Antibacterial soap
For so long we'd scrub up, aiming to kill germs at every turn. But as it turns out, antibacterial soaps are ineffective at best, says Elaine Larson, PhD, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University. A decade ago she authored a double-blind randomized clinical trial (the gold standard of study methods) comparing households that used antibacterial products to those without them. The result? There was no difference in the rates people got sick. "It was clear that in a healthy home, antibacterial soap doesn't really help that much," she says. At worse, antibacterial ingredients like triclosan may spur antibacterial resistance, says the FDA.
Stay safe: Wash up with plain soap and water, period. And scrub well—it's the friction between your two hands that physically removes germs and sends the buggers down the drain, says Larson.