Healthy Habits That Aren't

[Marilyn. 340]

Following a low-fat diet

Significantly cutting the fat in your diet is supposed to lead to weight loss, cancer prevention and a healthier heart. Turns out, those promises might just be empty intellectual calories. In 2006, the Women’s Health Initiative—a several-billion dollar, eight-year study of the effects of low-fat diets—finally came to an end. The results were shocking. Not only did the women who followed “fat-free diets” show no decrease in cancer or heart disease rates compared to their fat-eating counterparts, but they also weren’t any skinnier. And, the researchers said, the study probably applied to men as well.

If you follow the medical literature, however, there’ve been plenty of studies, dating back to the early 1990s, which show low-fat diets aren’t as effective as they’re made out to be. In fact, there’s even some evidence that the behaviors they inspire might be harmful. A 2007 study in the journal Human Reproduction found that women who carefully avoided full-fat dairy products were more likely to experience a certain type of infertility.

Trusting your eyesight to carrots

If you think these vegetables will improve your vision, think again. While carrots do contain vitamin A, which is a major player in keeping your eyes working properly, you really only need a small amount of it—and no matter how much vitamin A you consume, it’s not going to magically eliminate your need for glasses. In fact, if you eat too much vitamin A, you can end up with a toxic—although not usually fatal—reaction.

The idea that more carrots means better vision might actually be a relic of a World War II-era military disinformation campaign. According to the online World Carrot Museum, British intelligence began spreading the myth during the blitz as a plausible explanation for why their fighter pilots were suddenly able to spot Nazi planes at night. In reality, the British had simply developed a better radar system and didn’t want the enemy to find out about it.

Drinking eight glasses of water a day

Admit it, this is one healthy habit that’s a royal pain. Luckily, it’s also completely unnecessary. For some people, eight glasses a day might actually be far too much, leading to sodium deficiencies and potentially life-threatening water intoxication, caused by kidneys not being able to keep up the intake of liquids. In 2002, a kidney specialist tried, in vain, to find any scientific evidence supporting the eight-glasses-a-day myth. His report, published in the American Journal of Physiology, concluded that this standard health advice was complete and utter bunk that, like many urban legends, stemmed from a tiny grain of truth.

Apparently, the dietary guidelines provided by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council do say that humans need 1 milliliter of water for each calorie of food—adding up to about 10 cups a day. However, the same guidelines also say that we get most of this liquid from the water in solid food. There’s no need to drink more.

Using anti-bacterial soap

You may be tempted to take a biological jackhammer to every microbe that dare touch your family, but the fact is there’s a lot we don’t know about the long-term effects of common, household use of anti-bacterials. According to the Centers for Disease Control, these chemicals have been shown, in the lab, to kill off only weak bacteria—leaving the tougher ones to reproduce. That’s led many medical experts to worry that anti-bacterial soaps might be contributing to the rise of stronger bacteria, capable of fighting off our attempts to kill it. So far, this theory hasn’t been proved in a real-life setting.

What has been proved, however, is that washing your hands with anti-bacterial soap isn’t anymore effective at preventing disease than hand washing with regular soap. First reported in a 2004 study, published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, this discovery led a Food and Drug Administration Expert Advisory Council to announce the next year that there was no proof anti-bacterial soaps lived up to their advertising claims. Bottom line: It’s just not worth the risk.

Full Article Here

[broma25 2]

Marilyn

Did your husband get his appointments sorted out??

Wishing him well!

[Alex+R 0]

Hm, I'll never believe that drinking lots of water isn't healthy. It's just way too counterintuitive.

[Marilyn. 340]

Marilyn

Did your husband get his appointments sorted out??

Wishing him well!

thanks, he still hasn't called his doctor to give him a reference for UCLA ... his other two appointments are next week...

Hm, I'll never believe that drinking lots of water isn't healthy. It's just way too counterintuitive.

well, they say you get a lot of your water from solid food, so it is not necessary to drink so much water....

[homesick_american 1]

Using anti-bacterial soap

You may be tempted to take a biological jackhammer to every microbe that dare touch your family, but the fact is there’s a lot we don’t know about the long-term effects of common, household use of anti-bacterials. According to the Centers for Disease Control, these chemicals have been shown, in the lab, to kill off only weak bacteria—leaving the tougher ones to reproduce. That’s led many medical experts to worry that anti-bacterial soaps might be contributing to the rise of stronger bacteria, capable of fighting off our attempts to kill it. So far, this theory hasn’t been proved in a real-life setting.

What has been proved, however, is that washing your hands with anti-bacterial soap isn’t anymore effective at preventing disease than hand washing with regular soap. First reported in a 2004 study, published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, this discovery led a Food and Drug Administration Expert Advisory Council to announce the next year that there was no proof anti-bacterial soaps lived up to their advertising claims. Bottom line: It’s just not worth the risk.

This one is my favorite; it's hilarious what people will wash with anti-bacterial soap.

I was reminded of something by the show Embarrassing Illnesses on Channel 4 (UK) last night where a girl washed her minge, then reported that it was stinky. I lived in a sorority house in college, and there was a girl whose chuff radiated heat and you could smell it four toilets away. Whenever I had to sit next to her in weekly meetings you could literally feel the heat coming off this girl.

I finally cornered her and asked her if she was having any...y'know...problems. I just couldn't stand her stench anymore. She said that she thought it was a yeast infection, but she'd treated it and it wouldn't 'go away'. This girl was a neat freak and used bleach all over her room, washed her hands about 100 times a day, would wrap her sleeve around her hand to open any door, etc. So I just flat-out asked her if she was using anti-bacterial soap on her frilly bits. She said yes. I told her to STOP. STOP NOW. I explained to her that she was killing the bacteria that were supposed to be in a healthy vag. I was never bothered by her chuff odor again.

[Reynaldo 0]

Hm, I'll never believe that drinking lots of water isn't healthy. It's just way too counterintuitive.

You better believe... I've been warning you... You drink too much water...

[Alex+R 0]

Hm, I'll never believe that drinking lots of water isn't healthy. It's just way too counterintuitive.

You better believe... I've been warning you... You drink too much water...

But it feels soooo good! And I never get blemishes!

[Marilyn. 340]

about the antibacterial thing....

my brothers and I would swim in a puddle of water at the gravel pit about 1/4 mile from our house.. this was a standing pool of water, that all the neighborhood dogs would swim in too... who knows what was living in there.... anyways, my brothers and I rarely got sick growing up in spite of that.... I think if you try and kill of all the bacteria, your body can't build up an immunity to it... I think that is why kids nowadays seem to have so many allergies and get sick a lot....

[mawilson 2,133]

I was reminded of something by the show Embarrassing Illnesses on Channel 4 (UK) last night where a girl washed her minge, then reported that it was stinky. I lived in a sorority house in college, and there was a girl whose chuff radiated heat and you could smell it four toilets away. Whenever I had to sit next to her in weekly meetings you could literally feel the heat coming off this girl.

I finally cornered her and asked her if she was having any...y'know...problems. I just couldn't stand her stench anymore. She said that she thought it was a yeast infection, but she'd treated it and it wouldn't 'go away'. This girl was a neat freak and used bleach all over her room, washed her hands about 100 times a day, would wrap her sleeve around her hand to open any door, etc. So I just flat-out asked her if she was using anti-bacterial soap on her frilly bits. She said yes. I told her to STOP. STOP NOW. I explained to her that she was killing the bacteria that were supposed to be in a healthy vag. I was never bothered by her chuff odor again.

:o :o

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Hm, I'll never believe that drinking lots of water isn't healthy. It's just way too counterintuitive.

I agree. I drink a lot of water when I'm at work because I keep a glass at my desk and sip it whenever I'm thirsty. When I'm at home, especially on the weekends - I have to remind myself to drink some water. The consequences of not drinking enough water are far more common and more detrimental than the risk of drinking too much.

[Jenn! 918]

I agree with the low fat and the anti-bacterial soap ones, but not the water.

[Reynaldo 0]

I agree. I drink a lot of water when I'm at work because I keep a glass at my desk and sip it whenever I'm thirsty. When I'm at home, especially on the weekends - I have to remind myself to drink some water. The consequences of not drinking enough water are far more common and more detrimental than the risk of drinking too much.

Your kidneys will always thank you for that, but the low sodium levels in your body might kill you...

But then again, you can always eat something salty...

Edited May 18, 2007 by Reynaldo

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I agree. I drink a lot of water when I'm at work because I keep a glass at my desk and sip it whenever I'm thirsty. When I'm at home, especially on the weekends - I have to remind myself to drink some water. The consequences of not drinking enough water are far more common and more detrimental than the risk of drinking too much.

Your kidneys will always thank you for that, but the low sodium levels in your body might kill you...

But then again, you can always eat something salty...

I'm almost certain I'm getting more than plenty of sodium - most processed foods extremely high in sodium.

[Marilyn. 340]

Whenever you disregard your sense of thirst and strive to ingest several glasses of water a day just because you have been told that doing so is good for your health, you actually put unnecessary strain on your body in two major ways:

1. Ingesting more water than you need can increase your total blood volume. And since your blood volume exists within a closed system - your blood circulatory system - needlessly increasing your blood volume on a regular basis puts unnecessary burden on your heart and blood vessels.

2. Your kidneys must work overtime to filter excess water out of your blood circulatory system. Your kidneys are not the equivalent of a pair of plumbing pipes whereby the more water you flush through your kidneys, the cleaner they become; rather, the filtration system that exists in your kidneys is composed in part by a series of specialized capillary beds called glomeruli. Your glomeruli can get damaged by unnecessary wear and tear over time, and drowning your system with large amounts of water is one of many potential causes of said damage.

Putting unnecessary burden on your cardiovascular system and your kidneys by ingesting unnecessary water is a subtle process. For the average person, it is virtually impossible to know that this burden exists, as there are usually no obvious symptoms on a moment-to-moment basis. But make no mistake about it: this burden is real and can hurt your health over the long term.

Forcing your body to accept a large amount of water within a short period of time - say, an hour or two - as several contestants did during the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest can be fatally dangerous to your health. Here's why:

If you force large amounts of water into your system over a short period of time, your kidneys will struggle to eliminate enough water from your system to keep the overall amount at a safe level.

As your blood circulatory system becomes diluted with excess water, the concentration of electrolytes in your blood will drop relative to the concentration of electrolytes in your cells. In an effort to maintain an equal balance of electrolytes between your blood and your cells, water will seep into your cells from your blood, causing your cells to swell.

If this swelling occurs in your brain, the bones that make up your skull hardly budge. The result is an increase in intracranial pressure i.e. your brain gets squeezed. Depending on how much water your drink in a short period of time, you could experience a wide variety of symptoms, ranging from a mild headache to impaired breathing. And as occurred recently in the tragic water-drinking contest, it is quite possible to die if you drink enough water in a short enough period of time.

http://drbenkim.com/drink-too-much-water-dangerous.html

Edited May 18, 2007 by MarilynP

[Jenn! 918]

But eight glasses of water is not some extraordinary amount of water. I drink that much easy, no extra effort involved. Sure, I believe that too much water can be bad, but we're talking really excessive amounts - contests etc. like were mentioned.