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I was once participated in a diet program where I was given some pills to eat to suppress my appetite (in addition to other generic mediterranean diet principle

by r00fus 7y ago

I was once participated in a diet program where I was given some pills to eat to suppress my appetite (in addition to other generic mediterranean diet principles). Being skeptical, I immediately scanned the ingredients and they all seemed like harmless/filler so I figured it was some placebo to placate those who needed pills as a confidence/mechanic. However, upon taking the pills for a few days, I did notice a marked decrease in appetite. Re-examining the ingredients, the first one was "silica". Sand. Dirt. I've since come to the belief that our modern diet is too clean, and we are evolved to eat some amount of dirt - even if it's inhaled, so we may need to reintroduce some to control weight/allergies/disorders. That dirt also contains other beneficial ingredients other than silica doesn't surprise me one bit.

xyzzy_plugh 7y ago
This is interesting, but my nonscientific counter might be: What if "dirt" is harmful, and causes your body to degrade appetite in attempt to overcome the irritants? I agree we've evolved perhaps, but sometimes modern is better (e.g. portion control). Is it harmful to "feel" hungry and not sate your appetite?
- CptFribble 7y ago
  > Is it harmful to "feel" hungry and not sate your appetite? This is something that most people don't understand, given that we live in a world where food is cheap and plentiful. As many people who have gone through fasting-based diets have discovered, there's a difference between "I'm hungry" and "I need calories, I'm getting weak and tired." Learning that difference is how you discover the actual amount of food your body requires, not just checking off three meals per day. The feeding patterns of our ancestors were very far from "eat as much as you want all the time with no physical effort required," and that was normal for 15,000+ years, so it'll probably take longer than the 100-200 or so since industrial food production began for our brains and bodies to adjust to the new normal. That, or we'll just have to start teaching our kids about cravings vs hunger vs actual food-need.
  - RickS 7y ago
    > As many people who have gone through fasting-based diets have discovered, there's a difference between "I'm hungry" and "I need calories..." This is so true and it absolutely blew my mind to discover. Like a scifi plot where the air is "poison", you go outside, and... nothing happens. It was uncomfortable at first, but it's mostly mental. So much of the "hunger" signal is conditioning that, once you decondition it, it just goes away. Even when I'm fasted to the point where I'm mentally and physically sluggish, there are still no hunger pangs as severe as the ones I used to have between lunch and dinner when I never went more than 8 hours between meals. I can't recommend it enough. I don't enjoy any particular clarity boosts or lightness like some purport to have, but I do enjoy spending less money, dealing with fewer errands, and being less fat. I try to not eat after ~8PM, and to go for as long as I can without eating after waking up. In practice, this is usually ~1130 but sometimes as late as ~230. Then I just eat smaller meals, 50-70% of normal size. In this way, I can eat basically whatever I want, on the same schedule as anyone else.
    - CptFribble 7y ago
      I had a similar experience when I tried intermittent fasting a few years ago. Most of us are so sedentary but eating like construction workers (at least I was). I also cut my food intake by something like 30-40% with nothing more than a week or two of discomfort.
  - javiramos 7y ago
    You guys might be interested in this [0] classic study where a guy fasted for 382 days. He only took multi-vitamins during this period. His weight decreased from 456 to 180 lbs (0.72 lbs/day). [0] https://pmj.bmj.com/content/postgradmedj/49/569/203.full.pdf https://pmj.bmj.com/content/postgradmedj/49/569/203.full.pdf
    - majos 7y ago
      So, fasting this long is only possible if you have a lot of weight for your body to somehow cannibalize?
refurb 7y ago
Silica was probably sourced as a refined product and was likely pretty pure and free of things like bacteria.
- NikkiA 7y ago
  Yeah, no way it'd be actual 'dirt', it's going to be food grade silica at the very least.

by r00fus 7y ago

xyzzy_plugh 7y ago

This is interesting, but my nonscientific counter might be: What if "dirt" is harmful, and causes your body to degrade appetite in attempt to overcome the irritants? I agree we've evolved perhaps, but sometimes modern is better (e.g. portion control). Is it harmful to "feel" hungry and not sate your appetite?

CptFribble 7y ago
> Is it harmful to "feel" hungry and not sate your appetite? This is something that most people don't understand, given that we live in a world where food is cheap and plentiful. As many people who have gone through fasting-based diets have discovered, there's a difference between "I'm hungry" and "I need calories, I'm getting weak and tired." Learning that difference is how you discover the actual amount of food your body requires, not just checking off three meals per day. The feeding patterns of our ancestors were very far from "eat as much as you want all the time with no physical effort required," and that was normal for 15,000+ years, so it'll probably take longer than the 100-200 or so since industrial food production began for our brains and bodies to adjust to the new normal. That, or we'll just have to start teaching our kids about cravings vs hunger vs actual food-need.
- RickS 7y ago
  > As many people who have gone through fasting-based diets have discovered, there's a difference between "I'm hungry" and "I need calories..." This is so true and it absolutely blew my mind to discover. Like a scifi plot where the air is "poison", you go outside, and... nothing happens. It was uncomfortable at first, but it's mostly mental. So much of the "hunger" signal is conditioning that, once you decondition it, it just goes away. Even when I'm fasted to the point where I'm mentally and physically sluggish, there are still no hunger pangs as severe as the ones I used to have between lunch and dinner when I never went more than 8 hours between meals. I can't recommend it enough. I don't enjoy any particular clarity boosts or lightness like some purport to have, but I do enjoy spending less money, dealing with fewer errands, and being less fat. I try to not eat after ~8PM, and to go for as long as I can without eating after waking up. In practice, this is usually ~1130 but sometimes as late as ~230. Then I just eat smaller meals, 50-70% of normal size. In this way, I can eat basically whatever I want, on the same schedule as anyone else.
  - CptFribble 7y ago
    I had a similar experience when I tried intermittent fasting a few years ago. Most of us are so sedentary but eating like construction workers (at least I was). I also cut my food intake by something like 30-40% with nothing more than a week or two of discomfort.
- javiramos 7y ago
  You guys might be interested in this [0] classic study where a guy fasted for 382 days. He only took multi-vitamins during this period. His weight decreased from 456 to 180 lbs (0.72 lbs/day). [0] https://pmj.bmj.com/content/postgradmedj/49/569/203.full.pdf https://pmj.bmj.com/content/postgradmedj/49/569/203.full.pdf
  - majos 7y ago
    So, fasting this long is only possible if you have a lot of weight for your body to somehow cannibalize?

refurb 7y ago

Silica was probably sourced as a refined product and was likely pretty pure and free of things like bacteria.

NikkiA 7y ago
Yeah, no way it'd be actual 'dirt', it's going to be food grade silica at the very least.