8 ms·

Timely and Important article. In this day and age where you have limitless distractions/entertainment we often ignore our "less sexy" biological needs to the d

• cassianoleal 2y ago
  This is spot on. These things are a delicate balance as well. When I sleep well, I can control my feeding patterns much better. When I eat well, I tend to sleep better. Exercise affects both of those, and is affected back. Work is constantly nudging this balance in the wrong direction, putting us into a vicious cycle of accelerated death and suffering. I may be making this sound worse than it feels though, probably because I'm writing this in between bouts of high fever. I honestly can't complain all that much from the life I lead but I do wish I could make it work much better around my physiological needs.
  • rramadass 2y ago
    You might find some of my previous comments useful too; https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40978488 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40978488 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41538322 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41538322 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38445883 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38445883
    • cassianoleal 2y ago
      Thanks. I upvoted you because this is all great advice. I'm politely going to decline it though. Not because I don't think it's valuable but mostly because I already have alternatives to achieve those results that I know work better for myself. Unfortunately right now I don't have the time to follow through with most of it. Life happens, and right now it just happens to be happening more or less all at once. Urgency trumps priority. Furthermore, I'm a night owl. I have at different times in my life tried to change it. I followed all the advice I could find (including a lot of the things you mention). Ultimately, if I have to wake up early in the morning for work, I might end up with a cycle of 8h on the first night, with some luck another 8h, then it goes down to 6-5h, 2h and in some occasions an all nighter to top if off. My current sleep deprived cycle is one of relatively regular 5-6h per night. It's not very good but mostly because of the time I have to be awake. If I could wake up at 9:30-10:00 every day, I would be able to sleep those 5-6h per night and be in top shape. I know because I've done it for a few months in the past. I was at top physical and mental shape, consistently. Waking up at 7:00-8:00, even if I could sustain 7-8h per night, I'd still be sleepy, tired and unfocused for the most part. My brain suffers and so does my body. At this point I just decided to accept light sleep deprivation vs. the worse alternatives.
      • rramadass 2y ago
        I suggest you watch Dr. Satchin Panda's (he is the Circadian Rhythms researcher) videos (they are short TEDx ones) at the minimum. He gives a simple 6-step process which you might find very relevant.
        • cassianoleal 2y ago
          Thanks, I'll try to find the time.
          • hackernewds 2y ago
            You seem to have a pretty reserved attitude about this. And I hope you are doing okay.
            • lostdog 2y ago
              Advice from morning people about sleep is usually as useful as cancer advice from homeopathics. I can understand his lack of interest here.
              • cassianoleal 2y ago
                And it's not how I hadn't already said I tried many things with invariably similar results. I might watch the videos if I find the time but it's definitely not in my list of priorities as I'm really skeptical that there will be anything there that I haven't already done or is similar in nature - mainly because outside of changing the world or CRISPR I'm not sure there is a way to "fix" this.
                • lostdog 2y ago
                  I've now read a summary. It's just the same light, eating, and exercise changes, mixed with some night-owl denialism. All stuff I've tried dozens of times, which maybe moves my sleep by 15 minutes.
  • agumonkey 2y ago
    Saw a video few days ago from someone saying that two people with the same diet but one having a bad sleep regime would make the low sleep person gain weight and lose muscle.
    • hackernewds 2y ago
      Sleep (specifically recovery) is also an important part of building muscle mass
  • steveoscaro 2y ago
    “I can control my feeding patterns” I find this to be a disturbing way to describe eating
    • cassianoleal 2y ago
      You're free to not use it, I guess.
• BizarroLand 2y ago
  Note, though, that people with eating disorders can easily not feel hungry for days at a time for no reason or conversely never not feel hungry no matter how much they have eaten. Some people with depression or C/PTSD can sleep 14+ hours a day and not feel rested. Many people are so dysregulated that "listening to their bodies" and "embracing what is natural" are potentially self-destructive activities. So, keep your own body's limitations in mind. If you are affected by something that has pushed you off the track, at the very least, be aware of it before you go charging full steam ahead.
  • rramadass 2y ago
    First, see some of my previous comments linked to here for background - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42138469 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42138469 What you are pointing out are extreme cases which is generally a small subset. So before jumping to this conclusion one should first setup one's daily life around circadian/natural rhythms and in general establish a healthy relationship between ourselves and the environment we are embedded in. This is fundamental to everything else. In fact many doctors themselves are now saying that drugs are overprescribed and you don't need them for most (not all) cases. Watch the following documentaries; 1) The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs (Medical Documentary) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_ggnhpGvvA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_ggnhpGvvA 2) The Truth About the Medical Industry | The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs | Part 2 | Documentary Central - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33RuKhr9pag https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33RuKhr9pag
    • BizarroLand 2y ago
      I'm not going to take unsolicited homework from this site, especially one that is pushing an agenda in response to a statement that is clearly positive but cautious in response to your previous statement.
      • rramadass 2y ago
        You misunderstood. There is no agenda here but merely sharing something which for some reason doesn't seem to be more commonly known/understood. When it comes to "General Health" (both Mental/Physical) people forget that one can do a lot with what is already known (from empirical practice over generations and modern science) and with the exercise of a little bit of commonsense.
• yazzku 2y ago
  Who would've thought that sleep is good for you, right? Apparently we needed several million dollars in research to find out. > The findings, published today in Nature, could help to guide care for people after a heart attack, This is just hilarious. Remember to get enough sleep after a life-threatening heart attack, folks! But your comment resonates very much with me. I am tired of this capitalist culture that reduces the human essence to value output and shames people for not pretending to be working hard enough. Part of the reason I like working from home is that I can take that fucking 20-minute nap after lunch and be infinitely more productive throughout the rest of the day.
  • op00to 2y ago
    > This is just hilarious. Remember to get enough sleep after a life-threatening heart attack, folks! Is it better to prioritize low-impact exercise or sleep after a heart attack? There's plenty of interesting angles to investigate.
    • rramadass 2y ago
      Not specific to "after a heart attack" but IME while both are important Sleep is much more important than Exercise. Anecdata: I spent a decade as caregiver/caretaker for my late Mother who refused to do any exercises except the absolute necessary ones which a doctor would ask her to do for a specific cause eg. back pain, breathing exercises etc. As soon as that symptom alleviated she would abandon the exercises. So i encouraged her to take long naps whenever she felt sleepy and it helped keep her mental faculties sharp and physically feel spry (within limits of course). You Asked: Is It Better to Sleep In Or Work Out? - https://time.com/3914773/exercise-sleep-fitness/ https://time.com/3914773/exercise-sleep-fitness/ Quote: But when pressed to choose one that’s more important, Mah grudgingly decides on sleep. “Sleep is foundational,” she says.
  • s1artibartfast 2y ago
    I do think it is sad that people are so out of touch with their bodies and the idea of self ownership that they need an authority figure to instruct such simple tasks. I think there is a huge component of trained helplessness resulting from consumerist culture and social subservience.
• pengaru 2y ago
  > A good way to start is to eat only when feeling hungry LOL, that's what everyone riding the "western diet" blood sugar roller coaster is already doing. If the diet doesn't reflect the environment our biological needs evolved in, acting without self discipline, eating based on how you feel, is a sure path to obesity, diabetes, and NAFLD. Horrible advice.
  • rramadass 2y ago
    If you take that advice in isolation while your Diet is shit, of course it is not applicable. If you want a little more detailed overview see my previous comments here - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42138469 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42138469
  • s1artibartfast 2y ago
    I think the charitable interpretation is that they're drawing a distinction between physical hunger and emotional hunger. I "feel" like I could go for a bacon cheeseburger basically 24s hours today. I feel like I could eat another right after I finished the first. All of that is emotional. That is pretty different than symptoms true physical hunger. My stomach starts to grumble after 24 hours without food. After about 48 hours I feel lethargic and cognitively disordered. I think that a majority of Americans confuse the two because it has been years or even decades since they actually experienced the symptoms of insufficient calorie intake
    • batch12 2y ago
      For me the best change was when I got used to feeling peckish most of the time. I feel better when I am slightly hungry than after I eat, especially if it's a large meal. With that feeling as my baseline, I really can tell when I need to eat.
    • rramadass 2y ago
      Yes, i meant "Physical Hunger" with an implicit proper and healthy Diet. The point was that one need not eat according to a wall clock and lifestyle choices.
  • 2y ago
• interludead 2y ago
  Treating sleep, rest, and even meals as part of the “job” of taking care of yourself is a powerful shift in mindset.
  • rramadass 2y ago
    Exactly! With modern medicine people are living longer but their quality of life becomes so bad it is not worth it. Health IS Wealth!
    • interludead 2y ago
      It's not just about living longer but living well
  • kibwen 2y ago
    Exercise too. Sleeping and eating are comparatively easy because they're pleasurable activities (well, eating properly isn't always pleasurable, but it's still not unpleasant). But exercise is physically stressful and often unpleasant. Doesn't matter, taking care of this body is my duty.
    • interludead 2y ago
      Totally agree! Exercise can feel like the hardest part sometimes.
• agumonkey 2y ago
  I believe the 2000s-* are causing lots of subtle yet deep issues. High availability, high throughput, non linear .. all the current trends are not aligned with a good / happy life.
  • oersted 2y ago
    There has been a strong trend towards async communication though, which does help a lot. Before it was all phone calls, in-person interactions, live TV and Radio... Both for work and leisure, now you have more options than ever to take things at your own pace rather than letting external factors dictate how you arrange your time. I think we hit peak "speed of life" in the late 20th century to be honest, much of this is grass-is-greener thinking, we have made great progress in terms of day-to-day personal freedom. Life has never really matched this idilic ideal of the village farmer. Things were very rough for most of history, everyone was constantly stressed to keep up with their minimal necessities to live, it was not in any way relaxed. And the industrial revolution hit ~250 years ago, with much more strict schedules and much longer work days. This is not a recent phenomenon in the least.
    • rramadass 2y ago
      > Things were very rough for most of history, everyone was constantly stressed to keep up with their minimal necessities to live, it was not in any way relaxed. I have heard this argument many times before but it is mostly not true. Most village farmers do lead a more relaxed and relatively stress-free life. You just need to visit/observe/interact with them to see the difference. The main reason is the difference between Acute Stress vs. Chronic Stress. Chronic Stress has what has exploded exponentially in urban areas after the Industrial Revolution and the current IT Industry has made it even worse. There are just too many things to juggle all the time each of which has a deadline with consequences (because process and efficiency) however trivial it might be in the larger scheme of things. The farmer doesn't have that many things to worry over and so only has episodic bursts of Acute Stress over truly consequential things the management of which is easier. Another related point is that the farmer does live closer and more entwined with Nature than urban folks and this has been shown to be better for psychological health. We are evolved to interact with Nature and not isolate ourselves in a concrete jungle and grey cubicles.
• tombert 2y ago
  I've snored since I was a teenager, but didn't think much about it. I met my wife about 11 years ago, and she said that I would do a kind of disturbing "stop breathing" thing when I slept pretty shortly after we met, and I didn't think much about it then either. About a year ago, I decided to see a doctor and it turns out that I have sleep apnea; after a bit of finagling I managed to get a specialized oral appliance, I sleep much better. I don't snore anymore, my blood-oxygen levels stay in the green level, and my wife says my breathing during the night is pretty normal. Now I'm mad at myself for waiting so long to do anything about it. Pretty much everything in my life got about 10-20% easier after I started getting proper sleep. I think a bit clearer, I process conversations a bit better, I'm able to focus on tasks a little easier. It didn't magically "solve" all my problems, but it did make them a lot easier to work around.