Lets keep the ancient kind of theme going here.
So, you all have paddles,
and your paddles will say either true or false.
And I'm going to ask you a question,
and you will raise true or false
based on what you think the answer is.
Okay so, Let's start with hiccups, okay?
True or false?
Sugar can be used to treat hiccups.
It's a very mixed...
It's mixed, right?
It's a very, very mixed answer.
It's very mixed.
I think that's like a 50/50.
It's like 50/50. 50/50.
It really is, yeah.
Well, the answer is true.
Really?
True. (audience talking) Now, let me explain to you why.
Let me talk about how this works, okay?
This is the human body here.
This is called the diaphragm which is the most important
breathing muscle of the body, okay?
The diaphragm and the muscles in your ribs help you breathe.
So what happens is the diaphragm will contract like so,
and when it does that, it pulls open the chest cavity
so your lungs can fill with air.
Then when the diaphragm relaxes like so, it pushes up
and you exhale.
Well, this diaphragm gets a spasm into it and so when it
starts to spasm like this; and your epiglottis which is a
little piece of cartilage and we have a picture of it here
so you can see.
[Rachael] - At the top here?
[Doctor] - Yes, the epiglottis is what covers
your vocal chords.
So when your diaphragm is spasming and your epiglottis
on the right-hand side is closed down that "hic" that you
hear in the hiccups is the air not being
able to get through.
[Man] - Huh. [Rachel] - Fascinating
[Doctor] - And so what happens is, the vagus nerve,
which is your cranial nerve number 10 okay, is responsible
for relaying information from your lungs, your heart,
and your neck to your brain;
what happens is this is triggered.
So, the Greeks, back in the day, believed that one way
to stop hiccups was to either sneeze, to hold your breath,
to scare you, or eat sugar; and they're right.
What happens with a teaspoon of sugar is you
distract that nerve
Huh. Like, like it's not paying
attention anymore and your hiccups
the spasming stops, your epiglottis opens,
and then you have air again going through normally, okay?
[Rachael] - Huh! (audience applauds)
Now, true or false?
Carrots will improve your vision
and they will make you see better at night; true or false?
[Doctor] - Oh, lots of trues in there.
[Rachael] - Most people think it's true
[Man] - Well, yeah, I just remembered; my parents told
me that when I was a kid eating carrots.
They were like eat your carrots your vision
is gonna get better. Yeah, spinach was supposed
to make you strong and carrots were good for your eyesight.
There you go, there you go.
Well guess what, you both are right; true and false.
It's kind of both ways and let me explain to you why, okay.
Trick question.
Okay, the reason why it's not true is because it doesn't
actually improve your vision, it helps prevent the
deterioration of something called the macula.
The macula does two big things.
One, it helps you drive, helps you read, and it also is
important for your central vision.
And if you lose it through deterioration.
[Rachael] - Right And by the way 10 million
Americans lose it; it is the most common cause of blindness.
If you lose it, then you don't see very well.
Well, antioxidants that are found in things like,
lutein is another antioxidant, all these things here.
So these things will actually improve your night vision
and they can help slow down deterioration, but they do not
improve your vision.
That's not. Okay.
Okay, there you go.
Alright, last one. Alright, last one.
(audience applauds) Alright, here we go.
Here we go.
Cranberry juice can treat a urinary tract infection.
It's called a UTI.
[Rachael] - Geeze.
[Doctor] - Why do we even ask?
[Rachael] - Like 90% of 'em believe that.
[Doctor] - Yeah, well guess what; all you greens are wrong!
(audience shouting) [Man] - What?
Okay, okay; so this is where it came from.
So, thousands of years ago, Native Americans used this
poultice, or this kind of soft mass,
that contained cranberries.
And inside of it, was a particular agent,
proanthocyanidins, okay, Type A.
These PACS are good because they prevent bacteria
from attaching to the tissues of the cells.
Huh. So they would treat it
on the wounds, and treat it on tumors.
Now, the reason why cranberry juice is not good for UTI's,
is because there is not enough in it.
Right. Okay.
To be of any, relevance. That's right.
So you don't treat it, but you can somewhat help
with other things like garlic.
Now, once again, still go see your doctor, okay?
But, UTI's are typically caused
by bacteria like staph, or E. Coli.
And anyone who's had one knows, they are very, very painful.
But if you take some garlic, so we have some garlic here.
Peel a garlic clove; take some hot water, okay?
Put one whole clove in hot water.
[Rachael] - Can't you just have it with some spaghetti
and olive oil? (audience laughs)
NO, no no no.
But anyways, so this is a remedy that actually
can work at home.
[Rachael] - Why do you have coffee and beer?
Well, these are things that you do not want to have
when you have a UTI.
You don't want coffee, caffeine,
you don't want alcohol, or spices.
These things will actually irritate your urinary tract
and make it even worse. Huh.
Who knew. There you go.
(audience applauds)
(twinkling)
(audience applauds)