Never Shower in a Thunderstorm

Title: Never Shower in a Thunderstorm: Surprising Facts and Misleading Myths about our Health and the World We Live In

Author: Anahad O'Connor

Pages: 226

Genre: Non-fiction, Health

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Anahad O'Connor is an investigative health columnist for the New York Times. Over time he has kept track of the strange questions that he is asked and put the answers here in this book. He investigates questions about human nature, germs, sex, sleep and other topics.

My Review: As many people know, I enjoy books like this that explore the truth of old wives tales and other random facts. This book had a lot of useful information and questions that I had wondered about myself. My favorite topic was probably the questions about sleep. There are a lot of questions and misconceptions about sleep. There have been numerous studies that show that the people who live the longest lives sleep 7 hours a night. If you are averaging 8 hours of sleep a night, your chance of death increases by around 12%. If you are sleeping less than 7 hours of sleep per night, your chance of death also increases, but not as steeply as for the oversleepers.

From the Book: "(p. 15, Do right-handed people live longer than lefties?) Then again, there are some things about lefties that can't be explained so easily. For whatever reason, whether it's the pressures of living in a world designed for righties, or all the talk of having shorter life spans, lefties have higher rates of depression, drug abuse, allergies, and schizophrenia. But lefties also have an advantage in sports like fencing, tennis and baseball, not to mention greater academic success and higher IQs. Five of America's last eleven presidents were lefties, even though they make up only 10 percent of the American population." (I believe Obama is a leftie as well, making that 6 of the last 12 presidents).

"(p. 23, Are oysters aphrodisiacs?) For men, the smell of baked cinnamon buns had such a powerful impact on libido that it trumped the scents of a slew of various perfumes combined. Men were also strongly aroused by the scent of pumpkin pie, lavender, doughnuts, cheese pizza, buttered popcorn, vanilla and strawberries. The foods and smells that got women going more than anything else were licorice, banana nut bread, cucumbers, and candy."

"(p. 77, Chapter heading, Toxic Planet) Most of us buy pricey antibacterial soaps and use them religiously, but how many of us look at the ingredients in our air fresheners before we dust them around the house? There are people who won't drink water from a tap, but will speed on the highway, eat at McDonald's, bake in a tanning booth, or pay someone for the chance to parachute out of a moving plane--all activities that can carry greater risks. And how many smokers would complain about pollution if they lived next to a smokestack?"

"(p. 202, Which has more caffeine--tea or coffee?) Maybe it is a reflection of our constant struggle to ward off sleep, or simply the desire for that scintillating buzz that comes from a good cup of Joe. In the United States, more than 80 percent of people consume caffeine in one form or another every day. Worldwide it is the most popular drug, far ahead of nicotine and alcohol. Some anthropologists speculate that its use may date as far back as the Stone Age."