Separating folklore from fact

Medical folklore has existed long before doctors were born (and started charging astronomic fees that could give their patients a heart attack). We grew up on it and have lived with it all our lives. But really now, how much of it is plain folk and how much is fact? Seeking to separate folklore from fact, Carol Ann Rinzler has come up with a dictionary of medical folklore, from A (as in acne) to Z (as in zinc), that’s worth getting your teeth into. We’re dishing up a spoonful of ’em for you:

Folk: An apple a day keeps the doctor away?

Fact: STAR’s resident doctor Tyrone Reyes will tell you it won’t hurt to eat an apple (or two or more?) a day. After all, apples have no fat, no cholesterol and are low in calories and sodium. Plus, the apple has ample insoluble food fibers that help prevent constipation as well as boron that protects against osteoporosis. So up with the apple!

Folk: Sleeping without a pillow will improve a bad back.

Fact: That’s certainly more than pillow talk. Truth is, those suffering from chronic lower back pain can feel worse when they sleep without any support for their neck and shoulders. The best bet is to consult your doctor.

Folk: Wearing your ponytail tight can cause baldness.

Fact: Not really, but it can cause a bald spot because constantly pulling the hair back may pull out some hairs around the hairline.

Folk: A man can father a normal baby at whatever age.

Fact: Not true. While men may stay fertile longer than women, they are not immune to changes in sperm that may contribute to birth defects in the babies they sire.

Folk: Blood is thicker than water.

Fact: Now, that’s a bloody issue. The truth is, human blood has the same density as seawater. Don’t take this one literally.

Folk: You can feel it in your bones.

Fact: That seems to be the popular bone of contention. However, it’s more correct to say that "you can feel it in your joints and body tissues" (though it sounds too clinically cold). It is said that sensitive people get an advance warning of the changes in the weather by the way their joints and body tissues act up or react to the atmospheric changes.

Folk: Human breast milk is best for babies because it is a perfect food.

Fact: With its perfect balance of fats and carbohydrates, breast milk is certainly better than cow’s milk as food for babies. However, it is not really a perfect food as it doesn’t contain vitamin D which may cause rickets (characterized by soft and deformed bones) in the newborn baby. It also lacks zinc to help the baby grow and fight infection.

Folk: A blow on the breast can cause cancer.

Fact: The experts are blowing the whistle on this one. No matter how bad a bruise a blow on any part of the breast leaves, there’s no way you’d develop cancer because of it.

Folk: Chicken soup cures a cold.

Fact: That’s a cold fact and it’s proven by a study at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Miami that shows that taking chicken soup when one has a cold does help clear stuffed nasal passages. Yes, a lot of people believe that chicken soup is good for the soul, too!

Folk: Chocolate is fattening.

Fact: The bitter truth is it is, but it really depends on how much you eat. An ounce of plain bittersweet chocolate (or one-third of an ordinary chocolate bar) has approximately 135 calories while an ounce of milk chocolate has about 147.

Folk: Chocolate has empty calories.

Fact: Of course not! The sweet news is that cocoa is a good source of copper and dietary fiber. Plain bittersweet chocolate and milk chocolate contain minerals, calcium, phosphorus and iron.

Folk: If you’ve had one too many, coffee can sober you up.

Fact: Being a stimulant, caffeine may give people suffering from mild depression a lift. But coffee does not speed the elimination of alcohol from the body (this depends on the body’s production of sufficient quantities of enzymes needed to metabolize the alcohol). You just end up becoming what scientists call "a wide-awake drunk."

Folk: Kissing spreads colds.

Fact: It’s time to kiss this myth goodbye! Kissing does spread viral infections (like herpes, mumps, etc.) but not the common cold because, so scientists explain, cold viruses do not thrive in the mouth.

Folk: To keep from spreading your cold germs, cover your nose or mouth when you sneeze or cough.

Fact: It’s a polite thing to do, so cold researchers agree, but not really a preventive measure, unless you wash your hands afterwards.

Folk: Athletic women have difficulty delivering babies.

Fact: Well, tennis champ Dyan Castillejo and champion equestrienne Mikee Cojuangco didn’t have problems giving birth, did they? Fact is, a woman with a well-trained body may have an easier time delivering babies.

Folk: Fear can make your hair stand on end.

Fact: Don’t be scared now. The truth is, when you’re afraid, your muscles tighten up and the tight muscles in the scalp can make your hair shafts literally rise to the occasion.

Folk: Eating fried (or oily) foods can cause acne.

Fact: There has been no scientific basis for this. Don’t let this myth give you goose pimples.

Folk: Fish is brain food.

Fact: Now, this is mind-boggling. But there’s a grain of wisdom in this old wives’ belief. Saltwater fish is rich in iodine which the thyroid gland needs to produce hormones essential to quick movement and thought.

Folk: Brush your hair a hundred times a night to make it shine.

Fact: This is one myth that we should have brushed aside a long time ago. Constant hair brushing does stimulate the oil glands in the scalp and makes hair shinier but it may strip away the layer of scales that surround the fibrous core of the hair shaft and may split the ends so that hair becomes unmanageable.

Folk: You can die of a broken heart.

Fact: This one’s for the incurable romantics. But while the heart never really breaks, losing someone you love can lead to a loss of immune function that can eventually cause death.

Folk: A glass of warm milk at bedtime can help you get to sleep.

Fact: Of course it does but only if you take your milk with cookies. Foods high in carbohydrates soothe and relax because they speed up the body’s intake of tryptophan, a soothing amino acid. Milk is rich in tryptophan but you need the cookies for the body to be able to use the amino acid from the milk.

Sleep well! Be healthy! Be happy!