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)

Nose, not hose.

The idea that fruit sugar is fundamentally different from sugar. The only benefit of fructose versus sucrose is that if consumed as whole fruit it comes with added fibres and micro nutrients. It's still just sugar as far as your pancreas and your teeth are concerned.

Also, the idea that you can be "allergic" to lactose drives me mad.

Sugar is arguably better than artificial sweetners, stop demonising it. Same goes for the "fat free" version of cheeses/butters, just feck off already.

Low fat diet food is a good idea.

No.

Yes your not allergic to lactose you just can't process it because it you don't have lactase

The water one is interesting. For healthy people in temperate climates drinking when thirsty is fine. For older people or people subject to heat stress it's not enough.

As far as I understood it thirst is a sign that the body is dehydrated and you shouldn't really get to the thirsty point.

I go by wee anyway. A hint of yellow and all well.. any darker than that then have a good drink.

In healthy people thirst is the best indicator of a need for fluid. In fact human beings are pretty much only species who drink for pleasure (although you can train certain rodents to drink alcohol apparently). Studies have shown if you dehydrate a dog then give it free access to water that it will drink exactly the amount it needs and then stop. There are very rare conditions which cause a loss of the thirst impulse and these people are given instructions re drinking regularly- the rest of us can just trust our bodies!

Mindexplode my mother in law believes that "sea salt" is better for you than table salt, from an "its not as bad for you" point of view. She has a heart condition and high blood pressure. Sodium levels are not significantly different. I think she thinks its because its from a natural source Yes yes its not the sodium causing you damage, its because it didn't come from the SEA!

I know someone who is diabetic and can't understand why they have to reduce the amount of pasta a bread they eat as it has no sugar because it isn't chocolate or sweets.

But on the subject of artificial sweetness...aspartime is not going to make me drop dead because of one too many diet Cokes. That annoys me. There is not a shred of evidence to show it. Everything in moderation.

Also that butter is the Devil's food. How did we mange to demonise such a basic dairy staple

Agree wholeheartedly with the earlier pp on the MMR as well. Vaccination is there for a very good reason.

A top stroke professor told me the salt thing is a myth. The problem comes when you add salt to food already full of salt eg a quarter pounder. I need to eat more salt due to medication so cheerily binned all my reduced salt stuff and add lots to my steak with great glee!

And finally to end my rant I do drink 2 litres of water a day but that suits me fine and I really notice when I don't get enough water. But hey we are all different and others need more, others less. I did see coca cola advertising that the 'good news' was that a can of coke now counted towards the daily liquid consumption! Not sure anyone would advocate that two litres of coke a day was good for anyone though

That low fat means it's good for you. If it says low fat it almost always means high sugar. If it says sugar free that equals carcinogenic frankenstein chemicals and if you're to put the two side by side, sugar is better for you because your body is equipped to handle it (INSULIN PEOPLE.) Not all fats are bad for you either, we need an element of fat in our diet.

Carbs are evil. Nope, complex carbohydrates are fucking VITAL! They're our bodies energy source for heavens sake. They won't make you fat. Simple carbs WILL if you eat too many but not complex carbs. Eat your fruit and veggies peeps!

That you can eat as much junk as you want because you work out. Sure, you might not gain weight but your body won't thank you for the packet of donuts a day and you will suffer in other ways.

If you have lived in India or the Middle East you will know that windy weather will cause a fever and require Amoxycillin and Panadol whereas rain in the Philippines is bad for pregnant women and may cause complications if raining on the day you give birth. I am so used to this now I find myself checking my forehead during a sandstorm...

I have to disagree with the thirst thing.

My mother never ever feels thirsty- she has been like this all of her adult life.
She would drink only once or twice a week if left to her own devices- so much so that she has collapsed in public several times and had to have ambulances called.
She has chronic constipation and now kidney damage.

She is elderly and now lives with me. If left to her own devices the small amount of milk on her cereal in the morning would be all that she would drink. She drinks no tea or coffee, no water with meals.
She doesn't have dementia- as I say she has lived her life like that.
I now fill a litre bottle of water and leave it in the kitchen every day to encourage her to drink.

The BMJ did a review of some 'myths even doctors believe'.

Re 'fruit sugar' - well, no - fructose isn't exactly the same as table sugar (which breaks down to glucose+fructose). Glucose and fructose aren't metabolised in the same way and actually fructose may be relatively bad for you (I'm not sure this is 'proved' yet but here is some discussion)

Thought of another one! E numbers are bad for you. Really, that's odd because vitamin C has an E number.

Bigbluestars that sounds a bit like a disorder though...not the average person? Otherwise we'd all be collapsing in public? Glad she has you to look out for her

Every so often I hear a rather uninformed vegetarian so aww you were can't process meat and dairy so that's why we shouldn't eat it. Actually it's plants we can't digest properly

Yes Jessica! Obviously some are less natural than others, but I had a friend who didn't want to give her baby some fruit pot thing because it had the Vit C e number in it (which now escapes me? E45? No that's what I use on my hands. Gah)

Its just an antioxidant.

You can't 'detox' more than your liver and kidneys already detox for you.

Bigbluestars- if your mother genuinely doesn't feel thirst to the point of dehydration she may be one of these rare people with a thirst disorder. It is certainly not usual- humans who are severely dehydrated will ordinarily drink any fluid in order to quench their thirst- it's an extremely strong impulse.

And bacon is particularly fun to process pineappleshortbread!

The truth behind the myth of 'salt is bad for you' is of course that too much sodium is very bad for some people. My DH for instance has one of the types of high blood pressure where its problematic. So, I cook without salt, and add more to mine.

You should close your window at night because night air is bad for you.

I wouldn't think this such nonsense had my mother not shrieked like a banshee one morning when she found my bedroom window open. Despite having it open all night, I'm somehow still alive.

We don't actually need shampoo at all. Hair is naturally self cleaning but once you start using it it washes out the cleaning stuff in your hair. Waste of money although I will continue to wash and condition my hair lol