Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by nikkwong 978 days ago
Red meat is not necessarily high in omega 6, and on the contrary grass fed meat can be high in omega 3. Also the debate is still out on whether or not omega 6 is inflammatory or not, and even omega 6 rich nuts are probably health promoting in typical quantities. From my understanding gluten is probably fine for those that don’t have a sensitivity. I think you should caveat your claims about diet since we don’t totally know to an absolute manner yet.
2 comments
blueorange8 978 days ago
My understanding is that you need a balance between omega 6 and omega 3 and omega 6 is not necessarily bad if its the right ratio between 6 and 3
link
datameta 978 days ago
Fair enough, I'll rephrase it this way: most large mammal meat causes inflammation for me and my partner, whereas chicken, turkey, fish, rabbit, etc are all fine (and I should say I used to basically eat meat with carbs). As far as omega fatty acids are concerned, I believe one shouldn't let their omega-6 and omega-9 levels be much higher than omega-3. Gluten is associated with all sorts of issues that I think we will be learning more about in the next few years. There are plenty of alternatives so that one is easy for me. I can still make pasta (chickpea, lentil, brown rice), and use tortillas (almond, chickpea, cassava).
link
scubadude 978 days ago
How can you possibly measure inflammation much less attribute it to a single variable?
link
notamy 977 days ago
> How can you possibly measure inflammation

There’s a number of inflammation markers in the blood that can be measured directly via lab test (cRP, ESR, blood cell counts, ...).

link
datameta 977 days ago
Exactly this, I get regular blood work. On top of that, I can feel the inflammation. It is pressure, or warmth. It's a very obvious bodily reaction. Now of course for the average immune system the effects would be more subtle, but could still be noticed in energy levels, focus/attention, etc. And even if not noticeable, low-grade inflammation long term is one of the main factors of age-related decline.

As for attributing a body's reaction to a single food, there's something called the elimination diet where one isolates the variables one at a time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elimination_diet?wprov=sfla1

link