13 common myths about healthy living

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

We are firmly convinced that milk strengthens bones, eating carrots guarantees perfect vision, sugar turns children into uncontrollable monsters, and if you have time to pick up food from the floor in five seconds, it will not be contaminated with bacteria. But this is not the case. There are surprisingly many such myths related to our health. Fortunately, science is gradually debunking them.

1. Milk makes bones stronger

Since childhood, we have formed an attitude that milk is rich in calcium, therefore it makes bones strong. Cartoon characters and doctors told us that we must drink milk every day to get calcium and vitamin D.

However, recent studies by HA Bischoff-Ferrari, B. Dawson-Hughes, JA Baron, JA Kanis, EJ Orav, HB Staehelin, DP Kiel, P. Burckhardt, J. Henschkowski, D. Spiegelman, R. Li, JB Wong, D. Feskanich, WC Willett. … prove that there is no relationship between the amount of milk you drink (or the use of special supplements with calcium or vitamin D) and the number of fractures received. Moreover, now there are more and more various books and articles about the fact that with age it is desirable to reduce the amount of milk and dairy products consumed. And some even associate milk consumption with the development of cancer and some autoimmune diseases.

You can get vitamin D from other sources. In order for it to be better absorbed by the body, it must be taken in combination with other vitamins, otherwise it will simply come out of you along with processed food.

2. Organic food has no pesticides and is more nutritious

Farmers who grow organic produce are allowed to use natural chemicals, which sometimes harm the environment much more than synthetic ones. It all depends on their number.

As for the availability of nutrients, according to the latest 98,727 studies, A. D. Dangour, K. Lock, A. Hayter, A. Aikenhead, E. Allen, R. Uauy. … in this area, organic and regular vegetables and fruits are no different from each other, but the magic word "organic" is soothing. You will be even more confident in vegetables and fruits grown by you personally.

3. Quickly lifted is not considered to have fallen

This is the “rule of five seconds”: if you quickly pick up a dropped food, you can assume that it did not fall. It turned out that all this is. It’s not how much food spent on the floor, but how clean the floor was, because two seconds are enough for bacterial contamination of food.

4. Eating chocolate contributes to acne

This statement is wrong. For one month, the scientists fed some of the participants in the experiment with chocolate bars containing 10 times more chocolate than standard ones, and others with fake chocolate. At the end of the experiment J. E. Fulton Jr., G. Plewig, A. M. Kligman. … they compared both groups and found that neither chocolate nor fat had any effect on acne.

5. Eat an apple a day and forget about going to the doctors

We were convinced that we simply had to eat apples every day, preferably more, and doctors prescribed a couple of teaspoons of apple juice a day to babies over three months old. Indeed, apples contain a fairly large amount of iron and fiber, but this fruit is not a panacea for all diseases. Having eaten an apple, you will receive useful substances, but no more.

6. Honey is healthier than refined sugar

In fact, using the honey we add to make homemade granola or carbohydrate bars is no better than sugar or corn syrup.

Prof Alan Levinovitz that the biological effect of honey is the same as that of high fructose corn syrup. The only difference is that usually the amount of sugar in candies and other sweets is much higher, so the food becomes much more nutritious.

7. Drinking ice cream during a cold will worsen your condition

If you have a cold, but you really want ice cream, you can satisfy this desire with a clear conscience.

The fact that dairy products increase mucus production is not true. What's more, scientists at the Mayo Clinic that frozen dairy can actually soothe a sore throat and provide you with the energy you need to fight off illness when you find it difficult to eat harder foods.

8. Sugar makes kids hyperactive

In American films, it is very often shown how caring mothers try not to give their children sweets with sugar and not feed sweets at all, because the children become insane. In fact, numerous studies have tried to find a link between hyperactivity and sugar consumption, but have not been able to do so.

This myth probably originated in 1974, when Dr. William Crook wrote a letter to the American Academy of Pediatrics, which then published it. “Over the past three years, I have begun to realize that sugar is the main cause of hyperactivity,” the letter said.

At the same time, the letter did not contain any scientific research. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the idea that refined sugar causes or worsens Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is popular, but there is currently no evidence to support this fact.

9. Eating a lot of carrots will give you the ability to see in the dark

Yes, carrots are high in vitamin A, which has a positive effect on the health of our eyes. But this does not mean that eating this vegetable in large quantities will give you the ability to see in the dark.

This myth appeared thanks to during the Second World War. So the government wanted to cover up the fact of the existence of a radar installation that allowed British bombers to hit targets at night.

10. People cannot grow new brain cells

You are not born with a full complement of brain cells. There is a huge amount of research by D. Cossins. … and evidence that new cells continue to form in our brains throughout adulthood, at least in several areas. This process is called neurogenesis.

11. You must wait at least an hour after eating before going swimming

More than once we heard a warning from our grandmothers that we should not swim immediately after eating, as we can seize a cramp. This is actually a lie. The theory behind this myth is that most of the blood will go to help your stomach digest food. Consequently, less blood will flow to the muscles, the likelihood of cramping will significantly increase.

But at the moment there are no scientific studies to support this theory. And there are no sources documenting that a person drowned from a seizure associated with swimming on a full stomach.

Cramps are quite common during swimming, and they have nothing to do with whether you are doing it on an empty or full stomach.

12. The events of a stormy party can be gradually remembered

If you woke up after a stormy night and hardly remember what you were doing, do not even try to remember. Most likely, those memories that will gradually appear in your memory will turn out to be false.

In fact, the part of the brain that is responsible for coding memories is turned off by R. A. Nash, M. K. Takarangi. … if we drink too much alcohol.

13. Brown sugar is healthier than white sugar

The brown sugar is colored by sticky syrup (molasses, or molasses). White sugar is obtained by refining brown sugar from this very molasses. Yes, it does contain some vitamins and minerals (potassium and magnesium), but not enough for your body to feel. Your body doesn't care what sugar you eat.