Whether it is a health scare or a new diet craze, it seems like there always a new health related rumor floating around. Well, KidGlue is here to shed some light on some of the most popular ones.
- Drinking water helps you lose weight. Just adding water to a normal diet doesn’t seem to promote weight loss. But if you have water instead of sugary drinks or snacks, then the calories you’ve saved will help shed pounds.
- Muscle can turn to fat. Fat and muscle are different tissues, and one cannot morph into the other. It may seem like it though. That’s because you start to lose muscle mass in your 30s, especially if you don’t strength-train. This can slow metabolism by 3% per decade. The fat usually shows up in the spots where you once had firm muscle, like the backs of your arms.
- Spicy foods can boost your metabolism. If only it were that easy! Your metabolic rate is determined by your gender, height, present weight/body composition, and age. These factors determine the amount of calories the body will burn to maintain the basic functions of life that occur even when we sleep—the energy used by the heart, brain, lungs, intestines, etc. Eating spicy foods cannot significantly increase metabolic rate and help you burn more calories at rest. Although your body temperature may temporarily rise and your heart may beat a bit faster after eating “hot” foods, over the long term spices will not make any changes in the rate of metabolism.
- Liquid eyeliner can causes sinus infections This rumor presumes that eyeliner is able to drain into the sinuses, get trapped, and cause an infection, but that’s not possible. Your natural tearing process can funnel bits of makeup into the tear ducts, but they drain into the nose and out the nostrils. If you develop eye irritation and sinus symptoms after wearing eyeliner, you probably had an allergic reaction.
- It’s safe to follow the 5-second rule for dropped food. It’s probably not even safe to follow a 1-second rule: The transfer of bacteria from a contaminated surface to food is almost instantaneous—or, at the very least, quicker than your reflexes. In one study, Clemson University food scientist Paul Dawson, PhD, and students contaminated several surfaces (ceramic tile, wood flooring, and carpet) with Salmonella. They then dropped pieces of bologna and slices of bread on the surfaces for as little as 5 seconds and as long as 60 seconds. After just 5 seconds, both food types had already picked up as many as 1,800 bacteria (more bad bugs adhered to the moisture-rich bologna than the bread); after a full minute, it was up to 10 times that amount.
- Cracking your knuckles can cause arthritis. Nope. If you’re suffering from osteoarthritis in your hands, it certainly has nothing to do with this nervous tic. One study at the former Mount Carmel Mercy Hospital in Detroit compared 74 people (age 45 and older) who had been chronic knuckle crackers for decades with 226 who always left their hands alone; researchers found no difference in the incidence of osteoarthritis between the two groups. But there are reasons to stop this annoying habit: The same study found knuckle crackers to be far more likely to have weaker grip strength and greater hand swelling, both of which can limit dexterity. As for osteoarthritis, that’s more likely due to genetics and increasing age.
- It is not safe for women to eat soy. When it’s eaten as a whole food—as an edamame appetizer, for example- soy is safe. This is how soy is eaten in countries like Japan and China, where breast cancer rates don’t appear to be elevated. The problem with processed soy, which is often found in soy chips, patties, and especially supplements, is that we do not always know the amount of phytoestrogens (plant chemicals in soy that function in ways similar to the hormone estrogen) in it. This can make its effects on the human body unpredictable. And exposure to high concentrations of phytoestrogens could stimulate the growth of cells that are responsive to estrogen, which include many breast cancers.
- Açai pills can help you lose weight loss. There’s no proof that supplements made with açai help with weight loss or have any other miracle benefits. The berry is very high in antioxidants (similar to those in blueberries and red grapes) and contains some heart-healthy fats, but more research is needed before it can claim to fight cancer, lower cholesterol, or do anything else.
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