Ask Science

9189 readers

33 users here now

Ask a science question, get a science answer.

Community Rules

Rule 1: Be respectful and inclusive.

Treat others with respect, and maintain a positive atmosphere.

Rule 2: No harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or trolling.

Avoid any form of harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or offensive behavior.

Rule 3: Engage in constructive discussions.

Contribute to meaningful and constructive discussions that enhance scientific understanding.

Rule 4: No AI-generated answers.

Strictly prohibit the use of AI-generated answers. Providing answers generated by AI systems is not allowed and may result in a ban.

Rule 5: Follow guidelines and moderators' instructions.

Adhere to community guidelines and comply with instructions given by moderators.

Rule 6: Use appropriate language and tone.

Communicate using suitable language and maintain a professional and respectful tone.

Rule 7: Report violations.

Report any violations of the community rules to the moderators for appropriate action.

Rule 8: Foster a continuous learning environment.

Encourage a continuous learning environment where members can share knowledge and engage in scientific discussions.

Rule 9: Source required for answers.

Provide credible sources for answers. Failure to include a source may result in the removal of the answer to ensure information reliability.

By adhering to these rules, we create a welcoming and informative environment where science-related questions receive accurate and credible answers. Thank you for your cooperation in making the Ask Science community a valuable resource for scientific knowledge.

We retain the discretion to modify the rules as we deem necessary.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

What metrics can scientist get from the human body to judge what has been recently eaten (self.askscience)

submitted 3 days ago by Modern_medicine_isnt to c/askscience

6 comments fedilink hide all child comments

So, AI can do a lot of things. But it needs input data. So I was thinking, do we currently have any technology that could generate metrics that an AI might be able to train on such that it could estimate calories gotten from a meal. Not what was in the food, but what the body actually absorbed.

Obviously it could be used to make a killer diet tracking app. Cause tracking what you eat is the worst part.

And collecting the metric doesn't have to be "practical" today. This is just more of a thought experiment. So if currently it would require multiple blood tests per day or something, that would still be interesting to me.

top 6 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

You could probably get quite a bit of useful data by doing gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry on someone's breath and/or sweat.

Of course, you can't put a GC-MS in an app, but you explicitly stated that "practicality" was not a concern :)

[–] Modern_medicine_isnt 1 points 3 days ago

Hm, I don't know much detail about those thing. My base knowledge is that those tests would help determine how much of what molecules? was in your breath. But how does that connect to what you absorbed from food?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Stool samples can probably generate the best data set.

[–] Modern_medicine_isnt 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Hm. Well I did say what was eaten at the top. And I could see stool giving that information. But I clarified in the middle that I meant what was absorbed. If that was what you were thinking, can you elaborate?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It's part of the equation. If it comes out, then it's not absorbed.

It could also show if the body is producing things that are not part of the input. A virus or bacteria would hopefully not be part of the food, but it'll be part of the excrements.

A blood test can also show some of these things, but it doesn't show the quantity. Even if everything is all right, the basic things like weight of faeces and volume of urine provides valuable data that is not measured from the food alone.

[–] Modern_medicine_isnt 2 points 2 days ago

Ok yeah, part of the equation, that fits.