Do Hot Peppers Prevent Colds? Remove Ticks With Fire?

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1. FACT OR QUACK: Placing a 1/2 dollar on an "outty" bellybutton turns it into an "inny?"
This is quack. Many outty bellybuttons are actually umbilical hernias. That's where the intestine pops through a weakness in the abdominal wall. Most resolve by age one, 10% last longer than a year. If it lasts up to four years, it may need to be repaired. So you can see with those odds, it's no wonder people think putting a half dollar over an outty will make it go away.

2. FACT OR QUACK: Eat hot peppers to prevent a cold?

ANSWER & MORE AFTER THE JUMP...

That's quack. Eating hot chilis to fight off a cold comes from that idea that hot spicy foods fight infection by causing you to sweat when you eat them. They also temporarily open up your nostrils and sinuses or at least give you the feeling that they do. We do know that capsaicin the ingredient that makes hot peppers hot can reduce pain and inflammation, but there's no evidence to suggest that eating hot peppers wards off a cold. But hey, if you like it, and it makes you feel better…

3. FACT OR QUACK: Remove a tick with a match and Vaseline?
That makes three quacks this morning. The best way to remove a tick is with tweezers. Don't grab the body and don't squeeze it. You want to grab it by the head apply gentle traction and wait for the tick to release. After you remove it, save it in the freezer or bring it to your doctor and make sure you wash your hands and the tick bite thoroughly and apply an antibiotic ointment.