Is your health knowledge based on
fact, fear or fiction? Here’s an update on the six health myths you should stop
believing right now…
1. ‘You should drink eight glasses of
water every day’
It’s a waste of water. The myth originated
in 1945 – yep, that far back with a US claim that you need 2.5l of water a day
to keep your body functioning properly. However, the researchers also said most
of this fluid comes from your food a fact that’s been shrouded by the mists of
time. A good diet with plenty of fruit and veg should provide most of the
fluids you need.
Fact: Six
cups of black tea drunk over a day is just as hydrating as 1 litre of water,
says a study in the British says a study in the British Journal of Nutrition.
Six
cups of black tea drunk over a day is just as hydrating as 1 litre of water
2. ‘You need a pill break before getting
pregnant’
‘You can conceive as soon as you stop
taking the Pill hence why you have to take it every day to avoid getting pregnant!’
says Dr Radha Modgil (drradhanmodgil.com). Before the days of scanning, a gap
was advised so you could be sure of the date of your last period and work out
when you’d conceived.
Fact: a
vitamin D supplement could improve fertility in men and women and boost your
chance of conceiving, say Austrian researchers.
3. ‘Feed a cold and starve a fever’
There’s no truth in the old wives’ tale
that you should lay off the chicken soup if you’ve got full blown flu. The
phrase has become mangled from its original meaning: feed a cold to stave,
which means prevent, a fever. ‘The real message is to look after yourself to
stop your cold from getting worse’, says Dr Rob Hicks. ‘If you have flu, drink
plenty of fluids and eat what you can to keep your strength up’.
Fact: Zinc
lozenges can shorten the length of a cold by two days, as they stop the virus
multiplying, according to Canadian research.
4. ‘You lose most of your body heat
through your head’
Did your mum tell you to wear a hat or risk
‘catching your death’? She was wrong. US researchers say the belief is likely
to come from an army study where subjects in Arctic survival suits lost most of
their body heat through their heads purely because their heads were bare! Any
uncovered body part will lose heat, so wrap up warm all over when you’re out in
a chill.
Fact: keep
your feet warm and dry. The Common Cold Centre in Cardiff found getting your
feet wet increases your risk of catching a cold.
Keep
your feet warm and dry
5. ‘Eating late makes you fat’
‘It’s not what time of day you eat that’s
important, but what you’re eating throughout the day’, says Dr Modgil. ‘If
you’re consuming more calories than you burn, you’ll put on weight whether
you’re eating them at 6am or 6pm’.
Fact:
keeping a food diary will help you lose weight. Experts from the University of
Washington found food diarists lost 6lb more than those who didn’t keep a
record of what they ate.
Keeping
a food diary will help you lose weight
6. ‘Being overweight means your
metalbolism slow’
‘It’s a complete myth that large people
have a slower metabolism than skinny people’, says Dr Modgil. ‘If you’re
overweight, you’re burning more energy to keep your body going’. The basal
metabolic rates will be roughly similar, but the bigger you are, the more
calories you’ll burn, even lying down.
Fact: spicy
chillies boost metabolism. Research by Purdue University found eating red
cayenne pepper burns more calories after a meal and could also even reduce
cravings for junk food.
