health & care

10 health myths people still believe 10) myth: microwaves kill the nutrients infoods cooking food in the microwave can actuallybe one of the best ways to retain the vitamins and minerals in food. this is because microwaving exposes fruitand vegetables to heat for a small amount of time. it also requires very little water,which allows the food to gently steam from the inside, preventing overcooking. microwaving can even enhance the nutritionof some foods. it makes the antioxidants in tomatoes and carrots more available to ourbodies, for example, while making the biotin

in eggs more digestible. source: cnn 9) myth: the five second rule the five second rule states that food droppedon the floor is safe from harmful germs if picked up within 5 seconds. in a scientific study by jillian clarke, gummybears were dropped on surfaces that were covered with bacterium e. coli. the study found thatthe e. coli contaminated the gummy bears within five seconds. it has also been discoveredthat just 10 cells or less of some strains of e. coli are enough to cause severe illness- or even death - in people with low immune

systems. source: discover magazine, the guardian 8) myth: carrots help you see in the dark the vitamin a present in carrots is good foreye health, but the myth that eating carrots can improve vision gained popularity duringww2. during the war, the british government developedsecret radar technology, which allowed royal air force planes to pinpoint and thereforeshoot down german planes before they reached england. to keep the radar technology under wraps,propaganda was released stating that eating

carrots enabled pilots and civilians to seein the dark. source: smithsonian mag 7) myth: orange juice is healthy nutritionally, store bought orange juice isn’tmuch better than soda. despite orange juice being advertised as fresh,healthy, and packed with vitamins, it is in fact heavily processed, in order to maintainits shelf life. orange juice brands such as tropicana preservetheir juice by removing all of the oxygen from the freshly squeezed juice. however,this process also removes all of the natural flavor of the juice, which is then replacedwith flavor packs engineered by perfumers.

to further enhance this flavor, many popularfruit juice brands add more sugar than a serving of coca-cola, and studies have found thatfruit juice is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. source: the atlantic, the guardian 6) myth: muscles turn into fat when you don’texercise the idea that unused muscles turn into fatis impossible, as muscle and fat are two distinct tissues that never convert into each other. when people stop exercising, muscles beginto shrink, creating more space for the body’s fat to grow into.

usually when people stop exercising, theycontinue to consume the same amount of calories as when they were training. this means thatrather than using up the excess stored energy, the body transforms energy into fat, givingthe illusion that a six-pack has literally turned into a flabby belly. source: ny times 5) myth: sugar makes children hyperactive after eating sugary foods, children are thoughtto experience a ‘sugar rush’, which makes them hyperactive. however, psychologists believe that the ‘sugarrush’ is in fact just the natural high spirits

of children when they get together. it ismerely a coincidence that many events in which children are hyperactive happen to includecakes and sweets. because of the ‘sugar rush’ myth, manyparents interpret their children’s behavior as being hyperactive after eating sugar, becausethey believe the myth to be fact. source: new scientist 4) myth: we should eat like cavemen the palaeolithic [pay-lee-oh-lith-ick] dietis based on the idea that the human digestive system is unable to cope with a modern diet,and therefore we should only eat the meat, fish, nuts, and berries that were availableto our hunter-gatherer ancestors.

however, biologists argue that humans areconstantly evolving. one such relatively recent genetic change found in humans is the developmentof lactase persistence, which has enabled modern adults to tolerate milk. meanwhile, studies have found that those whofollow the palaeolithic diet struggle to reach the recommended daily amounts of calcium,iron and fiber. source: bbc 3) myth: carbs make you fat when people cut out carbs from their dietand lose weight, this can be attributed to the high-calorie ingredients that are oftenmixed in or eaten with the carbs that have

also been cut out, such as butter, cheese,cream, sugar, and oil. gram for gram, carbohydrates contain fewerthan half the calories of fat. weight gain is determined not by having a diet high infat or carbs, but by consuming too many calories. in reality, eating carbs can actually helppeople lose weight, as the high fiber found in carb foods help to bulk out a meal andmake you feel full. source: nhs 2) myth: fasting rids the body of toxins there is no medical basis to support the ideathat prolonged fasting and detoxing diets can cleanse our bodies of environmental toxins.

our liver, kidneys, skin, and lungs are constantlyworking to eliminate environmental toxins from our body on their own. there is currentlyno known way to improve these bodily functions in an already healthy body. studies have shown that prolonged fastingis actually damaging to the body, leading to vitamin deficiency and weight loss. source: huffington post, the guardian 1) myth: multivitamins help you live longer almost half of the us population take vitaminsupplements, with multivitamins being the most popular.

however, research has shown that if you arehealthy, taking multivitamins and high dose antioxidants may actually be killing you. taking vitamins and minerals as supplementscan essentially cause our cells to overdose and prevent them from absorbing the mineralsthey actually need. for example, an excess amount of vitamin ais linked to increasing lung cancer in smokers, while excess zinc is linked to reduced immunesystem function. source: bbc, forbes