It’s always useful to know if that new health trend is just a fad. Can you really detox your body with a juice cleanse? Or can it seriously damage our health? According to a 2021 review article, misinformation about health online is becoming a "public health concern." Researchers at the University of Cadiz in Spain found that the most common topics susceptible to misinformation are "vaccines, drugs or smoking, noncommunicable diseases, pandemics, eating disorders, and medical treatments."
However, some online spaces care for debunking health myths. And one of the people interested in this topic is the Reddit user u/imadepyramids. He asked other Redditors: "What are some [of the] most accepted health myths?" People shared misconceptions about health they no longer believe, and you can check them out below!
Bored Panda also had a chance to chat with the OP. u/imadepyramids told us more about why he decided to ask other Redditors this question and shared some health-related myths he used to believe in himself.
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That everyone is capable of breastfeeding. I'm going to get a lot of thumbs down, but so many of the myths associated with breastfeeding are harmful to babies and bad for mother's mental and physical health.
The Redditor imadepyramids often posts questions on r/AskReddit. Aside from learning new things, he says he likes it because of that sweet, sweet dopamine rush. "I always post questions on r/AskReddit because I love [the] engagement it gets me," the Redditor says. "It's just great to [wake up] in [the] morning to a 500+ notifications symbol."
However, it's not just selfish reasons that drive this user's curiosity. "I try to always ask thought-provoking questions which will benefit both me and the people who are reading the post," imadepyramids tells Bored Panda. And this post is one of such – there are plenty of things to learn from what the other netizens have shared.
Addiction is just lack of willpower. Couldnt be further from the truth. Addiction is a very complex physiologic, psychological and psychosocial process. It takes an enormous effort on the afflicted person as well as support from doctors, family, friends and sometimes mental health counselors to overcome.
This should be higher up. Folk need to stop judging and start understanding in order to help. And let's not forget that addiction takes many forms; looking at you ex-friend who drunks 5 litre of original coke a day while looking down on her neighbour who has one spliff on a weekend.
Homeopathy.
The NHS site is good on this: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/homeopathy/
This thread on r/AskReddit got pretty popular: it now has almost 6.5k comments and 5.3k upvotes! The author says he didn't expect the post to get so popular. The Redditor is honest with us and our readers, he admits he didn't read all the comments.
However, some still stood out to him. "People here and there claim that small quantities of alcohol can be helpful but all the comments were against it!" the OP says. "I also [got] to know about superfoods and how they are also a myth." He thinks that such popularity with a post like this indicates that this generation is quite conscious about their health.
Oh my god how are chiropractors not the top answer. They are not doctors. It is not science. People can be permanently injured or unlived by them. F*****g stay as far away from those quacks. (My sister works at a chiropractic office and swears by them btw)
I don't know, since BP started to censor the normal words? Anyhow, I hope this non-sense with this word (I even don't want to write it), will be stopped.
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Sorry, but I totally disagree with you. Once upon a time, I also thought that chiropractors were fakes and charlatans. Then, my back got so screwed up that the pain made it almost impossible to just walk, let alone get up from a chair or bed. Went to my wife's chiropractor, he took a few x-rays, asked me, "When did you break your neck?" I'd almost forgotten an accident that I had been in years before, where a kid puled out in front of me, I t-boned his vehicle, and broke my neck in the process. Anyhootie, my chiropractor worked on me, several times in the span of 2 weeks, and I was literally pain-free and walking upright again. All of the doctors I had gone to before said that I was just suffering from degenerative disc disease in my spine. That was true, but only my chiropractor was able to TREAT me without drugs and made life worth living again.
I'm like you. I though chiropractic care was a joke until I say a chiropractor for back pain. I don't have to go real often (3-4 times a year) but my back and neck always feel so much better afterwards. I'm guessing like any profession, you have both good and bad people working in it.
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They have 8 years of school and a PHD which makes them a Doctor. If they are representing themselves as a MD, that's a different thing. Strange that people seem to be helped by them. And since I'm pretty sure you are not a MD I'd say your opinion is just that, a opinion. MD's don't know everything. Like the old saying say, "You know what they call the person that graduates de@d last in medical school?" Doctor.
"Daniel David Palmer, the “father” of chiropractic who performed the first chiropractic adjustment in 1895, was an avid spiritualist. He maintained that the notion and basic principles of chiropractic treatment were passed along to him during a seance by a long-dead doctor."
Load More Replies... I have to disagree. I've been going to the chiropractor for years and the relief I get is wonderful. I have mild scoliosis and work a desk job (my posture isn't always the greatest, I know) so a few times a year I go in for adjustment. It's amazing how much better my back and neck always feel.
I have a pinched nerve in my neck that causes pain and numbness in my fingers once in a while and going to my chiropractor helps a lot. I don't go all the time and he's not one of those guys who claims to be able to cure autism or eczema, he just helps people with spinal issues retain mobility.
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I think this would be better stated as MDs and DOs instead of 'real doctors'. Chiropractors have a doctorate degree, as do lawyers and many educators, and others.
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Had one tell me they could fix my Scoliosis and 9 herniated discs in one session. I told her if she touched me no one would be able to fix her.
My stepmom still insists I go. My little brother enjoys it and says that if I like to crack my back, I can do it and my tics will be cured and such. I called her bs, and I watch her go down the alternative medicine rabbit hole everyday. She knows better than to drag me in, as she knows she can kill me. She is still trying.
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People get permanently injured or killed by medical malpractice, diagnostic errors, and just plain mistakes by doctors, all the time. That's not evidence that chiropractors are quacks. Chiropractic is generally safe when performed correctly by a trained and registered chiropractor, and some patients find it very effective for relieving back pain and neckpain, and associated symptoms.
There are sh!t chiropractors and there are good chiropractors. Just as there are good dentists and bad dentists, good GPs and bad GPs. I don't know about elsewhere, but in Quebec one has to take a five year university study to be a chiropractor. It's not "medical" in that they can't prescribe pharmaceuticals or even refer you for x-rays. Over the course of 20+ years I saw doctors, physiotherapists, massage therapists, acupuncture, acupressure, osteopaths... anyone that wasn't a chiropractor. None of them were able to help the debilitating chest spasms I had. A chiropractor checked me out, cracked nothing, pointed out a weakness that seemed to be causing an instability, gave me some exercises, said "Try this for about 6 weeks then come back and we'll se how it is." 6 weeks later they check me again and say, "Looking better. Stop exercise A, keep doing exercise B, and, um, you're good to go..."
Not all chiropractors are bad, just like not all medical doctors are good. Chiropractors can help with alignment issues, back and neck pain and uneven pelvis/legs. I do think you should research them and find someone that knows what they're doing. Check the chiropractic board for reviews and for heaven sakes do not go to any chiropractor that tries to diagnose and treat anything other than muscle/skeletal issues! This bs of getting treatment from a chiropractor instead of a doctor needs to end. I would never, ever ask a chiropractor to treat my ear infection and if they tried, I'd report them immediately and never see them again. Those are the quacks to avoid.
They often thrive on pseudoscience as well. That said, they often have good massage therapists in their offices
It gets lost in translation, but we have three kinds of chiropractor. A Chiropraktor, who studies and receives a diploma. A Chiropraktiker, who gets certified training. And a Chirotherapeut, who is a real doctor. All three are good in my country.
Agreed. Chiropractor said I had a pinched nerve. Turns out that was kinda true. I had a bulging disk that the exercises they did made worse.
I'm skeptical, but I went to one years ago when my back had gone out. He helped me tremendously, but a year or so later when it happened again when I went back he had moved on to accupuncture, which did nothing. (I'm not knocking accupuncture in general, because I'm pretty sure he didn't have a clue what he was doing.)
You don't learn acupuncture in just a year. The real ones are schooled and extensively trained at least 5 years with practice in hospital settings in China.
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Unlived?? For a lecture on polite language I refer you to George Carlin.
You can say killed, you know that right? We're not living in an Orwell novel, no need for newspeak.
Load More Replies... If it's a censor problem, they loose. It's the same with "legit" media censoring F**k. We know what it is. So it's not censored. GROW UP. Move on.
there are some who do things correctly and have incredibly research-based practice. just, sadly, not enough
I disagree. My chiropractor has done so much for my family and myself. You do you but somehow it works. I never thought I'd be saying this 20 years ago.
I had back problems most of my life, I usually got some degree of immediate relief from chiropractic
Especially babies! We have had a number of babies dying from chiropractors in Australia!
Chiropractic is not medicine, but with certain very specific issues, it can help recovery. My physical medicine doctor told me I was ok to see a chiropractor when I had a pinched nerve in c5/c6. Medicine was not relieving the pressure enough to get the pain to start to heal, but two visits to a chiropractor loosened up the area enough that I could finally sleep. I went back a few weeks later when I started to stiffen up again and he prevented a relapse. That was followed by 6 weeks of acupuncture that my doctor proscribed to help loosen the muscles for a while.
One of the dumbest, laziest, and most dishonest students I ever had is now a chiropractor. The good news is that he practices in Norway. (He couldn't pass the US exams.)
They're ok for short-term relief, but you need to go to a doctor for long-term relief. Just make sure you have a good chiropractor, and don't go to a chiropractor for somebody who can't speak for themself when they are in pain (like a kid or animal)
Agree. A chiropractor almost turned me into a paraplegic once when I went to her with an injured neck (fracture, C2).
I have no idea about whether the profession as a whole is legit or not, but I do know that some chiropractor techniques are incredibly dangerous and can leave patients paralyzed or dead. It was in the news a lot a couple of years ago in the Netherlands, because there were law cases about it. Some chiropractors have stepped away from those dangerous techniques, but some chiropractors decide to keep using them despite the risks.
it can relieve pain, just like chiropractors can. But both are only short-term relief and neither are alternative to doctors
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Too many visit chiropractors regularly to just ignore thier usefulness.
Fat makes you fat. The tide is turning and this isn't as prevalent as it was, but people still believe this to be true. I know most people here are too young for this, but back in the 90s a company called Snackwell introduced a line of fat free cookies. Suburban moms bought them en masse and we all ate them like crazy. They were loaded with sugar, but hey "no fat!".
When we ask him whether there are any health myths he used to believe in the past but no longer does, the Redditor mentions two. "Detox programs are not what they claim and yoga and homeopathy can't cure big diseases," the Redditor shares.
I really get him on this one – I have to admit, I did believe in 'cleansing juices' for a short while too. And as for yoga, I'm still not missing my weekly class, but I don't think it will magically cure all my problems.
"You're too young to have ______"
I feel like people under the age of 40 are told this so often. When I had abdominal pain a few months back, with the location and type of pain I was in, when I did some research it sounded exactly like diverticulitis, despite never having a diverticulosis diagnosis. When I shared my thoughts at urgent care I was told I was "too young" to have that kind of problem - I'm 29. Went to the ER the next day where they did a CT scan and yep, diverticulitis.
There's a big difference between "no, you don't have THIS disease because you're too young, full stop" and "you're far less likely to have it because it's usually for older people". Doctors tend to look for the most likely causes of a pain, because they'll be able to cure the patient earlier. However, there can indeed be younger patients with old people's diseases, so a good doctor should check these possibilities too when the most common diseases don't match the patient's case. The point is, it is unlikely to be the first explanation.
That you can lose fat on certain body areas with certain excercizes. Nothing more stupid than that. As a person in the eating-disorder community, I know millions of these myths.
You can tone muscles from exercise, but no you can't get flat abs by eating muffins while doing crunches. 90% of weight loss happens in the kitchen, not the gym.
That BMI equates to health.
A very muscular person will have a BMI that says they're obese.
I'm 6'2" and 190 pounds. I'm a land surveyor, a martial artist, a blacksmith... basically I may not be a body builder but most of my daily life involves very physical activity. My former doctor said I was overweight and needed to lose at least ten pounds.
Essential oils cure illnesses. Too many people die because of this misconception.
Essential oils are generally too strong to take internally anyway. They're better used as a topical treatment (as in lotion) or as aromatherapy. The problem with these is that people get "treatment" and "cure" confused.. essential oils and herbs are remedies. A remedy is not a cure. A remedy eases the symptoms so that your system can work on healing (with some help of prescription drúgs, as needed). Garlic can apparently lower your blood pressure; it cannot cure your heart disease. There's a difference.
That having a tan is healthy. You’re just wearing your skin damage
“Getting a tan” is literally your skin cells dying off so you don’t get cancer. Some is normal, excessive tanning is harmful.
Oh oh oh! I'm a health care provider, here is my most common ones.
Thinking that being mildly cold in isolation will make you get sick.
Thinking people (45+) don't need to work out
Letting scabs dry out on purpose
Vastly overstating the effects of turmeric, blueberries, cherries, etc.
Thinking pain level has anything to do with injury severity.
Believing that tan skin is healthier than pale skin.
Believing that diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, hypertension etc are "cured" by medicines. Nope just managed. I could go on all day.
Weed cures everything and has no downsides. I have nothing against cannabis use and it's clearly the least harmful recreational drug in common use but it's not without downsides. If you want to 420 blaze it all day despite that all the power to you but don't pretent inhaling burning plant matter and taking in copious amounts of thc doesn't have negative effects on physical and mental health.
This! "Least harmful" and "harmless" are two completely different things. Weed is usually seen as "safe" due to the relatively mild short-term effects... however, the long-term effects of sustained usage can be very nasty (and quite comparable to the harm of "regular" cigarettes). These effects include full-blown mental disorders as well. And yes, weed is addictive, contrary to the myth that it isn't (the "I can stop at any time, duuuude" mindset).
GMOs are bad... No Karen GMOs don't mutate you or mess with your body's balance. They mean we can feed more with less and crops are more resilient to natural disasters. It also means less pesticides that do cause harm.
Morning sickness ends within a specific time frame, solutions include: saltines, ginger ale, and Gatorade. Also, that your next pregnancy won’t involve morning sickness.
I vomited for 9 months straight and that includes hours before my child was extracted thru the sun roof via emergency c-section.
I had HG. No one believed me. I suffered, I struggled, and before my daughter was even born, people (including nurses and doctors) were already talking about my “future pregnancies” not being so bad.
HG in a subsequent pregnancy has over a 75% recurrence rate. You could have serious health complications, and so could your baby. It is dangerous, and it used to kill women (and still could in bad enough circumstances).
It is not f*****g morning sickness and there is no cure, and no OTC remedy is going to make it go away.
“Tilt your head back if you have a nosebleed.”
Do not do this because the blood could drain down your throat and make you sick or into your airways and obstruct them.
Instead you should sit upright, hold a tissue under your nose, tilt your head slightly forward, pinch the soft part of your nose just forward of the bone, and keep pinching for 10-15 minutes.
Yeah, when I was 9 I learned this the hard way. We were visiting grandparents and I got a nosebleed. They made me tip me head back. It wouldn't stop, I started coughing and vomiting blood. I was terrified. Th called a home Dr visit. He tipped my head forward and pinched my nose it stopped pretty soon.
“Ulcers are caused by stress.” Nope, the vast majority are caused by a quickly curable bacteria, and the rest are usually caused by chronic NSAID use.
That almost everyone with Type 2 diabetes just ate way too much sugar and didn’t look after themselves.
Genetics play a role too, even if you do your best to prevent it
Yes but... there is a huge correlation between obesity and T2 diabetes. Not historic sugar intake per se, although that may of course be a major contributor to the obesity. Many people who are 'pre-diabetic' can avoid it developing any further by simply losing weight and in some cases even once it has developed it can be effectively reversed such that long term drug treatment is not necessary.Yes, there are other factors, but even if genetically pre-disposed to it it's often avoidable by modifying diet and controlling weight.
It’s a messed up myth that Black people and minorities in general don’t feel pain the same way and get less things like pain killers and anesthetics than others. There are still people in the medical community who were taught this decades ago who still believe this.
Circumcision is cleaner and necessary to prevent UTIs
While it can help UTIs, not only would it take 400 instances of mutilation to prevent a single infection, but UTI's are easily treatable. Wash your d!ck. There are no health benefits to cutting up anyone's healthy genitals. And before I get anything about phimosis, it is treatable with steroid cream, and foreskin is not meant to be retractable before puberty.
I cringe at people who “cleanse” aka starve themselves for three days.
Sugar makes kids hyperactive. It doesn't. Kids are naturally high energy. And situations where they eat a lot of sugar are often things like birthday parties and Christmas which just amp them up regardless of what they've eaten.
The "sugar causes hyperactivity" myth comes from a 50 year old study with a sample size of 1. A meta analysis showed zero link between sugar and hyperactivity (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/391812). Othar studies show that, rather, what it showed was that it's based wholly on the expectation of parents - if the parent expects that sugar will cause hyperactivity, then they will attribute normal kid behaviour to hyperactivity caused by sugar (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7963081/). I hope studies are showing, I have paper access accounts through the uni and I don't know if that is affecting visibility.
“MSG is bad for you”
*"Monosodium glutamate (MSG), also known as sodium glutamate, is a sodium salt of glutamic acid. MSG is found naturally in some foods including tomatoes and cheese in this glutamic acid form. MSG is used in cooking as a flavor enhancer with a savory taste that intensifies the meaty, savory flavor of food, as naturally occurring glutamate does in foods such as stews and meat soups."* *"A controversy surrounding the safety of MSG began on 4 April 1968, when Robert Ho Man Kwok wrote a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine, coining the term "Chinese restaurant syndrome". In his letter, Kwok suggested several possible causes before he nominated MSG for his symptoms."* *"Chinese restaurant syndrome' has the same symptoms as hypernatremia. (salt poisoning)"*
i'm going to get some hate for this and I swear it's not coming from a fat shaming place... but the myth that when you're pregnant, you can eat whatever you want, however much you want, because you are "eating for two".
you actually only need 200-400 extra calories, even in the last trimester.
anything over that will result in weight gain. which is not necessarily a bad thing if you stay within your healthy weight for height.
but if you start to cross over to moderately obese...it's a problem.
being a good parent means setting a good example for health, and also being able to keep up with them physically.
That IBD and IBS are essentially the same. I don't want to dismiss what people with IBS go through, but roughly 70% of people with Crohn's or Colitis will require major surgery within their lifetime, and per an NIH report, have a 20% higher mortality rate. It's not a, "lol, you poop a lot" disease. It's an autoimmune disorder that can literally kill people by their intestines being so filled with scar tissue that they close entirely. But IBD and IBS often get lumped together, and I think that's harmful for suffers of each.
I have IBS and a cousin has Crohn’s. It’s not even remotely the same. Im fine most days. She’s in a constant battle.
Chiropractors are legitimate medical professionals akin to MD or DO doctors.
I had a DO that only did manipulation when I was pregnant in order to help me be able to walk (pinched nerves). It was very gentle, not a magic bullet, and he discontinued it as soon as I was postpartum and "able to do it myself with yoga". So much more reputable than a chiropractor that thinks they can solve everything and wants someone to be seen every week for forevermore.
You should wash your chicken before cooking it. If you're buying your chicken from wet markets - do it. If you're buying it from grocery stores - do not.
The only result of washing chicken before cooking is contaminating your kitchen.
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To the Redditor that decided to post about how you need cholesterol to survive so therefore high cholesterol can't kill you: b******t. Just because you need something to survive doesn't mean too much of it can't kill you. Love from, Don't Take Medical Advice From Randos On The Internet
Water poisoning is a perfect example. Water is critical for the human species but, if you drink to much, you CAN die. It has happened before. Everything is about balance and moderation in the body.
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No I cannot cure my depression by "just being positive and think of good things." My serotonin receptors aren't receiving properly, and my antidepressant medication helps me to function and be myself.
Taking medicine forental health does not make you weak. It's acceptable to take medicine when your heart doesn't work. Or for a diabetic to take insulin because their body doesn't make enough It should also be acceptable for people to take medication for mental health, because their brain isn't producing or processing chemicals properly.
Load More Replies... Here's an important one to remember: The FDA does not have your best interests at heart and rubber stamps drugs based on unethical studies. So, despite how much the phrase is joked about, you really do have to "do your own research" and a good place to start is regulatory agencies in other countries. Preferably not Anglo countries.
To the Redditor that decided to post about how you need cholesterol to survive so therefore high cholesterol can't kill you: b******t. Just because you need something to survive doesn't mean too much of it can't kill you. Love from, Don't Take Medical Advice From Randos On The Internet
Water poisoning is a perfect example. Water is critical for the human species but, if you drink to much, you CAN die. It has happened before. Everything is about balance and moderation in the body.
Load More Replies... No I cannot cure my depression by "just being positive and think of good things." My serotonin receptors aren't receiving properly, and my antidepressant medication helps me to function and be myself.
Taking medicine forental health does not make you weak. It's acceptable to take medicine when your heart doesn't work. Or for a diabetic to take insulin because their body doesn't make enough It should also be acceptable for people to take medication for mental health, because their brain isn't producing or processing chemicals properly.
Load More Replies... Here's an important one to remember: The FDA does not have your best interests at heart and rubber stamps drugs based on unethical studies. So, despite how much the phrase is joked about, you really do have to "do your own research" and a good place to start is regulatory agencies in other countries. Preferably not Anglo countries.
