The Truth About Health Myths And Misconceptions

1. An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

   

   Apples are packed with vitamin C and fiber, both of which are important to long-term health, but they aren’t all you need.

   And if certain viruses or bacteria get into your system, an apple will unfortunately do nothing to protect you.

   Go ahead and get that flu shot, even if you eat apples.

    

   Humans got HIV because someone had sex with a monkey.

   

   HIV probably didn’t jump to humans through human-monkey sex.

   It probably jumped to humans through hunting of monkeys for bushmeat food, which led to blood contact.

   A juice cleanse will detoxify you

   

   Your body naturally removes harmful chemicals through the liver, kidneys, and gastrointestinal tract — there’s nothing about juice that will hurry that process along.

   At best, juicing removes digestion-aiding fiber from fruits and vegetables. Also consider that many sugary fruit juices are as bad for you as sodas.

   And while some juices are just fine, they don’t provide anything that you wouldn’t get by eating the whole components instead

   MYTH: Brown sugar is healthier than white sugar.

   Sugar that’s the color of dirt doesn’t make it more “natural” or healthier than its white counterpart. The color comes from a common residual sticky syrup, called molasses.

   Brown sugar retains some of that molasses. In fact, brown sugar is mostly white sugar with some molasses — so refining it further would give you white table sugar.

   While molasses contains some vitamins and minerals like potassium and magnesium, there is not enough in your standard brown sugar packet that should make you reach for it if you’re trying to eat healthier.

   As far as your body is concerned, white and brown sugar are one-in-the-same.

    Sitting too close to the TV is bad for your eyes.

   

   The most this will do is give you a headache from eye fatigue.

   This rumor probably started with old TVs, which produced some X-rays, but newer ones don’t.

    Your microwave can give you cancer and disrupt your pacemaker.

   

   Microwave radiation won’t cause cancer, it just heats food up.

   Only a few types of radiation cause cancer, and these depend on the dose. Radiation from the sun can cause skin cancer, for example, but just enough helps your body make Vitamin D, too.

   Microwaves also won’t disrupt a pacemaker. However, things like anti-theft systems, metal detectors, powerful refrigerator magnets, mobile phones, and even headphones can mess with the heartbeat-keeping devices.

    Eating a lot of carrots gives you great night vision.

   Vitamin A is a major nutrient found in carrots, and it is good for the health of your eyes — especially those with poor vision. But eating a bunch of the vegetables won’t give your all-seeing superpowers.

   The myth is thought to have started during as a piece of British propaganda during World War II. That government wanted to secret the existence of a radar technology that allowed its bomber pilots to attack in the night.

    Your blood turns blue when it’s out of oxygen.

   

   Your blood is never blue: It turns dark red when it’s not carrying oxygen.

   Blood only looks blue because you are seeing it through several layers of tissue, which filters the color.

    Natural sugar like honey is better for you than processed sugar.

   

   A granola bar made with honey instead of high-fructose corn syrup is not better for you.

   That’s because sugar in natural products like fruit and synthetic products like candy is the same: “Scientists would be surprised to hear about the ‘clear superiority’ of honey, since there is a near unanimous consensus that the biological effect of high-fructose corn syrup are essentially the same as those of honey,” 

   The problem is that candy and other related products typically contain more sugar per serving, which means more calories — a difference you should actually be watching out for.

    

   Yoga Is A Mystical Cure

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      Yoga is a perennial favourite of the poorly informed, because it combines Eastern mysticism with really attractive people wearing not many clothes. The basic idea is that it is a great way to exercise, but there’s no evidence that it differs from other forms of exercise like aerobics or walking.

      That doesn’t stop people claiming about once a month that yoga can cure everything from mental health to cancer, which is ridiculous. Yoga is a great way to get some light exercise. It is not a cancer, or anything else, cure.

       

      

      Myth: Supplements always make you healthier.

      Vitamin supplements may be not only ineffectual but even dangerous, studies have shown. For example, a study published in 2016 showed that some older women who take calcium supplements may face an increased risk of dementia. And in a huge review of 20 years of supplement research published in 2015, researchers found that taking high doses of vitamins may be linked with an increased risk of cancer.

      Aside from these possible long-term risks, reports have suggested that supplements can cause damage in the short term too. A report published in 2016 found that a man in Pennsylvania who took Ayurvedic herbal supplement developed lead poisoning. Another report, also published in 2016, showed that a 4-year-old boy in England went to the ER after taking a slew of “natural” supplements, and developing a condition called vitamin D toxicity.

      “The FDA does not require supplements to be regulated in the same way that drugs are, which can be a real problem,As a result, the safety of many supplements has not been rigorously studied. Furthermore, supplement bottles can sport unsubstantiated claims and even make errors in dosage recommendations, she said.

      It’s a better idea to get your vitamins and other nutrients from eating real food, rather than taking a pill, she said.

      “A vitamin pill is not the answer. “Eating more healthily in general is the answer.”

      Myth: Shaved hair grows back faster, coarser and darker.

      Here’s a myth you can debunk yourself by paying attention to your own hair after shaving. You may notice that new hair grows in with a blunt edge on top. Over time, that blunt edge gets worn down, making it seem thicker than it really is. But why might recently shaved hairs seem darker than their unshaved counterparts? It could be that those newly spouted hairs haven’t yet been bleached by the sun.

      But if you don’t trust your own experimental skills, there’s other evidence that this myth isn’t reality. A clinical trial conducted in 1928 compared hair growth  in shaved patches to hair growth in unshaved patches. The study found that new hair that replaced shaved hair wasn’t darker or thicker, nor did it grow faster. More recent studies  have confirmed that one.

      Myth: Ulcers are caused by spicy food and stress.

      If you think your ulcers are acting up because of the curry you ate last night for dinner, think again. Although doctors once believed that ulcers were caused by stress, lifestyle choices or spicy foods, they now know that most ulcers are actually caused by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori.

      Ulcers — sores that develop in the lining of the esophagus, stomach or the first part of the small intestine — can also be caused by certain medicines. Aspirin and iron tablets are the most common culprits

                                                                                                                                                                 THAT IS IT ON THE MOST POPULAR HEALTH MYTHS AND MISCONCEPTIONS. YOU CAN FOLLOW ON MY SOCIALS, TILL NEXT TIME.