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My grandmother has renewed our subscription to Bottom Line Personal, a little magazine perfect for both upper-middle aged people and the average trivia magazine blogger. In the recent issue, medical myths are busted by Edward Saltzman, MD.
• MYTH: Feed a cold, starve a fever.
• REALITY: “Eating more or less will have no real effect on how long you remain sick.” Which is good, because I can never remember that feed/starve saying anyway.
• MYTH: Eating after 8pm causes weight gain.
• REALITY: “There is no evidence that calorie ‘burn’ is slower at night. Weight gain results from overeating and lack of activity, whether that occurs in the morning, afternoon or night.”
• MYTH: Honey is more healthful than sugar.
• REALITY: “Honey contains more fructose than sugar. Some studies suggest that high-fructose diets are linked to weight gain and metabolic syndrome, a group of health problems that includes excess abdominal fat, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, low ‘good’ cholesterol and high blood sugar.”
• MYTH: Soy relieves hot flashes.
• REALITY: “While soy is a good source of phytoestrogens, it provides an extremely weak estrogenic effect.”
Got any other medical myths you’d like to challenge?
Comments (21)
Comment
Do any of those hiccup remedies(such as yelling BOO!) work?
posted by Rebecca on 3-27-2007 at 1:16 pm
People actually believed that your body absorbed more fat after 8 PM? I’m reminded of how Lewis Black joked that there’s two versions of NyQuil, one for day and one for night, and you could take either one because your cold didn’t care what time it was.
Although I do believe that if you eat after midnight, you turn into an ugly little creature that goes around town and kills people… if you’re a Mogwai. (Which reminds me: If eating after 8 PM did cause weight gain, what happens if you go into another time zone?)
posted by Sillstaw on 3-27-2007 at 1:39 pm
Adding to the Honey myth: An allergist told me that honey also has more impurities that can cause an auto-immune reaction. It is funny because the natural remedy practitioners will often recommend honey to fight allergies.
posted by n2y2 on 3-27-2007 at 1:53 pm
Going out in the cold with a wet head will give you the flu/cold. My grandmother drives me insane with that one.
posted by ChinaBlue on 3-27-2007 at 1:55 pm
Actually, the going out with a wet head thing is a no, but yes, but no thing.
To get a cold, you must first be exposed to a cold virus.
After you have been exposed to a virus, if you expose yourself to stress (like extreme cold), that stress can negatively affect your immune system.
I have been arguing with my grandmother for about 30 years about this one, she is convinced that stepping outside for one second on a brisk day causes pneumonia. Turns out, the stress of arguing with her is just as bad!
posted by melanie on 3-27-2007 at 2:34 pm
Cross your eyes and they will stay that way. Not!
posted by Rhea on 3-27-2007 at 2:37 pm
I always interpreted the starve a cold, feed a fever thing to mean feed a fever with more heat (not food), to reach a breaking point.
How I use it in real life is that if the kids don’t feel good enough to eat something, I don’t make them eat. If they have chills, put a sweater on.
posted by Miss Cellania on 3-27-2007 at 3:04 pm
Myth: all the blonde girls are blockheads
Reality: A brunette or brown-haired girl can behave as blonde ones :)
posted by Antilos on 3-27-2007 at 3:11 pm
Shaving hair makes it grow back thicker. It sure never worked for me!
posted by Brickfoot on 3-27-2007 at 8:17 pm
In my experience, it’s feed a cold, starve a fever. But that’s more in my reaction to the illnesses; whenever I have a cold, I crave all kinds of things & eat like a horse. When I have the flu (or flu-like symptoms) I don’t feel like eating anything. Usually for fear that it’ll come back to haunt me.
One that my mom drove me crazy with was when someone was coughing/choking on food, lifting the choker’s arm and pounding on his back was the way to deal with it. The back pounding I could understand, but the arm?
posted by Dave on 3-27-2007 at 9:26 pm
I always thought the “Eating after 8pm causes weight gain” was somewhat true because you often are more inactive when it’s late (and you’re sleeping).
posted by Adrian on 3-27-2007 at 10:00 pm
Actually, it’s “Starve a cold, feed a fever.” And it isn’t an either/or statement. The sentiment is that you need to keep your strength up by eating when you have a cold, when your sense of smell is depressed and food doesn’t taste as good. If you don’t keep your strength up, you’ll only sicker, i.e. a fever.
So to read the myth correctly, “If you starve a cold, you’re only feeding a fever.”
posted by cavalaxis on 3-27-2007 at 10:40 pm
Lifting your arms over your head while coughing actually works, it’s because when you lift your arms it’s easier to get air into your lungs. (or that’s how I understood it)
posted by greenstrawberries on 3-27-2007 at 11:02 pm
Just took my level 2 First Aid Training test last night from the American Red Cross. When the victim is choking you give 5 firm blows to the back and then 5 abdominal thrusts. Repeat until object is expelled or victim falls unconscious. If unconscious, begin CPR. Nothing was mentioned about lifting anyone’s arms.
posted by KJ on 3-28-2007 at 6:28 am
Cavalaxis — different sources have it shown different ways, but according to Cecil Adams, who’s done some research, Jason’s version is the original one.
Visit The Straight Dope online and search their archives for “feed a cold, starve a fever.” The explanation’s in there.
posted by Sandy on 3-28-2007 at 7:56 am
One day when I had a coughing fit my mom said, “Sniff really hard!” and it seemed to work. Ever heard of that one?
posted by Kasee on 3-28-2007 at 8:17 am
The back blows/abdominal thrusts for choking victims is only if they have an obstructed airway. If someone is still coughing, you shouldn’t hit their back or do the heimlich, just encourage them to keep coughing until they can breathe again. as for the arms in the air thing… my mom always said that and it may have helped but I don’t know if it’s medically acurate.
posted by Sara on 3-31-2007 at 4:45 pm
In 1975 I took a first aid course offered by the Red Cross. At that time resuscitation consisted of pulling the prone patients arms over the head and then back to their side. It was believed to cause the thoracic cavity to expand and then relax thereby causing air to be exchanged. I never saw it used and don’t believe it to be that effective. Thankfully we now have CPR.
posted by Owen on 3-17-2008 at 12:44 pm
One remedy I’ve heard for fighting off a cough is to put Vick’s vapor rub on the soles of your feet (yes, I thought it was crazy, too).
Something about that area being more absorbent. I haven’t tried it out yet, but I’m almost excited to see if it’ll work.
posted by Stephanie Kelley on 3-17-2008 at 10:31 pm
My dentist uses these huge contraptions to stick the x-ray films in place and they make everyone gag. The hygenist told me to breath through my nose and then pick my feet up off the dental chair and look at them. For whatever reason (distratction?), doing these things stopped me from gagging.
posted by Jamie on 3-18-2008 at 11:28 am
Owen- the Vick’s on the sole of your feet does work. It helps to wear socks when you do it.
posted by Byron on 3-18-2008 at 1:30 pm