Ron Put

I am not entirely certain that oxalates are the evil responsible for it all. Studies are a mixed bag and individuals may have other conditions too. This is a bit broad, but it does mention oxalates too: Is There Such a Thing as “Anti-Nutrients”? A Narrative Review of Perceived Problematic Plant Compounds

You are a "true believer" and as all true believers, you acknowledge and absorb only information that reinforces your beliefs. This has become your identity and it explains why instead of addressing opposing arguments on their merits, you attack their sources. I wouldn't particularly care, but the true believers invariably attempt to enforce their beliefs on the rest of society, by force if necessary. This is why we ended up with the greatest societal disruption since WWII, and why locales such as San Francisco and Los Angeles continue to force everyone to wear masks while using public transport or Uber, after the CDC was forced to abandon the mandates and after Fauci himself declared the pandemic to be over. And despite the fact that the effectiveness of the mask mandates for the healthy is dubious at best, and contradicts numerous studies going back to the mid-1950s. You see the statement, but you do not seem to see or address the argument. See Todd's comment too, it may help. Yeah, well..., just like other viral and bacterial infections, including influenza. Also, my guess is that the lockdowns and isolation did a lot more damage to the cognitive abilities of the elderly than Covid. But nowadays any study with Covid in the name can get published and make headlines, and the scarier, the more viral it becomes and the more citations it gets. China started the lockdown snowball and Xi's reputation as a "great leader" and protector hinges on it. Just as it does for all the leaders who jumped on the bandwagon and locked up their population, suppressed debate, crashed their economies, and negatively impacted the long-term public health of the majority of the population. And lest we forget, it's worth repeating that the initial justification was that SARS-2 is not easily transmittable and it can be stopped by employing draconian measures: "On Monday, Tedros said, “We have never seen before a respiratory pathogen that’s capable of community transmission but at the same time which can also be contained with the right measures. If this was an influenza epidemic, we would have expected to see widespread community transmission across the globe by now and efforts to slow it down or contain it would not be feasible.” People should try to protect themselves individually from flu strains, said Mike Ryan, the head of the WHO’s emergencies program, but at a societal and global level, “we don’t necessarily attempt to contain or stop them because we fundamentally believe they will spread unabated.”

This is better than most of Patrick's interviews, which are all too often akin to infomercials.

For those interested in 20th-century Russian history, and especially in Stalin, the best I have read is Stephen Kotkin's "Stalin" (the last volume is not out yet). He is probably my favorite Russian historian and analyst currently. Here are videos discussing the first two Stalin volumes (it's a large body of work): Volume I, part 1: Volume I, part 2: Volume II part 1: Volume II part 2:

It makes sense to me. I have cut my total fat intake significantly since I've been on this forum, based on what I've learned. And I can still remember my password...

It's dangerous to make predictions, but my guess is that a global war is not highly likely. Russia, despite its imperial ambitions, is not a superpower. Its economy is the size of Italy's and while it has lower internal costs, it cannot sustain a protracted war. With sanctions in place and with the exodus of some of its best and brightest, it also lacks the high-tech know-how to remain competitive. Putin may be a dying man in a hurry, and that makes him dangerous. It also means that attempts at apeasement won't work. But Russia's army is no match for NATO's troops. The war has not yet really impacted the major cities in Russia, but once they run out of Syrians and Chechens to do the dirty work, and of Siberian peasant conscripts, body bags with middle-class kids from Moscow and St. Petersburg will have an impact on the current nationalist fervor. The West should make sure that it provides better military equipment to Ukraine, and be ready to rebuild it after the destruction that the Russians are sowing there. My heart goes out to the Ukrainians. China is not ready for war and Xi is not stupid, so I think Russia will be largely on its own. India will have to eventually make a choice, and if it makes the wrong choice, there should be real consequences. My guess is that we are in a new Cold War, but other than Russia, nobody else has an appetite for a global hot war.

Again, for those under 40 Covid was less dangerous than bad flu. Your anecdote doesn't change that fact. Neither does willful ignorance of the similarities between other common infections and this coronavirus, including longer-term effects. The lockdowns and the fear were far more harmful to that group, and to the whole society, and the consequences were predictable. But open debate was snuffed out, opposing views and inconvenient data banned, and people personally attacked, fired, or had their careers destroyed. The impact of deferred treatment, increased drug use, depression and obesity, and often permanent job losses is yet to be fully felt. The trillions of borrowed money doled out by the state over the last two years is the main reason for the rising inflation and for the mass exodus of low-skilled workers from the job market. Similarly to above, neither ignorance nor engaging in magical thinking change the way basic economics works.

I'd be very suspicious of whatever number it shows for BP and temperature (it may still have value as a temperature trend tracker). For HR, get a chest strap and go above 150 bpm several times and compare the results. BTW, what brand/model did you get?

This is an absurd assumption unless your employees are all seniors. Those under 40 were generally less affected by COVID than by a bout of bad flu. The inflation and the reason why there is a shortage of younger employees is because of the lockdowns and crashed economy. The lockdowns were the excuse for canceled student loans, free rent, free business subsidies, and the other billions printed and doled out first by Trump and the House Democrats, and mostly blue states like California, NY, and NJ. Once Biden came in, it became a deluge, because the Left's economists really, really believed that rates will never again go up in the new woke economy. Between all the subsidies, it was more profitable for many to stay home and watch TV than to go to work. That's why one couldn't get an Uber... As to long COVID, many other infections cause long-lasting effects. Even a mild bout of the flu causes lung scarring in 40% of young subjects for as long as 60 days after they were infected. But I guess COVID makes better headlines, and together with Putin makes for a better PR story for the Democrats about why we have such high inflation. Based on your post, it seems to work.

I found this immunology 101 lecture to be particularly informative:

Tea, a couple of caveats: Do not confuse the Samsung watch with the cheap Chinese brands advertising BP sensors. I am not aware of a single Chinese brand that can even deliver good Heart Rate accuracy when doing strenuous exercise, so I would not take any of the BP claims at face value. In fact, Samsung, and to an extent Fitbit, are also less than accurate for strenuous exercise. Only dedicated sports watches such as Garmin manage to be close, as does Apple Watch. The difficulties with precise measurements are why Apple is likely to implement BP as showing trend-only feature, warning of high BP trends but not providing exact numbers. But let's forget accuracy. The other major difference is that mccoy's bracelet tracks continuously, at least during the night, while Samsung doesn't. IMO, this defeats the purpose, as the watch is not as accurate and is generally more expensive than a dedicated BP monitor, and the main advantage I can see for a wearable is continuous tracking.

AP, you appear to be under the impression that all who question the numbers and the policies do it because of ideology and this is why they "put so much effort." These are all valid questions, even if you repeatedly refuse to acknowledge it. It is not ideology, it's in fact reasonably informed opinion based on available evidence. It's not a matter of religious beliefs, yet the Left actively and with religious zeal suppressed open discussion, and persecuted and destroyed those who raised questions and expressed different opinions. This is unprecedented and it should greatly trouble anyone who is not an ideologue or a true believer, regardless on which side of what should have been a reasoned debate they fall.

I guess it's imperative to compare each patch to a blood glucose monitor, otherwise one will not be aware if the patch data is faulty. Bummer, as I am prick-averse and was hoping to pick up a patch when traveling to a country where they are available without a prescription.

mccoy, did you take a baseline before starting berberine? What dosage are you taking? My own berberine experiment was a failure based on blood tests, and I still doubt its effectiveness. But I may be wrong. I did my berberine experiment during a period when I also received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine, and while at the time I did not seriously entertain the idea that the vaccine may have affected my blood measurements, maybe it did after all. I might try another round of berberine after I do my next blood panel. I will again suggest that high-fat diets increase insulin resistance, which would then result in higher spikes when ingesting even whole carbs. It's a vicious circle falsely leading one to attribute the problem to carbs. Based on what I read, it makes sense to me. Don't have the time to do better research, but here is a rat study that pops up at the top of the list: Effect of high fat diet on insulin resistance: dietary fat versus visceral fat mass. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether chronic high-fat diet (HF) induces insulin resistance independently of obesity. We randomly divided 40 rats into two groups and fed them either with a HF or with a high-carbohydrate diet (HC) for 8 weeks. Whole body glucose disappearance rate (Rd) was measured using a euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp. Firstly, we defined whether insulin resistance by HF was associated with obesity. Plasma glucose and triglyceride concentrations were significantly increased in HF. Rd was decreased (10.6+/-0.2 vs. 9.1+/-0.2 mg/kg/min in HC and HF, respectively) and the hepatic glucose output rate (HGO) was increased in HF (2.2+/-0.3 vs. 4.5+/-0.2 mg/kg/min in HC and HF, respectively). Rd was significantly correlated with %VF (p<0.01). These results implicate that visceral obesity is associated with insulin resistance induced by HF. In addition, to define whether dietary fat induces insulin resistance regardless of visceral obesity, we compared Rd and HGO between groups 1) after matching %VF in both groups and 2) using an ANCOVA to adjust for %VF. After matching %VF, Rd in HF was significantly decreased by 14% (p<0.001) and HGO was significantly increased by 110% (p<0.001). Furthermore, statistical analyses using an ANCOVA also showed Rd for HF was significantly decreased even after adjusting %VF. In conclusion, we suggest that dietary fat per se could induce insulin resistance in rats fed with chronic HF independently of obesity.

As Todd already notes, there are some valid questions about the death count that need to be answered before we accept the CDC tally. Let me add my grain of salt. The politicization and weaponization of COVID against political opponents (in the US, by the Left against Trump) created an environment where established guidelines and practices were dramatically changed or completely reversed based on hysterical media coverage and Twitter mob sentiment. Public policy was suddenly driven by politics, fear, and unprecedented suppression of scientific and public debate. Dissenting voices by reputable scientists were attacked at a personal level and careers were destroyed. Attending physicians were disciplined and deplatformed for even discussing possible off-label treatments with otherwise long-used and safe drugs. Cuomo and Newsom, the first in the US to break with established practice and follow China, were hailed as the "True Leaders" by the media and the Left, for suspending basic rights, imposing mask mandates, and crashing the economy. While looking at the 2020 death numbers, we should remember that the definitions of "infection rates" and "death rates" were fundamentally changed at the beginning of the epidemic. Here are some of the problems I see: 1 - The CDC changed guidelines for the certification of COVID-19 deaths in April of 2020,. Mass PCR testing was already having an enormous impact, and adding postmortem test recommendations exacerbated the problem. And politically-motivated local authorities in places like NY retroactively added the "maybe" COVID dead to the rolls. These changes were unprecedented in the middle of an epidemic and completely broke with established practices, not only increasing the number of "COVID deaths" but also making it impossible to compare with past epidemics. 2 - PCR testing, arguably unsuitable for the purpose, was broadly mandated regardless of the presentation of symptoms. Such testing, done on such a massive scale was a complete departure from established practice norms, and the CDC recommended 42+ cycle tests, now widely acknowledged as ridiculous. But it did serve the purpose of driving up the number of "COVID deaths," as well as spawning a rapidly expanding COVID testing industry that still refuses to die, costing us all billions. 3. The CARES Act perverse financial incentives rewarding providers with a 20% additional reimbursement for a COVID diagnosis likely increased the number of COVID deaths such providers certified. In addition, the HHS allotted $10 Billion for hospitals in "high impacted areas" and California got an additional $50000 per diagnosed COVID patient. They even added $9000 of Federal funeral reimbursement for all COVID deaths. 4. Perhaps most important were the lockdowns and the fear, driven by politicians, bureaucrats, and the legacy and social media, which resulted in an unprecedented drop in emergency and hospital visits by the most vulnerable. The Spring and Summer of 2020 saw a 40% drop in emergency room visits, almost certainly resulting in a significant number of unnecessary deaths, many chalked up as "COVID deaths." We desperately need a postmortem of the public policies of the last two years to ensure that we never allow the same mistakes to be made again. Unfortunately, just like with the Wuhan lab, bureaucratic cover-up, political biases and media biases, and the threat to vested interests will make it unlikely that we will know the truth, at least within our lifetime. P.S. @AP: You really should stop attacking the platform or the author, instead of addressing the argument. It's silly, immature, and contributes nothing to the discussion.

This is a good interview with Musk:

I don't know if Queen Mary University's Norman Fenton's statistical analysis has been posted here before, but I think it's rather important that it'd be included in the discussion, as he makes some good points. One may agree or disagree on the merit, but the fact that he was permanently banned from You YouTube and most other common public square venues is reprehensible and is dangerous to our society and democracy. https://rumble.com/embed/vrbbxv/?pub=eqnlt

The Omicron variant is so mild that for most is effectively the equivalent of a mild cold, if they develop symptoms at all. The only reason we are even talking about it is the absurd mass testing still going on, which of course drives the number of "infections." As Stanford's Michael Levitt noted at the beginning, if we did such mass testing for the flu, we would likely have a similar number of infections and a similar number of deaths in bad seasons. And this point this has nothing to do with science, but with vested interests, money, and fear-driven stupidity/conformity. And politics, of course.

Fair enough. But if one is healthy it may be best to wait for more solid evidence of benefits, and more importantly, safety. Even if mild, things like insulin resistance and hyperlipidemia should give one a pause. Mouth ulcers are often a sign of inflammation and are common in diabetics. Of course, it's an individual choice. My point above was that the video was effectively an infomercial, not even mentioning well-known detrimental effects (unless I missed it).

Yes. It is a stark example of how fragile democracy is and how easily it can be dismantled by populists. Fear and "enemies" have been a traditional tool of autocrats, and Covid and Trump provided both, aided by most of the media and social media censorship. In a way, Putin not only united Ukraine for the first time in centuries but also woke up the Western democracies. I hope the woke slumber fades for good, or we'll live to see the demise of the liberal democracies, and the return of the default authoritarian political rule mode predominant for most of human history. Oh, they just extended the mask transportation rules, even though the evidence for their effectiveness is dubious, at best. Now "The Science" says that we have always been at war with Oceania, and nobody remembers otherwise... Excessive zinc supplementation can be dangerous to your health

If I recall, long-term rapamycin use also causes hyperlipidemia and insulin resistance...

Are you still tracking, mccoy? I had not taken a blood pressure measurement for over two months and just started measuring over the last few days. I have been sort of on a health streak over the last two months, with virtually no alcohol, no oils, regular exercise, mostly regular sleep, and only about 10 restaurant meals (lower sodium and fat). I have been taking L-citrulline (3g) and ubiquinol, in addition to my B12 and D. To my surprise, my blood pressure is now consistently lower, with systolic mostly below 100. I am pretty happy about it and wonder if the L-citrulline is at least partially responsible 🙂

Yep. And it took a life of its own, turning established public health science on its head and politicizing it to an extent unseen since the early days of the USSR. The video below is a great discussion of the currents in the last couple of years, with the first part focussing on the unprecedented in recent times censorship and then touches on broader subjects, including the crazy fear, how healthy people ended up being locked up, and masked:

Interesting. Although I've always been amazed at the prevalence, even among scientists, of the notion that somehow humans are dramatically different than other animals. It makes no evolutionary sense. Evolutionary pressures would suggest that sentience is a continuum, with variations among species, but also among individuals within the same species, to a much lesser extent. Anyway, it's one of the reasons I have decided not to eat animal flesh, and over the last few years, any animal products.

Thanks, Clinton. I think I'll give glycine alone a try, it has a fairly long history and it's a relatively common supplement, especially among the fitness crowd apparently, and it doesn't appear to cause any significant adverse effects. I already started taking it, mixing about 2g with my morning matcha powder and L-citrulline powder, which I've been taking regularly for about three months now. I don't know if the L-citrulline has contributed to my general blood pressure drop lately, with an average over the past week or so of about 98/64 (I had not checked my BP since January). For someone close to 60, this is not bad, without any meds, so I am pleased.