3 ms·

Well, that's a pretty content-free article. And there are lots of posts here, with anecdotes and opinions... but nobody is talking about hard data, science, an

Well, that's a pretty content-free article. And there are lots of posts here, with anecdotes and opinions... but nobody is talking about hard data, science, and (most importantly) clinical trials. Is that because it hasn't been proven through a real clinical trial that "programmers must take Vitamin D"?

ralmeida 14y ago
The article says something too broad to be true (that if you're a programmer, you need to take vitamin D). However, a clinical trial would be overkill: you might need a clinical trial to determine if, say, cell phones are bad for you, but you don't need a clinical test to determine that 100% of people who stop breathing die. Where do you draw the line? Also, it spends a great deal of effort to make a statistically meaningful clinical test. This could all be solved if, instead of prescribing supplements based on profession, the article's tone were more like "Hey, vitamin D defficiency is a thing and your lifestyle favors it. Go get yourself checked out and mention this to your doctor."
- streptomycin 14y ago
  Of course there is a line to be drawn, but I think that dietary supplements certainly should be tested in clinical trials. Otherwise, there is no way to know if they work or not. This is typically how drugs/supplements are evaluated.
  - ralmeida 14y ago
    Sure, but clinically testing a supplement to see if it works is not the same thing as doing a clinical test to conclude that taking a "working" vitamin D supplement is good for you if you have vitamin D defficiency.
    - streptomycin 14y ago
      Those would be different stages of clinical trials.
npsimons 14y ago
It really depends on (too) many factors. Out where I work and play, the problem is getting too much sun. An outdoor walk between my office and the lab at the other end of the building gets me plenty sun. Ditto the bike ride home (assuming I'm not working late on something). It also doesn't hurt that I get out to go hiking and climbing on a semi-regular basis. OTOH, if I worked for a startup in Seattle, yeah, I might need to up my intake of vitamin D (which I'm already taking in a multivitamin). Of course, IANAMD, so the first thing I'd recommend is going to an actual MD if you have health issues - and mention your lifestyle.
gwern 14y ago
It is pretty content-free, although I found interesting the claim that caffeine interferes with vitamin D uptake. I'll have to look into that (though the article included no references... ಠ_ಠ).
- gwern 14y ago
  OK, I've looked into it; I think it's a pretty bogus claim. My full writeup is too long for Hacker News comments: https://plus.google.com/103530621949492999968/posts/AUg3udezXMS https://plus.google.com/103530621949492999968/posts/AUg3udez...
- gwern 14y ago
  Finished researching it; claim is pretty bogus. My writeup is too long for Hacker News, however: https://plus.google.com/103530621949492999968/posts/AUg3udezXMS https://plus.google.com/103530621949492999968/posts/AUg3udez... Also emailed the blog post author Chris Hunt.

ralmeida 14y ago

The article says something too broad to be true (that if you're a programmer, you need to take vitamin D). However, a clinical trial would be overkill: you might need a clinical trial to determine if, say, cell phones are bad for you, but you don't need a clinical test to determine that 100% of people who stop breathing die. Where do you draw the line? Also, it spends a great deal of effort to make a statistically meaningful clinical test. This could all be solved if, instead of prescribing supplements based on profession, the article's tone were more like "Hey, vitamin D defficiency is a thing and your lifestyle favors it. Go get yourself checked out and mention this to your doctor."

streptomycin 14y ago
Of course there is a line to be drawn, but I think that dietary supplements certainly should be tested in clinical trials. Otherwise, there is no way to know if they work or not. This is typically how drugs/supplements are evaluated.
- ralmeida 14y ago
  Sure, but clinically testing a supplement to see if it works is not the same thing as doing a clinical test to conclude that taking a "working" vitamin D supplement is good for you if you have vitamin D defficiency.
  - streptomycin 14y ago
    Those would be different stages of clinical trials.

npsimons 14y ago

It really depends on (too) many factors. Out where I work and play, the problem is getting too much sun. An outdoor walk between my office and the lab at the other end of the building gets me plenty sun. Ditto the bike ride home (assuming I'm not working late on something). It also doesn't hurt that I get out to go hiking and climbing on a semi-regular basis. OTOH, if I worked for a startup in Seattle, yeah, I might need to up my intake of vitamin D (which I'm already taking in a multivitamin). Of course, IANAMD, so the first thing I'd recommend is going to an actual MD if you have health issues - and mention your lifestyle.

gwern 14y ago

It is pretty content-free, although I found interesting the claim that caffeine interferes with vitamin D uptake. I'll have to look into that (though the article included no references... ಠ_ಠ).

gwern 14y ago
OK, I've looked into it; I think it's a pretty bogus claim. My full writeup is too long for Hacker News comments: https://plus.google.com/103530621949492999968/posts/AUg3udezXMS https://plus.google.com/103530621949492999968/posts/AUg3udez...
gwern 14y ago
Finished researching it; claim is pretty bogus. My writeup is too long for Hacker News, however: https://plus.google.com/103530621949492999968/posts/AUg3udezXMS https://plus.google.com/103530621949492999968/posts/AUg3udez... Also emailed the blog post author Chris Hunt.