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Diet pill, eat what you want
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rikkejohnsenrij
Posts: 510 Member
in Debate Club
Read an update on this yesterday,
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/diet-pill-weight-gain-fat-mice
(The article I read was in Danish, and I cannot seem to find it in English)
and it seems as though scientists are moving closer to an actual pill for humans.
I'm just a bit concerned about the effect. While I'm sure it will would be nice to be able to eat all I want every day, without gaining weight, what will that do to my eating habits? Will I end up eating 3000+ kcal every day?
Will it mean I'll eventually NEED the pill to avoid gaining weight?
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/diet-pill-weight-gain-fat-mice
(The article I read was in Danish, and I cannot seem to find it in English)
and it seems as though scientists are moving closer to an actual pill for humans.
I'm just a bit concerned about the effect. While I'm sure it will would be nice to be able to eat all I want every day, without gaining weight, what will that do to my eating habits? Will I end up eating 3000+ kcal every day?
Will it mean I'll eventually NEED the pill to avoid gaining weight?
1
Replies
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Study if anyone is interested: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/361/6402/599
My question: what happens with fat-soluble vitamin absorption? They use the same mechanisms as dietary fats (i.e. the mechanism they blocked in these rats).0 -
Theres this pill going around and really popular with the women of asia. It's called Nakattakotoni it translates to (it didn't happen) from what i understand is that it eliminates/reduces the absorption of carbohydrates and makes it easier to maintain weight or lose it. I see my mother taking these pills right after eating carbs and her weight apparently stays the same. She said if she didn't take the pill then her weight would have spiked. Don't know anything more than that, but apparently it works.9
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A pill to prevent weight gain? Screwing around with the natural balance in your body is not a good thing. Even if they were successful in creating such a pill, it would likely wreak havoc on the body over time.
The irony is that if someone was ever successful in creating such a pill, the company that funded it would become the richest company in the world.
It's sad to know that instead of spending research funds on cures for diabetes, cancer and Alzheimer's, they opt for a weight loss pill....8 -
like the carb version of Alli? yikes7
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Screw that, I'd rather have research going towards myostasin inhibitors. (Half-kidding)2
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So assuming it works it is a pill that encourages people to waste food. Yeah....awesome. How about instead of becoming pathological about food consumption as a society we work instead towards viewing food as fuel and a limited resource because that is what it is.
I mean seriously..yeah, let's all overproduced food in developed wealthy nations and lower agricultural resources by depleting soils just so we can pop a pill and crap it all out without actually getting any value from having consumed it. Meanwhile in undeveloped nations people continue to suffer from malnutrition. That sounds like some sort of description of one if the levels of hell from Dante's inferno not something to strive to accomplish.36 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »So assuming it works it is a pill that encourages people to waste food. Yeah....awesome. His about instead of becoming pathological about food consumption as a society we work instead towards viewing food as fuel and a limited resource because that is what it is.
I mean seriously..yeah, let's all overproduced food in developed wealthy nations and lower agricultural resources by depleting soils just so we can pop a pill and crap it all out without actually getting any value from having consumed it. Meanwhile in undeveloped nations people continue to suffer from malnutrition. That sounds like some sort of description of one if the levels of hell from Dante's inferno not something to strive to accomplish.
Reminds one of the hedonism of cultures past, no? Ended well for them.6 -
I mean really?0
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Aaron_K123 wrote: »So assuming it works it is a pill that encourages people to waste food. Yeah....awesome. His about instead of becoming pathological about food consumption as a society we work instead towards viewing food as fuel and a limited resource because that is what it is.
I mean seriously..yeah, let's all overproduced food in developed wealthy nations and lower agricultural resources by depleting soils just so we can pop a pill and crap it all out without actually getting any value from having consumed it. Meanwhile in undeveloped nations people continue to suffer from malnutrition. That sounds like some sort of description of one if the levels of hell from Dante's inferno not something to strive to accomplish.
Reminds one of the hedonism of cultures past, no? Ended well for them.
Has anyone seen The Favourite? There is a particular scene that comes to mind.0 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »So assuming it works it is a pill that encourages people to waste food. Yeah....awesome. His about instead of becoming pathological about food consumption as a society we work instead towards viewing food as fuel and a limited resource because that is what it is.
I mean seriously..yeah, let's all overproduced food in developed wealthy nations and lower agricultural resources by depleting soils just so we can pop a pill and crap it all out without actually getting any value from having consumed it. Meanwhile in undeveloped nations people continue to suffer from malnutrition. That sounds like some sort of description of one if the levels of hell from Dante's inferno not something to strive to accomplish.
Reminds one of the hedonism of cultures past, no? Ended well for them.
Has anyone seen The Favourite? There is a particular scene that comes to mind.
I was thinking of the vomitorium in the Hunger Games. I'm guessing it's the same sort of thing.4 -
makkimakki2018 wrote: »Theres this pill going around and really popular with the women of asia. It's called Nakattakotoni it translates to (it didn't happen) from what i understand is that it eliminates/reduces the absorption of carbohydrates and makes it easier to maintain weight or lose it. I see my mother taking these pills right after eating carbs and her weight apparently stays the same. She said if she didn't take the pill then her weight would have spiked. Don't know anything more than that, but apparently it works.
So... Was she gaining weight before she started taking this pill? Or is she eating more carbs now that she has started taking them?0 -
don't they already have a fat blocking pill called Alli?0
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This has already been around for over a decade, it's called Alli. It blocks a certain percentage of fat but the side effects are oily poop and poopy oil leaking out your *kitten* after fatty meals. Needing a diaper to deal with the leakage is a not-uncommon experience from what I've read about Alli. If you're 'blocking' absorption, the fat has to go somewhere so I don't see how a different medication would work around this. I wonder if a carb blocker would be slightly less unpleasant because I would guess your anal sphincter might be a little better at holding back partially digested carbs compared to oil but in any case, why????
ETA from what I've read Alli really doesn't help people lose weight either. It doesn't block all fat and the weight loss difference was pretty negligible in the company's own studies if I remember correctly.0 -
Diet pills are a con and can be very dangerous too! They just make you crap out horrible oily gunk. I personally think they should be banned! I've seen the dangers of what they can do firsthand and it's nasty!2
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Aaron_K123 wrote: »So assuming it works it is a pill that encourages people to waste food. Yeah....awesome. How about instead of becoming pathological about food consumption as a society we work instead towards viewing food as fuel and a limited resource because that is what it is.
I mean seriously..yeah, let's all overproduced food in developed wealthy nations and lower agricultural resources by depleting soils just so we can pop a pill and crap it all out without actually getting any value from having consumed it. Meanwhile in undeveloped nations people continue to suffer from malnutrition. That sounds like some sort of description of one if the levels of hell from Dante's inferno not something to strive to accomplish.
You know what would be awesome? An app to bring those diet pills from the front door to the couch, so nobody has to get up, ever. Kind of like Uber Eats, but for things Amazon has already delivered.4 -
NorthCascades wrote: »Aaron_K123 wrote: »So assuming it works it is a pill that encourages people to waste food. Yeah....awesome. How about instead of becoming pathological about food consumption as a society we work instead towards viewing food as fuel and a limited resource because that is what it is.
I mean seriously..yeah, let's all overproduced food in developed wealthy nations and lower agricultural resources by depleting soils just so we can pop a pill and crap it all out without actually getting any value from having consumed it. Meanwhile in undeveloped nations people continue to suffer from malnutrition. That sounds like some sort of description of one if the levels of hell from Dante's inferno not something to strive to accomplish.
You know what would be awesome? An app to bring those diet pills from the front door to the couch, so nobody has to get up, ever. Kind of like Uber Eats, but for things Amazon has already delivered.
All we need is for Alexa to manage to get your door to physically open and for a drone to fly in with your diet pills. I'm sure this could be done (with a boat load of security risks...).1 -
I'm curious about why so many people react negatively to the idea of some kind of medication to help people who are overweight or obese to lose weight. Do you feel the same way about nicotine patches to help smokers quit smoking, or about alcohol (our body has no need of it; surely this is a waste of resources too?), or question people who drive their car to work then have to hit the gym to get exercise that they wouldn't need if they had ridden their bike?
Fact is our society has a huge fat problem (one-third of adults are overweight), and 95% of people who lose weight regain it. Something is really screwed up to create this endemic in the western world, and it is clearly not an easy problem to solve or else it would have been solved by now. (Do you really think people today are greedier and lazier than previous generations, or rather that something has changed either in our food chain or modern living that makes it harder for us to maintain a healthy weight?)
If hypothetically there was a pill that would help people maintain a steady healthy weight, this would literally save lives as it would presumably also greatly reduce the amount of obesity-related illness - diabetes, heart disease, etc. It would greatly improve the quality of lives not just for the millions who are overweight and obese, but also for their families, with flow on benefits to employers and general society.
That's not to say that the pill in the linked article meets the criteria for the hypothetical wonder pill. The article clearly outlines that it has only been trialled in mice and has some side-effects that would not be acceptable in humans. But if there was a medicine that helped people maintain a healthy weight without bad side effects, it would be a godsend.12 -
If people want to take it, let them take it lol. I'm personally opting in for 100% effective weight loss technology = eating less calories than you need, to lose weight. I don't think diet pills should be banned as someone here mentioned. Being fat is probably alot worse and it comes with many comorbidities and loss of quality of life than some side effects from medication.1
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I'm curious about why so many people react negatively to the idea of some kind of medication to help people who are overweight or obese to lose weight. Do you feel the same way about nicotine patches to help smokers quit smoking, or about alcohol (our body has no need of it; surely this is a waste of resources too?), or question people who drive their car to work then have to hit the gym to get exercise that they wouldn't need if they had ridden their bike?
Fact is our society has a huge fat problem (one-third of adults are overweight), and 95% of people who lose weight regain it. Something is really screwed up to create this endemic in the western world, and it is clearly not an easy problem to solve or else it would have been solved by now. (Do you really think people today are greedier and lazier than previous generations, or rather that something has changed either in our food chain or modern living that makes it harder for us to maintain a healthy weight?)
If hypothetically there was a pill that would help people maintain a steady healthy weight, this would literally save lives as it would presumably also greatly reduce the amount of obesity-related illness - diabetes, heart disease, etc. It would greatly improve the quality of lives not just for the millions who are overweight and obese, but also for their families, with flow on benefits to employers and general society.
That's not to say that the pill in the linked article meets the criteria for the hypothetical wonder pill. The article clearly outlines that it has only been trialled in mice and has some side-effects that would not be acceptable in humans. But if there was a medicine that helped people maintain a healthy weight without bad side effects, it would be a godsend.
I don't think people react wrong (at least not me) to the idea of a drug that helps people lose weight. The issue is the approach, which as they pointed out already, is an enormous waste of resources, and doesn't really seem to fix the issue either (I'm failing to see how a person that supposedly can eat all they want, then take a pill to only absorb some of those calories, will eventually learn self control and not become dependent on the pill for the rest of their life).
It's not the same thing as a nicotine patch, since those help *quit* smoking. The equivalent to the pill here would be a "patch" that allows a smoker to smoke all they want without the known side effects. There's no drug either that allows an alcoholic to keep drinking whatever they want without consequences. I also fail to see how the lack of alcohol or cigarettes will be detrimental for any society, as it obviously is in the case of food.
Producing food uses not only the soil were it was produced, but there's also large amounts of energy used in the farming, transporting, processing, storing, marketing.. And it requires lots of water, arguably the most important resource for human life. So it consumes soils, water, energy, and human resources. And in turn it produces wastes on packaging, on carbon foot print, contaminated water.. All this to feed someone that doesn't need it.
I think there's a fundamental moral issue with this drug, one that feeds individualism and consumerism. Wouldn't it be morally better to research a drug that focus on making a person less hungry without side effects? Or wouldn't it be better to put some effort into teaching people how to properly eat, or researching how we could better teach them, better reach them?10 -
I am asking myself (and others who carry too much weight with them) WHY some of us are overeating on a continuous basis. So many times I hear the same story: some psychological drama in one's life, often PTSD, situations people can't cope with adequately. It is always so easy to stuff my face - feels like instant love, instant gratification, instant satisfaction to sooth the hurting soul. Addressing the inner pain should come first and I do not mean in the form of medication only. I have been there - my second step now is to lose a total of about 80 kg (175 pounds).5
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