Archaeologists have found roughly 3,000-year-old honey in Egyptian tombs that was still edible. Honey's germ-proof recipe: almost no water, high acidity, and a touch of hydrogen peroxide made by an enzyme from the bees. Practically nothing can grow in it. The date on the jar is only a best-before date: crystallised honey isn't spoiled — warm it gently in a water bath and it turns liquid again.
Chlorine on its own is fairly gentle. But when it combines with urine, sweat and other grime from swimmers, it forms chloramines, which cause stinging eyes and that classic 'chlorine smell'. A well-kept pool barely smells at all. Shower before you swim and never pee in the water.
Muscle mass slowly shrinks with age, putting independence at risk. But in 1990, a study had nursing home residents aged 86 to 96 train their legs for eight weeks: their strength more than doubled. Muscle responds to training at any age. Getting up from a chair without using your hands is already an exercise.