Health "facts" that you believe to be myths and why. See if you can change my mind.

[TattyDevine]

Anyone got any? I've got a couple.

First one is this bullshit that you have to drink a certain amount of water a day that isn't dictated by your body's thirst or cues, but by some arbitrary amount.

Why the hell would your body not tell you if it needed water? How have we evolved this far not realising we needed to be drinking double or triple the amount of water we feel we need to? Thirsty, have a drink. Not thirsty, don't. Like food. Hungry, eat. Not hungry? Shouldn't eat. What terrible fate will befall us if we don't drink 2 litres of water a day? And how did we evolve for thousands and thousands of years before this bit of knowledge was bestowed upon us?

2nd one - don't eat at night because you won't burn it and it will be stored as fat, but if you eat the same amount but during the day you will burn it.

Well, surely if you have done the same level of activity in a day and had the same amount of food within that day it will even out? Over a 24 hour period, I've taken in x amount of energy and burned y amount. If I took most of it in at night it makes up for the deficit in the morning. If I take it evenly over the day there was no deficit to make up for but I've still taken in the same amount and burned up the same amount.

3rd one - coffee and tea dehydrates you because it is a mild diuretic. Okay so its a mild diuretic but you are still more hydrated drinking it because it doesn't make you piss out more than what you took in in terms of extra fluid by drinking it in the first place. So it still counts as a drink. (In fact my GP surgery has a poster saying about taking plenty of fluids if you have a cold, and that it doesn't have to be water but a cup of tea or coffee is just as good). When I read that, I was so revived by the no nonsense common sense approach I had to restrain myself from licking the poster with delight.

Yours please, and try and convince me otherwise with non bullshitty science if you think I'm wrong (which I'm happy to be with a proper science-boffiny cut-down)

It's a myth that type 2 diabetes is caused by being overweight - there is obviously a correlation between the two but I don't think weight as a cause has ever been proven. Genetics and/or a shit diet full of sugar and bad fats (and lacking good fat) cause type 2 diabetes and you can be a 'healthy' weight and develop it via non alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Being cold does increase the chance of an already present virus developing into a cold, and of worsening a cold if one has already become symptomatic. It can also increase respiritory discomfort and increase fatigue. So there.

On the other hand though it is a fact that alcohol is the same drug in different types of drink, varying sugar, dilution, yeasts tannins and additives as well as cultural expectations and the speed of ingestion do change the effects and percieved effects of alcoholic drinks.

Countess, I had a scary episode years ago, which my doctor put down to MSG as I was eating a Chinese meal at the time. I now realise it was my first panic attack - nothing at all to do with the food (only the people I was eating with!)

About water, we ingest a lot of water in normal food, not only drinks but actual food. Soups, of course, but also in fruit, vegetables, potatoes, meat and so on. We don't normally eat dry food.
The 2L includes that water.

risks, probabilities: example, the much-lamented Leonard Nimoy was a very heavy smoker, gave up 30 years ago, and has just died of COPD after a couple of years of illness. BUT at the respectable age of 83.

smoking increases risk of lung disease. Doesn't mean you WILL get it, or that you WILL die early; risk does not equal certainty.

there's no argument that smoking is dirty, plus it makes you smell and cough. These things won't definitely kill you although other people may want to do so

Gallic, drs can and do believe in pervasive myths as well. Its a little disturbing but reminds you that they are not perfect either

Is it actually true that sushi is so good for you?

Cos I also hear that you shouldn't eat too many carbs (like rice) that fish has mercury and other bad stuff in it, particularly smoked/preserved fish, and that salt (and many packets of soy sauce are full of sodium) is bad for you. I can't believe that the tiny bits of chopped up cucumber that have often been sitting around for hours/a day somehow balance that out.

Now - the Mexican poor person's diet of brown rice and black beans with some salsa, that sounds much healthier, but for some reason I don't see restaurants popping up to sell rice and beans.

On the MSG - the MSG consumed traditionally and historically by the very healthy Japanese was produced via a laborious fermentation process using seaweed, (a food recognised today as having incredible nutritious properties). Today's mass produced MSG is chemically produced in factories - a very different product and one that is regarded as dubiously by health conscious Japanese consumers as in other countries.

A similar myth surrounds soy, with most soy products sold here being very different from those fermented soy products contributing to the great health of the Japanese.

The mass produced MSG is used by millions throughout asia, with no known issues, and has been for many decades/ IT's been thoroughly and repeatedly tested and there is no proof whatsoever of the claims made against it.

And yes, a diet with a lot of sushi is good for you. Maybe not if you're eating somewhere where day old cucumber is the only vegetable, but a proper Japanese diet has been shown time and again to be a very healthy one overall.

I believe that if you smoke it will "get you" in the end.
There are so many illnesses caused by smoking.
My dad smoked for 50 years and dropped dead of a cardiac arrest at 67
His brother died of lung cancer at 52
His sister died of lung cancer at 77
My mother - who smoked for decades until she have up when my dad died - has got peripheral vascular disease (she had a femoral bypass 2 years ago), has had a heart attack and now has copd. She is 69.

" Add message | Report | Message poster Silverjohnleggedit Sat 28-Feb-15 08:15:35
It's better to brush your teeth before breakfast rather than after, due to acid juices weakening enamel which then gets damaged by brushing"
is that still the case if you drink no fruit juice?

countess I suspect the MSG tests would be better done on an American population, because given a typical Japanese, largely unprocessed diet full of plants, fish and good fat, small amounts of MSG won't cause any issues. But MSG has become a staple ingredient in the majority of processed foods and many takeaway restaurants (not just Asian) and features strongly in helping food manufacturers achieve the 'bliss point' that makes us crave more of the same food. So MSG may well be harmless in small quantities, but that's not how it's being consumed by many people, particularly Americans. Difficult to separate the MSG issue from all the other negative aspects of that kind of diet but personally is prefer to stick mainly to foods that I know serve my body than controversial, entirely man made ones (not to say I would never eat MSG but on the whole I'd avoid it). Just because something hasn't been proven by science doesn't necessarily make it untrue..

They've all been done on american populations as well. Do you think such widely used food additives haven't been comprehensively tested?

Just because something hasn't been proven by science doesn't necessarily make it untrue..

I agree about smoking gets you in the end. My mother died of heart attack and pneumonia; both strongly linked to her smoking habit.

I've an aunt & grand-dad who both died of lung cancer many yrs after they gave up smoking.

The weight link to diabetes is complex, lots of fat around your liver can cause T2 diabetes to develop. Most people with lots of fat around their livers have lots of fat everywhere, so they look fat. This is why being fat is a real risk factor on a population level. Supermodels also have terrible risk of T2 diabetes, though, in spite of overall low body fat, it's to do with the low fitness lifestyle which leads to fatty liver again.

Each to their own isabella, I choose to believe people when they say certain substances don't work for them, be it MSG, dairy, artificial sweeteners, sugar...and think they should eat accordingly. And usually it's the dose that makes the poison where something is doing harm.

Everyone should eat what they like. However you absolutely shouldn't believe them when they talk nonsense about what they think certain substances do to their bodies, with no proof, or indeed even logic. You can believe all you like that sweetener makes you hyper, that doesn't make it true. If it makes you feel better to cut it out, great, go ahead. Placebo is a wonderful and powerful thing.

And usually it's the dose that makes the poison where something is doing harm.

placebo is a wonderful and powerful thing - exactly what I said earlier in the thread . I don't understand why that means you shouldn't believe someone who claims that certain foods have some effect on them. And yes well obviously drink water to such excess it will kill you but my point is that maybe certain substances like MSG and artificial sweeteners aren't harmful in small quantities but that isn't necessarily the case for people consuming them regularly and in large doses. Maybe history will tell a different story, as I also said, opinions and studies into nutrition are constantly coming up with new information. I also admit that I hold a certain amount of scepticism for tests that an incredibly wealthy and powerful food industry have a vested interest in.

I agree with countessmarkybitch.

I know people who affect bizarre food intolerances or say that sweetners make them bounce off the walls because they think it makes them more interesting and colourful.

It really doesn't.

I agree it probably doesn't! But I'm thinking more about people with chronic health complaints, IBS, headaches, joint pain, skin flare ups etc, that gps can find no reason for/solution to but when they experiment with diet and eliminating certain things, the problems go away. As another pp said, our bodies are far more complex than we understand.

Well, you shouldn't believe people who claim that foods have an effect on them, when we know that those foods simply don't have that effect on people.
MSG has been tested on people in large doses as well as small ones, and it still doesn't have any effects on people the way they claim. Vast numbers of people have been consuming the stuff regularly and in large doses for a long time, and still, nothing shown.

You should have a healthy scientific scepticism for ALL studies, thats called critical thinking, however you need to have the education and understanding to be able to adequately evaluate the science. Simply "I don't believe this evidence because I've read x company has a vested interest in it" isn't critical thinking, its paranoia.

A slight "side effect" of trying food intolerance tests for any unexplained rashes and joint pains (as a go-to culture) is it can lead to long delays in diagnosing lesser known "invisible illnesses" as well as unusual presentations of well known ones. The time and cash strapped GP sends you on an eliminating diet - placebo effect works for a while. Until the miscarriage, stroke or heart attack.

A bit like "try to be less stressed".

I'm not paranoid I'd describe it as open minded and always ready for the next scientific discoveries in nutrition. As I said, I would (and do) happily eat takeaway etc that undoubtedly contains MSG - I might even occasionally consume artificial sweeteners - but as a rule I prefer to eat substances that aren't entirely man made. That, whether placebo or not, makes me feel much better physically so it's what I go with. If someone told me they were perfectly healthy and happy living on just Big Macs and diet coke then I'd believe them too!

I choose to believe people when they say certain substances don't work for them, be it MSG, dairy, artificial sweeteners, sugar...and think they should eat accordingly.

I disagree with the general thrust of your posts, sleep, but the above is so patently true that it's surprising it needs saying so often. People vary. Humans' differing genetic composition gives them diverse strengths & vulnerabilities. During each human's lifetime, variations in their health and environmental factors will alter those qualities to a greater or lesser extent, temporarily or permanently.

I am not Japanese. I've no reason to believe a Japanese diet would make me healthier or fitter. However, I have a glorious tolerance for alcohol and a noticeable need for animal proteins, which often seem to go together and would be very uncommon in Japan. I became dairy intolerant (identified through blood tests, on my GP's initiative) at the same time I was diagnosed hypothyroid, so either some endocrine process conked out with age or my many medications altered my metabolism.

It's idiotic to believe there's one perfect diet for human beings. Or even one perfect lifestyle.

Did you know that rice gluten intolerance is widespread in Asia? So bollocks to that 'people aren't meant to eat wheat' It's just shit that happens when a population adopts a dietary staple.

Countessmarkyabitch
I love your name.
Lovers of Irish history will get it.