Do bedtime times really matter?

dorey_oh — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:44:35 -0800

"An hour of sleep before midnight is worth two hours after". Is there any science to back this up, or is it just an old wives' tale? My sister believes that "an hour of sleep before midnight is worth two hours after", having read it in a book by a religious writer she follows. I think it's an old wives' tale that goes back a long, long time, before people had much knowlege of REM cycles, circadian rhythms, etc, in the same vein as "early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise". She's naturally an early bird, I'm more of a night owl. We're not talking completely opposite sleep times here - more like the difference between a 9 pm bedtime, or staying up until midnight. Anyone have some actual science to add to the discussion?

Is it ok to put still-warm food in the fridge or freezer?

antifuse — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 02:44:20 -0800

Is it ok to put still-warm leftovers in the fridge or freezer? My girlfriend and I constantly disagree about this. She was always told, growing up, that you have to wait until recently-cooked food has cooled to room temperature before you can put it in the fridge. If you don't, she says, bacteria will grow on it much more easily and you will get sick.

I've ALWAYS just put the warm leftovers right into the fridge/freezer, and never had any problems with it, and in fact I find that the "leaving it till it cools down" often leads to food forgotten on the counter overnight, which in my opinion would be more likely to lead to spoilage. (Sweet mother of god that was a horrible runon sentence!)

My google-fu has led to little in the way of answers, does anybody have any concrete facts one way or the other? As far as I'm concerned, it just seems like common sense that bacteria is less likely (or at worst, just as likely) to grow on warm-food-in-the-cold-fridge as it is in warm-food-on-the-kitchen-counter. My girlfriend refuses to believe me, as it was SO ingrained into her brain in a child.

Help me, AskMe, you're my only hope!

Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with oldwivestale

Do bedtime times really matter?

Is it ok to put still-warm food in the fridge or freezer?