Thursday, June 12, 2008

Health myths: true or false?

My mother doesn’t allow me to read in dim light or in lying position, not to take bath during first two days of monthly period or carry heavy things and so many more beliefs. But I never listened because I have reasons too.

Pondering now on how my old folks stuck and lived their myths I want to admit that it’s a justification why they live longer. Because I still have two living grandmother proof in their 90’s who are much alive with their health myths.

Our olds tend to live on their beliefs and our generation keeps seeking for a scientific explanation to outlive those things and do live the present. But then whatever maybe our beliefs or myths if we think is good for us then I don’t find any reason to argue.

Here is some health myths listed by the British Medical Journal after their study that we often get it wrong. Our favorites from Chatelaine:

Drink at least eight glasses of water a day: INCORRECT. A 1945 article suggested that a “suitable allowance” of water for adults is 2.5 litres a day, but the next sentence in the article noted that much of it is already contained in the food we eat.

Reading in dim light ruins your eye sight: FALSE. Bad lighting makes it hard to focus, causes you to blink less and leads to dry eyes. So reading in dim light may be uncomfortable, but it doesn’t cause permanent damage.

We use only 10 percent of our brains: DEAD WRONG. “Numerous types of brain imaging studies show that no area of the brain is completely silent or inactive,” wrote the study authors.

3 comments:

abella said...

many factors on health issues like pollution- air, water, etc....the food we eat contributes a lot too:)
cheers.... and good health!

ellenmayjoyceasacla said...

hi abella! thanks for coming over.
good health for both of us!

Anonymous said...

oo nga andaming myths na akala natin ay totoo. i was really surprised about reading that you don't need to take in 8 glasses a day. i remember trying to drink 8 glasses a day but it just made me keep going to the restroom. so i stopped drinking that many glasses.