Debunking Health Myths You Hear Everyday
Personal health is one of the few areas of life that is filled with misinformation and fake facts. It’s a field where the coldly scientific and intensely emotional collide, so it’s not unexpected that certain details may be misstated or misinterpreted. With millions to be earned from a headline-grabbing new diet trend, it’s unavoidable that we’d hear some dubious diet, exercise advice, and alternate facts.
We enlisted the expertise of a number of health professionals, to share their choices for some of the most popular health myths and the truth behind them to help you discern reality from fantasy.
“Starving Yourself” Can Help You Lose Weight
The “starvation diet,” which involves dramatically reducing your daily calorie intake, may appear to be an excellent technique for losing excess weight rapidly. However, a drastic change in your dietary habits might have the opposite effect.
Eating too little or starving yourself is a terrible notion that results in rebound weight gain. This has long been a popular belief among young adolescent girls. To help you lose weight, eat a well-balanced, low-calorie diet. Click here to know about how food can act as a medicine.
Addiction is a Choice
There are several stories and TV shows about the addict reaching rock bottom and turning his life around via sheer willpower or because he has the appropriate incentive. However, these tales frequently simplify what is a highly intricate process and portray addiction as a choice—just as the person addicted to opioids or alcohol was able to choose to begin using the substances in the first place, they may also choose to quit. Although the majority of individuals choose to take a substance at first, no one chooses addiction for themselves. Continued substance use begins to alter the way a person’s brain operates over time, making addiction unavoidable and disastrous. Once the brain is altered, the person feels motivated to get and consume more of the substance, regardless of what or who stands in their way.
Eating Before Bed Makes You Overweight
There is no established time limit for fasting before going to bed. You should avoid overeating throughout the day and eating junk food in general—we just eat more junk food at night. If you’re hungry before bed, don’t starve yourself; instead, consume a little protein-packed snack (such as a protein shake) in the evenings, which might potentially enhance your metabolism overall. If you’re on the run, here are some nibbles to keep you going. Eating something before bed will not interfere with your fat-loss objectives if you are on track with your calories for the day.
The Flu Shot causes the flu
This myth, which frequently appears in news coverage around this time of year, claims that taking a flu vaccination gives you the illness. In reality, flu shots contain either dead flu virus or no virus at all.
This implies that having a flu vaccination will not give you the flu. However, there may be some small negative effects: Soreness, redness, swelling where the injection was administered, low-grade fever, headache, or muscular pains are the most prevalent. Some people may confuse these symptoms with the flu, which is why this myth persists, although they are only temporary side effects.
Gluten is harmful
With the gluten-free diet becoming more popular, you might think gluten is bad for you, or at the very least a means to lose weight. It turns out that this is not the case. Gluten-free diets are only beneficial to persons who have gluten-related diseases such as celiac disease or gluten sensitivity. People with celiac disease must avoid gluten because gluten causes an inflammatory reaction in the body that damages the intestines and can result in serious health issues. Gluten by itself has little bearing on how nutritious your diet is. What matters is the total dietary choices one chooses within the diet, whether gluten-free or not.
Cracked knuckles cause arthritis
Cracking your knuckles is extremely irritating and may cause others to avoid sitting near you for an extended amount of time. Contrary to common perception, however, it will not cause you to get early-onset arthritis.
This old wives’ tale is based on early supposition before there was a greater grasp of what happens when one cracks their knuckles.” The ‘crack’ is merely the bursting of bubbles in synovial fluid that lubricates the hands. While this technique does not induce arthritis, it has been shown to have certain negative consequences, including decreased grip strength and hand swelling.
Energy drinks contain special alertness-boosting ingredients
Despite the fact that these products contain a range of vitamins and extraneous ingredients, they all work with the same component, caffeine. Stay with coffee. Forget about “energy drinks.” They are a complete waste of money.
The more weight you carry, the less healthy you are
Angela Grace, a certified psychologist, adds that we frequently associate weight with health, yet this is far from the case.
In our society, we have created a fear of obesity, and we have defined weight as a measure of health to the point of being weight prejudiced and discriminating against those with larger bodies,” she adds. “We need to shift our attention away from weight and toward genetic predisposition mixed with healthy health choices, as well as how we treat people with bigger bodies.” Being fat is preferable to feel fat.” Read to know ways to fight weight stigma and obesity.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for information purposes only and should not be used to diagnose or treat medical conditions. Consult a doctor or other health care professional for medical diagnosis and treatment.
