Q: Does the "Five-second Rule" ensure that dropped food is still edible?
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A: Though it may be accepted wisdom, the five-second rule, which says that food picked up before it’s been on the floor for more than five seconds, doesn’t pan out when put to scientific test. In a 2007 study, researchers at Clemson University looked at how quickly salmonella bacteria (a common cause of food poisoning) made their way onto bologna and bread when the food was dropped on contaminated tile, wood and carpet. The surprising results: the bologna and bread were tainted almost immediately and -- perhaps not as surprising -- the longer they lay amidst the bacteria, the more contaminated they got.
While the study was simulated (the researchers used flooring that they contaminated themselves rather than dropping the food on an actual, walked-on floor), it should give you pause before eating any food that’s hit the ground. “Bacteria are on nearly all surfaces, including floors,” says the study’s lead researcher Paul Dawson, Ph.D., a professor of food science at Clemson. But what about the home with proverbial “floors so clean you can eat off of them”? Still not a good idea. Microscopic layers called biofilms form around bacteria, which often allows them to survive, even on what seem to be immaculate surfaces. “Some floors might appear clean, but since they are constantly walked upon, they are not likely to be clean enough to eat off,” says Dawson.
Q: What's the best way to stop snoring?
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A: The two most common causes of snoring are nasal congestion and excess weight, both of which narrow air passages and constrict the flow of oxygen. If nasal congestion is the culprit, getting treated for allergies can often remedy the problem, says Nilesh Dave, M.D., director of the Sleep and Breathing Disorders Center at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. If a surplus of pounds is the cause, dropping about 10 percent of your body weight (that’s 13 pounds if you weigh 130) will help get rid of the fatty tissue pressing on your airways and causing snoring.
It’s also possible that you’re simply built with narrow air passages. While there’s not much you can do about anatomy, sometimes just sleeping on your side can quiet the racket. One other instigator: “Alcohol,” says Dr. Dave. “It relaxes the muscles in the back of the throat, tightening the space air needs to flow through.” Hence, snorers, skip the nightcap. If snoring starts to affect the quantity and quality of your sleep, impairing how you function during the day, talk to your doctor, who may be able to offer additional treatments that can help.
Q: Does running on a treadmill provide the same workout as running outdoors?
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A: The workout you get on a treadmill is different from the one you get outdoors -- and that’s both a good and a bad (but not too bad) thing. One of the reasons you burn calories when running is that you expend energy propelling your body mass forward, explains Timothy E. Hewett, Ph.D., director of the Sports Medicine Biodynamics Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. On a treadmill, of course, you don’t push yourself forward, so when all things are equal --speed, time and incline -- you’ll burn about 30 percent fewer calories.
On the other hand, running on the moving, shock-absorbent rubber mat of a treadmill is kinder to the joints. “When you hit the ground, the ground hits you back with a force about two to three times your body weight,” says Hewett. “But on a treadmill, there’s more give.” One other edge treadmill-running has over ground-running is that you don’t have to go searching for hills to work out on an incline. And running on an incline not only burns more calories than running on a flat surface (how many depends on how steep you go), it works the butt and hamstring muscles harder. So tilt your treadmill, and you may get just as hard of a workout as you would outdoors -- with less wear-and-tear on your joints.
This Live Right Live Well Expert Q&A was written by journalist Daryn Eller.
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