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Comment by jmount | Hacker News Reader

Seems a bit circular in what such audiences seem to expect.

Any dietary craving likely have, in addition to mere psychological triggers, likely has some biological triggers. A biological trigger related to food craving often ends up being called a "gut-brain connection" no matter what (including if it is blood chemistry).

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i'm literally amazed how much is brain related. I've been obese my whole life, highest weight was 690 in 2012, had surgery got down to < 500 but yoyoing between 400/500 ever since. After covid I got really anxious/depressed and was at my highest weight. I'm told also if I had skin surgery, I'd probably lose 75 pounds of just skin, but I was kinda waiting till I got below 350 as a sort of 'target'.

Since May when I started wellbutrin for depression, that mixed w/ my vyvanse for ADHD has made me feel so much better. I tried SSRI's and they just gave me ED.

I've organically lost 50 pounds since May without even dropping soda, I just don't eat junk food, and a few days I've forgotten to eat at all when my wife was out of town. Literally, I have no cravings. Haven't tried adjusting anything in my diet, haven't thought about it, just haven't wanted anything chocolate or sweet, except maybe when I'm not intensely focused on work (i.e. get bored). I actually feel a little perturbed when my family wants dinner because I'd rather not eat and do something more enjoyable.

I'm planning on going back on keto and adding fitness (only thing I've had success w/), which by itself always stopped cravings but at the cost of keeping track of carbs and what not, and switching to crystal light (I have a hatred for the taste or lack thereof of water , I've tried and tried different types etc, <5 cal lemonade packet though and I can down those, and my dr's have said that's way better than soda). Side note I think my water aversion is related my bitter aversion (Beer, coffee, etc taste like shit - i can stomach beer sometimes depending on brand, but I'd rather have a margarita).

Do you hate Aquafina bottled water?

I think the only bottled I can kinda stomach is maybe Fiji. I haven't tried the really expensive glass bottle kind... Though I'd probably do better with anything not in can or plastic because even soda tastes shittier when it's been incubating in aluminum or plastic.

You simply put coke in a glass bottle you get a totally less chemical taste. Probably a lot less bpa in your blood too.

I'll often get a fountain water 32oz though and add a sugar free lemonade packet and the sourness even if it's not sweet makes me drink more of it .

I'm not sure if you're supposed to drink distilled water but I tried it and it tasted the best of all the gallon waters at the store. I think it was because it was the most tasteless...

Yeah, specifically asked about aquafina because it's reverse osmosis water and should be entirely tasteless.

It is, uh, not entirely ideal to drink completely decriminalized water because if you're not getting those minerals from other sources they tend to get depleted over time. Much more of an issue for, say, a post-menopausal woman than a younger person.

Distilled or RO water might be your best bet.

Those ZeroWater filters produce a very similar result.

I dislike the taste of most not-completely-clean water, but for me it's just a dislike, I do it plenty. Might be you should just force yourself to do it and you'll get used to it after a while. If you deprive yourself of sugary flavored water for a while it will start to taste strange to be having something so sweet, but it'll take a few weeks.

I would be interested if in a double blind test anybody could tell if a carbonated drink was in glass, plastic, or aluminium

I only drink out of glass (mostly) because of personal preference. It would surprise me if my personal preference had some basis in objective reality.

Plastic is to a small extent gas permeable, also just put water in an empty plastic bottle in the sun for a bit, you can taste it.

> Literally, I have no cravings

You overcame leptin resistance

> water aversion

Water consumption is CRITICAL for long term weight loss. Minimum 1 liter per day. Ideally a gallon or more per day.

Spindrift and all the unsweetened carbonated drinks are a pretty good "Methadone for soda pop".

For my blood pressure my Doctor told me to cut down on Sodium. Like you, water bores me, unless it’s basically 32.5 F and bottomless on demand. As in not happening. So I drank Gatorade or G2. He told me to look at the sodium level - holy moly I was so wrong!

Been reading labels ever since and apparently coconut water is becoming a 10% base for a lot of new gen drinks. Body Armor is 40 cal. I found a new to me one, Prime Hydration, that’s 25 cal for 16 oz and 10 mg sodium and has real flavor!!

Gatorade is great… if you are exercising in heat, like perhaps football players in Florida.

For everyone else their body probably doesn’t need all those sugars and salts in their hydration.

I use vivanse and although I’m not too overweight, it seriously cut my bad food cravings. It’s fascinating. Like you, I would rather do other things at meal times. Not mindlessly like when I used Dexedrine – more like I’m happily engaged in things and I don’t feel hunger or the immediate need for nutrition, so I’d rather drink water and carry on. Spending time with my family is great though so I just eat lighter food and make sure it’s around in advance.

With Dexedrine I’d turn into a bit of a mindless drone. It was gross. Vivanse didn’t feel great at first (maybe because it felt like it did nothing compared to Dexedrine, but I’ve come to find it far more helpful.

I haven’t taken it in a couple months and the cravings for sweet/fat are still gone, but I’m not sure if it’s because the medication helped guide me towards better habits while I was on it.

In any case, glad to hear you’ve made so much progress. That must be seriously life changing. It’s not about how many years we live, but how much life we live in the years we get. Those pounds you lost go a long way in boosting quality of life, and the effort that takes is admirable.

You don’t mention if your anxiety and depression abated or not with the new medications? I find when I am depressed and anxious I eat compulsively and being depressed don’t care about the consequences. (The Ayn Rand crowd that bleats on about self control have clearly never been clinically depressed)

And it's very fuzzy whether when we say 'gut' we mean the organs we call intestines, or the organs plus their contents. Biologically speaking, the former is practically a rounding error of the latter.

There are some theories out there at least partially supported by experiments that some gut bacteria are extorting behavior from us with their exudates. Give me sugar I make you happy.

My reading was that the intestines signal the brain inducing craving. I think conventional wisdom is it’s the flavor of fats that induces craving. Their point is interfering with that intestinal pathway could reduce fat craving, which is a lot different than making it taste worse and has different pharmacology I would assume. I don’t find this circular or redundant information.

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