13 Health Facts You Believed Are Actually Misleading

When we were young, we were told many health related things which were considered as health facts. All these were health myths which we all assumed to be right for a very long time because as kids, we trusted that the adults were always right, or so we thought.

Appendicitis and jumping around after eating was one of those myths that have been preached widely everywhere and guess what? They were wrong all along.

Consider this…

Up until the late 16th century, everyone “knew” that the sun and planets revolved around the Earth.

Up until the late 19th century, epidemic illnesses such as cholera and the plague were “known” to be caused by a poisonous mist filled with particles from rotting things.

Up until the early 20th century, the most common procedure performed by surgeons for thousands of years was bloodletting, because we “knew” that blood drained from the body balanced the whacky humors responsible for poor health.

But as misinformed as all that may sound now, our predecessors believed these “facts” with the same certainty that we believe that the Earth is round and hot chocolate fudge make us fat…..

13 Health Facts which are actually misleading

To know more about the health myths that we were being misled about throughout our life, read on below for 13 health facts you have believed which are actually deceptive.

1. Using Microwaves leads to Cancer

The earlier generation used to avoid using microwaves because they believed it leads to cancer. But according to Cancer Research UK, microwaves only heat food and nothing more. The older people believed that microwaves can destroy the nutritional value of food but then other forms of heating food, such as boiling, baking and grilling also does the same thing. So what is the difference?

2. The 5 Second Rule keeps Food Clean to Eat

As kids we were told that you can pick food up again from the table and eat it as long as it’s within 5 seconds from dropping it. But the fact is that it depends more on how clean the surface is where you dropped your food. This myth was once put to test and the myth busters revealed that once your food hits a dirty surface, it will contaminate in milliseconds. So this is one of the major health facts which is actually misleading.

3. Milk Is Good for You

Milk has always been associated with strong bones and healthy teeth. Till date we believe this. But according to the Medical Research Journal, high consumption of milk leads to a higher mortality rate among men and women and higher fracture cases in women.

4. Eating Chocolate leads to Acne

Chocolate was always considered to be a cause of acne. But a medical experiment posted in the Journal of the American Medical Association conducted showed that chocolate did not have an effect on zits. One group which was involved in the experiment was given candy bars with 10 times amount of chocolate and the other was given fake chocolate bars. The results showed that there was no increase in zits in the group given real chocolate as compared to the other group.

5. An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away

I remember when I used to go to school, my mom gave me an apple daily and said that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Apples are rich in vitamin C and fibre but according to research, an apple can do nothing to help if a bacteria or a virus gets into your system. Only a flu shot has a higher chance of protecting you.

6. Jumping after a Meal gives you Appendicitis

As a child we always believed that jumping and running after a meal gives us an appendicitis which is the inflammation of the appendicitis. But according to the research this is not true. Appendicitis is caused when a hard piece of stool obstructs the very small opening of the appendix which leads to swelling, inflammation and infection.

7. Vitamins keep you Healthy

Multivitamins are a billion dollar business but scientists are now saying that they are almost ineffective to reduce the risk of any diseases and could be causing more harm than good. According to a journal posted in Scientific American, clinical trials done on people consuming vitamin E, high doses of Vitamin A and beta-carotene actually increases death rates.

8. Sugar is Addictive like Cocaine

Ever saw a parody when a guy goes sneefing sugar like its cocaine and then goes on feeling “high”? In real life, most actually do believe that sugar is addictive like cocaine. But research has shown that although sugar lights up parts of the brain similar to when we are having sex or taking cocaine, there is no evidence yet to show that it is addictive.

9. Lack of Oxygen turns your Blood Blue

This is absolutely wrong because blood can never turn blue. It only becomes dark red when there is lack of oxygen in it. An article on Science line also tells us that you could be looking at your blueish veins and also the color red could be filtered to become blue because there are so many layers beneath the skin of which you are looking through.

10. Eating Carrots allows you to see at Night

Vitamin A is good for our eyes and carrots are rich in Vitamin A. But if you think that eating lots of carrots can give you great night vision, then you are absolutely wrong. Apparently, this myth was created as propaganda by the British hoping to mask away the new development of the radar and in hopes to trick the Nazis by saying that carrots have helped the British to “see” German planes flying in.

11. Cracking Knuckles give you Arthritis

Regarded as one of the health facts, this is actually a myth. A research posted in the Journal of the American Board of Medicine clearly shows that there is no association between Knuckle cracking and Arthritis. People who crack knuckles and people who don’t were still getting arthritis for their age groups of 50 – 89 years old.

12. Diabetes is caused by High Sugar consumption

Sugar is definitely not the main cause for diabetes. However, The American Diabetes Association stated that weight gain and consuming too much sugary drinks is associated with a higher risk. So there’s not much to worry for people who eat sugar in moderation because there is simply no direct evidence to say that sugar causes diabetes and there is no need to completely cut sugar off from your diet.

Related: 10 Diabetes Myths Busted!

13. You have to stretch before exercise

It is believed that stretching before exercise is the main way to improve performance and avoid injury. But researchers have been finding that it actually slows you down. Experts reveal that stretching before a run can result in a 5% reduction of efficiency; meanwhile, Italian researchers studying cyclists confirmed that stretching is counterproductive. Furthermore, there has never been sufficient scientific evidence that pre-exercise stretching reduces injury risk.

So these were some of the health facts which are actually not facts and are misleading. How many do you believe in?