Yahoo! Answers

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I don’t know what it’s like in your neck of the woods, but here at Yahoo! headquarters, cold and flu season has had an enthusiastic start. One of the more effective ways to avoid both contracting and spreading contagion is simply washing your hands. Shockingly enough, many people don’t wash their hands properly. Part of doing it correctly is using warm water and washing long enough to get the germs off. (“Long enough” is 30 seconds, by the way, or the length of time it takes to sing “Happy Birthday”. If “Happy Birthday” isn’t your thing, you can sing the alphabet song, the periodic table, or the chorus of “Ironic” by Alanis Morissette.)

Washing your hands is such an important part of hygiene and disease control that October 15 is Global Handwashing Day. Don’t be put off by the fact that some major soap manufacturers sponsor it; there’s a list a mile long of maladies, parasites, and general ickies that can be transferred from unwashed hands onto doorknobs, keyboards, and telephone handsets. Keep in mind that when you sneeze or cough into your hands, it’s time for a wash. (To keep your hands clean, try sneezing into the crook of your arm instead.) While dry skin can be a side effect of frequent handwashing, it’s better than getting sick—or getting others sick. Now, I’m no germaphobe (like Adrian Monk), but I think we’ve all been in a situation where you see someone use the bathroom, and then they disappear without spending time afterward at the sink. How to handle that situation is awkward at best—I mean, it’s not as simple as offering someone a mint instead of telling them they have bad breath. But nobody wants to be the outbreak monkey in their office—you know, the one who gets the whole office sick.

Besides washing your hands, what other flu and cold prevention tips do you have to offer?

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I recently read an article that truly disturbed me.  Now, before I tell you what it is, let me confess that I am no health nut.  I suffer from a mild cheeseburger addiction, I can’t say no to a slice of pizza, and I’ve been known to put away more than my fair share of tacos al pastor.  I especially love anything fried –well, almost anything, which leads me into that disturbing article.  It was a feature from a Dallas/Fort Worth news site talking about the finalists for the Big Tex Choice Award at this year’s State Fair of Texas.  Topping the list, and I kid you not, was deep-fried butter.  Yes, take a moment if you need one.  Deep-fried butter.  Here’s the “tantalizing” description:

“100 percent pure butter is whipped ’til light and fluffy, then specially sweetened with a choice of several flavors. It is then surrounded by a ‘special dough’ and quick-fried.”

Listen, I know that state fairs aren’t exactly a bastion of healthy eating.  I know very few people, myself included, who would be satisfied to wander the midway gnawing on a celery stick and handful of goji berries, but this seems ridiculous to me:  gluttonous simply for gluttony’s sake.  Is this the dietary path we’re on?  Have we reached the point where we’re so beyond caring about what goes into our bodies that we’re ingesting the most decadent, non-nutritional, artery clogging thing we can think of?  I find it somewhat unconscionable that something so grotesque and unquestionably destructive could be considered for any award (other than, perhaps, “The Best Foods You Should Never Put into Your Body” award), especially in a state (not to mention an entire country) facing a huge obesity problem.

In the interest of balancing out the scales, so to speak, I’ve scouted out some delicious suggestions from Answers users on alternative methods for preparing some of our favorite fried foods, including chicken, fish, French fries, and falafel.  Here’s hoping that next year’s entries are a little more creative and a little less deadly.

What is your opinion of the latest food fad–deep-fried butter?  And what healthier alternatives can you suggest for preparing your favorite fried concoctions?

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In the last few weeks, my roses have been blooming like crazy in a riot of color. I wish I could take credit for how well they’re thriving, but it’s my husband who prunes and cares for them. While I will occasionally go out and cut some roses to brighten up the house, I only really see the blooming things as I am dashing in and out of the house going to and from work. One day last week, my husband filled the front passenger seat of my car with roses from our garden, and I decided to share them with my fellow Yahoos. I was shocked at how much a small rose could brighten someone’s day!

This made me think about the whole “Take time to stop and smell the roses” saying. Despite how busy we are, moment to moment, there is always time to pause, reflect, and appreciate some of the scenery around us or a quiet moment.  I’ve been trying to incorporate mindfulness practices into my daily life, and pausing for a moment to take a deep breath and enjoy the landscaping works well towards that goal. With the start of the new school year, and fall bringing shorter days, I think it’s especially important to add balance to our to-do list with a few tasks that feed our souls. For example, when I make my morning coffee, I take a moment to smell the grounds, and since I use a French press, I look forward to depressing the plunger, feeling the resistance of the coffee, and watching the brewing in action. Small things that give you a little mini-break can make a big difference in your day.

When studying, taking regular breaks can actually help with content retention. I set a timer (many cell phones come with them), and do  45 minutes of a task, then get up and get a glass of water, a snack, or do a couple of yoga sun salutations. Regular breaks aren’t limited to students- -FlyLady recommends tackling large household tasks in 15 minute increments with the aid of a kitchen timer, to break up seemingly monumental efforts into something more manageable.

How do you find time to balance chores and leisure?

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I recently returned from a trip to visit friends in Los Angeles. They had recently relocated from New York and, like most New Yorkers, hadn’t had any use for a car until their move. Now they spend what seems like most of their lives in their car. It was surprising to see how quickly they fell back into that “car culture” state-of-mind. Their vehicle not only gets them from here to there, but is also a proxy backpack, locker, kitchen table, entertainment outlet, and communication station.

It had been a while since I have spent that much time in a car. The most notable difference since I last owned a vehicle is the prevalence of cell phones. I never owned a car and a cell phone at the same time, so rules about talking or texting while driving were nonexistent. The last time I drove regularly, it seemed enough of a distraction to be flipping over a cassette tape. I can’t begin to imagine fielding phone calls and texts while trying to merge onto a busy Southern California freeway (in spite of the fact that hand-held devices and texting are now an infraction in the Golden State).  Because drivers have the ability to talk on the phone, check email, surf the Web, and text back and forth (all while cruising down the highway,) I have to admit that riding in a car seems scarier than ever before.

There is a new public service announcement (PSA) in England that’s generating a lot of buzz right now, which graphically demonstrates (too graphically, some might say) just how dangerous using a phone while driving can be. (Here’s a link to it, but be warned: It’s not for the squeamish.)  It depicts a young driver and her friends getting into a terrible car accident while texting, and the video leaves nothing to the imagination. The ad’s detractors feel that it’s just too violent and disturbing to be shown on television, while supporters argue that these frightening images are just what the public needs to really grasp the dangers of indulging in these distracting behaviors while on the road.

Using cell phones while driving presents a very clear and obvious danger — just look at the terrible mass-transit accidents that occurred recently in California and Massachusetts, which were caused by drivers who were reportedly texting on their phones. And though our intentions to set our phones aside while driving might be honorable and good, it’s just too easy to get sucked into our communication devices. That little ringtone goes off and we think, “What if it’s an emergency?” And so we peek, only to be drawn in to whatever momentary drama is calling our attention away.

Many states have enacted various laws banning texting while driving, and requiring cell phone users to use hands-free headsets while driving, but are they enough? Do we need to outlaw using phones in cars altogether? Our hands may be free, but our minds are still occupied with the person or information on the other end. Of course, when radios were first put into cars, there were fears that they would be too distracting for drivers, but can you imagine a car without one these days? Perhaps we will adjust to managing these new distractions on the road.

How do you drivers out there manage the temptation to use your phones while driving? And what do you think of this controversial PSA? Do you think it goes too far in depicting the dangers of texting while driving, or do you think this is exactly what people need to see to change their behavior?

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Hey Guys,

It’s not complicated to add ingredients to food. For example, a bag of potato chips with “50% more salt” won’t cause much astonishment. On the other hand, foods and beverages that remove naturally occurring ingredients amaze me. Take decaffeinated coffee — how in the world do they do it? I downed a double espresso with a twist of lemon and set out to find out.

The short answer: Hot water and lots of it. A column from LBC.co.uk explains that when coffee is soaked or steamed, the caffeine goes into the hot water. However, a lot of the flavors also get removed. To get the flavors back, “the water is then returned to the beans for reabsorption of flavors and oils.” The caffeine stays out, but the flavor comes back. Weird.

The site GoAskAlice goes into more detail, but keeps it easy to understand. Apparently, there are several methods for removing the caffeine from coffee. Some are more chemical than others, but all end with the same results — a pleasantly bitter beverage that won’t you keep awake at night.

Interestingly, just because a cup of coffee is classified as “decaf,” that doesn’t mean it’s 100% caffeine free. In order to be called decaffeinated, the coffee has to have caffeine levels of 2.5% or less. Anything more, and the coffee can’t legally be classified as decaf.

Wikipedia details all the various methods one can use to get the caffeine out of coffee, and also notes that “the first commercially successful decaffeination process” was invented by Ludwig Roselius and Karl Wimmer in 1903.” The pair used brine and benzene to remove the caffeine. According to About.com, the process may have been discovered by accident. Kind of like Post-It Notes and penicillin.

Personally, while I love coffee, I’m hardly a connoisseur. Do you guys know how to tell the good stuff from the bad? Is it like wine tasting or do you think all coffee tastes the same? Please leave a comment with your advice below.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

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