What is metformin's secret sauce? • Hacker News Board

Re: What is metformin's secret sauce?

#61

Post by plaguuuuuu » Thu, Dec 19, 2024, 3:22 AM UTC

virtue3 wrote: post #54

garganzol wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When someone "eats less", insulin sensitivity also improves, in theory. But the catch is that situation represents a vicious cycle: if you just eat less, you also get less nutrients, and it may be not sustainable if you eat highly-processed foods lacking the nutrients in the first place. So a better idea is to eat less + consume more vitamins + consume more natural foods (to get those vitamins). Junk food + metformin…

Your body is also not designed to lose weight. And will quickly adapt to the reduced calorie count and halt weight loss. I’ve done a lot of self work in this area and honestly glp-1 drugs and metformin provide a pretty serious ability to make weight loss manageable. Intermittent fasting is also an effective way to deal with insulin sensitivity but it does involve a large lifestyle switch.

>Your body is also not designed to lose weight. And will quickly adapt to the reduced calorie count and halt weight loss.

thermodynamics be damned

Re: What is metformin's secret sauce?

#62

Post by user_of_the_wek » Thu, Dec 19, 2024, 7:10 AM UTC

plaguuuuuu wrote: post #61

virtue3 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your body is also not designed to lose weight. And will quickly adapt to the reduced calorie count and halt weight loss. I’ve done a lot of self work in this area and honestly glp-1 drugs and metformin provide a pretty serious ability to make weight loss manageable. Intermittent fasting is also an effective way to deal with insulin sensitivity but it does involve a large lifestyle switch.

>Your body is also not designed to lose weight. And will quickly adapt to the reduced calorie count and halt weight loss. thermodynamics be damned

Can you explain how it conflicts with thermodynamics if the body reacts to a lower energy intake by spending less energy?

Re: What is metformin's secret sauce?

#63

Post by tim333 » Thu, Dec 19, 2024, 2:19 PM UTC

jonplackett wrote: post #19

I don’t get it. Why would decreasing the function of mitochondria be a good thing? Can anyone explain?

It lowers the level of glucose in the blood. For certain conditions such as some cancers mentioned in the article the low glucose harms the cancer more than the regular cells.

Re: What is metformin's secret sauce?

#64

Post by garganzol » Thu, Dec 19, 2024, 11:51 PM UTC

klipklop wrote: post #20

Alex3917 wrote: post #11

> metformin blocks a specific part of the cell's energy-making machinery called mitochondrial complex Keep in mind that any mitochondrial complex I inhibitor that is sufficiently strong is going to cause PSP if you take it for long enough, which is basically a fatal and untreatable version of Parkinson's disease. I haven't seen much research on this being a risk specifically for metformin, but I'd be careful about tr…

Very interesting. I wonder if there is any study/evidence indicating PSP can happen to somebody taking metformin that does _not_ have T2D.

The hypothesis of developing something like PSP after consumption of a mitochondrial inhibitor is plausible, but in reality metformin is not strong enough to cause such damages.

Before something like that even starts to develop, a person who consumed the substance would feel a pronounced air hunger. Which does not happen with metformin, indicating that it is too mild to lead to negative consequences like that.

Cyanide, on the other hand, is a strong mitochondrial inhibitor and it causes serious consequences (neurological, metabolical) including death.

Re: What is metformin's secret sauce?

#65

Post by BizarroLand » Fri, Dec 20, 2024, 9:31 PM UTC

user_of_the_wek wrote: post #62

plaguuuuuu wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Your body is also not designed to lose weight. And will quickly adapt to the reduced calorie count and halt weight loss. thermodynamics be damned

Can you explain how it conflicts with thermodynamics if the body reacts to a lower energy intake by spending less energy?

They can't because some people have a block in their thinking process that prevents them from rationally contemplating any thought that goes against their own prejudices.

They'll scream CALORIES IN CALORIES OUT until they die from apoplectic rage rather than accept any concept that considers that there are more fine-grained factors at play in weight loss.

Saying CICO is the only thing that matters is like saying "Apples fall from trees because of gravity" is the grand unified theory of the universe.