Scientist busts myths about how humans burn calories • Hacker News Board

Re: Scientist busts myths about how humans burn calories

#751

Post by wildmanx » Fri, Feb 25, 2022, 3:11 PM UTC

verisimi wrote: post #589

wildmanx wrote: post #572

Irony. A linked article describing a scientist trying to rigorously find out how weight changes and energy expenditure and diet are connected, revealing the little we do know and the vast sea of what we do not know. The discussion here: full of anecdotes and bro science berating one another "that's not how it works, it works like this", "I personally do this-and-that", "you just have to x-y-z, it's that simple".

The problem is that the funders of scientific research (corporations, governments, military) see zero upside in finding simple answers. There's simply no money in 'better living'. This sort of research is only of value in so far as it moves forward some sort of saleable treatment. In the meantime, the more confused you are about what to eat and how to treat your body - the better. It is when people are damaged that t…

On the other hand, the incentives on Youtube are the other way around. No matter how complex an issue, "these 5 tricks will make you lose weight" or "avoid these 3 foods and you'll be as ripped as me" are what gets the most clicks. And is always total crap.

Much better, eh?

Re: Scientist busts myths about how humans burn calories

#752

Post by marcus_holmes » Tue, Mar 01, 2022, 5:42 PM UTC

g4zj wrote: post #592

marcus_holmes wrote: post #522

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you read the article? because this specific thing is what the science that the article covers explains. tl;dr: your body burns roughly the same amount of calories regardless of exercise. However, it allocates those calories differently: if you don't spend them on exercise then it will spend them on stress (and presumably other stuff). Which totally makes sense as to why my depression & anxiety fade if I run or wo…

> your body burns roughly the same amount of calories regardless of exercise Can you explain how this makes sense? Different physical activities (running vs. sitting, for example) require different amounts of energy to perform. Calories are a unit of measurement for this energy. It sounds like you (via referencing the article) are claiming that a human will expend the same amount of energy in a given period of time r…

sorry, I was afk.

Yes, that's exactly what the article is saying. If you burn calories doing exercise, the body will spend less on stress response. But if you burn less (or none) on exercise, then it will spend more on other things, eventually coming to roughly the same calorie expenditure (as they measured). Which is why exercise helps with depression - your brain has less calories available to spend on stress responses and generally messing with your mood.

You really should read the article.

Re: Scientist busts myths about how humans burn calories

#753

Post by raffraffraff » Fri, Mar 04, 2022, 10:51 AM UTC

fmajid wrote: post #748

raffraffraff wrote: post #744

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm trying to figure out if it's possible to make a healthy pizza. Adding gluten to the flour for extra protein, using low fat cheeses etc. If I crack the 500 calorie 12" pizza I'll let you know. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0MpL1KfYEJg

The Milton's brand cauliflower crust pizza (available at Costco among other places) is also pretty good. Not available outside the USA yet AFAIK, unfortunately. Making the crust very thin is also an obvious way to reduce carbs, and using whole wheat crust also help, and using Khorasan wheat or similar whole grains. For sweets, I adopted the snob diet: raise your standards so much the average supermarket chocolate bar…

Never had a decent cauliflower crust (yet). Unfortunately the Milton brand isn't available where I am. But checking out the nutritional value, they're replacing replacing wheat flour with "Rice Flour, Tapioca Starch", which smacks of gluten free rather than low carb. Having said that, it is lower in calories than my store bought pizza (690 vs 800 for the same weight). But is it as good? Like your snob chocolate diet: I would prefer to eat pizza less often and maybe walk an extra 5km on the days that I enjoy a real pizza.

I am going to experiment with low-flour dough with extra gluten and cauliflower to bulk it out. Might need xanthan gum and an egg.