subject: 7 Extremely Popular But Utterly False Health And Fitness Myths [print this page] Think you know everything about health and fitness? Check through these 7 points and prepare to be surprised at just how many supposed facts are actually myths.
1. You need 8 hours of sleep a night - stemming from the Victorian era when it was recommended you had 8 hours of work, 8 hours of recreation and 8 hours of sleep, Professor Jim Horne from the Loughborough University's Sleep Research Centre explained to the BBC on 12 April 2007 that you simply need to sleep as many hours as your body naturally lets you, whether it's 5 or 10 hours a night.
2. You lose most of your heat through your head - one of the most popular health myths, although it was believed for decades that you lost most of your heat through your head and therefore should always wear a hat in cold weather, it was discovered by Rachael Vreeman and Aaron Carroll in the British Medical Journal in December 2008 that this was completely false.
3. Sugar makes children hyperactive - Vreeman and Carroll also exposed proved this myth to be false after observing the reactions of parents giving their children drinks, some of which were sugary and some of which were placebos, but with all of the parents being told the drinks were sugary.
In most instances, the parents' reaction was that their child became hyperactive after the sugary drink, even in those that were given placebos, showing that it is more often than not simply a figment of the parent's imagination.
4. You'll get arthritis by cracking your knuckles - when you crack your knuckles and hear that sound, it's easy to believe that you'll get arthritis one day.
Unfortunately for those parents who are trying to stop their children doing it as they really don't like the sound, there's absolutely no truth in the fact you can increase your chances of getting arthritis by cracking your knuckles.
5. It's fine to dip your crisp more than once - we've all done it when we're having a party and there are crisps and dips available. We pick up a crisp, dip it in the dip we want, eat it and then dip it again - as long as you're mouth isn't touching the part of the crisp that's going to be dripped again, there's no problem, right?
Wrong - a scientific study found that 10,000 bacteria were moved from the person's mouth to the crisp to the dip after less than half a dozen instances of double dipping.
6. Eat the right foods and you won't get cancer - with healthy eating being something which has dominated advertising campaigns in recent years, it's become apparent that certain foods can help prevent various cancerous.
Whilst eating a healthy, well-balanced diet and attending gyms regularly will help make you feel healthier and fitter and help build up your immune system, cancer is a disease that is based more on age than diet, says Dr Fanu, a columnist in the Telegraph.
7. You shouldn't drink alcohol when on antibiotics - aside from a small amount of antibiotics, there's no truth in the fact that drinking alcohol will have a negative effect on the efficiency of antibiotics.
