In health headlines this week, two studies caught my attention.
The first (actually published in 2016, but the Washington Post just got around to writing about it) shows that sparkling water is just as hydrating as regular water. As a big seltzer fan, all I have to say is yay!
To be more specific, the researchers found that, upon testing participants by giving them various beverages,
Cumulative urine output at 4 h after ingestion of cola, diet cola, hot tea, iced tea, coffee, lager, orange juice, sparkling water, and a sports drink were not different from the response to water ingestion.
Well, okay then.
This news isn’t going to prompt me to put seltzer or coca cola in my bike bottles, but hey, knowledge is a good thing, right?
The other study provoked a bit of skepticism on my part.
Okay, here goes: The Post reported here that some Australian researchers suggest that travel can help you live longer. And exactly how is that achieved? One word: entropy.
The Post wrote that “the experts wanted to find out how positive travel experiences help maintain the human body’s “low entropy,” or gradual decline.”
Wait a sec– I think I recall from physics that “entropy” refers to the state of order or disorder within a closed system, and that the second law of thermodynamics states that such systems are always headed in the direction of disorder (unless acted upon by other forces). Yes, I reminded myself using Wikipedia. But hey, I studied this a long time ago… 🙂
But human bodies in nature are not closed systems. So entropy and laws of thermodynamics don’t describe their processes of change over time.
However, that doesn’t bother these researchers or the Washington Post. Here’s what the Post said:
“Environments, especially beautiful landscapes like forests or beaches, can help us reduce stress and boost our mental well-being and promote physical activity,” Hu said. “Exposure to other tourists, locals or even animals can improve our mood and enhance cognitive function.”
From the study abstract:
From an entropy point of view, positive travel experiences could help maintain a low-entropy state (i.e., bodily health) by influencing four key systems. Conversely, negative travel experiences could increase entropy and lead to health issues.
Yeah, no. Yeah, travel can have positive or negative effects on bodies traveling. But no, bodily health isn’t properly described as an entropy state other than in the most metaphorical way. And yeah, science benefits from using powerful metaphors to promote novel hypotheses and study designs. But no, this isn’t one of them.
By all means, travel if you will. Enjoy novel experiences and hopefully avoid averse ones. That’s my plan. But don’t bet on living longer through the entropy-protective effects of a two-week trip to Europe. When it comes to human experience, my view is that a little disorder can’t really hurt you.
Have a nice day.
