This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again • Hacker News Board

Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again

#411

Post by DanBC » Thu, Mar 14, 2013, 7:36 AM UTC

jessaustin wrote: post #265

DanBC wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> isn't bulky? What? He looks a bit chunky to me. Does he list his height / weight anywhere? (Yes, I'm aware that BMI is flawed. You have olympic athletes with almost no body fat but 'obese' BMIs. This guy? He's no athlete.)

Chunky? You should travel to the Midwest and Southern USA. It might blow your mind. BMI is very flawed as a measure of any imaginable health outcome. You'd be better served to ask about blood pressure, pulse, blood glucose, albumin, etc.

This is the scary thing about obesity. Bariatric patients skew reality. People weighing over 500 pounds are obese; people over 250 pounds are now just overweight. The perfectly healthy "curvy" is now applied to people who are not just curvy, but very overweight, and sometimes in the obese range of overweight.

I am wrong to call him chunky. (Although I do wonder if he's a thin-fat person, with all the fat around internal organs. But this is just noodling, and has nothing to do with anything he's said.)

And I strongly agree about your BMI comment. I should have been a bit more careful - BMI is only useful as a guide that a person may be overweight. (If that person doesn't do any kind of exercise.)

Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again

#412

Post by shurcooL » Thu, Mar 14, 2013, 7:39 AM UTC

I would be _so_ interested in something like this.

Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again

#413

Post by _pmf_ » Thu, Mar 14, 2013, 8:29 AM UTC

saidajigumi wrote: post #75

> a 24-year-old software engineer > ... > Soylent contains all of the nutritive components of a balanced diet What utter bollocks. We're (as in, scientists studying nutrition and how utterly wrong food industry has gotten that in the 20th and early 21st century) finally starting to get our collective heads around the benefits of whole foods vs. highly processed foods, and just how badly our bodies deal with the latte…

It would generally be interesting to know why this kind of hybris is so common in our field.

Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again

#414

Post by luckystarr » Thu, Mar 14, 2013, 8:46 AM UTC

It intrigues me that he said he would poop a lot less.

Most of the mass in poop is actually dead bacteria living off of the food that you can't process (and whose waste we reabsorb at times). We know from studies that the intestinal flora varies quickly depending on what you eat. I also know that my mood swings depending on what I eat.

So his account of mood change (he said he felt very energetic) is very plausible.

It looks to me that he reduced the numbers of intestinal bacteria by a dramatic amount with his diet. I wonder what potential side effects (good or bad) this could have.

Scientist studying the intestine here? Something to look into I guess. :)

Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again

#415

Post by irahul » Thu, Mar 14, 2013, 8:52 AM UTC

tn13 wrote: post #79

Doesn't make sense to me at all. Yes, it is really good thing to be really busy with something in life. But are you really that busy that you dont have time to enjoy a good healthy meal? What abut sex ? What about girlfriend or wife ? Hey and is sleeping is also waste of time ? Well, there are always pathological cases like this particular man in question but I dont think anyone else should even try this sort of stuf…

> Hey and is sleeping is also waste of time ?

Sleeping is a waste of time.

Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again

#416

Post by hirenj » Thu, Mar 14, 2013, 8:53 AM UTC

DanBC wrote: post #408

hirenj wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 peop…

Mitochondria are pretty important (as is most of the junk in our cells for that matter). I'd be less wary of the use of mitochondria in popular science - it's shorthand for talking about the energy metabolism pathway, and doesn't indicate one way or another whether we're looking in the right spot for the causes for particular diseases / syndromes.

On a tangential note, I haven't read it, but http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21792218 might be an interesting review on CFS. Also, I assume you are referring to Sarah Myhill rather than her daughter.

Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again

#417

Post by qompiler » Thu, Mar 14, 2013, 9:02 AM UTC

rayiner wrote: post #6

This is basically what my infant does.

Baby formula is too expensive, you would need to eat a half week worth every day!

Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again

#418

Post by gcatalfamo » Thu, Mar 14, 2013, 9:06 AM UTC

Let's say he is right. Maybe, right? Am I the only one who likes to eat? Eating actually gives me a break from other things.

Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again

#419

Post by qompiler » Thu, Mar 14, 2013, 9:07 AM UTC

tocomment wrote: post #74

mjmahone17 wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alternatively, it might weaken your teeth, in a similar way as being in space weakens your bones, while running helps build bone mass.

You could still chew gum to make sure your teeth and jaw get exercised. In fact you probably should?

Haha, I love this reply. It's how ingenious people (engineers) think, patching and ducktape will solve all your problems! :-D

Re: This Man Thinks He Never Has to Eat Again

#420

Post by tracker1 » Thu, Mar 14, 2013, 9:11 AM UTC

aetherson wrote: post #270

acqq wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I have to agree.. there are people that go for years on Mountain Dew and Top Ramen... I don't think the shake is any worse.. and probably could be as cost effective, and far better.

I, personally love food way too much for this to work for me... I've been working on my diet, and getting to a point where some of my Metabolic Syndrom issues are now getting better (can feel my feet again)... most of that has been from a pretty high fiber, low carb intake. Almost no processed sugars or rich starches (bread/pasta/rice/potatoes). I do have a savory crepe a couple times a week (essentially a low-carb sandwich wrap. I also eat lots of greens, and have been eating 2-3 pieces of fruit a day. It's hard enough not binging out on pasta, let alone only eating a couple times a week.