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PaperclipPerfector  26d ago (text post)   1721 thread views

Wellness Wednesday for May 15, 2024

The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:

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There have been so many great comments and threads about increasing longevity, but the only thread I can find through search-fu is a lil old.

Assume I know that what I really need to do is eat less, exercise more, and be happy. I agree.

But I'm now in a place I want to solve problems with money and convenience instead of hard work. I'm willing to take on a reasonable amount of risk for unproven supplements. To summarize the previous thread, some hot topics included:

  • Creatine (already a convert, love it)
  • Boring stuff (Fish Oil, Vitamin D, Vitamin C - none of which I take right now)
  • Phenibut (Very interesting, and I occasionally have high-stakes meetings I could see using this for but haven't pulled the trigger)

What else would you suggest or discuss?

Really going to lean into "in a grey area". I'd be incredibly careful with phenibut, it's extremely dangerous and addictive.

For longevity: Rapamycin

For focus/attention/productivity: Phenylpiracetam (it's harder to get now from good suppliers in the US now because of a "soft ban" by the FDA, and I think phenotropil in Russia was potentially discontinued a bit back).

... in fact, you can probably look at a lot of OTC Russian pharmaceuticals:

  • Selank
  • Semax
  • Cerebrolysin
  • Mildronate
  • Noopept
  • Picamilon
  • Bemethyl
  • Emoxypine

YMMV, of all of these I've tried: Phenylpiracetam, Emoxypine, Selank, and Semax (the latter two in Russia, I have a lot of phenylpiracetam leftover from when nootropicsdepot used to sell it). I really like phenylpiracetam.

I would suggest supplements are largely unproven and bordering on s snake oil, but you seem to know this. Without plunging into impossible goals there are always apps that will not only adjust any workout to your own level with incrementally increasing difficulty, but also make suggestions about what you should be eating. I'd also offer that the mindset of trying to supplement one's way to health and forego the hard work will very likely not produce satisfactory results.

I agree with you on all counts. I don't dismiss eating less and exercising more because I don't want or need to do those things, just that they're already such table stake requirements that it should be a given.

The eating less part is very difficult for me since I'm a fast food addict and consider eating one of life's great joys. But I cycle 75 miles a week and do full-body workouts frequently as well.

increasing longevity

According to marketing literature:

  • Bioavailable CoQ10 - CoQ10 functions as a carrier to transfer electrons across the membrane of the mitochondria to drive production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), or cellular energy.
  • NAD+ precursors (including Nicotinamide Mononucleotide and Nicotinamide Riboside) - may help support overall cell proliferation. NAD+ levels decrease as we age which leads to the belief that lowered NAD+ levels are responsible for lower energy levels
  • Astragaloside IV (a compound in Astragalus membranaceus) - can enhance telomere length. Telomeres are protective caps on the end of our DNA, which helps ensure proper DNA replication. However, the older we get, the shorter our telomeres become. Due to this, telomere shortening is often seen as a hallmark of aging.
  • Peptides - I have no idea about these but they are building blocks of certain proteins needed by the skin, like collagen and elastin.

Personally, the first 2 seemed to give me a mild energy boost for a few hours. It is hard to say if they did much beyond that. I was only taking them 1-2x a week and not daily.

I would enjoy seeing more discussion on these because my research is from a biased source (a nootropics seller).

There was some discussion about fisetin a few years back. I recall some said it cleared up their brain fog while others said it had no noticeable effect. If you don't want to buy the stuff you can always just eat a bunch of strawberries and it might amount to the same thing.

I feel like @FiveHourMarathon might have worthwhile input here.

He is of a noble lift-bro tribe that my elders (Mark Rippetoe) have told legends of.

I'm honored to be summoned.

Assume I know that what I really need to do is eat less, exercise more, and be happy. I agree.

But I'm now in a place I want to solve problems with money and convenience instead of hard work.

I'd view this formula more as a process: Spend Money To >>> Make Things Convenient So You Can >>> Eat Less, Exercise More, Be Happy

Target places in your life where you can use a little bit of money intelligently to improve your life outcomes, and don't be ashamed to spend it. Buy books, spend a little on going out in the right places, don't be afraid to buy a more expensive item when it's the right one.

Fitness wise, Home Gym Master Race is for me. I'm aware I could have bought about 1/5 of the things I have purchased and stuck with them, I don't really need a rack and barbells and kettlebells and a landmine and a moonboard and a rowing machine and an AirDyne bike. There are people who got fitter than me without most any of that. I often go months, or even years, barely using different items. But I come back around to them when I'm in the mood. Rather than having a barbell and forcing myself to stick to it even if I'm hating it, when I get bored of one thing I switch around. I climb for a while, then switch to working on my deadlift, then try to hit a KB pentathlon, etc. Obviously I'd be better at any one thing if I stuck to it, but I don't know that I would stick to it.

As for supplements for working out/QoL, if you're done breeding you should probably skip the minor leagues and just get on TRT at some point. I've fooled around with supplements and will probably continue to, but I'm aware that I'm nibbling around the edges while leaving the big money on the table. Because of that breeding thing, mainly. I did find that Collagen pills tended to help with minor finger injuries from climbing. The biotin in them also causes hair growth/health to improve, but for me it only seems to impact the unfortunate areas of hair (nose, pubic) rather than the ones I'd actually want.

I will say on a prior recommendation from TheMotte, I ordered a shit-ton (for me) of Modafinil online, and I've found it super useful in that I can just decide not to sleep one night, or power through a day when I didn't sleep the night before. I take half of one pill, 50mg, before an all night party or when I'm spending all night reviewing contracts. This happens maybe once a month, but when it does it's a lifesaver. But that's just me, I happen to have the opposite of whatever the alcoholism gene is, so the risk profile may be different for you if that doesn't hold, I know some people online report problems with it but they're using it a lot more than me.

if you're done breeding you should probably skip the minor leagues and just get on TRT

What's the book on using TRT before or during trying to have kids?

It can cause your sperm count to drop and ending treatment doesn't necessarily fix the problem. One very much wants to avoid the roller coaster of needing fertility treatments to increase the sperm counts that you made low.

It's also philosophical for me, in my mind for a citizen it doesn't make sense until one is late 30s early 40s. In the same way that I'm much more ok with plastic surgery in older women than in younger women. An older woman is taking a shot at improving what is likely to be a bad hand, a younger woman risks messing up her best years. "Done breeding" corresponds in my mind with "I've done everything I'm likely to do without TRT, and am likely hitting my physical decline phase."

Nicotinamide Riboside: https://www.thorne.com/products/dp/resveracel

Fiber supplements?

Love it, but looking for more cutting edge grey market supplements/drugs in the vein of Phenibut

I would suggest employing a cook and a personal trainer.

That's a bit more money than I'm willing to spend to solve problems, I already have a SAHM wife which is a big investment.

So you're saying you do employ a cook!

As a guy that works from home, I'm the de facto cook for the house. It really is a nice perk for everyone to be able to do this kind of division of labor.

The difference between a wife and a paid cook is that a cook won't tell you "fuck you, I ain't cooking a separate meal for you just because you've read another longevity shitbook"

I wonder how much time you need to spend reading up on longevity extensions before it becomes a net negative by detracting from other things you can do with your life expectancy.

Can't say I'm particularly bothered, I expect that medical science will bail me out of any poor decisions I make in the next decade or two, not that I don't keep an occasional finger on that pulse.

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