Ask HN: Where do you find reliable information on diet?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29924856

by yamrzou • 5 years ago

12 17 5 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Hi,

I'd like to start eating better. I'm curious what websites/blogs/podcasts do you read or listen to for reliable information on what to eat and how to eat?

I'm looking for a science-based source that I can trust, something similar to the Huberman Lab Podcast or examine.com.

Thank you.

przeor• 5 years ago

check this out, very useful for diet and preparing healthy food at home https://thermomix.vorwerk.com/thermomix/

Some scientists were probably working on it, as it works as a harm in many cases

qnsi• 5 years ago

What is your goal with better eating? Better health or weight loss?

if better health, please know that nutrition science is very hard to do and most of it is of low quality. Eat medditarian diet minus the wine which is best science based advice

if weight loss, its even harder. I read probably about 20 books about it. Weight loss trials work pretty bad and I didnt find any hacks in research papers. What worked for me (losing 10kgs) was following Stephen Guyenets ideas:

I eat 3 meals a day at specific time everyday. No snacking.

Second part is based on science of appetite. Eat food low in caloric density. Our organism treats 100g of carrot the same as of bread. You will feel similar satiety but eat way more calories with calory denser food. This is a basis of Volumetrics diet

I could write way more, but Im on a mobile. Please write what is your goal with healthy eating and I can try to find some sources.

http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2011/06/food-reward-do...

yamrzou• 5 years ago

Thank you for taking the time to answer. My goal is better health and mood. I have a habit of eating whatever comes to mind without thinking too much about it. I want to make sure that my diet is well balanced, right for my body, and healthy in the long term. I guess weight loss might come as a consequence, but it's not my main focus for now.

tharkun__• 5 years ago

If you can motivate yourself to track what you eat "accurately enough" I can recommend just starting with that.

There's a bunch of apps out there that let you track what you eat. They usually hook up to various databases on nutritional information, let you add your own recipes or new foods etc.

Personally I could only bear it by starting to be reasonably good at estimating amounts/weights visually and not overthinking it or trying to be 100% precise. If you weigh every ounce of cheese you eat it can easily be overbearing. So I just stopped worrying about whether that's 50g or 60g of cheese. Some weighing to gain proficiency but that's it.

From that you can get a 'good enough' idea whether you're eating 4000 calories from sugar and fat, get 0 Vitamin C or D or if you're in the ballpark of the 2k, not too much sugar etc. and adjust through tracking. Some apps will also give you food recommendations and such (usually for a fee). Most apps have the RDAs for most things already in the app and also let you adjust (in case you decide that science speaks for the carnivore diet or keto or a vegan diet or that you found a credible source that the RDA for sugar is bonkers and you want it to be lower etc).

I think even without special sources you will have some data that allows you to make adjustments. My wild guess is that you will see too much sugar for example.

My guess is that as soon as you eat a better diet your mood might automatically adjust. Not entirely sure what you mean by mood specifically. E.g. alcohol can have an effect on mood (through making you more irritable). If mood extends to being 'lethargic' then if it's the same thing I had, potentially probiotics can help.

alecst• 5 years ago

Tricky. In a book called “Ending Medical Reversal” the authors talk about how difficult it is to run a controlled study on diet all, and how the effect sizes are really small.

That’s not to say it doesn’t matter — just that it’s hard to get a good clean signal without confounding variables.

Everyone has their opinions. I think the best way to move forward is to get a lay of the land by reading PubMed, some popular books on diet, and just follow your interests. It’s a nuanced and complex topic, and it’ll take time to make sense of it all.

ntide• 5 years ago

There is only 1 book you need, my friend: https://pedietbook.com/

Ted Naiman (the author) is a practicing medical doctor, and there are loads of podcasts of him discussing his protein-to-energy ratio approach to dieting.

cyounkins2• 5 years ago

https://nutritionfacts.org/

Led by Dr. Greger, a real MD who has dedicated his life to nutrition science and informing the public. He unobtrusively charges for early access to content that is released for free a month or two after and accepts donations. He does not sell/brand/endorse any products except a couple books he wrote.

The videos are very detailed, directly covering the scientific papers. He cites all references.

replwoacause2• 5 years ago

I did some research into Dr. Michael Greger and my determination is that he seems like a vegan quack (and I have nothing against vegans or vegetarians, I was one for 14 years). There have been a handful of takedowns posted about this guy on Reddit. Not saying all of his info is bad, but he certainly comes off like a shill for veganism. Even his site NutritionFacts.org used to be called the "Vegan Research Institute".

There are more balanced sources out there I'd say.

EDIT: Just found this little write up. I'm not familiar with this source so take it with a grain of salt, but it says a lot of the same stuff I am reading about him elsewhere:

https://humanewatch.org/hsus_doc_exposed_as_schlock/

drooby• 5 years ago

I would just like to point out that humanewatch.org is funded by Center for Consumer Freedom, who is funded by restaurants, food companies, and farmers. This is the same organization that had campaigns in support of smoking cigarettes

cyounkins2• 5 years ago

His interpretation of the vast literature he has read leads him to recommend a whole-food, plant-based diet. That's vegan, but so is beer and oreos, so there's a distinction.

I'm certain Dr. Greger is wrong about some things, just like literally everyone. What's important to me is that he has few conflicts of interest, communicates fairly well, and is grounded firmly in the science.

I strongly encourage readers to dig into one subject they are interested in. Hear what each side says. Read ALL the papers. Note the funding of the research. Figure out who is presenting the research the best.

no-dr-onboard• 5 years ago

https://examine.com is a goldmine for straight up linked research on supplements and nutritional information.

It's been a while but from what I can see they moved over to a more paid model that packages information up based on goals.

chadykamar• 5 years ago

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource

reducesuffering• 5 years ago

Dr. Rhonda Patrick is excellent at combing through the latest academic research and distilling it into just enough actionable detail for a general audience. She also includes fitness related aspects to health like research involving exercise, sleep, and saunas. I have found her very credible. She will mention that she has no affiliation with specific products or industry, and I don't think I've ever seen her be sponsored by anything.

https://www.foundmyfitness.com/

https://twitter.com/foundmyfitness?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7C...

https://www.instagram.com/foundmyfitness/

She is very up HN-ers alley with her views on fasting, sleep, exercise, drugs, supplements, reading nutrition science papers, etc.

VoodooJuJu• 5 years ago

I'm looking for a science-based source

Science is the last place I'd look if I wanted information about diet. Some of the worst, least reproducible stuff comes out of the nutritional science world. You can find studies for and against every diet and class of food.

The best place to start is tradition. What have you and your ancestors traditionally eaten? From there, make changes based on how you personally react to certain foods. From here, you can now very carefully look over some scientific studies to somewhat corroborate the effectiveness of your traditional diet.

But this is not nearly enough. As you do this, you have to be mindful of frequency; seasonality. Maybe your tribe kills a mammoth and you eat nothing but steaks, fat, high meat, and jerky for a month. Maybe your hunters come up short for the next month, so you live on foraged berries and rationed pemmican. In winter storms, the last thing you want to do is venture out into the crippling blizzard, so you subsist on stored tubers, or maybe you just starve for a week (you'll be fine). Maybe this kind of randomness is what your body is adapted for. Maybe this is your ideal diet.

Maybe Jews, Christians, and Muslims discovered the benefits of randomness in their diets and that's why they codified the practice of fasting in their books. And maybe there actually is some modern valid science to corroborate these ancient traditions.

TheMonarchist• 5 years ago

Many "diet rules" in the Bible have been found to be about avoiding parasites or unhealthy doses of some chemical.

netizen-936824• 5 years ago

https://renaissanceperiodization.com/

They have a diet app and tons of great info. Just about everything they do is evidence based

Ask HN: Where do you find reliable information on diet?

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