7 Health ‘Facts’ That Are Actually Myths

How many times have you believed in facts that you later found out to be untrue? Even what you’ve learnt in school turns out to be false, when you research about it later. Here are some facts that aren’t really true, but have been projected as true:

 

You shouldn’t eat too many eggs, since it’ll raise your cholesterol.

Eggs have lots of cholesterol in them. For most of us, that’s not an issue, since a growing body of research shows that dietary cholesterol (from foods you eat) doesn’t really have much of an effect on blood cholesterol in the vast majority of people.

 

Everyone should drink eight glasses of water a day

Hydration is very important, but the idea that eight glasses of water is essential is a strange one.

In healthy people, researchers haven’t found a connection between fluid intake and kidney disease, heart disease, sodium levels, or skin quality.

People get a lot of their water from foods and other beverages in the first place, but there is a good reason to drink more water.

It’s a calorie free alternative to other beverages (especially sugary ones), and people who drink water instead of those beverages consume fewer calories overall.

But in general, drink when you are thirsty – you don’t need to count the glasses.

 

An apple a day keeps the doctor away

Apples are good for you, packed with vitamin C and fibre, 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. So go ahead and get that flu shot, even if you eat apples.

 

Reading in poor lighting is bad for your eyes

While it certainly makes it more difficult to focus on what you’re reading, there is no evidence that reading under such conditions will cause any permanent structural or long-term damage to your eyes.

 

Cold weather increases your chance of catching a cold

It seems to make sense, but it’s not true. There is no proof colder temperatures increase your chances of catching a cold. Instead, research shows the spike in colds during the winter months is actually due to people spending more time indoors, around one another, making it easier for the cold to spread from one person to the next.

Shaving makes hair thicker
For those who can’t observe long periods of pop-culture anchored masculinity (read ‘No Shave November’), shaving extra won’t help! It’s a common misconception that shaving makes hair thicker or coarser. It just appears so because the hair is no longer tapered.

 

It’s fine to drink sports drinks to rehydrate.

We all know that soda and similarly sugary drinks like lemonade are bad for us (right?), but what about sports drinks like Gatorade or Powerade? Sports-focused advertising has successfully convinced a whole lot of people that downing a bottle of this stuff is fine, especially if you’ve gone for a jog recently — it’s replacing electrolytes, after all.

But really, for most people the amount of sugar in these drinks is far more than is needed — even if you’ve been exercising. Lower calorie options, which many of the same companies have created in recent years, are much better options. Or just drink water.

 

Eating fat will make you fat.

The tide has started to swing back the other way on this one, but recommendations for low-fat foods remain common.

The decision to demonize fat for its caloric density and heart-clogging effects was largely the result of shady science influenced by a sugar trade group. It turns out that the society-wide decision to cut saturated fat from diets led to increased consumption of sugar and processed trans fats, all of which were most likely less healthy overall.

We need a moderate amount of fat — especially healthy fat — in our diets.