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‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

nature.com

981–990 of 1001 posts

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#981

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> It’s so hard to eat healthy, I honestly cannot fathom how people do it. When I started taking semaglutide, I finally understood it. I'd eat a salad... and be full and more than satisfied! I'd look at a muffin right after lunch, and go "eh, better things to do with my time" instead of immediately having an overriding desire to eat eat eat. Before, I could eat half a pizza and still be hungry (way out of what my body…

I'm sorry, but I'm a decently in shape person that tried semaglutide for reasons other than losing weight and I disagree. While I'm sure we all are a bit different satiety wise (and I've found it greatly depends on how much I've been eating overall recently), your experience on the drug is not what the rest of us feel like all the time. It's unfortunately normal for our biology to basically want to shove calories dow…

I'd be very careful with this kind of reasoning. We just do not know the insides of others peoples heads. How can you rule out that there are differences between peoples appetites?

Personally, I eat when I am hungry. My body typically generates hunger signals around the times I routinely eat. At other times I'm usually not hungry. Sometimes, I'll eat just for taste, but that is rare. I've had periods of time where I was trying to gain weight for fitness reasons and it was a real struggle. My natural state is to be skinny and it's quite hard for me to deviate from that. There a plenty of people like me and there are also plenty of people who tend to be overweight unless they actively fight it.

Clearly there are differences. There are extremes and their is a continuum between those extremes. You can exert some amount of willpower to change your position on the continuum, but the closer to the extremes you are, the harder it will be to arrive at a "normal" position.

And this is just inherent feelings of appetite. Some people may additionally be subconsciously eating to fill some kind of emotional hole or trauma. There is a lot going on and I wouldn't want to be too quick to judge.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#982

I’m currently taking one of these drugs and it has been no less than a miracle in my life. I became obese when I was around 5, topping out around a 34 BMI. When I was 20 I lost a substantial amount of weight the old fashioned way (diet and exercise), and within 8 months I was BMI 23. Losing weight was extremely challenging and socially isolating. 7 years later, I had a bad ankle injury and regained weight to about 29…

> was eating That sounds like half a days meals? Could it not be some of the side effects were actually from you starving?

I'm very skeptical of the 2000kcals/day normal intake.

Mankind has survived with far less than that, and I don't mean in mass hunger period.

If it's like the 1,5l/day of water intake, which is the result of studies funded by... mineral water companies.

It's not hard to believe big corporations in the food sector financing these studies through non-profit organizations.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#983

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Yes, he is the world's leading expert on this subject because credentials aren't everything

Count me as a world leading expert as well then.

You actually have to know what your'e talking about to be an expert, though.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#984

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He is basically the world's leading expert, but you can only see credentials, lol.

What makes this person the world's leading expert?

depth and breadth of knowledge and deep curiosity and persistence.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#985
post #904

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He is basically the world's leading expert, but you can only see credentials, lol.

World leading experts usually have an impressive publishing record in the field, often a top academic research position and a long record of speaking at important global conferences on the area. Does he have all those? I'm honestly asking, I've never heard of him.

Hey, you basically worship credentials, so you're not going to be impressed with a person who doesn't have them regardless of their breadth and depth of knowledge. I don't know what to tell you.

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#986

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>I've heard people say that the solution is to eat (healthy food) when you're hungry, and stop when you're full. The thing is, I'm never full. I can eat until I physically can't eat anymore (not something I do regularly, of course), and as soon as my stomach has emptied a bit, I feel fairly hungry again. "Eat until you feel full" is literally a human experience I had never really had. I hear people following a carniv…

A carnivore diet can include many other foods than beef and butter. Being high in protein is also a choice, and not a necessarily a great idea. (I'm getting moderate protein and high fat.)

>Being high in protein is also a choice, and not a necessarily a great idea.

Why is it not a great idea?

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#987
post #45

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Indeed, we need an economic policy, not an economic drug. I’m totally for behavioural policies for obesity, such as don’t buy sweets, go for a walk each day, or make sure to eat vegetables each time you are hungry, etc.

There is some evidence to show that obesity has been rising independently of behavioral changes (even though they do contribute), due to deterioration in the food quality. Look at obesity rates amongst animals for example, especially wild animals that feed off of human food.

Does this rise correlate with the decline in average body temperature that we've also been seeing? Less heat = fewer calories burned?

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#988

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I was just saying the exact same thing to my wife yesterday. We’re both trying to lose weight, for the millionth time in the 20 years we’ve been together. Exasperated, I just said “I don’t get it. I was an artist who had no technical background, and was able to teach myself computer science and now I’m a highly successful engineer. I did that. And yet I can’t lose 10 pounds to save my life.” It’s so hard to eat healt…

> It’s so hard to eat healthy, I honestly cannot fathom how people do it. There are some simple tricks you can try if you're currently maintaining a stable weight. The simplest is to get slightly smaller plates. Your brain will naturally try to visually match what your old portions looked like on the old plates, but now the plates are smaller so you're eating a bit less. No other change in behaviour is needed to see…

Ironically, we're just about to buy smaller plates for a completely unrelated reason. We moved into a new apartment and the cupboards are more shallow than our previous place, and our plates don't allow the doors to close all the way. So we're buying a smaller dish set that will fit. I hope that helps!

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#989
post #823

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I was just saying the exact same thing to my wife yesterday. We’re both trying to lose weight, for the millionth time in the 20 years we’ve been together. Exasperated, I just said “I don’t get it. I was an artist who had no technical background, and was able to teach myself computer science and now I’m a highly successful engineer. I did that. And yet I can’t lose 10 pounds to save my life.” It’s so hard to eat healt…

It will be painful. That's probably the most important lesson you need to learn before starting. 1. log your weight everyday on a graph 2. eat very small portions, no carbs 3. when hungry force yourself to drink a large glass of water 4. drink hot tea at scheduled intervals 5. eat lots of popcorn, get the raw grains from Safeway and put them in microwave for 4 mins in a large bowl with a cover

why hot tea?

Re: ‘Breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers

#990

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Just eat only liver, eggs, and ribeye steaks -- you can absolutely stuff yourself and you will lose weight. The problem is that as a society we are sending the wrong message about what healthy food is -- nothing from a plant is really good for humans to eat. A diet of only red meat, however, will not only get you in phenomenal shape, but it will also clear up a dozen other major and minor health issues. It is the per…

I support anyone experimenting with their diet to see what works for them, but I wouldn't be so confident about extreme diets like carnivore working for everyone. Nothing from a plant is healthy? That sort of absolute statement flies in the face of history and common sense and I can't imagine it's true for all humanity.

I honestly love the idea of individual experimentation. Like, there has to be a not-quite-scientific-but-almost-scientific approach that people can reasonably handle on their own. I'd love to see a book that outlines how to find the right diet that works for you. Like an operational guidebook showing you how to cut out specific foods, and how to watch for and observe changes to see what the effects are on your body.
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