23 False Medical Myths We All Still Believe

Do you believe that humans have five senses and using a microwave can give you cancer?
In that case, you will be surprised to see those and other health myths explode.
After reading this article you will have a great excuse to eat at night. 

1. Only A Direct Blow to The Head Can Cause A Concussion. 

It was just a minor fall, think again before you let it go so easily. Any serious brain injury that can affect brain function is a serious matter. Well, it is believed that a concussion can be caused only by being directly hit on the head, this is not the case. Any blow to your head or upper body strong enough to shake your head can cause a concussion. The brain is set into motion and slams into the inside of the skull. You need to be cautious and get checked out by a doctor after any head injury.

2. If You Crack Your Knuckles, You Will Get Arthritis. 

We all know how terrible it sounds when you're cracking your knuckles. It turns out that the scary sound is the sound of a bubble popping inside the capsule covering the joint you stretch and no it does not cause arthritis. Maybe the myth was spread by some sensitive individual.

3. Your Tongue is Divided Into Four Parts.

You may have heard that the tongue is divided into four separate parts and the taste buds on each part are responsible for differentiating sweet, sour, salty, and bitter food, this is wrong.
There are five tastes instead of four.

The fifth taste is umami, which is like the taste of glutamate. There are thousands of taste buds on our tongue and they all work together. Don't you, believe me, try putting salt on the tip of your tongue. The salty taste you'll feel is enough to prove the tongue map wrong.

4. Too Much Salt is Unhealthy. 

If you want to lose weight, reduce your salt intake. If you want to get your blood pressure back on track, cut back on salt. If you've never questioned these two phrases it's time you do so.
According to health studies, there are health conditions requiring you to increase your salt intake. Low salt levels can lead to the probability of diabetes, increased fat storage, and a decrease in sex drive. So go ahead and sprinkle some salt on your food.

5. You Should Always Stretch Before You Begin Exercising. 

We all spend a few minutes stretching before we exercise but is this necessary?
Turns out stretching before exercise may make you less efficient. As per Italian researchers over-stretching before running or cycling may reduce your efficiency by as much as 5%.

6. Blind People Can't See Anything. 

If you were convinced that all blind people cannot see anything except pitch-black darkness. Let me tell you that most of them sometimes actually miss being able to see darkness. It's incorrect to believe that blind people cannot see anything at all. There are conditions where blind people can see blurred patterns, shapes, and even outlines.

7. Chocolate Can Give You Acne. 

Chocolate fans will love this one. No, chocolate does not cause acne. Too much oil, bacteria, and dead skin cells do. Now, I don't say you should go crazy and eat as much chocolate as you want all day every day because it can have other negative effects like diabetes and tooth decay but not acne.

8. Humans Have Five Senses. 

Anyone who has not seen the sixth sense has been convinced that humans have only five senses. It turns out that we possess more than twenty extra senses. According to recent research, there are many more prominent senses such as Nociception- the ability to feel pain, Equilibrioception- the sense of balance, and Thermoception- the sense of temperature. The newest one in the US is the Bullshaaception- the sensitivity to the fake nose.

9. Milk is Good For Bones. 

Apparently, we were wrong to associate milk with strong bones and a sufficient amount of calcium in the body. The most recent studies like Harvard Nurse's Health Study, for example, have claimed that there is no association of milk intake with healthy bones and the prevention of calcium and vitamin D deficiency.

10. Eating At Night Will Make You Fat. 

It's time to forget the famous saying Eat breakfast like the king, Lunch like a prince and dinner like a peasant. Weight gain is directly proportional to the amount of exercise you get. It is what and how much you eat and how much you exercise throughout the day and not the time when you eat that matters when it comes to weight gain and loss. As long as you don't forget to exercise the next morning, the refrigerator is yours to open during the night.

11. Yogurt Can Improve Digestion. 

Yoghurt or curd have both been popular for their various health benefits including weight management and digestion regulation. The probiotics have slowly entered our systems and they're ruling it. These probiotics are said to be the good kind of bacteria that helps regulate our gut. However, your body is already full of different kinds of bacteria. How can it be determined that it is the bacteria coming from yoghurt that is helping? Also, many yoghurts are sweetened and the amount of sugar in many yoghurts is harmful instead of healthy.

12. Using Microwaves Can Give You Cancer. 

Well, microwaves do not cause cancer and have been confirmed by some of the top researchers. If we look at the heating method of the microwaves, we will see that they produce radiation that heats up the water molecules present in the food thus making it warm. In no way does it change the food and make it cancerous. The only thing to be kept in mind is to use dishes and plastic containers that can be put in the microwave.

13. You Use Only 10% Of Your Brain. 

You may have come across this phrase at least a million times in your life but when we say it's not true you can believe that.
Several scientists and experiments have proven that almost the entire brain is active during a person's lifespan. The brain's different parts are all responsible for our body's performance and 10% of the brain could not handle the functioning of your entire body. You are smarter than that.

14. Eating Carrots Can Give You Excellent Night Vision. 

We all learn that one of the advantages of carrots is that they are a good source of vitamin A, which can help improve your vision. Thanks to World War II propaganda, carrots were seen as the best health food possible. During World War II, the British air force develops a new type of radar technology and try to hide it from the world by claiming that their newfound success was due to the improved vision of their pilots who ate many carrots. The presence of vitamin A in carrots can help improve your eyesight but it's merely a myth that it can help you obtain night vision.

15. Light from the computer screen damages your eyes.

It's impossible to imagine modern life without computers. But everyone has heard at least once that screen exposure is harmful to our eyes and that it has a negative impact on our overall health. Luckily, in reality, computer monitors emit radiation in such a small amount that it can't harm your health. This radiation has nothing to do with the deterioration of your eyes.

16. You Can Catch A Cold Because Of Cold Weather. 

And that's false. It is the different viruses that make you sick not the cold weather. More people catch a cold in winter as we spend more time indoors which is good for viruses because they can spread easier and they feel even better in spring, summer, and the beginning of fall in higher humidity.

17. Honey is A Natural Sugar, And It is Better Than Processed Sugar. 

The next time you want to put a spoonful of honey in your healthy green tea keep in mind what you read below. What if I tell you that honey has more calories than sugar.
There are 64 calories in one tablespoon of honey and 49 calories per tablespoon of sugar. Although honey is used in lesser quantity since it is sweeter when compared to sugar.
The fact remains that a lot of honey can also lead to weight gain. Medically honey is just as harmful as sugar and can lead to diseases like diabetes, heart problems, and liver diseases if overused.

18. Organic Food is Free Of Pesticides. 

Organic food has become a widespread trend now. Everyone wants to switch to organic food due to the purity and health benefits it promises but unfortunately, this isn't exactly correct. There is a list of more than 20 chemicals that have been proved to be put in organic food production by US Organic Standards. It must also be kept in mind that despite regulations even organic food is susceptible to chemical flow from fields or nearby factories.
So where can you get pure organic food? Well, you can become a farmer and grow food exclusively for yourself.

19. If You Are Overweight, You Are Unhealthy. 

Are you suffering from obesity? In fact, an overweight person may not necessarily be unfit. So it's incorrect to assume that an overweight person is suffering. The death rate of an overweight person who exercises regularly is half of the death rate of a person who falls into the standard weight category. Body mass index is something else to keep in mind when determining whether or not a person's weight falls into an unhealthy category.

20. Pregnancy lasts 9 months. 

The 40-week pregnancy is a belief that is no longer correct. Now there is more knowledge at hand and more clarification on the subject. Each pregnancy is different. It turns out that only 5% of babies arrived on their supposed due date

21. Six Hours Of Sleep is Enough For Humans.

Health gurus tell us to correct our sleeping habits. 8 hours is a must or so they say. In this fast-paced life, few of us get this luxury. So will it make us unhealthy?
Studies have proved that our ancestors had 6-7 hours of sleep at the max thus disproving the fact that modern life has taken away the sound sleep from us. So don't waste time sulking over not being able to get 8-9 hours of sleep. As anxiety can cause more harm than sleepiness.

22. Shaved hair grows back faster, coarser and darker.

Here's a myth you can debunk yourself by paying attention to your own hair after shaving. You may notice that new hair grows in with a blunt edge on top. Over time, that blunt edge gets worn down, making it seem thicker than it really is. But why might recently shaved hair seem darker than its unshaved counterparts? It could be that those newly sprouted hairs haven't yet been bleached by the sun.
But if you don't trust your own experimental skills, there's other evidence that this myth isn't reality. A clinical trial conducted in 1928 compared hair growth in shaved patches to hair growth in unshaved patches. The study found that new hair that replaced shaved hair wasn't darker or thicker, nor did it grow faster. More recent studies have confirmed that one.

23. Going out in the cold with wet hair will make you sick.

Don't have time to dry your hair before leaving the house on a cold day? Don't worry about it! Though lots of people might tell you that a wet head, plus cold air, is bound to equal a head cold, that's simply not the case. Germs such as viruses and bacteria, not temperature changes, make people sick. So although you might be a bit chilly if you leave home with wet hair on a winter day, that doesn't mean you'll get sick.