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We’re living in the era of wellness. The industry is expected to reach $7 trillion this year. But with its explosive growth comes a flood of questionable products and widespread misinformation.
Worried about getting lost in the noise, Reddit user Urasianbella asked the community to share which popular claims about healthy living they believe no longer hold up. The responses came pouring in, revealing that sometimes, "advice" might be doing more harm than good.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Autism isn't more prevalent these days due to vaccines its because we learned more about it and are actually diagnosing people rather than burning them or throwing them into an asylum 🫡.
StrangeOne 5 months ago
Same Intellectual Disability and developmental delays. It's sorta unnerving to think that not that long ago, doctors may have suggested putting my daughter in an asylum or not diagnosed her at all, being that she's "high functioning". But then she wouldn't be allotted the supports she's gotten.
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#2
That you need to do a cleanse to get rid of toxins.
Our liver and kidney clear out what’s not necessary. Cleanses are a scam.
Camber Hollywood 5 months ago
It's still a great idea not to give your liver etc too much to do. Eating well most of the time lets them do a good job.
If we look at the big picture, most think they're able to to take care of their lifestyle. A survey assessing Americans' health-related behaviors and attitudes found that 71% rate their overall health and wellness as good (54%) or excellent (17%).
However, that was true for only 60% of those with a household income of less than $50k, and 81% of those with a household income of $100k or more.
#3
Potatoes are actually nutrient dense, not just starch.
Edit: the myth is that taters are just starch.
#4
Natural means nothing. It’s a logical fallacy. Arsenic is natural, mercury is natural, lots of natural things are toxic. Stop trying to convince me that something is good because it’s natural. Oh and that goes triple for chemicals that are used. Natural doesn’t mean it’s better. I recently read how a winery was using a natural herbicide. It’s a lot more toxic than the artificial ones. They were poisoning people.
When asked what areas in their lives are most in need of improvement, the top two choices were physical health (42%) and financial stability (41%).
Mental health came in third (29%), however, its need for improvement was higher among younger age groups: 18-34 (44%), 35-44 (37%), 45-54 (29%), 55-64 (20%), and 65 and older (10%).
#5
You can do everything 'right', illness, disease and old age will still happen.🙄.
#6
That you can target fat by doing specific workouts.
You can't. You can build muscle by doing specific workouts but your body will burn fat from where it wants, not in that one area.
Luckily, it's made weeding out the workout frauds much easier!
Moira 5 months ago
Lovely guy at my gym has incredible six pack... Under all the fat around. He actually let people touch him as a way to proof you CAN build muscle and still be fat. He has medical condition thaf hasn't disclosed (and politely nobody has asked further) and likes to help people build confidence on their own body by showing around his six pack packed in fat... Lovely one, as I said
#7
Eggs raise cholesterol. They are actually packed with nutrients and healthy fats that are good for overall health.
Kira Okah 5 months ago (edited)
"[O]bservational and prospective studies have not found for the most part a direct relationship between egg consumption and blood cholesterol or cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk." "Dehghan et al. evaluated egg consumption and CVD of individuals from 21 countries in a 9 year follow up. The results showed that the higher egg intake (≥7 egg/week compared with
Americans were also asked what health services they would like to have better access to (i.e., geographically close and/or more affordable), and more than a third (39%) said dental care, while (33%) said primary care or a family physician.
Nearly a quarter (24%) want better access to emergency care, while 21% said psychology/psychiatry, and 19% said specialty care (e.g., oncology, gastroenterology, cardiology).
#8
That universal healthcare in the US would cost taxpayers more than they pay now for healthcare.
Mel in Georgia 5 months ago
I would welcome an increased tax bill to fund universal health care for all Americans. I don't care if I get my money's worth or not. It should be a human right.
#9
British dental health is significantly better than American, they're just less interested in cosmetic dentistry.
StrangeOne 5 months ago
Exactly. Cosmetic dentistry doesn't equate to the healthiest teeth, either. All those imperfections are what adds charm and interest to one's identity.
#10
That heart disease is essentially a one-way trip. You can absolutely reverse arterial plaque buildup with the right diet and a bit of exercise.
#12
Slightly off topic but people haven't learned the recent news that we now believe we know what the appendix does. It's a backup storage for gut bacteria so it can help replenish itself, like after antibiotics.
StrangeOne 5 months ago
Now I want to know why some people's appendix rupture and others don't.
#13
I thought black people (me) didn’t need sunscreen because melanin protects us against the sun. Evidently that’s not entirely true.
Mel in Georgia 5 months ago
I remember when a Black teacher in our mostly white high school showed us how his watch protected that patch of skin from darkening. You can absolutely have sun damage no matter what your skin color is!
#14
That poster of the food pyramid that was in every classroom growing up.
Kristiina Männiste 5 months ago
My goverment has the updated version with less grains and more greens that is actually correct in terms of healthy diet. The problem is that they put that poster with artichokes, asparagus, kale and clams and other otherworldly things up in a small town that only has stores that sell pork, cabbage and mayonnaise. I wish i could nab whomever made and approved that poster, give them 20 euros and make them try to find all those fancy healthy foods in the total of 3 grocery shops in the 70km radius.
#15
That fitness influencers look like that because they work hard.
The majority of them are on steroids.
Kristiina Männiste 5 months ago
And ozempic. We have a patient like that. She posts tips on how to have the perfect figure and then comes to cry to my boss how she is always hungry and needs the jab.
#16
That carbs are the enemy. Turns out your body actually needs them to function properly.
#17
Artificial chemicals aren't inherently bad for you. If you can't pronounce it, it's a skill issue.
arthbach 5 months ago
It's important to remember that just because something has a science-y name it doesn't follow that it's artificial. We're all made up of chemicals. This morning I consumed catechin, epicatechin, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, protocatecuic acid, rutin, baicalein, and naringenin, quercetin glycosides, kaempherol, phloridzin, phloretin, and anthocyanins, as well as a few other compounds. It was a rather tasty apple.
#18
Women just need cardio.
Wrong. Women need resistance/strength training even more than men because of bone density issues at menopause and resistance training is the primary means of increasing bone density.
#19
Myth: dieting is temporary.
Truth: losing weight is a whole lifestyle change.
If you temporarily change your diet to lose X-lbs and then change back to your normal diet, you’re also going back to your normal weight.
To lose weight and keep it off, you need to change your relationship with food. Maybe you do need to change what you eat, maybe you only need to eat less of it, maybe you need to modify when you eat, maybe you need to change macros.
If you don’t change your lifestyle, you’ll go back to it.
#20
There's no real such thing as a "cleanse". Own a liver? That's how we do a cleanse for real.
#21
KETO is awful, especially for people prone to high cholesterol or heart disease. people are still pushing low carb high fat diets…that c**p almost messed me up permanently! I will never try a fad diet again. Eating balanced like they taught us in school, with lots of fruits, veggies, and whole grains, and moderation on red meat is best for me!
veirdbuttrue 5 months ago
Mediterranean diet has been proven to be the best. Not to mention the yummiest!!
#22
Walking is pretty close to jogging in terms of calories burnt
Edit: I phrased this terribly. The myth is that jogging burns more calories than walking when in reality they burn very similar amounts when measuring by distance covered.
#23
Expensive equipment won't make you see results faster. A 10lb dumbbell made from obsidian rock and blessed by a monk does the same job of a 10lb bag of dirt.
#24
Myth: MSG is bad for you.
Michael Largey 5 months ago
One letter off type of confusion. It's MTG (Marjorie Taylor Greene) that is a threat to us all.
#25
When you shave your hair DOESN'T grow back faster, longer or darker!!! It's just all growing back at the same time so it can LOOK more full. If it did work like that every bald man ever would shave their hard every day...
#26
**Being cold gives you a cold** – Viruses cause colds, not chilly weather. In fact, some studies suggest that exposure to cold may even boost immune function.
#27
You will get arthritis from cracking your Knuckles. This isn't true at all.
#28
Semi-related, that you only need 21 days to develop a habit. I see so many people giving up on exercise routines because they didn't develop it within a month so they just assumed that it wasn't right for them.
this is one of those pop psychology things where someone misinterpreted and completely simplified a study that was not even related to habits, then made a whole bunch of money off of it and now everyone thinks that you should be able to develop habits in 21 days or something is wrong with you.
arthbach 5 months ago
Twenty one days is most definitely not the way to make habits stick f neurodivergent people. Each day for 345 days I used Duolingo, and on the 355th day, I forgot. It didn't even occur to me to do it. The same has happened with medication, with all sorts of things. Tasks that are routines for others are not for me. I need to consciously remind myself of them each and every day.
#29
Ask your doctor how to properly take vitamins and supplements. Some do nothing others need to be taken with foods to get absorbed.
#30
This goes out to all my fellow Balkan people:
1. Going out with your hair wet = you'll get sick
2. Walking barefoot around the house during the winter = you'll get sick
3. A breeze in the winter (if you open a lot of windows) = stiff neck and u get sick
4. Cold drinks = soar throat
5. If stem 4 happens --> a shot of rakija will fix u right up
6. When you are sick, you need to be covered with all the blankets in your house to sweat the illness out.
Slapdash1 5 months ago
So far the only thing I couldn't cure with a dose of rakija was the clap I caught in Bulgaria. Might be a dosage issue though.
BeesEelsAndPups 5 months ago
Rakija, like any alcoholic beverage, will not cure a disease. But it will make you care a whole lot less that you are sick.
Johnnynatfan 5 months ago
I got sick in Belarus and my now wife's family insisted that I cover myself with many layers of blankets. I think the whole sweat the sickness out is a Slavic thing too. Needless to say it did not work and I was miserable being both sick and covered in sweat.
Auntriarch 5 months ago
Sounds just like my nan, and she wouldn't have been able to find the Balkans on a map
The Big Bad 5 months ago
Number 6 is very dangerous for young kids. My friends brother got a high fever when he was 3. His parents put him under a lot of blankets to "sweat it out", instead they raised the temperature in his brain. He's handicapped because of it. Really sad all around.
Beth Wheeler 5 months ago
If I go outside with wet hair and it's below 65 deg I get will get sick. Happened every time I did it so I make sure it's good and dry.
#31
WE NEED MORE FIBER NOT PROTEIN!!!!!
#32
Sugar is evil
Seed oils are evil
Fat is evil
Processed foods are evil
Carbs are evil
Meat is evil (from a health perspective)
You can easily be healthy while eating normal portions of all these. The problem is eating too many calories which is really easy to do through overconsumption of any one of these over demonized foods.
#33
Alcohol in moderation... it's a feel good mantra for society. The fact is that any amount of Alcohol damages the liver.
Jaya 5 months ago
Health organisations nowadays recommend not drinking any alcohol at all. The downsides (like breast cancer) outweigh any potential positive effect. The studies that say that moderate drinking leads to a longer life, are usually studies paid for by the alcohol industry, that are conducted badly (for instance putting ex-alcoholics in the group of non-drinkers, which will obviously make the health of the non-drinking group appear much worse than it is).
#34
Eating carrots improves eyesight.
#35
That you should get at least 10k steps a day.
The myth comes from the number 10,000. When the first pedometers got popular they maxed out at 10k steps, so eventually that number just morphed into the ideal number you should supposedly get every day.
That being said 10k steps is a good reasonable goal that your average person can achieve.
sofacushionfort 5 months ago
That’s five miles. So people give up instead of walking two miles
#36
That you need to constantly hustle and grind with no days off if you want to make progress.
It took me WAY too long to figure out that "push yourself" did not mean "push yourself to the point where you're beyond physically and mentally burned out". And I ended up with a permanently damaged shoulder because of it.
#37
That only eating ice cream, or cake/ junk food ect. will make you fat. It doesnt matter what you eat, in order to gain weight you must eat more calories than you burn, or your matinence calories.
Mel in Georgia 5 months ago
But eating junk foods absolutely wrecks your body, no matter the calorie intake. Eat fresh foods.
#38
Idk about a myth, but consider this about male body dysmorphia: athletes and bodybuilders get d**g tested for steroid use.
Actors don’t.
#39
Lifting weights to get bigger and stronger doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact the most effective workout plans and routines are quite boring after a while. This idea that every session needs to be different or changed up for variety or target a very specific area of muscle growth is ultimately more trouble than it’s worth.
There’s a reason 5x5 as a routine has been around forever. It’s simple, boring but effective. The hardest part is making it a consistent activity.
Edit to add: well this blew up. Okay, “boring” may not have been the best word for all you people hung up on semantics. REPETITIVE is the better word. And doing the same workout, and working toward progressive overload, can feel REPETITIVE and at times, when you don’t feel like working out, it can get BORING.
Moral of the story: Simplicity and consistency are your friends. The end. Have fun!
Lost Panda 5 months ago
One of my sergeants told me once "It's not the amount of weight you lift, but how many times you lift the weight". Pretty much that you get more out of 100 reps at 50 lbs than 50 reps at 100. (That is oversimplified, but you get the idea)
#40
This one is still somehow pervasive, but people believe that targeted fat loss exists when it does not. You can not sit-up and crunch your way to a flatter stomach. Exercising those muscles without reducing the fat will actually increase your size there.
#41
Almost any advice in isolation is at least half false.
For isntance, there are ethnic groups that can survive on salt quantities low enough that most people would have health problems. There are people who can have far more than most. There are salt-sensitive people who need less than what is best for most, but still more than said earlier ethnic groups.
The idea that any of these things are true the way typically taught in the broad is barely a decent operating metric. Further it ignores further complications like other things that interplay.
Using the salt and similar electrolytes, one person's diet may make one deficient while their genetic twin's diet makes the same amount perfect. Due to the other intakes.
Whether it is carbs, protein, fats, cholesterol, vitamins, minerals etc... it is so variable that often any of the advice may be meaningless to any person or group thereof. .
Taibhse Sealgair 5 months ago
This is probably one of the most important points in this article. The human body is an incredibly complex thing all on its own. Throw in environmental and dietary differences and it gets even worse. Over the last few years, I've lost over a 100#, am no longer pre-diabetic, and in better shape than I was 20 years ago. I've had a few peoplle ask me what diet I was using. I wasn't. I worked with my Doctor to do it. We tried a number of things. Some worked. Some didn't. Some worked for the first 40-50 pounds, but we needed to change for the second 40-50 pounds. We're in the process of changing those again for the next 40-50 pounds. There's no magic cure and everyone is different. That's why you should work with your Dr. to figure out what will work for you.
#42
"Fat doesn't make you fat, sugar and carbs make you fat"
Any macronutrient in excess makes you fat. For most typical diets the excess does come from carbs and sugars but not always. You can get very fat eating high calorie fatty foods even with a low sugar diet.
#43
A massage "releases toxins."
Um...your kidneys do a great job filtering "toxins." Not that a massage doesn't feel good!
Atom Bohr 5 months ago
Okay, but I have heard this and there's some evidence for it. When you get tight muscles, for example, such as a seized joint, a massage can fix that by physically promoting increased blood flow and thereby flushing away the chemicals causing the issue (neurons and muscles use chemical signals). Your kidneys can't remove chemicals that aren't being removed from muscles in the first place. That said, a massage won't remove an imagined build-up of "toxins", mostly because the average person doesn't build up toxins, and those who do know about it
#44
Eating peppers causes ulcers.
They don’t cause them but they will make you hyper aware of an ulcers existence.
Anthony Elmore 5 months ago
The pain you feel is just weakness leaving the body... through that huge-a*s sore in your stomach. Might want to get that looked at.
#45
That fat of any kind is bad, so go for low-fat instead. The issue is that the low-fat version is packed with sugar instead, and fat keeps you fuller longer. So you wind up consuming more food and have worse blood sugar spikes.
#46
This is less of a specific myth and more of a huge pervasive misunderstanding: the amount of effort required to build muscle is generally higher than people think and the amount you can build without the use of performance enhancing d***s is much lower than people think.
So many people don’t lift because they “don’t want to be all muscular” as if they’ll just magically blow up just from touching a barbell.
And likewise, a ton of people still fully believe that with simply enough discipline and dedication, anyone can look like these big, shredded dudes all over social media or Hollywood actors playing super hero characters.
I consider myself a very well informed person and had no f*****g idea until I was nearly 30 just how many guys (and women), even in normal gyms all around the country, are using steroids.
geezeronthehill 5 months ago
I had a job slinging 40 pound mailbags for eight hours a day and gained 20 pounds of upper body muscle the first year.
#48
That exercising lots is the best way to lose weight. In reality, diet ends up being more important and high impact exercise can often make weightloss harder as it makes you hungrier.
StrangeOne 5 months ago
I don't bother paying attention to weight. The numbers can be more of a distraction. No matter how often you weigh yourself, that's what you weigh and it ain't going anywhere. Instead, I pay attention to how my body feels, how I am mood-wise and my energy levels. I know I'm making progress by how much easier it has been functioning at work. When I first started this physically demanding job I didn't realize how out of shape I was. I may not have a flat stomach and slender body, but I have strength and some limberness, now.
#49
That calorie in your mouth is the same as the calories absorbed by your body.
“Research shows 98% of the calories in carbs are taken in and used by your body, 95% of the calories in fat, and only 92% of the calories from protein makes it past your digestive tract. So, you’re shaving off a few calories simply because digestion and absorption aren’t perfect. With plant-based foods, the absorption issue is even more unreliable. Many vegetables and fruits have hardy cell walls that are tough to break down. If your digestive tract can’t crack open the cell walls, the inside of the plant cells, where all the calories are, can pass through your digestive tract without being absorbed. You see this mostly with raw foods. Cooking helps to break down stubborn plant cell walls so more of the calories inside are absorbed.”
Also sugar absorption in the gut with fruits. The fiber from the fruit creates a mesh structure over the gut lining that prevents some of the sugars from getting absorbed into your body. Eating whole fruits is so much better than juice for blood sugars for this reason.
#50
You need 6-11 servings of carbohydrates a day. This was drilled into my head as a child in the 90s.
Bananas are the best source of potassium. That’s not true. Potatoes are higher, so much so that you can use them to make a battery.
*Edit: Potatoes are high in potassium, but that is not why they can be used to make a battery. I stand corrected
You must consume dairy products to get calcium. That’s not true. You can get calcium from leafy greens. There is no biological need to consume dairy as an adult.
#51
So many down through the years...
Margarine (with saturated fats) is healthier than butter.
Fat is bad, low fat is the path to weight loss.
Grapefruit burns fat.
Eggs increase cholesterol levels and clog arteries.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
Megadosing vitamins is good for you.
Becky Samuel 5 months ago
Grapefruit is something that you really need to watch out for if you're on prescription médications, as it messes with drúg absorption really badly and across a wide range of substances. The evidence on vitamin megadosing is mixed; although most of it is a waste of time and money there are some very interesting results around vitamin d.
#52
Doing facial exercises defines your jawline
Doesn't work like that. You have to lose overall body fat.
#53
That you shouldn't let a concussee go to sleep. Provided they don't suddenly start dosing off unusually, its totally fine to let a concussed person go to bed. They probably need a rest too after all that blunt head trauma, as opposed to being pointlessly kept awake by some who is not a doctor and just aggressively believes that its bad for some reason.
Source: I'm a giant and I bang my head a lot on random low hanging objects and doorframes.
#54
You should never allow your knee to go past your toes during a squat.
Turns out that the only way you should ever squat.
Mel in Georgia 5 months ago
So looked this up. Depends on your body configuration, but yes. If I'm doing a deep squat my knees go over my toes. Good to know this is ok!
#55
If you’re thirsty, drink something. Anything else about “hydration” is marketing.
#56
Eating fat won’t make you fat.
Yeah it will, if you eat a lot of it. Fat is calorie dense. Eat a lot of calories, get fat. Doesn’t matter where the calories come from. .
#57
Milk, it does a body good.
Michael Largey 5 months ago
Back in the 1970s it was pointed out to the milk industry that their slogan "Milk, it does a body good." didn't apply to some people, such as those who are lactose intolerant. So they changed it to "Milk has something for every body." Well, yes, cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea in the case of some bodies.
#58
Aspertame is bad for you. Aspartame is an artificial sweetener, it become known and used around the same time as Sacrin came about here in the US. People mixed up the facts between these 2 sweeteners decades ago and some never learned that Sacrin was the one that was pulled off the market by the FDA because it caused cancer while Aspertame is much safer then that. Aspertame's only realy notable side effect is if you had in ABSURD amounts and have certain medical conditions it can hurt you. It's made with aspartic acid and phenylalanine. There are some other claims made about Aspertame like it can help you with weight loss, according to WebMD it's a very debatable claim.
StrangeOne 5 months ago
It still tastes nasty and I can detect it in anything it's present in.
#59
I learnt sit ups are actually quite bad for you. Particularly on the tailbone.
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What do you think ?
Becky Samuel 5 months ago
Most importantly - don't take medical advice from social media. Anything that you read here that seems relevant to your situation - double check with a professional before taking it to heart.
Grenelda Thurber 5 months ago
And a corollary: don't take medical advice from anyone trying to sell you something.
Load More Replies... The Big Bad 5 months ago (edited)
Something cool I just learned from my health professional: if you want to loose weight, you need enough rest. Your body won't loose it when you're stressed out all the time.
Sam Trudeau 5 months ago
One that should be added on: The fever counting as a symptom of being sick. Truth: The fever is your body trying to get rid of whatever virus is in your system.
Roxy222uk 5 months ago
Biology lessons teach us that part of a healthy immune response is a raised temperature because microbes die at a slightly lower temperature than our body cells. We are also told that we don't have the medical training that doctors and nurses do, so should do what they say. General health advice for a baby or toddler with a raised temperature? Give them Calpol 'to bring the temperature down'.
Load More Replies... Becky Samuel 5 months ago
Most importantly - don't take medical advice from social media. Anything that you read here that seems relevant to your situation - double check with a professional before taking it to heart.
Grenelda Thurber 5 months ago
And a corollary: don't take medical advice from anyone trying to sell you something.
Load More Replies... The Big Bad 5 months ago (edited)
Something cool I just learned from my health professional: if you want to loose weight, you need enough rest. Your body won't loose it when you're stressed out all the time.
Sam Trudeau 5 months ago
One that should be added on: The fever counting as a symptom of being sick. Truth: The fever is your body trying to get rid of whatever virus is in your system.
Roxy222uk 5 months ago
Biology lessons teach us that part of a healthy immune response is a raised temperature because microbes die at a slightly lower temperature than our body cells. We are also told that we don't have the medical training that doctors and nurses do, so should do what they say. General health advice for a baby or toddler with a raised temperature? Give them Calpol 'to bring the temperature down'.
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