[baak]

>> " I read a textbook on physiological chemistry"

>> "I'd been reading a lot of books on biology"

Well award this man a degree already. Am I the only one who doesn't trust these kinds of qualifications? A software engineer who is a hobbyist bio-chemist is telling me about a system that "costs 150 a month, cures skin diseases in 9 days, will get you in the best shape of your life, and tastes great." (per his blog)

Really? I mean... really, really? If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And in this case, it's probably very dangerous as well.

[JoeAltmaier]

Maybe not as dangerous as a stead diet of McD's. See it in persepective. He's at least trying, not just stuffing his mouthhole with salt-sugar-fat crap.

[withad]

A steady diet of McDonald's (or any equivalent fast food) isn't nearly as inherently dangerous as things like "Super Size Me" would have you believe. Morgan Spurlock was eating 5000 calories of McDonald's a day, with most of it coming from the milkshakes, not the solid food. If you force-feed yourself 5000 calories of anything every day for a month, you're going to have health problems.

[JoeAltmaier]

Right. Human physiology is incredibly resilient. Populations around the world have subsisted on the most amazing limited diets with fair success.

Fast food won't kill you. At least not right away. This stuff won't kill you. At least not right away. The alarmists are as wrong as the op.

[ciupicri]

The "Fat Head" movie is good response to the "Super Size Me". It proves that eating at McDonald's isn't as bad as one might think and it also presents a lot of other interesting stuff.

[baak]

Nobody is claiming steady McD's is healthy. There are actually people on the OP link and this thread who are posting that they want to try his system. That's what is scary.

This paragraph from his blog:

"I feel like the six million dollar man. My physique has noticeably improved, my skin is clearer, my teeth whiter, my hair thicker and my dandruff gone. My resting heart rate is lower, I haven't felt the least bit sickly, rare for me this time of year. I've had a common skin condition called Keratosis Pilaris since birth. That was gone by day 9. I used to run less than a mile at the gym, now I can run 7. I have more energy than I know what to do with. On day 4 I caught myself balancing on the curb and jumping on and off the sidewalk when crossing the street like I used to do when I was a kid. People gave me strange looks but I just smiled back. Even my scars look better."

Do you really trust this? Sensationalist at best. He's claiming that the diet helped him read a geometry book in one weekend and a string theory book in one sitting and a bunch of other mental heroics. How on Earth do people not see this as too good to be true?

[trentlott]

Being that he didn't actually tell us what was in his formula, I smell an amateur (or not-so) marketing campaign.

[justforyoutrent]

He actually specifies exactly what's in his formula on his blog:

http://robrhinehart.com/?p=424

He's apparently even willing to ship you a batch of his own concoction for free if you agree to try it out for a week with blood tests before and after.

[zanny]

How else would you suggest he gets qualified to try something new?

Because saying you need a masters in biology is short sighted like you can onyl develop the necessary skills in a singular environment.

Reading is the most effective information transfer methodology we have besides hands on engagement learning, and I don't see many circumstances where you can get hands on experience brewing nutrient sludge.

[baak]

Read the claims he's making on his blog and tell me they're not sensationalist. We're expected to believe he's become some sort of a super human because of a 900 calorie liquid synthetic diet that he invented with no formal training what-so-ever.

http://robrhinehart.com/?p=298

Under Results -> Qualitative.

And yes, reading is effective learning. I'll put it in perspective though: A biologist who dabbles in comp sci during his free time tells you he's invented a new sorting algorithm. This algorithm performs in O(1) in best, worst, and average case, shattering any proofs to the contrary. Here's the catch though: he's the only one using the sort. Every biologist who knows anything about computer scientist posts: I want to try this! But they can't because he is only using it for himself for now. Now... the biologists on their forums are looking at this and going, 'Wow! He's revolutionized Computer Science!'

Sounds legit, though.

[Jtsummers]

  But on day 3 I noticed my heart was racing and my energy 
  level was suddenly dropping. Hemoglobin! I think, my 
  heart is having trouble getting enough oxygen to all my 
  organs. I check my formula and realize iron is 
  completely absent. 

That part strikes me as odd. I'm prone to iron deficient anemia, but a few fasting days doesn't cause any major issues for me. Something else was going on that day, or he has some other health issue. But yes, very sensationalized story telling.

[epmatsw]

The difference being that basic computer science algorithms are very very well studied and understood, while human nutrition is not at all. In your example, computer scientists would argue against the conclusion based on knowledge, while biologists are arguing against this based on not knowing what will happen and assuming (likely correctly) that the results will be harmful. It's a far less powerful position to be in.