Old Wives Tales, Fact Or Fiction

I am sure we have all heard different Old wives tales whether it be from our parents, friends, family etc. I have compiled a list of different tales and the truth. Hope you enjoy

Did you know?

Eating carrots will help you see in the dark.

Yes and No. Carrots can improve you eye health and helps maintain good eyesight due to the vitamins and minerals, particularly Beta-carotene in which our bodies then make Vitamin A. Whilst carrots won’t give you night vision, it can help in conditions of low light and general good eye health. It is estimated that every year 250,000-500,000 children become blind due to a vitamin A deficiency.

Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis.

Multiple studies have indicated there is no evidence that cracking knuckles or other joints increases the risk or causes arthritis. Numerous studies have been done and the latest in 2018 scientists found evidence that the popping sound comes from collapsing cavitation bubbles. Whilst it may not have any effect on arthritis chronic cracking can lead to reduced grip strength and occasionally dislocations and tendon injuries. If pain occurs when cracking your joints it can mean there is an underlying abnormality of the joints.

If you sit too close to the TV you will go blind.

Sitting too close to the TV won’t damage your eyes or make you go blind but you can get eyestrain and fatigue. Especially if sitting too close or at an unusual angle.

Heartburn during pregnancy means the baby will have lots of hair.

One study claims that there is truth to this theory, they claim that women who suffered moderate to severe heartburn gave birth to hairy babies yet the women who didn’t suffer heartburn gave birth to below average hair or bald babies. I wouldn’t say this is a definitive result as the study was only done with 64 pregnant women. Most “evidence” is anecdotal.

Chicken noodle soup is good for a cold.

Studies have revealed that Chicken soup does have benefits when you are suffering cold and flu symptoms. Using ingredients such as onion, carrot and celery helps strengthen the immune system and speed recovery. The chicken broth helps with congestion and helps provide hydration. The noodles are easy to swallow and helps with feeling full, the salt helps soothe the throat and the chicken helps the immune system and provides building blocks for muscle, blood, skin and bones.

Chewing gum takes 7 years to digest.

Despite popular belief gum does not stay in your body for 7 years. It gets expelled out of your body the same as any other food and takes the same amount of time. So if you can’t find somewhere suitable to discard the gum, by all means swallow it and stop sticking it on the underside of tables or on the ground etc.

Wait 30mins after eating before swimming.

Swimming after you have eaten is not actually dangerous. The concern came about because digestion diverts some of your blood flow from your muscles to your stomach, which is thought to cause cramps so severe that you could drown. There is no deaths documented that are attributed to someone swimming on a full stomach. Your blood flow isn’t diverted enough to cause any real issues.

You should drink 8 glasses of water a day.

There is no scientific evidence proving that everyone should drink 8 cups of water a day. The amount of water varies depending on the individual and their circumstances like someones exertion from working out or working a labour intensive job. Plus things like the weather, a persons metabolism, food intake that has water content and things like coffee, tea etc is also included in your water intake. As most are aware too little water is dangerous but so is too much water. There is not a one size fits all daily water intake so be aware of your own body and drink when you need to or feel like it.

If you pull out a grey hair, three will grow back in it’s place.

Good news is that this is false, you will only get new grey hairs when the hair follicle pigment cells die. So pulling out a stray grey hair doesn’t cause the pigment cells to die in surrounding hair.

Going to bed with wet hair will give you a cold.

No, you cannot catch a cold from sleeping with wet hair. A cold is a virus spread by germs so you need to be exposed to that infection to catch a cold. You can get fungal infections by going to bed with wet hair though.

Shaving will make your hair grow back quicker and thicker.

Shaving hair doesn’t impact the colour, thickness or the speed of growth. Because shaving gives the hair a blunt tip, when it grows it may feel more stubbly and look darker and thicker when it is not actually the case.

Eating crusts makes your hair curly.

Whether our hair is naturally curly, straight, frizzy or non existent it all depends on our genes and has nothing to do with eating your crusts. Bread has no bearing on ones genetic makeup so eat all the crusts you want.

Peeing on a jellyfish sting will help relieve the pain.

Best not to pee on yourself or have a friend to do it (wish I knew that a couple of years ago). Peeing on the sting can help remove any tentacles that are left behind but the salt in your urine may trigger more nematocysts to fire into the skin causing more pain. One thing that can help is vinegar, studies have shown that vinegar can deactivate the nematocysts venom that the jellyfish release but it may not work on ALL jellyfish stings.

Bulls are attracted to the colour red.

Despite popular belief Bulls are not attracted by the colour red, they are in fact colour blind to the colours in the red-green spectrum. Bulls are in actually attracted to movement. The reason why the muleta (bullfighting cape) is traditionally red is to hide the animals blood splatters.

The 5 second rule

As soon as the food hits the floor it gets contaminated with bacteria. Whilst yes the longer the food is on the floor the more bacteria it still doesn’t mean that the food is safe before 5 seconds is up. Some foods are also worse than others. I still don’t think this would stop people especially young kids, they will put anything in their mouth if given the chance lol.

Coffee stunts your growth.

Good news for the vertically challenged, there is no scientific evidence that drinking coffee will have any impact on your height.

You can’t fall pregnant whilst breastfeeding

It is true that you are less likely to ovulate or get your periods whilst breastfeeding so you are less likely to fall pregnant. Studies show that Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM) is 99% effective as a contraception similar to that of many other contraceptions. But If you don’t want to take the chance then use other forms of protection coz breastfeeding (like other alternatives) is not a 100% reliable.

Toads can give you warts.

Toads will definitely not give you warts. Warts are caused by the HPV virus and not from touching toads. It is still not a good idea to touch them though coz they have glands that can secrete a poison which can be irritating and even burn human skin. So still best not to touch toads.

We only use 10% of our brains.

Believe it or not our brains are almost always active and we use virtually every part of the brain everyday. On some occasions when you are resting or thinking you may only use 10% of your brain but as a whole our brains are on the go.

Chocolate gives you pimples.

Whilst high amounts of sugary foods isn’t good for your skin there is no evidence that says chocolate gives you pimples. BUT high sugar and high dairy diets can increase sebum production which can increase the oil production in the body leading to breakouts. As the saying goes “everything in moderation”.

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