/oss/taxonomy/term/1040/all en /oss/article/health-and-nutrition/lets-not-pretend-alcohol-good-us-it-isnt <hr /> <p><em>This article was originally posted in the <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/christopher-labos-lets-not-pretend-alcohol-is-good-for-us-it-isnt">Montreal Gazette</a>.</em></p> <hr /> <p>Many people turn to alcohol to deal with life’s daily stressors. Unfortunately, that has happened quite a bit in the past two years, with some very negative consequences.</p> <p>We sometimes forget that alcohol is not good for us.</p> Tue, 22 Mar 2022 18:57:07 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 9061 at /oss /oss/article/health-you-asked/it-true-hot-beverage-can-be-more-effective-providing-relief-heat-cold-one <p>First, a bit of background.</p> Fri, 26 Jul 2019 16:16:14 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 7840 at /oss /oss/article/health-technology-you-asked/water-dehumidifier-drinkable <p>Whether water from a dehumidifier is drinkable depends how clean you keep your tank and how long the water has been sitting around. The water the dehumidifier collects is actually very clean water; comparable to distilled water. Let’s consider for a minute how a dehumidifier works. Think of it as a refrigerator with the cooling coils exposed to the air. Water vapour from the air condenses on the coils and drips into a tank. The condensed water is pure because when the water originally evaporated into the air, it left its impurities and minerals behind. So providing your coils are clean, you</p> Thu, 05 Jul 2018 16:26:02 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 7161 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know/root-root-beer-sassafras <p><span>Unless you’re participating in a spelling bee or playing</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallout:_New_Vegas"> Fallout New Vegas</a><span>, you probably don’t think about sassafras much, but you might still ingest it regularly. It is, or at least once was, the main flavourful ingredient in</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_beer"> root beer</a><span>.</span></p> Tue, 20 Feb 2018 18:52:02 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 6928 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know/hot-cocoas-black-sludge <p>If you've made hot cocoa with powder, you've probably experienced the dark sludge at the bottom of the cup. This chocolate goop seems unavoidable, despite being absolutely certain that you dissolved all the powder when you first stirred your drink. For years I thought I was just a bad stirrer, but it turns out that the sludge actually forms as the drink cools down. As the hot cocoa cools, the solubility of the hot chocolate powder is reduced. This means that the amount of powder you can dissolve in a mug full of water or milk is lessened.</p> Tue, 10 Oct 2017 18:01:10 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 4255 at /oss