25 Random Things About Health, Sex, Nutrition, Germs, and More

1. Rinsing your nose with salt water can help keep you healthy and ward off allergy symptoms.

2. Dogs can smell cancer and low blood sugar.

3. People who enter their home through a door near the kitchen tend to eat 15% more than those who use the front door.

4. You’re more likely to have a heart attack on a Monday…or up to three days after you’ve been diagnosed with the flu or a respiratory tract infection.

5. You can’t get a tan from your computer screen. No matter what this website tells you.

6. Obese people spend $485 more on clothing, $828 on extra plane seats, and $36 more on gas each year than their thinner counterparts.

7. Smokers are four times as likely to report feeling unrested after a night’s sleep than nonsmokers, and are 70% more likely to develop hearing loss.

8. Eating fruits and vegetables may help the human body make its own aspirin.

9. A 60-minute nap can improve alertness for up to 10 hours. The most widely accepted record for going without a nap—or any sleep whatsoever—is 264 hours (11 days).

10. Your kitchen sink is dirtier than your bathroom: There are typically more than 500,000 bacteria per square inch in its drain; the faucet, basin, and sponge are crawling with germs as well.

11. Four out of five doctors don’t get enough exercise.

12. Strawberries and baking soda can whiten teeth, garlic can help treat athlete’s foot, and honey can soothe a hangover.

13. Using a food diary can double a person’s weight-loss efforts.

14. Regular exercise can lower a woman’s cancer risk—but only if she’s getting enough sleep.

15. Watching yourself run in a mirror can make a treadmill workout go by faster and feel easier.

16. Third-hand smoke—the particles that cling to smokers’ hair and clothing and linger in a room long after they’ve left—is a cancer risk to young children (and pets).

17. Walking against the wind, in the water, or while wearing a backpack burns about 50 more calories per hour than walking with no resistance. People who wear pedometers also tend to burn more calories and lose more weight.

18. Trained sexologists can infer a woman’s orgasm history by observing the way she walks. In other research news, men find women who wear red sexier than those who wear “cool” colors such as blue and green.

19. Foreign Accent Syndrome, Exploding Head Syndrome, and Alice in Wonderland Syndrome are all real (but very rare) medical conditions.

20. Vitamins don’t seem to help guard against cancer or heart disease.

21. Some men experience pain, headaches, or sneezing as a result of ejaculation.

22. Germ-killing wipes can spread bacteria from one spot to another if you reuse them.

23. Almonds, avocados, and arugula lettuce can boost your sex drive and improve fertility.

24. The newest and most expensive drugs on the market may not be the best or the safest.

25. Facebook may be good for your health: Studies show that staying in touch with family and friends can ward off memory loss and help you live longer.