HUMOR

Five Old Wives’ Tales: True or False?

Test yourself on this quirky health and safety quiz

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Your mom swore her chicken soup would help cure your cold. Was she right? Author Anahad O’Connor has the answer. He researched more than one hundred common myths, legends and old wives’ tales in his book, Never Shower in a Thunderstorm: Surprising Facts and Misleading Myths About Our Health and the World We Live In. Test yourself on a few. What say you?

1. Sex can trigger a heart attack. True or False?
   A team of Harvard scientists concluded the odds of a sex-induced heart attack were low — only about two in a million, even in subjects who’d already had a heart attack. Survivors generally weigh that risk against their odds of being struck by lightning and risk making the more pleasurable exit. BUT risky sex (e.g., extramarital “hanky panky”) does up your odds of making a sudden exit. Former U.S. vice-president Nelson A. Rockefeller learned this the hard way. Don’t be like Nelson. (#1 is True.)
2. Chocolate is an aphrodisiac. True or False?
   The Aztec emperor Montezuma considered chocolate his Viagra. The emperor drank 50 cups a day to fuel his romantic trysts. French courtesans Madame du Barry and Madame de Pompadour were also known to indulge to get the party started. It’s true that chocolate contains minute…