7 ms·

Maybe the right answer is to not use anything that is extracted and refined, including sugar.

toomuchtodo 7y ago
I like sweet things in my coffee. I also like not being overweight. Hence, sucralose in my coffee and 1000mg daily of metformin (taken for life extension purposes, second order effect is lowering blood sugar level). The right answer need not be "abstain from what you enjoy" if we can hack together a solution from diet and engineered compounds.
- jtdev 7y ago
  I like smoking a pack of cigarettes a day and eating candy bars - I'll just switch to vaping and granola bars so I can still do what I enjoy.
  - toomuchtodo 7y ago
    Can't tell if /s. Life is meant to be lived. Make healthier choices, but still enjoy. Otherwise, what's the point?
    - jtdev 7y ago
      Yes, being healthy is enjoyable. Sometimes protecting ones health means not doing those things that provide superficial, temporary feelings of joy (junk food, artificial sweeteners that could lead to cancer and other health issues, smoking, etc.) that are in fact bad for our health and likely to reduce long term joy.
      - stronglikedan 7y ago
        You can do just about anything in moderation and it won't be bad for you, short or long term. For example, having a cigarette or two a week over a few beers with some friends. Completely abstaining from superficial, temporary feelings of joy can be detrimental to some people when they finally do give into temptation.
    - aluth 7y ago
      Life is meant to be lived. A tautology at best, but more likely empty rhetoric. Make healthier choices, but still enjoy. This assumes healthy choices cannot produce enjoyment. Otherwise, what's the point? In our modern times, it seems to me, the point of life is whatever you make of it. I'm getting the impression that the point of your life is to experience as much pleasure as possible, i.e.: hedonism. This is a perfectly valid approach to one's life, but I wouldn't assume that others are getting less enjoyment out of their existence simply because they choose to impose constraints on the pleasures they pursue.
- Spooky23 7y ago
  Metformin is a pretty serious drug and that is a high dose. It's one thing to use it for off-label use like PCOS, but I would be very cautious for a more nebulous use.
  - toomuchtodo 7y ago
    Metformin is fairly safe and toxicity doesn't occur until you reach doses that are many, many times higher than therapeutic doses [1] [2]. Not a doctor, not your doctor, talk to your GP before starting such a regimen (especially for healthy kidney and liver function). My prescription was a 3 minute convo after my annual physical ("its safe, my kidneys and liver are working, I want to live longer [3] [4], and I will sign a waiver I won't hold you liable if necessary"), and I would've just ordered it online if my doctor said no. [1] https://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/35/4/731 https://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/35/4/731 [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5934269/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5934269/ [3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25041462 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25041462 [4] https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02432287 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02432287
    - ketamine__ 7y ago
      Did you have diarrhea when you started Metformin?
      - toomuchtodo 7y ago
        None. Some people do, it is a documented side effect.
      - fredsanford 7y ago
        Not just diarrhea but this horrible greasy concoction that required a shower... Metformin could be sold as an ultra laxative for some folks...
    - trenning 7y ago
      What does metformin do for therapeutic purposes? wiki doesn't allude to much besides diabetes treatment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metformin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metformin
- rconti 7y ago
  Sugar in your coffee ain't gonna make you overweight. Have real sugar, don't take sketchy drugs, live a generally healthy balanced life.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- airstrike 7y ago
  If you reduce the amount of sweetener slowly, you will likely eventually get used to just drinking coffee black. I've suggested this to 5 different people over the course of my life and it worked for 100% of them. Feel free to ignore this suggestion, but I can't see any downsides ;-) Worst case scenario is you're still drinking the same amount of sweetener a few months from now
orev 7y ago
It is. Everyone knows that the real solution to all these health problems is “eat right and exercise”, but there’s clearly a huge market of people looking for a “magic pill” to solve their problems instead of doing that. Snake oil has been around as long as humanity itself, so you might as well do some studies on it since so many people will be using it.
- meroes 7y ago
  That is true for so many diseases, like anything related to obesity, diet, exercise and smoking. Doctors are too ready to prescribe pills instead of an exercise regimen or diet. I wonder if doing studies on specific exercise regimes and diets would give doctors more confidence to prescribe them as cures. The problem is there is so much less money to be made for a certain industry.
  - orev 7y ago
    Doctors (in the US) run a business, and you’re not likely to get repeat customers if you tell them they need to lose weight, because they will take it personally and go find someone else who will prescribe a magic pill. Many doctors might mention it offhand, but if they really harp on it they will lose the patient to someone else. It’s not a good situation, but it is the reality.
  - blacksmith_tb 7y ago
    There's that, and there's also compliance - if your doctor tells you you should become a vegan ultramarathoner, chances are you will probably not comply; if they tell you to take two pills every morning, you may still not, but the chances are at least better (even if the improvement is also less significant).
- lostmsu 7y ago
  Exercise part of that solution is much more expensive than almost any pills (if they'd exist). 2h exercise a week at Valley tech salaries ($150/h) might cost you ~$15000 in time per year. Another way to look at it is in 40 years it will consume two entire years of working full-time. And that does not include cost to go to gym like transportation time, change of clothes, etc

I like sweet things in my coffee. I also like not being overweight. Hence, sucralose in my coffee and 1000mg daily of metformin (taken for life extension purposes, second order effect is lowering blood sugar level). The right answer need not be "abstain from what you enjoy" if we can hack together a solution from diet and engineered compounds.

jtdev 7y ago
I like smoking a pack of cigarettes a day and eating candy bars - I'll just switch to vaping and granola bars so I can still do what I enjoy.
- toomuchtodo 7y ago
  Can't tell if /s. Life is meant to be lived. Make healthier choices, but still enjoy. Otherwise, what's the point?
  - jtdev 7y ago
    Yes, being healthy is enjoyable. Sometimes protecting ones health means not doing those things that provide superficial, temporary feelings of joy (junk food, artificial sweeteners that could lead to cancer and other health issues, smoking, etc.) that are in fact bad for our health and likely to reduce long term joy.
    - stronglikedan 7y ago
      You can do just about anything in moderation and it won't be bad for you, short or long term. For example, having a cigarette or two a week over a few beers with some friends. Completely abstaining from superficial, temporary feelings of joy can be detrimental to some people when they finally do give into temptation.
  - aluth 7y ago
    Life is meant to be lived. A tautology at best, but more likely empty rhetoric. Make healthier choices, but still enjoy. This assumes healthy choices cannot produce enjoyment. Otherwise, what's the point? In our modern times, it seems to me, the point of life is whatever you make of it. I'm getting the impression that the point of your life is to experience as much pleasure as possible, i.e.: hedonism. This is a perfectly valid approach to one's life, but I wouldn't assume that others are getting less enjoyment out of their existence simply because they choose to impose constraints on the pleasures they pursue.
Spooky23 7y ago
Metformin is a pretty serious drug and that is a high dose. It's one thing to use it for off-label use like PCOS, but I would be very cautious for a more nebulous use.
- toomuchtodo 7y ago
  Metformin is fairly safe and toxicity doesn't occur until you reach doses that are many, many times higher than therapeutic doses [1] [2]. Not a doctor, not your doctor, talk to your GP before starting such a regimen (especially for healthy kidney and liver function). My prescription was a 3 minute convo after my annual physical ("its safe, my kidneys and liver are working, I want to live longer [3] [4], and I will sign a waiver I won't hold you liable if necessary"), and I would've just ordered it online if my doctor said no. [1] https://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/35/4/731 https://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/35/4/731 [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5934269/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5934269/ [3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25041462 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25041462 [4] https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02432287 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02432287
  - ketamine__ 7y ago
    Did you have diarrhea when you started Metformin?
    - toomuchtodo 7y ago
      None. Some people do, it is a documented side effect.
    - fredsanford 7y ago
      Not just diarrhea but this horrible greasy concoction that required a shower... Metformin could be sold as an ultra laxative for some folks...
  - trenning 7y ago
    What does metformin do for therapeutic purposes? wiki doesn't allude to much besides diabetes treatment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metformin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metformin
rconti 7y ago
Sugar in your coffee ain't gonna make you overweight. Have real sugar, don't take sketchy drugs, live a generally healthy balanced life.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
airstrike 7y ago
If you reduce the amount of sweetener slowly, you will likely eventually get used to just drinking coffee black. I've suggested this to 5 different people over the course of my life and it worked for 100% of them. Feel free to ignore this suggestion, but I can't see any downsides ;-) Worst case scenario is you're still drinking the same amount of sweetener a few months from now

orev 7y ago

It is. Everyone knows that the real solution to all these health problems is “eat right and exercise”, but there’s clearly a huge market of people looking for a “magic pill” to solve their problems instead of doing that. Snake oil has been around as long as humanity itself, so you might as well do some studies on it since so many people will be using it.

meroes 7y ago
That is true for so many diseases, like anything related to obesity, diet, exercise and smoking. Doctors are too ready to prescribe pills instead of an exercise regimen or diet. I wonder if doing studies on specific exercise regimes and diets would give doctors more confidence to prescribe them as cures. The problem is there is so much less money to be made for a certain industry.
- orev 7y ago
  Doctors (in the US) run a business, and you’re not likely to get repeat customers if you tell them they need to lose weight, because they will take it personally and go find someone else who will prescribe a magic pill. Many doctors might mention it offhand, but if they really harp on it they will lose the patient to someone else. It’s not a good situation, but it is the reality.
- blacksmith_tb 7y ago
  There's that, and there's also compliance - if your doctor tells you you should become a vegan ultramarathoner, chances are you will probably not comply; if they tell you to take two pills every morning, you may still not, but the chances are at least better (even if the improvement is also less significant).
lostmsu 7y ago
Exercise part of that solution is much more expensive than almost any pills (if they'd exist). 2h exercise a week at Valley tech salaries ($150/h) might cost you ~$15000 in time per year. Another way to look at it is in 40 years it will consume two entire years of working full-time. And that does not include cost to go to gym like transportation time, change of clothes, etc