Comment by LinuxBender | Hacker News Reader

Comment by LinuxBender | Hacker News Reader

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I cycle some molecules up and down. Some molecules I take at different times of the day or week. Some can only be taken a couple times a week as they can be toxic if not used correctly. Some are safe to take daily. I have researched all of them extensively. Some of them I take at levels that would make people cringe as the known literature around some of them is incomplete.

I am not a fan of multivitamins though I do keep one around and rarely touch it. Most of them contain very low quality components, most notably the vitamin E which is nearly almost always alpha-tocopherol and since I am male that is a major risk for prostate cancer if not taken with the right balance of gamma-tocopherol and selenium. Rather I prefer to take the tocotrienols. Multivitamins also contain a low quality form of vitamin C in the form of ascorbic acid and that is a topic in and of itself. I prefer to get the majority of my vitamin C from green leafy vegetables using a high powered blender that acts as a juicer.

I do at times carry with me a small metal canister that can hold about 10-15 pills when I know I will be eating food someone else made, but most of that is for different formulas of garlic extracts, digestive enzymes, TUDCA, oregano oil and other things that assist with digestion and neutralization of pathogens in food.

If you are interested in these topics a good starting point is nih.gov, just be highly skeptical of any studies you find. Their search is awful so I would use google and put in "site:nih.gov some topic"

Thanks for a great answer. I also feel that 50 pills/day seems really excessive, but at least you seem to be very knowledgeable about the subject, and to have done extensive research, with the right dose of skepticism.

I think it would be nice for you to write an article on your approach, and share it with the world - or at least the HN crowd :)

I don't think I'll ever try to emulate you, but I would happily read how you got to this point, and which supplements you decided to include in your list.

Also, your view on multivitamins, and how "poor" most supplements are, is equally intriguing. It seems that the world of supplements is full of garbage and get-rich-quick schemes, and even if you can theoretically nail the right type and amount of supplements for your health, it is very likely that you won't be able to source them properly.

I would be curious, if you are willing, to see a complete list of the items you take and why.

+1, I would love to get this!

I think the underlying question was "Why not eat food ?" or "Why do you use so much complements if you can eat normally ?"

That is a good question. I personally am compensating for the lack of nutrients in food and also over-compensating for damage that I have done to my organs from a lifetime of eating a "standard american diet" or what I prefer to call a "first world diet". A healthy food diet just wasn't cutting it for me, especially given that stomach acid and other aspects of digestion decrease with age. I can compensate with digestive enzymes, tudca, benfotiamine and chelated zinc but that has rapidly diminishing effects.

My goals go far beyond what a good diet and moderate exercise and decent sleep alone can accomplish but I would never even try to convince anyone to do what I am doing nor would I even suggest it unless one researches all of the molecules and their downstream effects ad-nauseam.

Move to Italy. I grew up here, lived abroad for ~13 years, 9 of which in San Francisco (before: Luxembourg and Singapore), working for AWS and other tech firms. I can assure you that the quality of produce I can find in Italy cannot be beaten. Comparable in some parts of the Mediterranean. Whole Foods? Give me a break, not even close.

I'm not too serious (I know it's not easy to "move to Italy", just like that), but I find it really interesting that the US is so rich, and yet the quality of food is so poor.

The tomatoes are a great example. Visit Italy, buy some tomatoes, eat them raw. You will not believe your senses.

I think there is something to be said for this, especially foods that are home grown and home prepared. In the town I grew up in there was an Italian family that owned a restaurant and would get most of their ingredients from Italy. My friends mom made everything from scratch. No highly processed foods. My friend her son was built like a tank. We used to arm wrestle all the time if for no other reason than his insane strength and my laughably futile attempts to win.

I should add that since then I have not once in my life enjoyed a calzone like his mom made. It was worth the 45+ minute wait.

Cringe of 'known literature' in an area where pharma companies buy their own safety studies is warranted.. in exactly the opposite way in which you cringe.

The burden of safety is on the consumer to navigate cherry picked and designed studies whose purpose is to minimize perceived risk, not to understate safety margins...

I also hope your research is in pharmacology school and not blogs and tiktok.

How much do you spend on supplements every month?

I honestly do not keep track of it. I consider this an alternative to other expensive hobbies that I have since given up such as off-roading and renting ultra-lights. I know that it does not come close to what I used to spend on repairing off-road vehicles.

can't imagine being this afraid of mortality

I have a different view on this topic. I can walk into any sports bar and ask any person who is going to win. They will not only have a fairly accurate answer but will also be able to tell me who will make how many touch-downs, intercepts, passes with a high degree of accuracy.

And yet...

If I ask that same person what percentage of their thymus has converted to fat I will get blank stares or receive ad-hominem attacks from them. Whereas they predicted touch-downs I can predict their risks of all cause mortality and health span by observing their behavior and physical characteristics. I would never point it out to them as that would be rude and counter-productive. Knowing advanced analytical statistics on football players might net them some money from gambling but will not extend their healthspan or lifespan.

I find this to be both fascinating and disturbing at the same time. To me, the priorities of people are topsy-turvy upside down and backwards. I do not expect many people to share my view.

But you're not taking all that stuff (plus the research) so you can be the one with the most knowledge about mortality in the bar, so what's the real reason? Obviously you mentioned it, to extend healthspan/lifespan.

Or maybe you do want to feel superior to others, heck I know that's a motivator for some of my actions.

> What's the real reason?

Not OP but their message resonates: the reason to do that regimen is to maximize the amount of healthy living. And to do so being comfortable spending money there that might not seem like a sure thing (but the payoff would be worth it).

> If I ask that same person what percentage of their thymus has converted to fat

I am curious, how could they know, measure it? (apart from inferred it from their age)

I generally feel that anyone not afraid of mortality has some extreme denial or depression going on (more often the former).

I am afraid on the decline before my death, death itself while not immediately desirable is not that frightening in comparison.

An uncle recently deceased in from cardiac arrest in his bed at his home during his sleep at 83. He was fishing the day before.... That's an ideal death IMHO. If you knew that you would have a similar death, would you be afraid ? I would not.

Even the idea of an "ideal death" just rings of denial to me. Yes, getting punched is getting better than stabbed, but I wouldn't exactly romanticize it.

The issue isn't the "dying", it's the endless trillions of years of experience we are deprived of in death.

"the endless trillions of years ..."

Noted in your uniquely written contract at birth is the ultimate outcome at somewhere around three score and ten. Get the most out of the experience you are given.

I can't think of a more reasonable thing to fear than death.

For most, the fear is more of old age problems, not death, I think.

For most levels of sick I've witnessed in people's old age, I'd far rather be sick than dead.

And people who claim to want to die before they're very sick in their old age seem usually to falsify the claim when they later reach that threshold.

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