Health Wanted: Frankenstein

The Episode

Have you ever hear the one about the two-headed dog that walked out of a soviet research center? Well, you’re about to! This week on Health Wanted we’re rounding out our Halloween series by talking about the closest we’ve come to a real-life Dr. Frankenstein through the weird history of transplants past, present, and future, and talking to author Mary Roach about her new book exploring all the modern ways we can replace our parts.

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The Listener Questions

Are Kegels actually useful for women or is it just hype?

It depends. Kegels can be beneficial but they are not appropriate for everyone.

They were named after Dr. Arnold Kegel, who brought awareness to the practice in 1948 as a treatment for urinary incontinence after pregnancy and childbirth. But pelvic floor exercises were actually already being promoted by dancer and movement expert Margaret Morris before that.

Your pelvic floor are the muscles that hold up your bladder, bowels, sexual organs, and assist you in controlling your bladder, among other things. These muscles can weaken over time or as a result of childbirth, causing issues like pain or incontinence. 

For some people, Kegels, which is an exercise consisting of contracting and releasing these muscles, can help with addressing these issues. It used to be thought that Kegels were the answer for any issue that someone faced in that region, but now we’re getting a better understanding that it’s not always appropriate. For example, someone might feel like they have to go to the bathroom frequently because those muscles are constantly in a contracted state, and trying to intentionally contract them more can be damaging.

Right now, Kegels is most appropriate for people who are already experiencing an issue or at high risk of issues because they are postpartum. There is likely a certain subset of people who could benefit from preventative Kegels to avoid problems in the future, but we don’t really know who that group is right now. So, it’s the kind of thing that should be discussed with a doctor so that they are being used in the appropriate context and done correctly.

And Kegels aren’t just helpful for women. As men age their pelvic floor is also at risk of losing some of that strength, so, again, when appropriately used, the exercises could help restore bladder control or even aid in erectile dysfunction.

I saw a morning routine on Instagram that included drinking: a giant lemon water, a giant ice water, a coffee, a protein shake, a drink with creatine and citrulline malate, hot lemon water with cayenne pepper, apple cider vinegar and a shot of olive oil. Is that excessive?

I think for some people the act of performing wellness is what actually gives them the best health feeling, and this is a good example of that. There are a couple ways we could cut down on dishes in this situation:

• One: Put the lemon in the ice water. Lemon juice can add flavor to water, which could make you drink more. It also adds a bit of vitamin C, but any other claims about health benefits aren’t really supported by data.
• The hot water with lemon and cayenne is similarly not supported as any more beneficial than just water. Cayenne burns, so it can feel like it’s doing more, but the idea that a drink will “detox” you better than your kidney or liver is not true.
• The protein shake and creatinine and citrulline malate drinks are fine as long as the supplements are coming from a reputable source. As we know, supplements are unregulated so you do have to do some work to make sure you’re getting what you paid for. We’ve talked about potential neurological benefits to creatinine, and it seems like this person is probably taking creatinine and citrulline malate supplements for muscle recovery. There’s not a lot of good data supporting the use of citrulline malate.
• A shot of apple cider vinegar is essentially just a little punishment. A recent study showing that taking apple cider vinegar daily led to weight loss was retracted due to low quality of work.
• As for the olive oil, it’s a great addition to your diet, but you can get it through eating and cooking. Consuming it via a shot doesn’t really have any added benefits, and is just additional calories that you may or may not need. 

Of all those drinks, coffee is probably the most necessary (for me at least).

What's the best way to sanitize the sponge I use to wash my dishes?

Unless your sponge dries out completely on a regular basis, it’s probably got germs in and/or on it. That’s just the nature of the beast—bacteria likes wet nooks and crannies and sponges are full of them! So it’s a good idea to sanitize regularly. And once the sponge starts stinking, get rid of it.

There are three options for sponge sanitation:

• Microwaving: Make sure the sponge is wet, so it doesn’t catch on fire, and heat on high for a minute then leave it for 10-15 minutes to cool down completely before you touch it. This should not be done with sponges that have the metallic scrubby parts.
• Dishwasher: You can also run the sponge through the dishwasher on high on the longest cycle. This is a good option if you don’t have a microwave, but the microwave is faster.
• Soaking: You can also soak your sponge in a mixture of warm water and half a teaspoon of bleach.

It’s also important to make sure you’re not using filthy dishrags to wipe down counters. We have enough problems with food safety inspections as is. Don’t let yourself be the source of your foodborne illness.

Catch all the listener questions and Laurel’s answers on the full episode of Health Wanted by:

• Streaming at wabe.org or the WABE app
• Subscribing on Apple or Spotify
• Watching on WABE's YouTube channel