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Sorry man but I have to butt in here. The culture of hacker news-type thinking can be very toxic and lead to such thoughts as "I just wish there was a better w

Sorry man but I have to butt in here. The culture of hacker news-type thinking can be very toxic and lead to such thoughts as "I just wish there was a better way to figure out your deficiency than just popping some pills and wait to see what happens. A weekly blood test for vitamin levels combined with mood and health journaling would probably give me the kind of data I'm looking for, but that only seems to be available in science fiction so far." Notice how you are trying to find a solution based around technology. Why does the solution have to involve technology? I think hanging around on forums like this, or with engineers to often can blind us to solutions which don't require engineering. If all we have is hammer then nails nails everywhere!! We're all guilty of it. Let's just be aware of it when it happens and move on. Ready for the solution? It's very simple but tough to follow through with : Radically Change your diet. Eat plants mostly, eat within a time window (don't allow yourself to oversnack, etc.), don't eat shit, not even a little bit, cut it out 100%. Be extreme, this is the experimentation phase. Later you can be less extreme, but let's see how much a radical change to the diet will affect the body. This isn't a guarantee to fix vitamin deficiencies, but I will gladly bet that it will sure help a hell of a lot. Finally, I would like to add that another trap that we all fall into is trying to optimize a system by changing one thing at a time. Firstly, this doesn't actually work. Secondly, this is extremely slooooowww. If we want to experience change fast we have to be radical about changing our habits. If I am experimenting with anything in my life it's a good idea to try all sorts of different stuff. Diversify my experiments. Explore. If you are having vitamin deficiency issues and are not setting yourself up to be in the position to explore and experiment with diet, then you will have to wait for luck to come along before your issue can find itself a solution. Again, hopefully I don't sound like an ass, I am just trying to help, given that I make the same mistake a lot in my own life, and have screwed myself over too much to not try and speak up a bit on the subject. Feel free to be angry with me :) :(

projektir 10y ago
Please source or argue your claims. > Why does the solution have to involve technology? Because technology has the potential to be more powerful than other solutions. Your suggestion, and the direction of your post in general, sounds like moralism. Moralistic suggestions have more to do with virtue and privilege signaling than actual results. I am generally extremely suspicious of any advice that comes from a moralistic angle because it's noisy and mostly driven by logic in the nature of "bad things don't happen to people who live correctly". Unsurprisingly, the suggestion misses the fact that eating plants is not going to address something like a Vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D deficiencies, as far as we currently know, are caused by lack of sunlight and the use of sunscreen.
- fusillijerry89 10y ago
  I used to think people on this forum were smart.. Firstly certain plants do have vitamin d. But that wasn't my point. Secondly, and more importantly you are forgetting that there is synergy between different vitamins,hormones,etc. Having vitamin d deficiency doesn't necessarily mean all you need to do is bump up your vit d. Thirdly, he found out it was magnesium, not vit d. Curiously, there are interactions between the two. Go do some research on fasting, calorie restriction, angiogenesis, inflammation, ketones, microbiota, etc Or better yet, go get some real world experience and stop reading so much. There's such a thing as trying to be overly scientific and missing the forest for the trees. Science is of course right, but so many people on this forum overapply it thinking they are so clever. They miss obvious insights. It's a part of being young I guess. Or you could just say "please back up your arguments for me because I am too lazy to use my own brain to think." Spoonfeed meee!!!!! Newb
bicubic 10y ago
The reason people are looking to science for this problem is because science has historically been at the forefront of every medical breakthrough. You're suggesting to give it up in favor of what? Some 'radically change your diet' bullshit that you haven't backed up with a single piece of objective evidence? You're really advocating snake oil over engineering? That's not to say that radical diet changes don't work, but your approach to this is completely backwards. I'd like to think that society as a whole has moved on from your mindset about a century ago. We're past meaningless non-statements like 'this isn't guaranteed to solve the issue but I bet it will help a lot'.
- fusillijerry89 10y ago
  Somebody is overly sensitive. Science has no place for the sensitive. You have no idea who I am. I could be a pretty smart guy for all you know. History repeats itself because of people who think they are above it. What you say here worries me. Be careful. You are a citizen of the echo chamber now.
  - austinjp 10y ago
    Ah come off it, this is a disappointing response. You may be right but nobody reading this would have any reason to believe so. At the most basic level, if you believe that diet change beats supplementation or fixes the problems claimed, you have surely done research into this beyond personal experimentation. If you share your work then you are likely to persuade more people, and hence encourage better health behaviours among your your peers -- assuming your findings to be true and reproducible. Conversely, if you say you've got all the answers and everyone else just needs to reproduce your hard work, but you won't share your process or results, you can expect to antagonise people. This applies throughout life and not just in "science".
    - fusillijerry89 10y ago
      Maybe I hate people on this shitty forum and want to steer them wrong. PS I don't like Paul Graham and find him to be very far up his own nerdy ummmm ass PPS I also want to help people who can see the forest for the trees. People who have enough common sense and well-roundedness will understand what I am saying. They will benefit. Everyone else will turn the other way, which is what I am after. I want the smart to get smarter and the dumb to get dumber.
Kluny 10y ago
No, you don't sound like an ass, but I feel like I've been where you are and have a bit more perspective to add. Circadian rhythms are a thing, and eating within a time window may have a great effect for some people. I'm already very rigid with my eating patterns and I don't see that it adds any value except for giving me a headache if I happen to miss my window. Eating mostly plants is probably a good idea, I know there's mountains of evidence backing it up. But every time I try it, I find it difficult to physically put enough food in my body to satisfy my energy needs. I have to spend so much time shopping, prepping, cooking, and planning - activities that I do not enjoy - that I end up less happy because I'm spending my time on something I don't want to do. In addition to that, eating a lot of plant material gives you hella constipation. Believe me, I know. Maybe your body gets used to it after a while, but a month of asshole-tearing shits is enough to tell me that I need more meat and dairy in my diet. I lift - at least, when I'm able to eat enough calories to sustain the energy level I need to lift, I lift. That hasn't happened for a while because I'm trying to save up for something and be frugal, so I've been eating less meat and dairy to save money. As a result, I don't have enough energy to lift. There just aren't enough hours in the day to consume that many calories in beans. There are counterarguments for all the points I've made, I know them all. But arguing the points is another example of the hackernews type toxic thinking. You don't need the counterarguments. You know that the changes you recommend work, because they worked for you. Fair enough. But magnesium worked for me, and I didn't even have to give up meat. Chances are switching to a mostly-plants non-shit diet would have given me the same effect, but my way is soooo much easier. If all someone needs to not be depressed anymore is a vitamin, then damn, they need to know what that vitamin is. Because when you're depressed, healthy eating is really unlikely to happen. You NEED the shortcut.

projektir 10y ago

Please source or argue your claims. > Why does the solution have to involve technology? Because technology has the potential to be more powerful than other solutions. Your suggestion, and the direction of your post in general, sounds like moralism. Moralistic suggestions have more to do with virtue and privilege signaling than actual results. I am generally extremely suspicious of any advice that comes from a moralistic angle because it's noisy and mostly driven by logic in the nature of "bad things don't happen to people who live correctly". Unsurprisingly, the suggestion misses the fact that eating plants is not going to address something like a Vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D deficiencies, as far as we currently know, are caused by lack of sunlight and the use of sunscreen.

fusillijerry89 10y ago
I used to think people on this forum were smart.. Firstly certain plants do have vitamin d. But that wasn't my point. Secondly, and more importantly you are forgetting that there is synergy between different vitamins,hormones,etc. Having vitamin d deficiency doesn't necessarily mean all you need to do is bump up your vit d. Thirdly, he found out it was magnesium, not vit d. Curiously, there are interactions between the two. Go do some research on fasting, calorie restriction, angiogenesis, inflammation, ketones, microbiota, etc Or better yet, go get some real world experience and stop reading so much. There's such a thing as trying to be overly scientific and missing the forest for the trees. Science is of course right, but so many people on this forum overapply it thinking they are so clever. They miss obvious insights. It's a part of being young I guess. Or you could just say "please back up your arguments for me because I am too lazy to use my own brain to think." Spoonfeed meee!!!!! Newb

bicubic 10y ago

The reason people are looking to science for this problem is because science has historically been at the forefront of every medical breakthrough. You're suggesting to give it up in favor of what? Some 'radically change your diet' bullshit that you haven't backed up with a single piece of objective evidence? You're really advocating snake oil over engineering? That's not to say that radical diet changes don't work, but your approach to this is completely backwards. I'd like to think that society as a whole has moved on from your mindset about a century ago. We're past meaningless non-statements like 'this isn't guaranteed to solve the issue but I bet it will help a lot'.

fusillijerry89 10y ago
Somebody is overly sensitive. Science has no place for the sensitive. You have no idea who I am. I could be a pretty smart guy for all you know. History repeats itself because of people who think they are above it. What you say here worries me. Be careful. You are a citizen of the echo chamber now.
- austinjp 10y ago
  Ah come off it, this is a disappointing response. You may be right but nobody reading this would have any reason to believe so. At the most basic level, if you believe that diet change beats supplementation or fixes the problems claimed, you have surely done research into this beyond personal experimentation. If you share your work then you are likely to persuade more people, and hence encourage better health behaviours among your your peers -- assuming your findings to be true and reproducible. Conversely, if you say you've got all the answers and everyone else just needs to reproduce your hard work, but you won't share your process or results, you can expect to antagonise people. This applies throughout life and not just in "science".
  - fusillijerry89 10y ago
    Maybe I hate people on this shitty forum and want to steer them wrong. PS I don't like Paul Graham and find him to be very far up his own nerdy ummmm ass PPS I also want to help people who can see the forest for the trees. People who have enough common sense and well-roundedness will understand what I am saying. They will benefit. Everyone else will turn the other way, which is what I am after. I want the smart to get smarter and the dumb to get dumber.

Kluny 10y ago

No, you don't sound like an ass, but I feel like I've been where you are and have a bit more perspective to add. Circadian rhythms are a thing, and eating within a time window may have a great effect for some people. I'm already very rigid with my eating patterns and I don't see that it adds any value except for giving me a headache if I happen to miss my window. Eating mostly plants is probably a good idea, I know there's mountains of evidence backing it up. But every time I try it, I find it difficult to physically put enough food in my body to satisfy my energy needs. I have to spend so much time shopping, prepping, cooking, and planning - activities that I do not enjoy - that I end up less happy because I'm spending my time on something I don't want to do. In addition to that, eating a lot of plant material gives you hella constipation. Believe me, I know. Maybe your body gets used to it after a while, but a month of asshole-tearing shits is enough to tell me that I need more meat and dairy in my diet. I lift - at least, when I'm able to eat enough calories to sustain the energy level I need to lift, I lift. That hasn't happened for a while because I'm trying to save up for something and be frugal, so I've been eating less meat and dairy to save money. As a result, I don't have enough energy to lift. There just aren't enough hours in the day to consume that many calories in beans. There are counterarguments for all the points I've made, I know them all. But arguing the points is another example of the hackernews type toxic thinking. You don't need the counterarguments. You know that the changes you recommend work, because they worked for you. Fair enough. But magnesium worked for me, and I didn't even have to give up meat. Chances are switching to a mostly-plants non-shit diet would have given me the same effect, but my way is soooo much easier. If all someone needs to not be depressed anymore is a vitamin, then damn, they need to know what that vitamin is. Because when you're depressed, healthy eating is really unlikely to happen. You NEED the shortcut.