[Harriet]

On 10/20/2024 at 6:55 PM, sarakingdom said:

 

I'm not sure who is being referenced, but if it's H*berman, yeah, I've seen an article that puts him in a major credibility pit (or at least a serious ick pit) due to fairly compulsive gaslighting and manipulation.

 

I'd try a protocol by satan himself if it worked. Unfortunately, almost nothing I've tried so far from online health personalities *has* worked.

 

On 10/20/2024 at 5:37 PM, Mad Hatter said:

Far from how these protocols are presented. (How can one even make up a protocol when caffeine affects everyone so very differently and not even talk about dosage?) 

 

Yeah he and others like him do present conclusions with a lot of confidence, from just a few papers. Or even from one paper.

 

On 10/20/2024 at 6:02 PM, Everstorm said:

Ugh, I am noticing this more and more and more.  The speech pathologist with claims to neuroscience insights, the chiropractor who "specializes" in fasting protocols and menopause, etc etc.  I mean, can an intelligent person extrapolate theories from others' research? Yes.  But it does make one pause.

 

It would be fine if any of these worked to deal with our actual large problems. I haven't noticed that any of this hacking or optimization does help, though. I even went off caffeine for a good period--maybe a month or more, can't remember--and I just didn't feel anything except that decaf was disappointingly flat. All this theory about why caffeine is terrible and all these anecdotes about people changing their lives... it's the same damned thing over and over and over with a million different hacks or products or habits. I'm sure each of them worked for one person. I also felt nothing from getting sunlight first thing in the morning. Nothing from all the supplements (and there were many).

 

Not that nothing I do has made any change--there are some things that help. They're just not so predictable via theory and published articles. So I guess... just try stuff?

[Mad Hatter]

 

On 10/21/2024 at 1:47 PM, Everstorm said:

Last Monday my niece was hospitalized for pneumonia with some odd neurological symptoms that baffled the local doctors to the extent that she was shuttled off to the university hospital a couple hours away.  It ultimately lead to a diagnosis of a rare autoimmune disease. 

Oh no, how's your niece doing now? Will it affect her long term or can the disease be managed?

 

43 minutes ago, Harriet said:

I also felt nothing from getting sunlight first thing in the morning.

I think context matters hugely. When I lived in Finland I had a 30 second walk from the beach. In summer I'd take a thermos with coffee and sit on a deckchair and read and chill and watch birds. A+ way to start the day! In winter.... not so much. "In theory" it should help to even get a tiny bit of light, but clearly he's never lived in a place that sometimes gets 2 sun hours in a month. There is no way the theoretical benefits outweigh the pure misery of getting out in the cold and dark. 😄

 

55 minutes ago, Harriet said:

All this theory about why caffeine is terrible and all these anecdotes about people changing their lives...

Caffeine is terrible for some, and for anyone suffering from e.g. anxiety it's worth cutting out as an experiment. But on a population level I don't believe there are any confirmed health implications. And I think for some people it legit works to boost performance, e.g. before a workout or if you need to focus.

 

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

haven't noticed that any of this hacking or optimization does help, though

I think it can for very select people that lead extremely regular lives. Eat the same things, at the same times, sleep regularly, train the same way, don't have external stressors, probably single, almost certainly male, are able and healthy mentally and physically... Which rules out... pretty much everyone. 😄