ArcaMax

Antoninus, a teenage Roman emperor from 218 to 222, invented the whoopee cushion to tease his dinner guests. The modern version of the flatulent pillow appeared in the 1930s -- and millions have been sold to folks wanting to make guests pop out of their seats.

Breaking up sit-down sessions is a great idea -- but the benefits are no joke. At the...Read more

Nancy Lieberman was 50 when she retired from the WNBA; Satchel Paige was just six days shy of 51 when he left the ballpark; and George Blanda was 48 when he put down the football. Longevity like that is rare in professional sports, but a long lifespan is becoming ever-more common off the field. The oldest living person (as of this writing) is ...Read more

In the U.S., there are around 40,300 indoor movie screens all prepared to show some of the more than 8,895 titles that IMDB says will be released this year. Too bad cancer screens aren't getting such public support.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report says that last year, screening for breast cancer declined by 87%, and for ...Read more

It's hard to believe, but in 2020, Americans ate 5.26 billion pounds of turkey -- around 16 pounds per person. If the myth about tryptophan in turkey making you sleepy were true, very few folks would contend with insomnia (up to 30% do). But it's not, even though tryptophan does have special powers.

Tryptophan, an essential amino acid and ...Read more

As Wolverine, actor Hugh Jackman made the contours of his muscles, veins and bones pop out by intentionally becoming super-dehydrated for 36 hours before shooting shirtless scenes. Risky business. In 1992, 33-year-old pro bodybuilder Mohammed Benaziza died following a competition when severe dehydration caused heart failure. And even if you don'...Read more

Extraordinary athletes know the extraordinary power of physical activity to reshape your mind and the mind's power to transform your body. ShifuYan Lei, who teaches Shaolin Qigong, says, "If you ever lack the motivation to train, then think what happens to your mind and body when you don't." Golfer Sam Snead put it another way: "Practice puts ...Read more

Victor Lustig was a true con man, offering fake shares in fake businesses (Al Capone fell for it), counterfeiting money and even selling the Eiffel Tower. But all those artificial enterprises just ended him up in Alcatraz, where he died in 1947.

Turns out that you all have been equally conned by artificial sweeteners -- they offer the illusion ...Read more

"The Demon Seed," "The Dragon Seed," "The Seed of Chucky" -- based on those movie titles you might think seeds were a menace to us all. Quite the opposite. Seeds contain a bounty of nutrients that fight disease and help prevent premature aging. Here are some seeds you might not have tried yet. (Recipes and more info for these are on www.DoctorOz...Read more

The word "stroke" has so many meanings: to pat or rub gently; the striking of a clock (the stroke of midnight); and of course, to have a blood clot that lodges in the brain.

Someone in the U.S. has a stroke every 40 seconds -- and stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability, reducing mobility in more than half of stroke survivors ages 65 ...Read more

Rocky Marciano won all 49 of his professional boxing matches, because he knew how to avoid a knockout punch. Well, guys, the same is true for you when you get the COVID-19 vaccine. You don't have to worry that your sperm will get KO'd. Quite the opposite, according to a new study that looked at the impact of the two mRNA vaccines -- Pfizer and ...Read more

In "Idiocracy," a 2006 movie starring Luke Wilson, Cpl. Joe Bauers is enrolled in a top-secret military hibernation program but is forgotten. When he awakens 500 years later, he discovers that folks have become so idiotic that he's easily the most intelligent person alive. Well, it turns out that it doesn't take 500 years to see evidence of ...Read more

When you think of supertasting, what favorite food do you fantasize about? For Dr. Mike, it's salmon burgers. But for true supertasters, with the supertaster gene that makes them highly sensitive to bitter and strong flavors, it's more about avoiding foods than longing for them.

Around 25% of folks are supertasters, and although they're food-...Read more

When NFL offensive lineman Ryan Jensen was waking up more than 13 times a night, he developed mood swings, fatigue and lost weight -- jeopardizing his career. Once he was diagnosed and treated for sleep apnea, he was back on track. But he's not alone; it's estimated that 33% to 50% of elite athletes are poor sleepers. That's about the same ...Read more

Greg Aiello's "Nature Gone Wild" brings raging bears, disastrous lightning strikes and ferocious crocodiles to your TV screen, demonstrating just how magnificent and hard to tame Mother Nature really is. That's great fun to watch. But when it is your nature that's untamed, it can turn seriously risky.

A study by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School ...Read more

"The Seven Per-Cent Solution" is a mystery that offers intriguing insights into Sherlock Holmes' psychology, eccentricities -- and addiction to a 7% solution of cocaine. We hope you'll find it just as entertaining to try to unravel the mystery of -- and find a solution for -- the fact that an average of only 7% of you are taking in enough fiber ...Read more

In the summer of 2019, a 5-month-old child was rescued after spending almost an hour alone in a scorching-hot car in the parking lot of an Arizona Target store (it was 100 degrees outside and more than 134 degrees inside the car). Thankfully, the baby was not seriously harmed. But such circumstances don't always end with a rescue.

According to ...Read more

The blue whale is the largest ocean dweller, weighing around 180 tons, and the ostrich is the largest bird -- it can hit 345 pounds and still run 42 mph. Those heavyweight creatures are, well, a healthy weight. But for you, becoming a heavyweight is downright unhealthy, even if you qualify as having what some folks (not us) have called "...Read more

When it comes to combining vitamins, it pays to know which may block each other from doing their good work and which may amplify their effects.

Fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K

-- Absorption is improved if you take fat-soluble vitamins with a meal containing healthy fats. One study found that taking vitamin D with your largest meal of the ...Read more

In 1993, the Bee Gees crooned in "Omega Man": "I'm the Omega Man/Stand tall and understand/Everybody needs a plan." That could be the theme song of omega-3s these days. When a study came out in Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy saying that high doses of fish oil are correlated with the onset of atrial fibrillation (a heart rhythm disorder that can ...Read more

A few years ago, a poll conducted by a hot sauce brand claimed to prove that people who like spicy food are spicier when it comes to romance. We're not sure that holds up, but we are sure that when it comes to enjoying spices -- and not just hot ones -- the more the merrier, and healthier.

Two studies on the effect of America's favorite spices ...Read more