Food poisoning doesn’t just come from dodgy kebabs, under-cooked chicken and restaurants with poor hygiene practices – it can also occur in the home. And anyone who has suffered a bout of food poisoning…
You might feel crook after a flu vax but the injection itself can’t give you influenza.
Nettsu
We hear it all the time: “I don’t want a flu vaccine. It gives you the flu.” The old, the young, and even health professionals make this claim. And it’s usually followed by a personal example like, “the…
It’s important men can identify potentially cancerous lumps in their testes.
xddorox
Testicular self-examination is turning men into “ball-watching neurotics” – that’s the view of Keith Hopcroft, a GP from Essex in the United Kingdom. It’s unnecessary, he explained recently in the British…
A sexual thought every seven seconds? That’s 8,000 thoughts a day!
Flickr/Lara604
Each time you turn on the television after 10pm, eavesdrop on a group of men at your local pub, or drive past a billboard, you’re likely to encounter some stereotypes about masculinity and men’s sexuality…
It doesn’t really matter how long food is on the floor, it’s likely to collect the same amount of bacteria.
Flickr/bark
As a food microbiologist, I have always been amazed at people’s belief in the three- or five-second rule. It goes something like this: if you retrieve food dropped on the floor or another surface within…
Sugar doesn’t play a greater or lesser role in obesity than fat and other carbohydrates.
Esther Gibbons
The debate about the health implications of sugar consumption began back in 1972 when Professor John Judkin, from the University of London, published Pure, White and Deadly, which linked sugar intake to…
Peanuts may alleviate some symptoms but they won’t cure your motion sickness.
Jetstar Airways
At the start of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, the ever-resourceful Ford Prefect buys four packets of salted peanuts, ostensibly to prevent motion sickness. We sometimes get them on flights too…
Studies into the lunar effect show no difference in rates of harm on full moons.
Bill Gracey
It’s another busy night in an inner city hospital emergency department (ED) and patients keep pouring in with injuries from accidents, assaults and self-harm attempts. One veteran nurse turns to a junior…
Aspirin is a historical marvel. It’s been manufactured for more than a century and is still in widespread use. No other medication can claim as many different narratives and uses as this analgesic – it’s…
Neither organic nor conventional food is nutritionally any better or worse for you.
Smaku
Across the world, outbreaks of food-borne illness, contamination and environmental scares have generated a lot of media attention and plenty of fear around food safety. Think of the recent E. coli outbreaks…
Emo music may be bleak but there’s no evidence to show it causes depression.
Flickr/Corrie
Like death metal and grunge before it, emo music has copped more than its fair share of criticism since it rose to prominence a decade ago. Rather than being seen as an outlet for young people to express…
Cancer is a disease of the body’s cells that affects around half of all Australians by the age of 85. Normally cells grow and multiply in a controlled way. But if something causes a mistake to occur in…
There’s no biological evidence to show that chocolate can affect your libido.
Roxanne Cooke
There are many ways to a woman’s heart. But is a box of chocolates really one of them? What makes chocolate romantic is entirely contextual. Valentine’s Day is traditionally the time for couples to profess…
You can mix “the grape and the grain” and avoid a hangover if you drink in moderation.
Erwyn van der Meer
As a general practitioner, I hear a lot of colourful advice from my patients about what they believe constitutes “safe” drinking and how to avoid a nasty hangover. Some of the more pithy sayings – “beer…
If you’re not meeting your weight-loss targets, you need to eat less or move more.
Flickr/lism
People who struggle to lose weight often blame their difficulty achieving a healthy weight on their “slow metabolism”. So is this a real barrier to weight loss, or is the real culprit an excess of food…
Children should be taught to play music themselves rather than just listening to it.
Naruco
What parent can pass up the chance to boost their child’s intelligence by putting on some nice classical music? The popular idea that IQ scores can be raised by listening to Mozart is a case study in how…
It just isn’t possible for someone with a normal brain to selectively use just one side of it.
vaXzine
When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, getting your body in shape often tops the list. But what about your brain? If your left or right brain is feeling a little flabby, there’s a wide range of books…
Oysters can still play an important role in romance, even though they aren’t an aphrodisiac.
Stephen Coles
The stuff of romance novels or a secret tool to give you a boost in the bedroom? We start the year by examining the truth about oysters. Holly gazed around in awe. Rory had brought her to a tiny waterfront…
In the developed world, where vitamin A deficiency isn’t an issue, eating carrots won’t help you see more clearly.
Nerdcoregirl
Getting enough vitamin A is important for healthy eyes. And carrots are a rich and natural source of this vitamin, which is basically a group of chemicals made up of retinal (the active form of vitamin…
90% of the glutamate in our diet comes from protein, not MSG.
Kevin H
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is widely viewed as a dangerous food toxin that is responsible for adverse reactions to Chinese food and other meals. But is it really the MSG that’s to blame? Glutamate is a…