There is massive amount of medical misinformation circulating right now. Behind most health myths, there’s a kernel of truth, let’s separate the science from the silliness.
1. You shouldn’t cut off the bread’s crust.
Truth is the bread crust is packed with vitamins, the baking process produces a novel type of cancer-fighting antioxidants in bread that is 8 times more abundant in the crust than in the crumbs.
2. If you go out with wet hair, you’ll catch a cold.
Truth is you probably will feel cold, but will be just fine health-wise, feeling cold doesn’t affect your immune system. A cold is a virus, it is passed from people, not water.
3. If you cross your eyes, they’ll stay that way
There is actually no harm in voluntary eye crossing, but if you see a child doing this many involuntary times there might be other vision problems involved.
4. You should feed a cold and starve a fever
Wrong! In both cases, eat healthy and drink adequate fluids, hydration is always important in order to heal.
5. Sitting too close to the TV will ruin your vision.
Being close to the TV won’t ruin your eyesight, but sitting less than 1.5 meters from the set can tire the muscles that focus the lens of the eye, resulting in eyestrain and tired eyes that burn and water.
6. Swallowed gum stays in your stomach for seven years
In fact, as with most nonfood objects that kids swallow, fluids carry gum through the intestinal tract, and within days it passes through.
7. To get rid of hiccups, have someone startle you
Everyone is different, there are hundreds of home remedies for this, if it works for you, it’s the right one. Hiccups are the result of excess air in the stomach, they are a precursor to heartburn, try a small amount of a heartburn remedy like baking soda or chewing a Tums.
8. You shouldn’t swim for an hour after eating
Truth is that after you eat, more blood flows to the digestive system and away from the muscles, so you might have less energy to swim vigorously, but it shouldn’t inhibit your ability to tread water.
9. Eating fish makes you smart
Well, for 3-4 old kids this is indeed the case, fish are packed with omega-3 fatty acids, including DHA, which is particularly beneficial in the first two years of life for brain development, cognition, and visual acuity.
10. Cracking your knuckles will cause arthritis or big knuckles
Cracking your knuckles occasionally may annoy those around you and make your joints sore, but there’s no evidence that this directly causes arthritis, a disorder characterized by sore and swollen joints. If you crack your knuckles often you can injure the cartilage and cause the joints to swell. Keep this up and eventually it may lead to degenerative joint disease, such as arthritis.
http://www.realsimple.com/health/first-aid-health-basics/old-wives-tales-retold-00000000040355/page3.html
http://www.canadianliving.com/health/prevention/25_health_myths_exposed.php
