4 ms·

> To get good data you really need to monitor people 24 hours a day. Unfortunately people love their privacy too much to make that happen.

mikhailt 9y ago
I doubt it has to do with privacy, have you seen how many selfies are out there with food shots and stuff? Plus, such studies could be funded to give people money for tracking this. I believe the problem isn't with privacy but just that it is difficult to keep notes of what you eat daily. Make a product that makes monitoring what you eat very easy to do and you can get more data that's solid. What Apple did with HealthKit did in fact help, we just need more of that. I know a buddy who lost weight easily because of a smartwatch (Apple Watch) that he uses to monitor his input because it is so easy and quick.
- miguelrochefort 9y ago
  People should be more serious about nutrition. It's impossible to track and test nutrients if you're not disciplined about it. Ideally, you would only eat what you (or a coach, or an app) planned to eat. Most people should have a nutrition routine where they eat the same thing every day or week. Eating for pleasure should be the exception, not the norm. Tracking only the 5% of food that's not part of your routine would be a lot easier (especially if packaged and provides a bar code).
  - goldfeld 9y ago
    No, people should be less neurotic about their nutrition, eat less, and let go. Don't over think it or put up barriers to health.
    - miguelrochefort 9y ago
      Most people are not qualified to feed themselves.
  - chiefalchemist 9y ago
    Agreed. Food is for nutrition. Instead we've made it into some sort of proxy for an orgasm. Yet ask people what they ate yesterday and they're likely unable to tell you. Point being, they we're so determined to eat something that "made them feel good" that they already forgot. So instead they should have ate for their body, not their mind. Pardon me, but I really think there's some truth to "fat and stupid."
sov 9y ago
This happens frequently. See: metabolic wards.
ghostbrainalpha 9y ago
We could also give incentives to prisoners for participating in health related studies. It gets a really bad wrap because of historical abuses, but it could really be a win/win. All the prisoners would need to be separated and lose access to the commissary. They would probably be willing to trade their commissary for access to an XBox in their cell or something similar. Then we can control exactly what they eat, and measure the effects of a calorie surplus or deficit over time. We could even give prisoners the same amount of calories but different macros, to finally prove the effects of a long term ketogenic diet are different than just calorie restriction. The food would have to be more palatable than what they receive now, and they would have to agree to consume 100% of it and not try and trade with other prisoners. This probably involves a guard who watches them eat in their cells. It would be costly, but not nearly as expensive as the controlled environment studies in a hospital (metabolic wards) that Gary Taubes has done before.

mikhailt 9y ago

I doubt it has to do with privacy, have you seen how many selfies are out there with food shots and stuff? Plus, such studies could be funded to give people money for tracking this. I believe the problem isn't with privacy but just that it is difficult to keep notes of what you eat daily. Make a product that makes monitoring what you eat very easy to do and you can get more data that's solid. What Apple did with HealthKit did in fact help, we just need more of that. I know a buddy who lost weight easily because of a smartwatch (Apple Watch) that he uses to monitor his input because it is so easy and quick.

miguelrochefort 9y ago
People should be more serious about nutrition. It's impossible to track and test nutrients if you're not disciplined about it. Ideally, you would only eat what you (or a coach, or an app) planned to eat. Most people should have a nutrition routine where they eat the same thing every day or week. Eating for pleasure should be the exception, not the norm. Tracking only the 5% of food that's not part of your routine would be a lot easier (especially if packaged and provides a bar code).
- goldfeld 9y ago
  No, people should be less neurotic about their nutrition, eat less, and let go. Don't over think it or put up barriers to health.
  - miguelrochefort 9y ago
    Most people are not qualified to feed themselves.
- chiefalchemist 9y ago
  Agreed. Food is for nutrition. Instead we've made it into some sort of proxy for an orgasm. Yet ask people what they ate yesterday and they're likely unable to tell you. Point being, they we're so determined to eat something that "made them feel good" that they already forgot. So instead they should have ate for their body, not their mind. Pardon me, but I really think there's some truth to "fat and stupid."

sov 9y ago

This happens frequently. See: metabolic wards.

ghostbrainalpha 9y ago

We could also give incentives to prisoners for participating in health related studies. It gets a really bad wrap because of historical abuses, but it could really be a win/win. All the prisoners would need to be separated and lose access to the commissary. They would probably be willing to trade their commissary for access to an XBox in their cell or something similar. Then we can control exactly what they eat, and measure the effects of a calorie surplus or deficit over time. We could even give prisoners the same amount of calories but different macros, to finally prove the effects of a long term ketogenic diet are different than just calorie restriction. The food would have to be more palatable than what they receive now, and they would have to agree to consume 100% of it and not try and trade with other prisoners. This probably involves a guard who watches them eat in their cells. It would be costly, but not nearly as expensive as the controlled environment studies in a hospital (metabolic wards) that Gary Taubes has done before.