show me a bunch of studies that show there is no connection (probably sponsored by those peddling chemotherapy et al.), so I guess we'll just avoid the rathole and stay convinced of our own opinions :)

"peddling chemotherapy"

This is the most stupid and obnoxious thing I've ever seen on HN. Chemotherapy saves lives every day. You can believe that good diets are healthy and helpful for sick people without insulting people that sell nasty but powerful medicine that is proven to work.

Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again

#402
post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest problem isn't what he's clearly missing; its what he's missing that we don't know about, and won't suffer any consequences for years. Saidajigumi's comment about whole foods is appropriate: whole foods have better results than any manufactured powder or drink made, but its not clear why. And how long will it take before he experiences the results?

You base that on what study?

The point is that there aren't any studies yet because we don't know what to study. You can't say "show me the science" when the point is there is no science yet, or not enough. That's just a cop-out.

Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again

#403

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What mechanism can you imagine that would produce such a nightmare scenario? Is there a fat-soluble (or otherwise stored) nutrient of which most human bodies contain a five to ten year supply? No I didn't think so. If Soylent Dude and his merry band of poor cooks can prove our current nutritional understanding wrong by dying five to ten years from now, then they should.

Are you kidding? It's not about your body suddenly running out of a nutrient five years down the line. It's about your body starting to repair and build structures that need to last for years while missing key ingredients. As a random example, people can develop osteoporosis after years of drinking diet soda.

> As a random example, people can develop osteoporosis after years of drinking diet soda.

citation?

Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again

#404
post #53

Eating to me is a leisure activity, like going to the movies, but I don't want to go to the movies three times a day. For anyone that doesn't understand that statement, I recommend taking a few years off work, where you spend your time getting up early every day, doing something all day (hiking, walking, gardening, building, whatever) and go to bed late in the evening (i.e. Full days of activities you want to be doin…

I think if you've wrapped your daily lifestyle so tight that eating is actually disruptive, then your lifestyle is the problem not the eating.

You want to talk disruptive? Let's talk about the other end of the digestive tract. Some people spend inordinate amounts of time pooping. I claim that they are flushing away their valuable productivity. In our culture, eating at your desk is considered acceptable, but due to social biases, pooping at your desk is not yet accepted. Let's hope that Google tackles this problem soon. Until then, the only advice I can give you is to avoid beans and dairy products.

Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again

#405

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You can cure cancer with diet, along with generally healthy living. "Cure" perhaps isn't the best word though, because bad diet (combined with other things like stress, lack of exercise, etc.) is frequently the cause of cancer in the first place. EDIT: I didn't mean to say that changing to a healthy diet/lifestyle after being diagnosed will magically cure you (if that's why I'm being downvoted) but I believe it certa…

Steve Jobs observed very strict diets which he believed would keep him super healthy. Result: dead at 56 despite essentially unlimited resources.

It didn't work out that well for Ashton Kutcher either:

https://www.google.com/search?q=ashton+kutcher+fruitarian+di...

Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again

#406
post #186

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Please read this to understand: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5370816 If nobody has a right nutrition model today(1), including exeprts doing this whole life, somebody who just read a few books has no chance to cover everything that has to be covered long term. Or in other words, don't you think that military with practically infinite funds wouldn't already use his drink or equivalent for all extreme circumsta…

If human GI systems are so fragile that this shake could conceivably be considered "poisonous," how come people aren't dropping dead all over the world from such "poisons"? The shake may well not be an optimal awesome diet -- I'd bet it won't be -- but billions of humans survive on non-optimal, awesome diets. The idea that the incredibly varied, constantly evolving, often appalling diets of the whole world all fulfil…

> but billions of humans survive on non-optimal, awesome diets

Billions of people get sick because they don't have a diet varied enogh. Specific, well studied examples abound.

Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again

#407

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know what your situation is, but personally, being married, I love spending time cooking with my wife. For example, last night we spent 2 hours cooking crab cakes, chocolate souffle, kale chips... it was fantastic. We both enjoy one another's company while cooking. For some people, it may seem like a waste of time, but for me, it's a way to connect to other people.

I don't think there is any argument that cooking can be a pleasant activity. However, the truth is that's the only option because we need to eat every day. Tonight I can get home from work and spend time with my partner cooking and it'll be great. And after work tomorrow, if we want to spend time together, we can cook or eat out. And the day after that... more cooking. The opportunity here is not that we'll never coo…

Another option is to live somewhere where there are healthy options (for whatever definition of healthy you choose) that you can purchase. You can then (or I can) be done in 10-15 minutes. Whether that's a cafeteria, a convenience store, a restaurant, a waiter.

Examples: Working at a company that serves breakfast lunch and dinner I can leave my desk, get food, eat and be back at my desk in 15 minutes. Or I can grab food and be back at my desk in 5 minutes.

Living in Japan I could stop at a convenience store and get reasonably healthy food on the way to, from home (at least in Tokyo you're likely to walk in front of probably an average of 6 convenience stores between your place of work and your home as well as many other food sources).

Living in the bay area there are places like Whole Foods that have large relatively healthy salad/meal bars. I happen to live a 2 minute walk from one.

Note: Personally I like taking time out to eat. I dislike spending 15-60 minutes making something that's consumed in 10 but I like spending time making something and sharing it. But still, I notice that I can eat pretty quick if the food is pre-prepared.

Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again

#408
post #224
post #190

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> Dr. Terry Wahls, "Minding Your Mitochondria": She needs some reputation management, because at the moment there's a bunch of flags that make her sound less than reputable. 1) "Mitochondra" - unless this is a peer reviewed respected journal most people using htis word are cranks. 2) TEDx - Sadly, now tainted as home of cranks. 3) Cured MS through diet - ridiculous claim etc etc.

I would appreciate it you'd elaborate on your first point about mitochondria here. I'm intrigued to find out why this term is highly suspicious. Are there other organelles that are less crank-like to you?

The word mitochondria is just a personal flag, a smell, that I use as part of a warning.

Mitochondria raise flags because of people like the UK Dr Ruth Myhill. She claims to be a researcher on chronic fatigue syndrome. CFS is real, but sadly is an area rife with cranks. Myhill appears to have a lot of crank-like beliefs. Her "research" is hopeless, and amounts to unlicensed unethical experimentation on desperate people.

I guess, although I have no supporting evidence, that the word mitochondria is used more often by cranks than other organelles.

Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again

#409
Aren't a lot of people already doing exactly this because they have a disease or disability that makes them unable to chew and swallow food? Roger Ebert hasn't been able to eat solid food in years and is still kicking, so what's in the stuff that's keeping him alive?

Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again

#410
post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Dr. Terry Wahls, "Minding Your Mitochondria": She needs some reputation management, because at the moment there's a bunch of flags that make her sound less than reputable. 1) "Mitochondra" - unless this is a peer reviewed respected journal most people using htis word are cranks. 2) TEDx - Sadly, now tainted as home of cranks. 3) Cured MS through diet - ridiculous claim etc etc.

Why is 3 a ridiculous claim? I agree that there should be evidence presented that the demyelination of MS has been reversed, but why do the words "Cured MS through diet" alone constitute a "ridiculous claim"?

You're right. The phrase "Cured MS through diet" alone could be a true statement. But to be a true statement it needs to be tested by science. And this doctor isn't doing any real science.

In general when someone says "I cured this chronic, uncurable, disease through diet" I need to read what they say very carefully. At best it's an overblown claim and they actually mean "this food has a strong evidence base to help you manage your illness and reduce relapse". At worst it's evil people cynically cashing in by selling nonsense to desperate dying people.

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