Health advice which are widely believed but which are in fact totally wrong

Health-related myths are often repeated as fact, even though any diligent Google search will reveal the truth behind these fallacies. 

General Believe : A woman can't get pregnant during her period 

FACT : Although it's unlikely that a woman will conceive during menstruation, it isn't impossible, according to Carroll.

Sperm can live inside a woman's body for up to a week, and ovulation can occur soon after (or even during) the "bleeding" phase of a woman's menstrual cycle. That makes it possible for a woman to become pregnant if she has sex either during her period or shortly after it ends. 

General Believe : Everyone should drink eight glasses of water a day 

FACT: Hydration is very important, but the idea that eight glasses of water is essential is a strange one.

In healthy people, researchers have not found any connection between fluid intake and kidney disease, heart disease, sodium levels, or skin quality.

But water is a calorie-free alternative to other beverages (especially sugary ones like soda or sports drinks), and people who drink water instead of those beverages consume fewer calories overall.

A good rule is to drink when you're thirsty — you don't need to count the glasses.

General Believe :The chemical Tryptophan in Turkey makes you sleepy

FACT: Turkey contains tryptophan — an amino acid that is a component of some of the brain chemicals that help you relax.

But plenty of foods contain tryptophan. Cheddar cheese has even more than turkey, yet cheddar is never pointed out as a sleep inducing food.

Experts say that instead, the carbs, alcohol, and general size of the turkey-day feast are the cause of those delicious holiday siestas.

General Believe : Your blood turns blue when it is out of oxygen 

FACT: Your blood is never blue: It turns dark red when it's not carrying oxygen.

Blood only looks blue because you are seeing it through several layers of tissue, which filters the color.

General Believe : You lose 90% of your body heat through your head 

FACT: You lose body heat through anything that's uncovered, and your head is more likely to be exposed than other areas of your body.

"Most of the time when we're outside in the cold, we're clothed," Dr. Richard Ingebretsen told WebMD Magazine. "If you don't have a hat on, you lose heat through your head, just as you would lose heat through your legs if you were wearing shorts."

General Believe : Babies get fever when they are teething

FACT: This is one of those myths that every parent has heard: Babies get fevers when they teethe. But this medical myth is both false and potentially dangerous, according to Vreeman. Parents shouldn't write off a baby's fever as due to teething, she warned.

Research has not shown a strong relationship between teething and high body temperatures, so if your tot has a fever, it might be time to visit the doctor.

General Believe : Going out in the cold with wet hair will make you sick 

FACT : Don't have time to dry your hair before leaving the house on a cold day? Don't worry about it! Though lots of people might tell you that a wet head, plus cold air, is bound to equal a head cold, that's simply not the case, according to Weiss. 

Germs such as viruses and bacteria, not temperature changes, make people sick. So although you might be a bit chilly if you leave home with wet hair on a winter day, that doesn't mean you'll get sick, he said.

However,a study published in 2015  in the journal Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences does suggest that rhinoviruses (the viruses behind the common cold) may take advantage of cold weather. Researchers found that cold temperatures might make it easier for these cold-causing viruses to replicate by diminishing the body's antiviral immune responses.

General Believe: Toilet seats are covered in germs 

FACT: This isn’t to say that eating your lunch on a toilet is perfectly fine. When it comes to bacterial buildup, the flushing handle, soap dispensers and door handles in your bathroom have probably more bad microorganisms than your toilet seat.

Most harmful bacteria quickly wither after making contact with dry bathroom’s surfaces. If you’re a toilet texter, try keeping your phone in your pocket until you’ve washed your hands.

General Believe : Yogurt will help you put your digestive system back in order 

FACT :Yogurt is often marketed as helping digestion and slimming our figure because of probiotics — the idea that "good bacteria" living in the yogurt will shack up in our guts.

Bacteria are well-connected to our metabolism and obesity rates, among other things, so the connection seems logical.

However, we don't yet understand how the millions of bacteria already in our bodies work together, let alone when yogurt is added into the mix.

This is not to say that yogurt is unhealthy, just that its benefits are oversold. Keep in mind, though, that a lot of yogurt is packed with sugar, which we do know contributes to obesity and other problems — so if you enjoy the dairy product, find some that isn't full of empty calories.

General Believe: Your cell phone can give you cancer 

FACT: Speaking of cell phones, we’ve all read articles about how deadly they can be. The truth is, cell phones and microwave ovens do emit low energy or non-ionizing, electromagnetic radiation, but the levels are not high enough to be a health risk.

Currently, there is no known link between non-ionizing EMR and brain tumors. If there was, with nearly 4 billion people using mobile devices and Wi-Fi, we would have seen the number of brain tumor patients to have skyrocketed over the last 2 decades.


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 General Believe : You need to wait for an hour after  eating to swim or you can cramp down 

FACT : The theory behind this seems to be that digesting food will draw blood to your stomach, meaning that less blood is available for your muscles, making them more likely to cramp.

But there's no evidence to support this claim.

In fact, many sources say there are no documented cases of anyone ever drowning because they've had a cramp related to swimming with a full stomach.

Cramps do happen frequently when swimming, but they aren't caused by what's in your stomach. If you do get one, the best policy is to float for a minute and let it pass.

 General Believe: Microwaving kills the nutrients in food

 Fact: Studies have found that microwaving food often retains more nutrients than conventional cooking.

That’s because the cooking time is shorter (vitamins and minerals are heat-sensitive) and you’re less likely to use water (nutrients leach into water).

The healthiest way to cook veg is to steam them, but microwaving won’t do them any harm. The exception is breast milk for babies – microwaving it decreases the potency of its enzymes.

General Believe : Sitting too close to TV is bad for your eyes 

FACT: The most this will do is give you a headache from eye fatigue.

Dim light — or alternatively, staring into the multicolored tube at close range — can undoubtedly make your eyes work so hard they hurt. But there is no evidence that these practices cause long term damage, Vreeman said. The TV myth may have started in the 1960s, and at that time, it may have been true. Some early color TV sets emitted high amounts of radiation that could have caused eye damage, but this problem has long been remedied, and today's TV and computer monitors are relatively safe, she said.

If you or your child tend to sit so close to the computer or TV that it hurts the eyes, it may be a good idea to get checked for nearsightedness. However, sitting too close does not create a need for glasses even if getting glasses can remedy the habit.

General Believe : Human have five senses 

FACT : Sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch are just the beginning.

Don't forget about balance, temperature, and time, as well as proprioception — the body awareness that helps us not walk into things all the time — and nociception, our sense of pain.

General Believe: Shaving makes hair grow back faster

FACT: “It doesn’t, and it doesn’t make it grow back thicker either,” says Dr Hicks. “The ‘thicker’ hair is an illusion because removing the tapered tip of the hair leaves it with a blunt end that makes it more visible.”

General Believe : Human got HIV from monkey because someone had sex with monkey 

FACT: HIV probably didn't jump to humans through human-monkey sex.

It probably jumped to humans through hunting of monkeys for bushmeat food, which led to blood-to-blood contact.

General  Believe : Eating ice cream will make your cold worse 

FACT: If you're home sick with a cold, you can totally go ahead and comfort yourself with some ice cream.

The idea that dairy increases mucous production is very fortunately not true, according to researchers and a doctor at the Mayo Clinic, who says "in fact, frozen dairy products can soothe a sore throat and provide calories when you otherwise may not eat."

 General Believe: Leave cuts open for faster healing

 FACT:Research has found that rather than leaving wounds exposed to dry air to heal, the opposite is true.

Creating moist wound conditions allows cells to grow, divide and migrate at an increased rate.

Wounds that are left to dry in air will always create scabs, which makes it hard for new skin tissue to form.

”Covering a wound also reduces the risk of it becoming infected,” adds Dr Hicks. “And it lessens the chance of the wound suffering further injury, which would slow healing.”

General Believe:Tilt your head back to stop a nosebleed

FACT:This doesn’t help. Instead: “Pinch the soft part of the nose beneath the bony bridge, lean forward, and breathe through the mouth to treat a nosebleed,” says Dr Hicks.

“Leaning forwards helps the blood come out of the nose rather than down the back of the throat where it might irritate the stomach.”

General Believe:Sugar causes hyperactivity in kids

FACT: Numerous double-blind, randomised controlled trials have been done specifically looking at this claim and have found no evidence to show that sugary foods or drinks have any real effect on children’s behaviour.

In one study, parents were told their child had been given sugar when they hadn’t, and reported their child was more hyperactive anyway!

There is some evidence, however, to suggest certain additives (E numbers) used in sugary drinks and sweets can cause hyperactivity in some children.

General Believe:  You should change your toothbrush after catching a cold

FACT: Once you recover from a cold, your antibodies make it almost impossible to be infected again by the same rhinovirus. In that case, there’s no need to change your toothbrush or chapstick to stay healthy.

However, be sure not to share your toothbrush with anyone else. This is to prevent the spread of other infectious and communicable diseases that are far more serious than a cold.

General Belive Being stressed will give you high blood pressure 

FACT: Stress doesn't play a large role in chronic high blood pressure.

Acute stress can temporarily increase blood pressure, but overall it's not a main cause of hypertension. Things like genetics, smoking, and a bad diet are much bigger factors.

General Believe : Taking your vitamins will keep you healthy 

FACT : Vitamins sound like a great idea: One pill that can provide you everything you need to be healthy!

If only they worked.

Decades of research on vitamins hasn't found any justification for our multivitamin habit, and in some cases, vitamins have actually been associated with an increased risk of various cancers.

General Believe: Organic food is pesticide free 

FACT: The term “organic” is associated with pesticide-free foods that are as safe as those grown in your own backyard. This is far from the truth, though, because certain pesticides are still allowed in the farming of organic produce.

These so-called “organic pesticides” aren’t much safer than their synthetic counterparts as they’ve also been linked to serious health problems.

General Believe : Eating chocolate gives you acne

 FACT: For one month, scientists fed dozens of people candy bars containing 10 times the usual amount of chocolate, and dozens of others fake chocolate bars.

When they counted the zits before and after each diet, there was "no difference" between the two groups. Neither the chocolate nor the fat seemed to have any effect on acne.

General Believe :  Sugar causes diabetes 

FACT: Eating sugar in moderation won't give you diabetes.

The American Diabetes Association, while it recommends that people avoid soda and sports drinks, is quick to point out that diabetes is a complex disease, and there's not enough evidence to say that eating sugar is the direct cause.

However, both weight gain and consuming sugary drinks are associated with a heightened risk, and (large) portion size seems to be most crucial when it comes to sugar and diabetes.

General Believe : Ulcers are caused by spicy foods and stress 

FACT: If you think your ulcers are acting up because of the curry you ate last night for dinner, think again. Although doctors once believed that ulcers were caused by stress, lifestyle choices or spicy foods, they now know that most ulcers are actually caused  by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. 

Ulcers — sores that develop in the lining of the esophagus, stomach or the first part of the small intestine — can also be caused by certain medicines. Aspirin and iron tablets are the most common culprits, according to Dr Arun Swaminath, director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

General Believe : Pregnancy lasts nine months 

FACT :Everyone knows that pregnancy lasts nine months. But everyone is wrong about this
"fact."

"It's actually more like nine and a half months," said Dr. Joanne Stone, an obstetrician at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City and co-author of " Pregnancy for dummies" (For Dummies, 2009).

Doctors typically measure a full-term pregnancy as lasting 40 weeks, counting from the first day of a woman's last period. But women usually become fertile 10 to 16 days after their period starts. So by this method of counting, the first two weeks of most pregnancies actually take place before a woman has conceived. And just to confuse the matter even more, researchers have found that the amount of time a healthy pregnancy lasts can vary by as much as five weeks