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Ask HN: What food/diet change has been life changing?

by bsbechtel on 8/24/22, 10:19 AM with 8 comments

• by Architeutes on 8/24/22, 11:04 AM

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenic_diet Not personally but I know people who got way healthier because of it and lost a lot of weight. Its nothing for me personally as I like carbs and have no issues with them but still this definetly works for some people.

• by brudgers on 8/24/22, 5:37 PM

  I went to the doctor for the first time in decades. Blood pressure high, told to cut sodium, so I did. Was simpler than it sounds (because of my specific circumstances). Felt better. Lost weight.

  After a fasting lab panel had a follow-up appointment six weeks later. "You have diabetes." Managing food intake for that is more complicated than a single line on a nutrition label and just avoiding "added sugar" isn't enough to avoid my kidneys doing the work that insulin couldn't. Felt better. Lost weight.

  All of this to say that my diet changes are because I have a reasonable financial budget for groceries, sufficient time to shop, and a social environment in which there is not a cost for eating what I need and there is not a social cost for not eating what I should avoid.

  Time, money, and relationships are the necessary conditions of habit development. If I was trying to feed a family of four from the bodega on minimum wage, pills would be about the only viable option.

  It's also worth noting that my habits are easier to maintain because I feel better. If it were just a matter of weight loss, I doubt they would stick anymore this time than previously when I lost weight but didn't feel better chemically and my hunger still there.

  YMMV. Good luck.

• by gremlinsinc on 8/24/22, 2:51 PM

  Wellbutrin... Seems getting my depression in order did magnitudes. I've lost 60 pounds with no real focused change in habits. I still even drink soda, I just eat a lot less junk food because I don't really have cravings anymore and not feeling like I need a chocolate fix daily is huge.

  I might eat something chocolate once a week instead of 2x daily and that's big.. Plus I focus better. I'm also on ADHD meds but it didn't work as good when I was depressed because it's used to focus on something productive when you're not motivated to get out of bed.

  Mental health apparently contributes to obesity a lot more than I ever thought.

• by alejo on 8/24/22, 5:39 PM

  Reduce or if possible (hard) eliminate sugar consumption.

  There’s a lot of information out there about how many products that you wouldn’t even imagine contain sugar (or some derívate). There’s no need for this.

  I have not been able to eliminate this from my diet completely, but being aware of it had allow me to reduce significantly its consumption and make better choices when picking what to eat.

  Benefits are plenty, from healthy weight loss and a sense of “soberness” that is worth the effort. I’m sure there are many other positive and well documented effects of this

• by ggeorgovassilis on 8/24/22, 11:00 AM

  Fiber (peas, lentils, beans etc). I come from a fiber-rich dining culture, but having lived for long in central & west Europe I kind of "forgot" about it. I noticed a general degradation in physical wellbeing which I attributed to growing older, but the general situation greatly improved with increasing fiber in my diet.

• by feet on 8/25/22, 1:38 AM

  Magnesium and potassium in sufficient amounts along with lowering sodium intake. Not only will it drop blood pressure but you'll feel more relaxed on a regular basis.

• by isbvhodnvemrwvn on 8/24/22, 1:53 PM

  I changed nothing, apart from eating less and not drinking anything but water. It was about the easiest thing I did and it has been quite effective for the past couple years.

• by proboy on 8/27/22, 8:03 PM

  For me, it was changing my dinner time from 9pm or 10pm to 7pm