Health Myths: Drinking 8 Glasses of Water + Other Bogus Claims You Should Stop Believing in

Do you drink 8 glasses of water to the point of sickness? Throw the yolks out and eat only the whites? Replace your plastic bottle with a shiny copper one? No one is immune from half-baked “scientific” health tips today, especially in the world of social media where bad news travel faster than the speed of light. Case in point is the scaremongering news that marred Punjab government’s vaccination drive for children. Videos on Whatsapp and Facebook in Punjab warned parents that the measles-rubella vaccines could cause impotence. But more than half of “well-intentioned” tips, warning against rubber in wheat flour or plastic in namkeens, are scientifically incorrect. Here are some of the commonly believed health myths that we need to stop believing in.

Drink 8 Glasses of Water

While water is important to keep yourself hydrated and ensure the smooth functioning of the body, there is also such a thing as water toxicity or harm caused due to drinking too much water. Read about water intoxication in detail. The proverbial 8-glasses-per-day (excluding tea and coffee) is a rather confusing rule because it does not take into account the size of the glass, climatic conditions or lifestyle of the individual. In fact, the origins of the claims are quite dubious and seems to have originated from an obituary for a leading nutritionist Frederick J. Stare. It was said that he had 6 glasses of water a day. But this claim is not backed by any scientific data. The rule of drinking 8 glasses of water is therefore an overestimation. Dr. Manaan Gandhi of Integral Ayurveda says that one should be more intuitive about the requirements of the body and drink water when one is thirsty.

Fat is Bad for Health

Most people on a weight-loss diet balk at the thought of including fat in their diet. They go the extra mile to avoid oil and invest in non-stick pans and air fryers to cut down fat intake. Again, that’s a gross oversimplification; not all fats are created equally. But some fats can be good for you, without which your body may not be able to build cells and absorb certain nutrients, especially the fat-soluble ones. What you need to avoid are transfats and saturated fats and eat the healthy monosaturated and polyunsaturated fats like avocados, ghee and olive oil.

No Need to Diet if You Exercise

Some people think that working out gives them an excuse to pig out as they please. That’s because they tend to overestimate the calories they have burnt during the workout. When it comes to weight loss, diet always trumps exercise. Half-an-hour on the treadmill may help you burn approximately 250 calories. But binging on a single samosa can undo all the hard work because it has over 300 calories. Even without the time on the treadmill, you can effect a 300-calorie deficit if you kept off the samosa.

Crunches Give You Flat Abs

Movie stars make it seem like it is very easy to get a six-pack abs. But the sad truth is that a well-sculpted six packs don’t serve any purpose beyond the obvious aesthetic one and are notoriously difficult to get…if you play by the book. But that doesn’t stop us from spraining our neck in our obsessive quest for the perfect six packs. The truth is that crunches alone won’t cut it. While crunches can help you strengthen your abdominal muscles, it won’t get rid of the fat around your belly. For that, you’ll cardio and some serious diet modifications.

Deodorant Causes Breast Cancer

Deodorants have got a bad rap in the recent years, mainly due to their specious role in causing breast cancer. Some people believe that chemicals like aluminium in the deos may cause breast cancer since it is sprayed in the under-arm area, which is in close proximity to the breasts. But the role of deodorants in causing breast cancer is not substantiated through studies.

You Can Catch a Cold if You are in a Cold Environment

Another baseless health myth that is widely accepted is that being in a cold place can cause common cold. Rhinoviruses are responsible for common cold and not cold weather, but they tend to thrive when the winters set in. When the temperature plummets, people tend to huddle together for warmth. Being in such close proximity to others may cause the spread of the cold-causing viruses. Cold conditions can also dry out the throat and the sinuses, aggravating your cold-like conditions.

Fat Can Be Converted into Muscle

Don’t trust any “fat-busting” claims that help people convert all the fat into pure muscle. That’s nonsense because fat and muscles are two different types of tissues and one cannot be converted into another. Muscles is an active tissue that continues to burn energy, even when you are at rest. Fats are just storage systems for your energy, which is burnt only when there is some substantial physical activity. So what happens to all the fat when you lose weight? Read to find out.

Fruit Juice is Good For You

Sure a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice is any day better than a bottle of fizzy cola. But it doesn’t compare to eating a fruit whole. Recently, many celebs were promoting the ‘juicing’ lifestyle, saying that converting the fruit into juice helps in easy absorption of all the vital nutrients. But here’s what juicing proponents won’t tell you. Along with the nutrients, your body also absorbs a whole lot of sugar from the fruit. Juicing also breaks down the fibre in the fruit, which would have ensured slow release of the fruit sugars had you eaten it whole. Even from the point of weight loss, juicing is a bad idea because three whole oranges will keep you fuller than a glass of juice squeezed out of three oranges.

Eating at Night Makes you Fat

Dieters go up to any lengths to avoid a late night snack thinking it will add inches to their waist line. But food eaten during the night is broken down in the same way it is during the day. Weight loss will happen as long as you create a caloric deficit, even if you eat during the night. On the contrary, if you exceed your limit during the day, you will gain weight even if you don’t snack at night.

Period Sex is Safe

It all depends on what you consider safe. Let menses not be an excuse for you to have sex without the condom because it can still cause STDs. While the odds of getting pregnant while the girl is on her periods is low, it is not entirely unlikely. Sometimes, it is possible for a woman to get pregnant if she has unprotected sex, especially if her ovulation cycle is shorter. A man’s sperm can live inside a woman for up to 72 hours. Under such circumstances, having sex towards the end of periods will increase pregnancy risk.

These unscientific health myths have stood the test of time without being questioned even once. It’s high time we examine such ill-conceived pieces of medical advice that come our way without blindly following them. If you think we have missed out on something, let us know in the comments.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 03, 2018 03:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).