Drink 2 litres of water a day, Don't eat any more than 2 eggs a week, margarine is healthier than butter ... ? Are they really true health guides or assumed myths? Jose Alberto Palma, doctor of the Clinic University of Navarra, has investigated at length the scientific base of our most frequent doubts; supported by explanations. I have chosen just 10 most circulated beliefs from the list of 30 ~
1) Don't drink alcohol if you are taking antibiotics - True
Although it depends on what type of antibiotic. Some if combined with alcohol simply reduces the effect, others might produce ill feeling or vomit.
2) margarine is healthier than butter - False
Butter is better because it's a natural product. However it contains saturated fat so it should not be taken in great quantity regularly. Margarine is a industrial product, result of a process to change vegetable oil into solid form. The best to be used on toast is olive oil.
3) Hair and nail continue to grow after death - False
When someone dies, the start to dehydrate and the skin retracts, this gives the false appearance that the hair and nail are longer.
4) Mobile phone provokes cancer - False
Multiple studies on this aspect have not found that mobiles cause cancer or any kind of tumour
5) Reading with insufficient light damages eyes and causes bad eyesight - ~ False
What happens is that when we read with poor light, the eyes adapt by contracting to better focus. This could cause tiredness or fatigue, but after resting, the eyes would return to their normal state.
6) Stress can cause illnesses - True
It can cause a large variety of sleep disorder and nightmares, and aggravate whatever existing illnesses, especially sickness of heart or mental, anxiety, depress and constant fatigue.
7) Eating apple conserve teeth - True
Apple contains PH acid that helps to eliminate germs and it's texture serves as a brush to eliminate the rest. But it should not be used as a substitute for correct oral hygiene.
8) Nothing can be done to prevent breast cancer - False
Many things can be done to protect women like not to have babies too late in age, breast feed if possible, don't drink alcohol or smoke, don't get overweight, and follow a diet of food rich in fruit, vegetables and olive oil.
9) Oral anti-contraceptives don't have side effects - False
Investigations have found an association of the consumption of oral anti-contraceptives with major risk of thrombus and heart-failures. The risk is not too high amongst younger women but increases from the age of 35 onwards, and smokers.
10) Mother cells are the solution for all kinds of sickness without cure, like Parkinson, Alheimer and diabetes - False
For now they are not. There are a lot of studies, experiments and investigations that have observed certain utility in adult mother cells, but very far from using them as routine treatment. Only for certain sickness like leukaemia and linfomas; the transfusion of mother cells (known as bone mellow) is already habitual therapy.
