The Myths That Make Me Crazy!
Posted on March 12, 2012
As a nurse for the past 25 years and a cynic in general, there are few things that drive me crazier than hearing people perpetuate health myths. I often wonder why people continue to believe the things that I hear them say and I usually come to the conclusion that they either think its fun or it serves their momentary purpose/argument. Anyway, here are 10 myths that drive me crazy. Those who know me know that I could actually go well past 10, but since I’d like to keep my readers reading my blog posts, I’m going to stick with ten.
Number One: The myth that makes me the most insane. “Sugar makes kids hyper.”
Go ahead and blame the hyperactivity at the party on the cupcakes and punch if you want to – but numerous studies show sugar doesn’t affect behavior, and most parents don’t believe this. In one study, parents were told their kids had sugar and they were more likely to report problem behavior — but in reality, the kids had consumed a sugar-free drink. The reason your kids are acting hyper is probably because they are simply excited and this is the way they show it.
Here’s the next one. “If you go out with wet hair, you’ll catch a cold!” Have you thought that through? A cold is a virus. Wet hair does not a virus make.
Yes, you will feel cold but will be just fine, says Jim Sears, a board-certified pediatrician in San Clemente, California, and a cohost of the daytime-TV show The Doctors. He cites a study done at the Common Cold Research Unit, in Salisbury, England, in which a group of volunteers was inoculated with a cold virus up their noses. Half the group stayed in a warm room while the rest took a bath and stood dripping wet in a hallway for half an hour, then got dressed but wore wet socks for a few more hours. The wet group didn’t catch any more colds than the dry. Sears’s conclusion: “Feeling cold doesn’t affect your immune system.”
In studies of cold transmission, people who are chilled are no more likely to get sick than those who were not. It may be that cold weather keeps people indoors, where germs are more likely to catch up with you.
Here’s a sub-myth to the wet head one. I can’t pass this up, even though it makes me a liar and creates 11 myths I’m busting instead of ten. Oh well. Here goes: “You lose 75% of your body heat from your head.”
This adage is based on an infant’s head size, which is a much greater percentage of the total body than an adult head. That’s why it’s important to make sure an infant’s head remains covered in cold weather. (This also explains those ubiquitous newborn caps at the hospital.) But for an adult, the figure is more like 10 percent. And there is nothing special about the head and heat loss. You will lose heat through any uncovered body part. So putting on a hat is no more important than slipping on gloves.
Ok, this one I heard from my mother almost every day of my young life. “Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis!” Nugatory, Mama.
Maybe it’s a less than desirable habit, but cracking your knuckles is not all that damaging. To understand how you’re not doing yourself a disservice, you need to first understand the anatomy of the joint. In order to prevent articulating (touching) bones from literally grinding down into dust, each joint contains a sac (bursa) of lubricating fluid known as synovial fluid. When a person bends, cracks or pulls on these joints, tiny air bubbles form in the fluid and when they burst, you hear a pop or snap sound! Although cracking your knuckles won’t cause arthritis – which is related to factors including age, weight, genetics, lifestyle – it can overextend ligaments, leading to a small decrease in grip strength.
Next one. “You must use anti-bacterial soap!”
Washing your hands with regular soap and water for 20 seconds is the most effective way to clean your hands. It’s friction and the heat resulting from the friction that works best. Washing with soap doesn’t kill germs, it simply removes them. The active ingredient added to anti-bacterial soaps is Triclosan. But this slow acting ingredient probably isn’t on your hands long enough to kill the bacteria. Stick with regular soap and water.
Onward.
Now, one of my sisters loved sharing her food with our dog. A spoonful for me, a spoonful for you. EW!!! Every time I nearly threw up at the sight, this is what she would say: “A dog’s mouth is cleaner than your mouth!” Guess what? It’s not.
While your dog’s mouth actually contains fewer microbes harmful to humans, it doesn’t mean cleaner necessarily. It still contains more microbes than human mouths and consider where your dog licks! The last I knew, they didn’t use toilet paper after pooing – they used their tongue! Also, your dog’s mouth or nose comes in contact with certain materials that may contain worms on a regular basis. Not to mention scrapes and sores he licks to keep clean. Gag!
Alright, since we’re talking poo, let’s get into this next myth that makes me crazy. “Public toilet seats are germ filled!”
“Fifty percent of American women won’t sit on a seat without some type of guard or without hovering,” said Allison Janse, author of “The Germ Freak’s Guide to Outwitting Colds and Flu.”
She says paper toilet shields help your head more than your bottom, and those who hover often just leave a mess for the next person. “You’re not going to get germs from your backside. You’re going to get them from your hands.”
Door handles, telephones and your own computer keyboard are far more disgusting than the toilet seats. And let me add a wee little public service announcement here: Ladies, if you use a potty shaped tissue paper shield, do not be rude and leave it there when you are done. Please flush it down yourself!
How about this gem? “Humans only use 10% of their brain!”
Although some days you’d swear that your brain isn’t running full steam ahead, multiple brain imaging studies have shown that there are really no inactive parts of the brain. And, while it’s true that certain areas are responsible for certain mechanisms or respond more excitedly to certain stimuli, experiments with lobotomies (excision of portions of the brain to cure mental illness) have shown that reducing the size of the brain can have extremely damaging consequences.
All you dieters out there know this one very well. “Eating late = gaining weight.”
In reality, your body has no idea what the clock reads, so you’re ability to metabolize food will be no different whether you’re sitting down for dinner at 6 p.m. or 10 p.m. What is more important when dining late at night, however, is to realize that your body actually slows down metabolism in order to begin inducing the sleep phase. If you eat late, you will likely have a difficult time falling asleep.
Speaking of sleep, “warm milk helps you fall asleep” is an old wives tale.
Milk contains small amounts of tryptophan (the same amino acid in turkey), “but you would have to drink gallons to get any soporific effect,” says Michael Breus, a clinical psychologist in Scottsdale, Arizona, who specializes in sleep disorders. “What is effective is a routine to help you wind down,” he says. And if a glass of warm milk is part of the process, it can have a placebo effect, regardless of science.
And, speaking of milk, let’s talk about babies! “If you’re pregnant and carrying your baby low, then it’s a boy.” Nope. Invalid.
Myths such as these are pure folklore and are often rooted in ancient gender stereotypes. The only two legitimate methods for determining the sex of your baby are through ultrasound (which looks for physical sexual characteristics) or amniocentesis (which looks at the baby’s chromosomes).
There – I feel better. I hope I helped make you a wiser person today!