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MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Do Teeth Whiteners Really Work?

Teeth whitening is a multibillion-dollar industry. Products are being used by more than 11% of households every year. We’re definitely paying for whiter teeth, but are we getting them? Do teeth whiteners really work? HOW do they work?

First, do they work? Well…sort of. Their overall effectiveness really varies. Nearly all commercially available teeth whitening products include hydrogen peroxide, from the ones done at your dentist’s office to your at-home whitening strips to even your mouthwash. But their effectiveness ultimately depends on 3 things: how concentrated they are, how long they stay on your teeth, and where the discoloration is on your teeth.

Using a concentrated product as directed will most likely give you a brightening effect. But unfortunately, it’ll only be temporary. Once you stop bleaching, the effects regress & your chompers return to their original color. So, it becomes a process you have to do again & again. But, while bleaching agents are mostly safe in small doses, they’re concentrated products that aren’t intended for long-term use. Over time, soaking your teeth in them ends up hurting your teeth & gums.

So, if a lifelong bleaching habit isn’t viable, what about all those “natural” whitening remedies we’ve all seen online? Well, dentists agree that baking soda is safe as long as you also brush your teeth with toothpaste. But baking soda can only scrub your teeth, not brighten them. Or, if you’re a fan of Dr. Oz, then you may know he once touted that you can whiten your teeth by brushing with a mixture of strawberries & baking soda. On behalf of your dentist: do not do this. Scientists actually tested that mixture on extracted human teeth & basically said “absolutely not”. Because not only does the strawberry/baking soda combo not brighten teeth, it actually hurts them. Strawberries contain a naturally occurring compound known as malic acid, which will eat away at your teeth’s enamel. And that’ll only make them softer, not whiter.

So, just be careful with whatever you may choose to use to brighten your smile. But if your teeth are genuinely important enough to you to try & whiten them, there’s only 2 things that will always help: regular brushing & flossing.

Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me an email: [email protected].

BROUGHT TO YOU BY: BPG USA

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why Are Jellybeans An “Easter Candy”?

Unlike Christmas & Thanksgiving, Easter doesn’t really have a traditional food menu. Apart from the dyed, hard-boiled eggs that kids hunt on Easter morning, the foods we most closely associate with the Christian holiday of Easter are actually…mass-produced candies, like chocolate bunnies, marshmallow Peeps, and Cadbury Eggs, all of which make sense since Easter happens in the Spring. But there’s one candy that’s considered an “Easter candy”, yet their doesn’t seem to be a obvious reason why: jellybeans. Why are jellybeans considered an Easter candy?

Jellybeans actually have their roots in a Middle Eastern dish called “Turkish Delight”, a gelatin confection that actually pre-dates the Bible’s New Testament. And that gelatin base, which comes from the collagen in animal bones & tendons, eventually came to be used to create other sweet treats like JELL-O, gummy bears, licorice…and, of course, jellybeans.

Jellybeans got their start in the late 1800s, back when candy was more closely associated with Christmas than Easter. Jellybeans first got floated as an Easter treat as a cost-saving measure: they were affordable, and, since they were shaped like tiny eggs & also came in an array of bright colors, people could replace the potentially stinky real chicken eggs in their Easter baskets with jellybeans. Plus, with Easter marking the end of the Lenten season, most folks couldn’t wait to enjoy a jellybean sugar rush. So, jellybeans quickly got adopted into the American Easter tradition while, at the same time, falling out of favor at Christmas (but it had/has plenty of other candies all to itself, anyway, so…). Jellybeans’ popularity grew steadily throughout the 1900s before really taking off in the 1970s. It was in the 60s that the Goelitz Candy Company first introduced jellybeans that were infused with flavor in both their candy coating & their jelly center. Then, in 1976, Goelitz started experimenting with more off-the-beaten-path flavors like cream soda & root beer. Oh, and that was also the year that they changed their name to Jelly Belly.

Candy may be the most popular Easter item here in the US, but that ain’t the case in a lot of other countries where Easter is still observed. Breads actually seem to be the most common theme at Easter around the world. In the UK, hot cross buns are the big holiday sweet, while Ukraine & Poland celebrate with sweet loaves called “babka”. And in Cyprus, they eat flaounes, which are dough filled with eggs, cheese, and mint.

No matter where you go, though, it seems that Easter is destined to remain delicious.

Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Email me: [email protected].

BROUGHT TO YOU BY: BPG USA

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why Do We Call Rabbits “Bunnies”

This weekend, kids everywhere will be hoping for a visit from The Easter Bunny, a friendly rabbit who leaves delightful gifts for kids to enjoy on Easter morning. But why is it not called “The Easter RABBIT”? I mean, as far as animal name abbreviations go, “doggy” for dog makes sense. As does “kitty” for cat…y’know, since “kitty” comes from kitten. But why does bunny mean rabbit?

Well, beginning in the 1300s, the common word used to refer to the adult members of the Oryctolagus cuniculus species was coney (pronounced “cunny”). At the end of the 14th century, a coney’s offspring began being referred to as “rabbits,” which was a word that most likely came into our English language by way of the French form “rabotte”.

But by the 1800s, coney had fallen out of favor once the British had begun using the word in a vulgar way. So, rabbit became the word people would use to refer to the long-eared mammal. But rabbit doesn’t have anything to do with the word “bunny”, though…at least not etymologically. So, how did they become intertwined?

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “bunny” is a form of the word “bun” & with the added suffix of the letter “y”. But bun, in this sense, wasn’t a word for baked goods or rabbits. It was actually the 16th  century nickname for a squirrel, before later becoming a term of endearment for a loved one.

Where exactly bun, in the rabbit sense, came from is unclear. But wherever it came from, the word “bunny” first showed up in print in 1609 as an affectionate term for women & children, while the first citation of its use as a pet name for a rabbit came in 1699 in A New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew. But it’s possible folks were calling rabbits “buns” & “bunnies” long before those terms found their way in print.

But maybe you’re wondering, “Is there actually a difference between bunnies & rabbits?” Well, actually…no, not really. Both terms refer to the same animal in the Leporidae family, and both are usually used interchangeably. Though, bunny might more often be used to refer to baby rabbits (which, technically, should be referred to as “kits” or “kittens”).

There are differences between rabbits and hares, though—they belong to different genera, and hares tend to be bigger than rabbits & more solitary. So, bunny shouldn’t be used to describe a hare. But, depending on how adorable it may be, feel free to call that bouncing four-legged cutie whatever you like.

Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me an email: [email protected].

BROUGHT TO YOU BY: BPG USA

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