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How many of those health care ‘facts’ that you’ve heard of are actually facts? In the past, with our limited understanding of the human body and the mechanism of various diseases, the lines between fantasy, science fiction and pure quackery were quite blurred. Unfortunately, despite the abundance of information on the internet, most of our knowledge about health care remains wholly inadequate. Superstition, folklore, and simple misconceptions are all too often embraced as common knowledge, and here are some of the most common medical myths that still prevail today:

• You should drink at least eight glasses of water a day: This is probably the most common bit of healthy advice that you’ve received, but is it really healthy? While your fluid intake is no trivial matter, the claim has no real scientific basis. It most likely originated from the recommendation of daily intake of 8 glasses of fluid per day. What no one tells you is that this fluid intake needn’t come from water consumption alone. The fluid content in food also adds to your intake, so if you’re not feeling thirsty, you most likely don’t need that glass of water.
• Chewing gum takes seven years to pass through your system: As a kid you were probably told not to swallow that chewing gum, as it would never leave your body, or would take ‘seven’ years! We can’t be too sure about what’s so special about the number seven, but we’re pretty sure that this piece of parental advice is just about as true as the notion of a tree growing in your tummy if you swallow a seed! This doesn’t mean that chewing gum is digestible or nutritious! It’s not, but it isn’t going to stick around for seven years or more. If you swallow it, it will simply pass through your system and out of it with all other wastes.
• Eating at night makes you fat: How often have you been told that your night snacks are the main cause for that bulge? Midnight snackers should delight in the dispelling of this myth, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. Weight gain actually follows a pretty simple logic – if you consume more calories than you’re burning, you are going to experience weight gain. The time at which you snack is of little bearing, as compared to what you’re snacking on. Snacking is generally discouraged, but that’s because of the nature of the foods that we tend to snack on.
• We use only 10 percent of our brains: This is a saying that we’re all familiar with. You’ve probably even heard some of the wittiest of comedians and social critics refer to this bit of info as a fact, but that doesn’t make it any less untrue! The myth most likely originated early in the last century, with self improvement and motivational hucksters trying to convince the masses that they hadn’t reach their full potential. Advances in medical technology through the twentieth century have revealed this to be untrue, as imaging studies like MRI and PET scans clearly reveal that no area of the brain is actually dormant.
• Shaved hair grows back faster, coarser and darker: This is one that we’ve all heard, and most of us still believe. It’s probably one of the most stubborn myths that you’ll still ponder over, even when faced with evidence that proves otherwise! The fact that this claim was dispelled in 1928, when clinical trials proved the claim to be false may come as a surprise to most, and these findings are also backed up by more modern studies.

Warning: The reader of this article should exercise all precautionary measures while following instructions on the home remedies from this article. Avoid using any of these products if you are allergic to it. The responsibility lies with the reader and not with the site or the writer.