Hail the Myths

Posted on April 5, 2008

We always knew they were so ’cause Mom said they were or everybody said so. In fact, even a number of folks in the medical field have been saying these things for years without proof (maybe Mom told ‘em). Turns out it’s not always the case that Mom knew everything, to wit:

Drink 8 glasses of water a day. This all started back in 1945. However, consideration wasn’t given to the fact that we take in liquid a lot of different ways - in other liquids besides water and in many of the foods we eat. Truth? Drink when you’re thirsty and you’ll have plenty. In fact, the reverse is quite dangerous. Too much water has been shown to be bad for you and may cause a condition where sodium levels fall, causing a serious electrolyte imbalance.
Stress will turn your hair gray. Experts agree that stress is bad for you, inside and out, so avoid it as much as possible. Bad for you, though, doesn’t include causing your hair to turn gray suddenly. There’s one thing that will definitely turn your hair gray though — genetics. If it’s gray or gone, it primarily is due to inheritance factors. Some medical conditions or drugs are known to affect the hair, primarily the loss of it, but stress is out as a real factor on the gray top.
Reading in poor light ruins your eyes. Again, here’s one that’s certainly not good for you, but not because of the suggested results. Using poor light will cause a person to squint, trying to bring the light into a tightly focused area, resulting in tired eyes and likely causing headaches. A little rest of the eyes makes things all better with no apparent ill effects on vision over the long term.
Coffee is really bad for you. In reality, coffee comes from plants that contain chemicals that act as antioxidants and that’s a good thing. That means that coffee can actually lower the risk of Type 2 diabetes, colon cancer, gallstones, Parkinson’s disease, and cirrhosis. It also gives a boost to the brain and no relation to heart disease has been shown.

More mythologicals later…