6 ms·

One or two commentators on Reddit suggested that regular exercise and a healthy diet could work as well. Can anyone confirm or refute this?

andrewljohnson 17y ago
I don't think it takes a lot of confirmation to believe that regular exercise and a healthy diet will have a tremendous impact on everything you do. But, if you need a bit... it works for me. When I am hiking or skiing 3-4 times a week, I get a lot more done.
- afterz 17y ago
  Exercise worked for me too. It makes a GREAT difference on me, even an hour day of exercise counts. I don't know how to make my diet better.
- Eliezer 17y ago
  Big lie as far as I can tell. I'd like to see exercise tested against a placebo.
  - msg 17y ago
    http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/preventionprogram/ http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/preventionprogram/ Here's one better. It's a type 2 diabetes study that compared exercise against metformin against a placebo. The conclusions were so overwhelmingly in favor of exercise that the study was stopped early.
    - radu_floricica 17y ago
      This study is about type 2 diabetes. The question here is on the effects of exercise as compared to mind-enhancing drugs.
  - rms 17y ago
    ...really? It seems stunningly obvious to me that exercise and a good diet is good for overall health and mental health. I think the burden of proof is on you here. Or are you just positing that exercise+diet has no impact on productivity, not health?
  - AngryParsley 17y ago
    I had to dig around for a while, but exercise seems to have a slight beneficial effect in the general population. From http://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Abstract/1997/10000/Aerobic_capacity_and_cognitive_performance_in_a.13.aspx http://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Abstract/1997/10000/Aerobi... : Two of four subtasks that reflect complex cognitive speed (Stroop color/word interference and Concept Shifting Test) showed main and interaction effects with age of aerobic capacity in a hierarchical regression analysis, accounting for up to 5% of variance in parameter score after correction for age, sex, and intelligence main effects. Still, that study is rather weak evidence. The benefits could be relegated to preventing decline in older people. Anecdotally, I do feel duller on days when I don't run; even if I didn't, I'd still exercise. It helps me relieve stress. In terms of general benefits, most people would be better off if they exercised more, not less. I mean it's not like fit people wake up one day, look at a mirror and see a firm, toned body with six-pack abs then scream at the sky, "Nooooo! Why me?!"
daveungerer 17y ago
The person who started the thread said the following in response to a question similar to yours: I agree that regular exercise, a healthy diet, proper sleep, and a good schedule is a great solution most of the time.
lsc 17y ago
well, Ritalin, at least, is supposed to do different things to someone who has ADD than to someone who does not, (I mean, personally, I can sleep while taking the stuff) but for me, exercise and diet help, but not 1/10th as much as the drugs. (Note, my experience has been that exercise /and/ the drugs work much better than the drugs by themselves.)
tvon 17y ago
I'm in a lazy state at the moment (where I have lived most of my life), but during periods where I exercised regularly I have had much more energy and drive. It really is habit forming, though once you fall out it's hard to get back in. After all, being lazy is habit forming too, and once you've stopped accounting for gym time in your day it can be hard to start squeezing it back in.
pheon 17y ago
what ive found is a 0 sugar, 0 bread, very low-carb diet makes a huge difference in my ability to focus. as your no longer riding the daily ups and downs of the blood sugar roller coaster. .. certainly not easy to kick sugar/bread/milk habit.
orangecat 17y ago
I'll be the outlier: as far as I can tell exercise does absolutely nothing for me mentally. I've started exercising more in the last year to improve my health and appearance (to be honest, not in that order), and have gotten some positive results there, but I've noticed no short or long term change in my cognitive skills or ability to focus.

andrewljohnson 17y ago

I don't think it takes a lot of confirmation to believe that regular exercise and a healthy diet will have a tremendous impact on everything you do. But, if you need a bit... it works for me. When I am hiking or skiing 3-4 times a week, I get a lot more done.

afterz 17y ago
Exercise worked for me too. It makes a GREAT difference on me, even an hour day of exercise counts. I don't know how to make my diet better.
Eliezer 17y ago
Big lie as far as I can tell. I'd like to see exercise tested against a placebo.
- msg 17y ago
  http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/preventionprogram/ http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/preventionprogram/ Here's one better. It's a type 2 diabetes study that compared exercise against metformin against a placebo. The conclusions were so overwhelmingly in favor of exercise that the study was stopped early.
  - radu_floricica 17y ago
    This study is about type 2 diabetes. The question here is on the effects of exercise as compared to mind-enhancing drugs.
- rms 17y ago
  ...really? It seems stunningly obvious to me that exercise and a good diet is good for overall health and mental health. I think the burden of proof is on you here. Or are you just positing that exercise+diet has no impact on productivity, not health?
- AngryParsley 17y ago
  I had to dig around for a while, but exercise seems to have a slight beneficial effect in the general population. From http://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Abstract/1997/10000/Aerobic_capacity_and_cognitive_performance_in_a.13.aspx http://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Abstract/1997/10000/Aerobi... : Two of four subtasks that reflect complex cognitive speed (Stroop color/word interference and Concept Shifting Test) showed main and interaction effects with age of aerobic capacity in a hierarchical regression analysis, accounting for up to 5% of variance in parameter score after correction for age, sex, and intelligence main effects. Still, that study is rather weak evidence. The benefits could be relegated to preventing decline in older people. Anecdotally, I do feel duller on days when I don't run; even if I didn't, I'd still exercise. It helps me relieve stress. In terms of general benefits, most people would be better off if they exercised more, not less. I mean it's not like fit people wake up one day, look at a mirror and see a firm, toned body with six-pack abs then scream at the sky, "Nooooo! Why me?!"

daveungerer 17y ago

The person who started the thread said the following in response to a question similar to yours: I agree that regular exercise, a healthy diet, proper sleep, and a good schedule is a great solution most of the time.

lsc 17y ago

well, Ritalin, at least, is supposed to do different things to someone who has ADD than to someone who does not, (I mean, personally, I can sleep while taking the stuff) but for me, exercise and diet help, but not 1/10th as much as the drugs. (Note, my experience has been that exercise /and/ the drugs work much better than the drugs by themselves.)

tvon 17y ago

I'm in a lazy state at the moment (where I have lived most of my life), but during periods where I exercised regularly I have had much more energy and drive. It really is habit forming, though once you fall out it's hard to get back in. After all, being lazy is habit forming too, and once you've stopped accounting for gym time in your day it can be hard to start squeezing it back in.

pheon 17y ago

what ive found is a 0 sugar, 0 bread, very low-carb diet makes a huge difference in my ability to focus. as your no longer riding the daily ups and downs of the blood sugar roller coaster. .. certainly not easy to kick sugar/bread/milk habit.

orangecat 17y ago

I'll be the outlier: as far as I can tell exercise does absolutely nothing for me mentally. I've started exercising more in the last year to improve my health and appearance (to be honest, not in that order), and have gotten some positive results there, but I've noticed no short or long term change in my cognitive skills or ability to focus.