brahmwg

That's assuming the unscrupulous spam artists pushing nootropics and smart-pills even care about the adverse effects of the ingredients they're selling. And most of their target consumers will be too wooed by the use of a scientific term like 'cathepsin-b' to bother with their own due diligence.

Actually there is some evidence to suggest that the runners high is due to endocannabinoids rather than endorphin release. Interestingly the endocannabinoid system is also activated when consuming cannabis and experiencing the resulting cannabis/runners high.

http://cen.acs.org/articles/93/web/2015/10/Exploring-Molecul...

Though the pill may be able to simulate the effects of physical exercise, I don't think a pill will supplement the psychological gains from exercise.

Doing something challenging and feeling accomplished, the mental strength you develop from a rigorous training regime can't easily be replicated by a pill... yet

It really is a big problem, and distorts the entire pool of valuable information by blending in sponsored content.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_pollution

I've found it to be particularly useful for sending cat videos to friends.

Anecdata, but I've found the same. I have more energy and better performance (for physical activity and cognitive activity) when I fast for the majority of the day.

Not a fan of gimmicky diets but my eating pattern seems similar to "the warrior diet", look it up if you're curious. I just think that in nature (if we were wild humans) we wouldn't have access to a huge meal right out of bed, We'd have to work hard all day to hunt and gather our food, then celebrate as a group with a food orgy around the fire.... okay I got a bit carried away :P

Thanks for sharing your story. I share your sentiments. Have an upvote.

I wish this were a real product and not an obvious scam.

Is in-vitro human meat considered cannibalism? What if the meat is synthesized from your own DNA? Self-cannibalism? Not asking you directly, just throwing the thought tangent out there

What about meat grown in a lab, so no being had to die for it.

...what about human meat grown in a lab...?

Previous thread; https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11155532

My thought was since honey is absorbed quickly perhaps the medicinal effects could be fast acting. As opposed to with edibles which would take longer to produce an effect. Of course, inhaling it via smoke or vaporizer would be instant action, but many medicinal users would prefer to avoid inhalants like smoking. The benefit of instant action would be for people that have seizures or spasms, or need quick pain relief. Again, not a medical professional, just thinking out loud.

In nature, the male cannabis flower's pollen is carried by wind and gets stuck on the female's sticky resin. Cannabis is wind pollinated, so the beekeeper had to have trained these bees to ingest cannabis pollen (couldn't have been too hard, i'm sure most enjoy a good 'buzz').

I'd be very curious about the luxury cannabis honey industry. You can already buy honey made from wild flower or specific flowers like blueberry or other exotic flowers. I wonder if in a few years we will be able to buy honey made from specific cannabis strains. Given that honey is absorbed very readily into the body, using specific strains of cannabis honey may have real medicinal value, for fast action pain relief for instance.

Disclaimer: Not a medical professional, or a bee professional, nor a cannabis professional.

Cue the reference to the "time vs money for happiness" thread that was on HN a while ago.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10860517

> "Chocolate intake was self-reported, and therefore subject to inherent reporting error. The dietary questionnaire used did not require the respondent to differentiate between dark, milk or white chocolate. ... We can therefore make the assumption that the majority of chocolate consumed in this sample was dark or milk, both containing cocoa flavanols to varying degrees."

It would be cool to have a study looking specifically at the effects of dark chocolate.

Life is a journey, not a destination.

Totally agree, especially with the grattitutde aspect for existing. In my experience, getting into 'the zone' while running, hiking or bouldering is what I consider my meditation. Treadmill running doesn't cut it, it's got to be outdoors where my brain is stimulated by all the natural colors, sounds and patterns. It's a far cry from what alot of people think of when they think meditation (sitting quietly doing nothing). When running trails or climbing, its hard to be distracted by other thoughts, and the mind is clear but focused intently on the next step or move. For others curious to try meditation, I recommend trying minimalist running, or any activity which brings you closer to nature and your own body.

There is a theory that distance running is intimately related to humans evolution and their brain development. The human foot is beautifully engineered to be used for long distance running, to help absorb the impact and transfer the force into our Achilles and larger glute muscles. The fact that we have feet designed to run for a long time, have the nifty ability to sweat (unlike our prey at the time who needs to stop and pant to cool off), and are social creatures leads some to believe that we were persistent hunters, akin to a pack of wild dogs; ideally chasing down our prey as a group during the hottest part of the day when the animal would have most difficulty cooling off. Some believe the introduction of animal protein into our diet also helped trigger brain growth. So some combination of sociability, persistent running, and animal protein helped accelerate human brain growth back in the day.

Recommend reading Born to Run or watching the Ted talk by the author for those interested.[1]

[1]https://www.ted.com/talks/christopher_mcdougall_are_we_born_...

I think the trick is to have obese/chemo people to run before they become obese/chemo people, for preventative benefits and to engrain the habits early on.

In the case of obese people, there is an argument that due to the high impact nature of running, other forms of exercise may be preferable (imagine the force of a heavy bodyweight crashing down on a person's joints many,many times over the course of a run, ouch). Perhaps cycling or swimming would be more advantageous to the overweight population. Of course, the benefits of walking are often understated, but certainly the humble stroll could impart a myriad of benefits to those of ill-health.

I wonder if the same health benefits can be had from involuntary running :P

I don't really agree with that. Some students would often vape behind their laptop in class (to be cool/rebelious, they could easily wait to be outside) and it definitely makes an offensive odor. Non-vapers should have the right to breathe air that isn't polluted with second-hand mystery fumes, especially in doors where ventilation isn't perfect.

+1, please and thank you. brahmwg at gmail dot com

Agreed, believing these types of articles outright plays into my own confirmation bias (aka I'd really like to believe this stuff), but really my goal in sharing this to HN was to hopefully have an open discussion and hear the variety of well-articulated views this community is infamous for :)

From a referring article[1] which translates into a human-understandable format,

"Interestingly, the same kinds of harmonic waves are thought to explain other self-organising phenomena in nature, such as the patterns that sand forms when sitting on a vibrating metal plate, or the development of biological patterns such as the stripes on tigers and spots on leopards."

[1]http://www.sciencealert.com/resting-brainwaves-function-in-s...

Glad you brought that up, exactly what i was thinking ;)

Paper: http://m.jneurosci.org/content/35/46/15307.short

Fungi are incredible.

Check out this post about how mycelial networks act as an organic internet for plant species to communicate.

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141111-plants-have-a-hidden...

Because I spent a year eating meat regularly specifically to see if I would feel healthier or perform better in exercise, and ultimately found I felt better eating mostly plants so switched back. Still eat some animals rarely so I am not a puritan veggie.

Lifelong vegetarian here, and I can say from my experience I feel healthier and more fit on a mostly plant based diet, with some animal protein (eggs). I did take a year when I was 22 and experimented with eating meat, and I will still occasionally cheat and eat a bit of animal flesh here or there. Maybe not the right diet for everyone but works for me and you too it seems.

Usually afternoon or evening, once I feel warmed up.