When it comes to your health, it’s often difficult to know what advice to listen to. The internet is full of opinions from people weighing in about various medical conditions and illnesses. To make things even more confusing, many remedies and treatments work differently for different people, making it even harder to find the advice you need. With so much contradictory guidance out there, how do you know what’s right?
Unless the person giving health advice is a medical professional, it is always good to take these tips with a pinch of salt. If you need medical help, always consult with your doctor rather than trawling the internet. A doctor will be able to take an informed look at your symptoms, tell you what the problem is, and give you treatment options for remedying it. The internet, however, will probably convince you that your heartburn is a sign of an incurable disease.
To help clear up some of the inaccurate advice out there, here are a few commonly shared myths about health which are actually wildly untrue.
You need eight glasses of water a day
Medical experts are always recommending you drink eight glasses of water a day, but this is a completely arbitrary figure. There’s no doubt that being well hydrated is hugely beneficial for your health, but rather than counting your glasses, just aim to drink water whenever you are thirsty instead, and your health will not suffer. The color of your urine is a much more reliable indicator of hydration. Check the appearance of your stream whenever you go to the bathroom, and if it is yellow, then you know you need to drink more.
You should take a multivitamin every day
Many self-proclaimed health experts claim that the secret to physical wellbeing is to take a multivitamin every morning, but these magic pills are not as effective as people think. Most of the vitamins contained in these tablets will be excreted when you go to the bathroom, so they are a bit of a waste of money. It’s much more effective to get your vitamins and minerals through a balanced diet containing plenty of fruits and vegetables.
Cracking joints gives you arthritis
This myth has seemingly been around since time began, but there’s not a shred of truth in it. Cracking joints is not the bones clicking together, as many people believe, but actually air bubbles popping in the gaps between points. It has no link to arthritis, but excessive repetitive cracking movements can still put undue strain on your muscles, so it might be a good idea to go easy on this habit.
And one true health myth…
And in the interest of balance, here is one health myth that is actually true. Plenty of women claim that drinking cranberry juice helps to clear up urinary tract infections. This certainly has the air of an old wives tale, but it is backed up by scientific evidence. Cranberry is often used as a treatment to help with the symptoms of urinary tract infections as it discourages harmful bacteria from attaching to the walls of the bladder or the urethra. So pick up a bottle of cranberry juice or some cranberry tablets for UTI, and you’ll be well prepared to deal with the symptoms in future.
