Seven Things We Don’t Need to Worry About Anymore
–a CBC report, courtesy of R.D.H.,
Chicago, Illinois
Each of the following “facts” was something most people believed. Last year, however, an Indianapolis-based medical team found evidence that casts doubt on all seven.
1MYTH: You should drink at least eight glasses of water a day.
TRUTH: Most of the water we need is available to us through the food and other drinks we ingest, including milk, juice, and even caf-feinated drinks such as coffee and tea.
2MYTH: We use only 10 percent of our brains.
TRUTH: Although perhaps difficult to
believe at times, various studies have concluded that no part of the brain is ever completely dormant.
3MYTH: Hair and fingernails continue to grow after death. TRUTH: This rather unsettling myth re-lies on the appearance of longer nails or hair as dehydrated skin begins to shrink and shrivel. Actual growth, which requires a complex hormonal process, does not occur.
4MYTH: Shaving hair causes it to grow back faster, darker, or coarser. TRUTH: Shaving removes only the dead portion of hair lying above the skin’s surface. It does not, however, affect the rate or type of growth.
5MYTH: Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight.
TRUTH: Whatever strain it causes is not permanent.
6MYTH: Eating turkey makes you sleepy. (continued)
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