A Firm Resolve

New Years Eve: Hangover prevention and treatment tips

Courtesy of HowStuffWorks.com, here are some hangover prevention and treatment tips:

Before Drinking

• Eat a full meal (especially something fatty)
• Drink a glass of water
• Talk multivitamins (my note: consider additional Vitamin C, B-Complex and Potassium supplements)
• Avoid caffeine

While Drinking

• Drink in moderation
• Drink a glass of water after every alcholic beverage
• Watch your drink choice (don't mix types of alcohol)
• My add (if you have it):  Take some L-Glutamine so that the your body doesn't need to catch up during sleep -- which will improve the quality of your sleep
• Avoid caffeine

After Drinking

• Take two aspirin (without caffeine) and a full glass of water before bed
• Take another multivitamin (plus C, B and potassium)
• Eat breakfast including eggs, a banana, and fruit juice
• Avoid caffeine

By the way, here's a great link if you are interested in hangover prevention and treatment myths.

Some cold myths and inaccuracies

In "Fight a cold with Grandma's home remedies", author Joan Morris covers "10 of Grandma's best home remedies to help you get through the worst of it."  I'll point of what is myth, what is inaccurate and what is real.

1. Call in sick  {Yep, stay home and rest}
2. Add garlic to your diet {Never heard of this one}
3. Eat chicken noodle soup {Won't cure the cold but the heat can temporarily alleviate congestion, plus it makes you feel good}
4. Use zinc lozenges {Taking zinc lozenges at onset of the first cold symptom is clinically proven to reduce the length of the common cold by 42%, but the author inaccurately says that keeping the throat moist is how the zinc works - wrong!}
5. Keep warm {May help a minuscule bit by encouraging blood flow}
6. Keep a positive attitude {Can't argue with this one, but don't forget to be human and rest up}
7. Soak in a steamy bath {May help temporarily alleviate congestion or may temporarily release pain-fighting endorphins -- but showers can work just as well if not better since more steam enters the air -- also helps to promote "productive coughs"}
8. Pamper your nose with tissues with lanolin {Blowing the nose frequently helps prevent drippage into the lungs, but the product on the lotioned tissues is mostly mineral oil, not lanolin -- and tissues with Vitamin E only have a trivial amount of Vitamin E}
9. Rub menthol on your chest or use breathe-easy strips {Again, may help with congestion, but doesn't fight the bacterial cold itself}
10. Have a shot of honey and whiskey {May help if it puts you to sleep as long as you drink 8 ounces of water to counteract the dehydrating impact of the alcohol, but otherwise might only temporarily help to alleviate congestion}

So that's it.  In general, don't forget that colds are bacterial in nature.  The best defense is protection -- and that means washing hands frequently and not sharing drinking items or food with others.  Most of the tips above help treat the symptoms, which is okay since the symptoms are annoying.  And treating some symptoms via antihistamines can help prevent drippage into the lungs that can cause more serious infections.  If you are unlucky and come down with a cold, get plenty of rest and drink lots of water.

20/20 Story: Germs, the Dirty Dozen - Myths, Lies and Straight Talk

Tonight's 20/20 covered Germs, the Dirty Dozen - Myths, Lies and Straight Talk.  Here are the myths according to 20/20:

1. Flu shots keep the flu away:  Helps keep the flu away, but only 70-90% effective
2. It's safe to eat at your desk:  Nope, a typical desk has 400 times more bacteria than a toilet seat
3. The kitchen is the cleanest room:  Nope, the kitchen can have the deadliest germs in the house
4. It's okay to dip your chip:  Nope, gotta watch out for "double-dippers" so you should smooth onto your plate first
5. Keep your makeup to yourself:  Yes, you might get bacteria conjunctivitis or E. coli
6. Mouthwash cures bad breath:  No, it works temporarily but the dry mouth is causes can create a breading ground for bacteria and make breath worse (keeping the mouth wet would be key since babies rarely get bad breath)
7. You can reuse your water bottle:  You can reuse most for a few weeks, but avoid popup sports tops because bacteria from your hands can end up on your mouth
8. Airplane air makes you sick:  Nope, germs are being coughed up by those around you (so it's true that being on an airplane can make you sick)
9. The toilet seat is the dirtiest thing in the bathroom:  Nope, - the big danger is the floor and getting germs on your hands - and womens' rooms typically have twice the germs of a mens' room (since women stay longer in there and kids often go in there, too).  20/20 also recommends that women should never put their bags on the floor.  They also say don't use air dryers since they blow uncleaned bathroom air onto your hands.
10. Soap is soap:  The biggest helper is not anti-bacterial soap, but washing your hands with strong friction for 30 seconds.  The best scenario is also when you keep the water running and dry your hands before you turn off the sink with a dry towel.  Also, a clinical study says anti-bacterial soap doesn't help.  Also, a study shows that 25% of men and 10% of women don't wash their hands in public restrooms.
11. A dog's mouth is cleaner than yours:  Don't forget where dogs put their mouths so dog's mouths are actually quite yucky
12. Hospitals keep you safe from germs:  No, deadly germs and viruses exist everywhere, so be very careful! In fact, germs in hospitals kill more than aids, breast cancer and automobile accidents combined.

For other health "myths" stories from 20/20, see 20/20 Ten Food Myths and 20/20 Story on Bottled Water vs. Tap Water.

20/20 Story on Bottled Water vs. Tap Water

In a recent John Stossel 20/20 story called "Too Good to be True" about bottled water, John Stossel concludes that bottled water tastes WORSE than tap water and that there no difference in the waters in terms of their impact on your health.

While I agree that there is no difference between bottled and tap water in terms of the impact on health, I disagree with the metric John Stossel used for the conclusion.  All he did was to compare the amount of E. coli in each of the bottled water and tap water sample (conducted by Dr. Aaron Margolin of the University of New Hampshire).  I say "no duh!"  Tap water contains fluoride and trace amounts of chlorine which keep the water clear of microorganisms.

Now, about taste.  Here's the results that John Stossel came up with in a misguided small sample size taste test:

1. American Fare (Kmart water)
2. Aquafina
3. Iceland Spring (tie)
3. New York City tap water (tie)
5. Poland Spring
6. Evian

I'd have to say that Stossel's conclusions are meaningless because (1) Each taste tester tried all 6 types where heaver brands (more acidic or alkalinic) can DISTORT the taste of the more pure-tasting brands; and (2) Stossel doesn't mention the magnitude of differences between the brands (are the differences significant?).

In either case, I think the ranking of the water brands puts the best tasting and purest tasting brands at the bottom (Evian and Poland Spring). 

However, Stossel did raise one important point -- 25% of bottled water is merely reprocessed tap water.  He also says that one of the ingredients of Aquafina is water from the Detroit River.  Yuck, no wonder I've always thought Aquafina was disgusting.

20/20 Ten Food Myths

20/20 recently covered Ten Food Myths.  Here they are:

1. Drink eight glasses of water per day:  20/20 says this is a myth, but I disagree.  The recommendation is the equivalent of 8 glasses of water per day, to include water from other sources like fruits and other liquids.  The truth is that some people need more; some need less.  My opinion is that it's a good goal, especially if you spend a lot of time outside in the sun or exercise a lot.
2. Expensive coffee tastes better:  No, people can't really tell - but this was based on a 20/20 test with only a few people.  Interestingly, a representative from Folgers declined to take the test, but a rep from Oren was braver (although she didn't like her own brand).  Sugar and the right milk fat can help any coffee taste much better.  BTW, Folgers came in last.
3. Margarine is healthier than butter:  Nope, margarine has gobs of trans fatty acids, which are tons worse than saturated fat.  Partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats) makes liquids more solid, so it will tend to sit in your bloodstream.  Get butter instead.  (Of course, if you buy a butter-type product with smart fat or omega-3 fatty acids or based on canola oil, these are best.)
4. Sugar makes kids hyper:  Clinical evidence shows that sugar does not makes kids hyper.  If anything, it might be the social impact of being together at a party.  Sugar is a party.  A sugar rush only lasts a few minutes, after that a person actually has lower blood sugar.
5. Don't swallow chewing gum:   Myth.  You'd have to eat 7 per day to gum up your insides.  But even then, problems are rare.
6. Green tea fights cancer:  Nope, no direct evidence.  Japan has low incidence of cancer and drink a lot of green tea, but they also get a lot of fish with healthy cancer-fighting Omega-3 fatty acids.  Massive amounts of green tea to mice can help reduce their cancer, but this equates to gallons of green tea per day for humans.
7. Beer before liquor helps you not get sick later:  Nope.  The more you drink, the greater chance of getting sick.  Many people actually get sick from drinking different types of drinks in the same night.  So beer before liquor could make you sicker.
8. Carrots help your eyes:  Most people get enough Vitamin A.  Thus, carrots won't help the eye site of most people.
9. Brand name foods are better than store brands and generic:  Seth Godin says there is no difference.  Much of it is based on the brands you ate as a kid.
10. Eating at home is safer:  Sponges are the #1 cause of food poisoning in the home.  Restaurants have to adhere to strict publishing standards.  50-80% of gastrointestinal infections aka stomach flu are caught in the home.

Here's a Google search on 20/20 Ten Food Myths if you'd like more info.