11 Health Myths

[John]

I found this article by Tara Parker-Pope in the NY Times and found it very interesting. It's the '11 Health Myths That May Surprise You'--here's numbers 10 & 11...

10. It’s okay to double dip in the chip dip. In one study, scientists took a bite of cracker and then dipped it into salsa, cheese dip, chocolate syrup and water. They did the same test with a fresh, unbitten cracker. Then they measured bacteria in the dips and the volunteers’ mouths. On average, three to six double dips transferred about 10,000 bacteria from the eater’s mouth to the dip. And each cracker picked up between one and two grams of dip. Salsa picked up the most germs from double dipping.

11. Food quickly picked up from the floor is safe to eat. Scientists have put the commonly-cited five-second rule to the test. They found that food that comes into contact with a tile or wood floor does pick up large amounts of bacteria. Food doesn’t pick up many germs when it hits carpet, but it does pick up carpet fuzz."


Take a look at the rest of the list--some are very surprising!

I don't find ALL of them too surprising, but definitely a few of them. I always thought people lost heat primarily through their head, and also that milk makes you phlegmy. I can blame my parents for telling me these things, but they probably didn't know any better. I also thought that cold weather can make you sick...I still don't know about that one.

Number two caught me by surprise. Green mucus indicates a sinus infection. I can definitely remember my mother asking what color it was when I was not feeling well. I had to wonder who was right...the NY Times or my mother. Hmmm...luckily, Rob Moser, PA, PhD wrote Green Mucous -- What It Is and What It's SNOT, and reminds us that "Green Nose In the Morning is No Cause for Warning." ...Well that's great to know. I guess it saves people the hassle of looking at their snot after blowing. I know I still look at it sometimes just to make sure I'm healthy...so I guess there's no need for that anymore! Although it's always tough to break habit, hopefully I'll remember this next time I'm blowing my nose.

The most unsurprising are the 'myths' about food. Double dipping and eating food off the floor is not okay. Did anyone really think it was? The five-second rule is gross, and food should never be eaten off the floor. Double dipping is just inconsiderate and unsanitary. It's like eating chips and salsa directly from someone else's mouth...yuck!

So what does everyone else think? Are you at all surprised by this list?

[amanda]

I didn't know some of these! I always use the 5-second rule (uh oh). #1-4 were particularly surprising to me! Cool stuff. I'm going to be ready to share this info with anyone who mentions these myths. It's ok to correct people when you're helping them out, right?

Here are some more myths I found:

• Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight Reading in the dark can cause a temporary strain on the eyes, but it rapidly goes away once you return to bright light. 70 years ago we were reading by candlelight and weren't going blind.
• Fingernails and hair grow after death. Growing hair and fingernails is a very complex hormonal task - one that can't happen after one has died. So how did this myth get off the ground? It could be because after death the skin begins to contract, which could give the appearance that the nails are growing.
• We use only 10 percent of our brains. Numerous types of brain imaging studies show that no area of the brain is completely silent or inactive. Detailed probing of the brain has failed to identify the 'nonfunctioning' 90 percent. The myth goes back to snake-oil salesmen of the early 20th century, who used the myth to sell a tonic that would increase brainpower.
• You should drink at least eight glasses of water a day. Much of that water is already contained in the food we eat. We get enough fluids from our typical daily consumption of juice, milk and even caffeinated drinks. And drinking too much water can cause water intoxication, a severe electrolyte imbalance in which cells swell with excess fluid, and even death.
• Shaved hair grows back faster and coarser. Wax, shave or cut—no matter how you choose to remove your hair, you won't change the texture or speed at which it grows back. Leg hair will, however, appear coarser right as it starts to grow back. As it gets a bit longer and is exposed to the sun, it will look exactly like the hair you started with.
• Tainted candy from strangers is a Halloween threat. Each Halloween brings a slew of stories about poisoned candy—some hospitals even set up X-ray stations for the particularly cautious trick-or-treater—but there has never been a documented case of a stranger poisoning Halloween candy, he says. There have, however, been a few instances of relatives doing so.

Also false:
• Swallowed gum stays in your stomach for 7 years.
• You can catch STDs from toilet seats.
• Chocolate causes acne.

Read more about these and a few others at Newsweek and Medicine Net.

[Marie]

This list really surprised me--and I have to agree with you, John, I'm not sure I'm prepared to believe the NYT over my mom! But I guess these myths perpetuate because our moms tell us the things their moms told them.

I was particularly surprised by myth #6, about birth control being less effective when you're taking antibiotics. I've heard this from health professionals, and seen it discussed frequently throughout the women's health community. My dentist once told me that it wasn't true, but I wasn't going to take his word over my own doctor's.

I did a quick scan of the postings out there on this topic and found a Q&A from Columbia's Health Center "Go Ask Alice" that backs up this as a health myth. The Mayo Clinic also has a great Q&A about birth control that addresses this question and says essentially the same thing:

"Hypothetically speaking, other antibiotics, particularly penicillin and tetracycline derivatives, could impair the effectiveness of birth control pills in a small percentage of women. Researchers can't rule out this possibility, but no large studies have proved such an effect."

There's also a lot of information and questions out there that say this isn't a myth--I'd say this is definitely a situation where "better safe than sorry" applies. I don't want to side track the conversation too much though! If anyone is interested in talking more about this specific topic, I hope you'll join me in the Women's Health Group to discuss the birth control/antibiotics myth.

[Kristy Bassett]

To be honest none of it suprises me, although I was taken in by the antibiotics and BC myth. In repsonse to Marie's comment I would say it may be that many health professionals perpetuate the myth on that 'hypothetical', and stick to it just in case.

On the cold weather one making you sick, I can't count how many times I have corrected people when they say about 'catching' a cold. Even my hubby, who I have explained to about viruses and why the cold can't pass on a virus still responds to me, 'then why do I get sick after I get cold?'. The simple answer I think from my knowledge of the immune systems is that the cold weather would have supressed your immune system, it wouldn't be by a significant amount, but combine that with the energy drain from being cold (you use energy to keep warm), and the fact that you may have been harbouring a virus for a few weeks, it could be enough to let a virus take hold. It could also be a simple reason, like maybe eating less fruit over winter, but it is definitely not the cold that makes you sick.

[relief]

I've been saying for years that milk does not thicken mucous- no one has believed me though. Now I have my proof!

[Teri Hale]

That's too funny. I saw a program on this very subject on the tv show "Mythbusters" As fa as the 5 second rule goes...I keep my floors clean so usually I don't mind eating something if it falls...depending on what it is. I figure that is what immune systems are for :-)

[amanda]

I just read an interesting article called "How to Debunk A Health Myth" - it goes into how doctors look at myths and how often people believe and perpetuate incorrect health info. And how you should approach hearsay health info.

Check it out here.