Myth Busters: Old Wives Tales Exposed!
August 18, 2008 by Liberty Kontranowski
Filed under A Mother's Wisdom, Blogosphere, Easy Health Tips, Exposed!, Fiction, Health, Prevention
You’ve debated them around the water cooler for years. Your mother has warned you about a good many of them. Seinfeld even had a whole show built around one of them (#5). What are they?
Old Wives Tales, of course.
But are they tales, or do some of them hold some truth a grain or two of truth? Take the quiz below to test your own knowledge on some of the most commonly accepted thoughts out there. Then check your answers and get the explanations you seek at MSNBC.com.
1. Cell phones are dangerous to use in hospitals because they can interfere with medical equipment. True / False / Maybe So
2. It’s safe to follow “the 5 second rule” for food dropped on the floor. True / False / Maybe So
3. Cracking your knuckles can cause arthritis. True / False / Maybe So
4. Cola type soft drinks can damage your kidneys. True / False / Maybe So
5. “Double dipping” spreads germs from one chip to another. True / False / Maybe So
6. Eating locally produced honey can ease seasonal allergies. True / False / Maybe So
Some of those are pretty tricky, huh? So…how did you do?
I only got 3 right.
Look at this explanation of the “5 second rule”:
“After just 5 seconds, both food types had already picked up as many as 1,800 bacteria (more bad bugs adhered to the moisture-rich bologna than the bread); after a full minute, it was up to 10 times that amount.”
18,000 bacteria after 1 minute? That’s 26 million in just one day! (assuming linear growth, but I think it is actually exponential)