Probably a joke... nevertheless I had the same reaction !
It exercises your deduction, binary thinking, also stochastic vs systematic methodology (first look around randomly find the most obvious before going number by number). Getting to discover all the tricks and reasoning in various "dimensions" is very satisfactory as well.
But above all sudokuing puts you in a sort of meditative state : focusing your mind on this micro deductive world gets rid of all the noise and can be very relaxing between 2 pomodoros :)
Apparently they play a critical role in neurones (which can have millions of them) not only because the brain is the most energy hungry organe but also because they play numerous parts in how they work : neurotransmitter transporters and regulators, stress modulator, epigenetic "signalors"... the list goes on.
No wonder ketones can have an impact such as healing epilepsy just by the effect they have on mitochondria. It is quit a fascinating domain of research and the potential it is unravelling is huge IMHO.
Yes I remember Dr Bikman saying that and it make sense since it is a form of uncontrolled electrical storm in the brain analagous in that sense to epilepsy.
The main theoretical idea behind mitochondrial dysfunction is that it is a root cause of many mental health issues : depression, bipolar syndrome, migraine, alzheimer (aka type 3 diabete)... even schizophrenia. And the reason given is you have those neurone networks with impaired mitiochondria that are over or under excitable. These are not dead neurone so it is reversible if you can bring back healthy mitochondria... Part of it is done through mitophagy and mitogenesis induced by fasting/ keto therapy.
Chris Palmer, Harvard Psychiatrist has written a book called "Brain Energy" about the potential effects of Ketogenic therapy. The crux of his theory relies on Mitochondria's health which play essential roles (serotonine dopamine regulation, epigenitic signaling...) apparently a lot more than just providing ATP. And you have millions of them in each neurone so trauma, addiction, chronic stress, malnutrition, brain insulin resistance... may have compromised those organelles and the neurones therefore become over or under excitable. Ketones provide a relief for Mitochondria (only alternate energy source for the brain, mitophagy of damaged cells, protection of healthy ones through uncoupling). It is a lot more than just basic common sense for good health - although getting all the essentials nutriments may be part of it as well !
Anyway in his book (or podcasts) there are many anecdotal but nevertheless fascinating cases of hopeless patients in total remission after a couple of months on keto therapy. It seems a lot of research is underway as well
Evolution indeed gave us fat storage which is one of those traits becoming unnecessary in the post industrial world of abundance. The problem is our body is more adapted to the too little rather than to the too much. E.g: fasting comes with a flurry of benefits (autophagy, mitophagy, ketones, microbiome reset, inflammation control....) in the absence of which our overall metabolism slowly poisons itself - you know the story, obesity, diabetes and so on.
BTW keto (fast mimicking) diet was invited in the 20s in the Mayo clinic to cure epileptic children. I encourage people to have a look at the fascinating "Brain Energy" book from Chris Palmer (or watch him on youtube) to see what's underneath it and how metabolism and brain efficiency are linked
I heard this a few times in the ruby community by some well known figures like Sandy Metz. Simple example : time related tests can be cumbersome to setup, but if you inject time in the method, test becomes easy, incidentally improving your design by not relying on globale objects...
But I am sceptical this can work without knowing and practicing good design principles (SOLID) independently from tests !
However I believe tests are super important for refactoring, wether the design is good or not. My 2 cents : if the design is bad, (spaghetti and all) tests should be done more at the functional level, when your confident design is getting good then rely more on unit test
I don't know much about the gut microbiome, but it is pretty well established now that the ketones produced by fasting (or diet mimicking it like keto) have a powerful effect on the brain : as an alternative to glucose for fuelling neurone, and a signaling molecule to mitochondria for mitophagy (the cleaning up of the damaged ones) and mitogenesis. These processes can reactivate and repair group of neurones compromised by oxydative stress or insuline resistance and thus heal the mind.
See Chris Palmer book : "Brain Energy" or Bikman's : "What makes Us Sick" or Gundry the "Keto Code"... All saying the same thing although with different perspectives. Yes the Brain is just another organ and we're starting to discover ways to trigger self healing processes which can leverage and/or take over the common chemical oriented cures mimicking neurotransmitters...
It started 100 years ago at the Mayo clinic were they cured epileptic children with strict keto diet. Quit fascinating !
I can only join the chorus and sing the praises of Ryan Bates. Railscasts was a blessing, I checked his videos almost every day. Sad when he left - spoiler alert, some sort of burnout I understood at the time... Ironically I now work for a startup helping employees cope with their work environnement. Very curious to finally hear Ryan spill out the whole story... and happy to hear about him again !
