feature 09
8.30.2007
do your gizards for seven
comes out with the rest
old wastes—through the
hway, and almost always,
schedule," says Karl
cki, a physics professor at
university of Sydney who has
biomedical engineering
gum is actually made of a
ber, it cannot be digested
amachs, so it moves right
like that corn-on-the-cob
lr last barbeque. In fact,
gum can actually act as
e if Sorbitol, a common
iris, is one of the gum's
cubts.
EATING CHOCOLATE CAUSE ACNE?
neither will those greasy fries, sugar-coated tts or even creamy
08.30.2007 JAYPLAY
queso. However, while these foods will not produce pimples directly, a lack of nutrients in your diet can cause acne, says Lee Bittenbender, a dermatologist at the Dermatology Center of Lawrence, 930 Iowa St. Your body naturally stores toxins, which can be cleansed by digesting nutrients like Vitamin B or E. But in nutrient-deficient foods like that rich chocolate fudge or French fries, you won't be getting enough of these essential nutrients. If the toxins aren't processed by nutrients, they'll take it upon themselves to leave through the pores in your face. In other words, while stuffing your face will those dark chocolate M&M's you've hidden in your desk drawer, add some fruit to the binge session.
CAN CARROTS HELP IMPROVE YOUR VISION?
Not at all. History buffs could probably tell you the reason this myth got started. During World War II, the British Royal Air Force claimed its pilots were fed meal after meal of carrots instead of divulging the real reason German bombers were being shot down
more: the Brits had developed a sophisticated radar system. The British rumor was based on the fact that carrots contain beta-carotene, which the body converts to Vitamin A, an essential nutrient for healthy eyesight and skin. However, only a small amount of Vitamin A is required, so you could eat a day's worth of calories in carrots, and your vision still wouldn't improve, according to a 1998 study conducted by Harvard Medical School affiliate Schepens Eye Research Institute. (If you do eat that many carrots, though, you might turn orange and risk a headache and fatigue from overdosing on Vitamin A.)
PHOTO BY ANNA FALTERMEIER
IS IT BAD TO CRACK YOUR KNUCKLES?
Once again,this is another myth our parents told us as children so we wouldn't bother them with the spine-tingling sound that is knuckle popping. The sound itself is produced by bursting bubbles in the fluid surrounding the knuckle joint, but it causes minimal damage, says Raymond Brodeur, a faculty member at Palmer College of Chiropractic, who conducted a study about knuckle cracking. While you can't get arthritis from this noisy habit, you could cause swelling in the ligaments and actually decrease your grip strength.
CAN YOU LOSE A CONTACT
LENS IN THE BACK OF YOUR
EYE SOCKET?
lenses, says Curtis Anderson, an optometrist at Excellence in Eyecare, 932 Massachusetts St. If you think you have lost your lens, try moving your eyeball around because the contact could slide back into its correct place and stop giving you problems. If not, see your eye doctor because it could be stuck in your eyelid and it will take a professional to pull it out of its hiding place.
Before you run to your eye doctor because you misplaced your contact and you swear it's in the back of your head, look around the sink and floor for the silly thing. Your body is not a black hole. There's no way a contact can get lost on your eyeball; it is not physically possible because a strong membrane called the conjunctive lines the inside of your eye and doesn't allow anything to pass through, including contact
WHAT ARE EYE BOOGERS?
Just like the nasal variety, the boogers you pluck out of the corners of your eyes while you hope no one is watching you in class are a mass of foreign junk, explains Jennifer Walker, a pediatric nurse and founder of *MomsOnCall.com*, a website for parents seeking medical information from pediatricians. Your plica semilunaris, the small fold of tissue on the inside corner
of your eye, is responsible for surrounding the foreign materials like dust or pollen in the mucus so it doesn't scratch your cornea. Eye boogies are a mixture of oil, sweat and tears formed when the fluid does not drain properly through the tear duct. Please just wipe them away before coming into class.
No, and you can no longer use this as an excuse for why you have a hangover. However, your body absorbs the alcohol from carbonated drinks like beer quicker than hard alcohol, so if you load up on the hard stuff after a few brewies, it will be absorbed at a faster rate that usual. Also, mixing alcohols makes it more difficult for your body to break down the congeners, the toxic chemicals formed during fermentation.
"The major cause of a hangover is consuming too much alcohol," says David J. Hanson, Ph.D., a retired professor of sociology from the State University of New York at Potsdam, who has studied alcohol and drinking for more than 30 years. "However, other things being equal, clear spirits such as vodka and gin are less likely to cause hangover than other alcoholic beverages because they have fewer congeners in them." Regardless of what you drink, in order to avoid a nasty hangover the next morning, you should take a vitamin and drink lots of water before you hit the sack and
ARE THE STATEMENTS "BEER BEFORE LIQUOR, NEVER BEEN SICKER" AND "LIQUOR BEFORE BEER, IN THE CLEAR" TRUE?
also when you wake up because alcohol is a diuretic. Whatever you do, don't take Tyloren after a long bar night. Combining the acetaminophen found in the medication and alcohol will damage your liver 10 times the amount the alcohol alone caused.
GUM COMES OUT WITH
THE REST OF YOUR
SOLID WASTE, AND
ALMOST ALWAYS RIGHT
ON SCHEDULE
KARL KRUISZELNICKI
WHY DO YOU GET THE MUNCHIES WHEN YOU ARE STONED?
DOES DRINKING ALCOHOL KILL BRAIN CELLS?
Because Jimmy John's delivery driver needs to make money, Okay, this answer is complicated, so get ready. Molecules called endocannabinoids, marijuana-like chemicals present in our brain, activate hunger by binding with receptors in the brain, says Derek Williams, member of United Kingdom Cannabis Internet Activists. So the chemicals you inhale while smoking marijuana bind to these same receptors and stimulate the hunger feeling. So basically, when you smoke pot, you are intensifying what your body already does naturally, so a normal appetite turns into the munchies when you are high.
PHOTO BY ANNA FALTERMEIER
Our professors and parents would like us to believe this statement in hopes that we'll drink less on the weekends, but it is a myth. However, years of alcohol abuse and binge drinking can cause neurological damage. Alcohol will damage a cell's dendrites, the things that conduct the electrical stimulation from cell to cell. As long as you don't drink yourself stupid every weekend, moderately consuming alcohol (one to three drinks daily) can improve mental functioning, like thinking and reasoning skills, and memory. "It is associated with improved cognition and a lower risk of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease as we age," says Hanson, the retired professor from the State University of New York. Bottoms up!
IF YOU STICK A SLEEPING PERSON'S HAND IN WARM WATER, WILL HE OR SHE WET THE BED?
Nope, this is another myth. It was certainly fun to think about as a preteen at sleepovers, but if you ever attempted it, all you probably ended up with was a pissed-off friend. "There are no scientific studies to my knowledge on this, but I have heard of it working," says Jon J. Heeb, a urologist at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. This myth may have gotten started because studies have shown that a warm bath can make it easier to urinate. This is because of the decreased pressure on the urethra, the tube that connects the bladder to the outside of your body, and increased body temperature during a bath. However, nothing has shown dipping a hand in water has the same effect.
IS IT DANGEROUS TO HOLD IT WHEN YOU HAVE TO PEE?
If you are haunted by memories of your middle school science teacher not letting you leave class to visit the restroom, you are not alone. Have no fear, it's okay for you to hold it. "Unless a person has an underlying problem with bladder function, or makes a habit out of 'holding it too long', I think there's little reason to be concerned about damage from this," says Heeb, the Lawrence urologist. When your bladder is full, receptors in the bladder wall let you know you need to go. If you ignore these signals, the sensory neurons in the bladder wall can cause contractions that overpower the muscle holding your bladder shut, and embarrassingly you might pee all over yourself.