Four Health Myths

False facts debunked

Jamileh Hamadeh, Staff Writer|September 28, 2017

Health myths are handed down from moms trying to protecct their kids or things that have since been proven wrong by research and scientists. Moms make up things that then just get handed down from generation to generation and people believe them. Other myths are things that have been tested in labs until proven false. Remember when “smoking was healthy”? As we advance in science, we further our knowledge in what is good and bad for you. Things like “eating ice cream while you’re sick makes your cold worse,” “sugar makes people hyper,” “we have five senses,” and “swallowing gum stays in your digestive tract for seven years.” In this article you will find out that many of the health “facts,” like the ones listed above, are surprisingly false.

IT TAKES SEVEN YEARS TO DIGEST GUM WHEN IT’S SWALLOWED.
This is completely false. Little chunks of gum go through your intestines out of your behind. The only way you can’t digest gum is if it is swallowed with something that doesn’t belong in your stomach.

 

EATING ICECREAM WHILE HAVING A COLD WILL MAKE IT WORSE.
If you eat ice cream while you have a cold you have nothing to worry about. The myth says that consuming ice cream while you are sick will make it a lot worse. This is false. Ice cream also does not produce a lot of mucus as told in the myth.

 

WE HAVE FIVE SENSES.
This is true but many people might not know that they have way more than that. Humans have more than five senses and some of which are balance, temperature, and proprioception but these are not mentioned as commonly as the others.

 

SUGAR MAKES PEOPLE HYPER.
This myth was more than likely told to most of us as kids. Around 1974, Doctor William Cook wrote to pediatrics stating that sugar is a leading cause of hyperactivity. However, this is a myth. Researchers have tried to prove it can cause hyperactivity and failed.