The sugars in beans are far too big to slip though the intestinal wall on their own, and our guts’ enzymatic tool kit doesn’t have the right stuff to break the big things apart into more manageable pieces.

HEALTH
Sledding image via Shutterstock“Put a jacket on if you’re going out there, or you’ll catch a cold.”It’s a common refrain of grandmothers all over the world. Are they right, though? Do low temperatures have anything to do with catching the common cold? Mos
If you’re not washing it, then yeah, it can get kind of gross. Reusing an unwashed bottle or cup, even if you’re “only” drinking water out of it, puts your mouth in intimate contact with a wonderful bacterial breeding ground.
Adam's apple photo via ShutterstockTouch your fingers to the front of your throat and start humming. Feel around until you can feel vibration directly under your fingers. That’s your larynx, or voice box. It houses your vocal cords and is involved in brea
Humanity spent the last hundred years virtually eradicating some of the planet’s most unpleasant diseases. But some of them have started showing up again.
You’re on the weight bench. 18. 19. 20! You couldn’t lift that barbell again if someone had a gun to your head. Your arms and your chest are sizzling with a dull burn. Your muscles are fatigued, and as you try to put the bar back, your arms give out.
While the author of the Book of Proverbs remains uncertain (most likely, King Solomon wrote it), its intent is not. The book was written to share insight, and much conventional wisdom originates in its pages. Proverbs 17:22, "a merrie heart doth good like
I've never been a lip balm user. This is because I tend to avoid things that my friends find addictive -- and I've had friends who have been, dare I say, addicted to lip balm since elementary school. After a few hours without it, they're clearly jonesin
Reader Cathy wrote in wondering what becomes of a donor’s DNA once it gets inside another person during a blood
We all dream of having some superpower to help navigate life. Some people have those powers. Let's just hope they remember that with great power, comes great responsibility.
Alfred Kinsey, biologist, pioneering sex researcher and founder of the Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University, once wrote that "a marked quiescence of the total body is the most widely recognized outcome of orgasm," more noticeably among males
Here’s how portions of Americans’ favorite foods have ballooned—and how much exercise you’d need to do to work off the extra calories.
My old man was a snorer. His snoring was like the plot of a good action movie, with plenty of rising action. About 15 minutes after he'd fall asleep, it would sound like there was a heard of buffalo racing bulldozers and juggling chainsaws in my parents'
Regular Floss readers know that scientists around the world study some pretty silly things. A few weeks ago, I wanted to know why spaghetti doesn't break in half. A simple Google search gave me an in-depth study of the phenomena by two physicists and plen