Living your life is the longest thing you’ll ever do. People and places will always be temporary, but you will always be with you. So it makes sense that maybe you should learn a thing or two about your own body. And newsflash: most of the things you have learned so far are total lies.
1. Drowning: This is often depicted as a violent struggle where the victim is calling out for help. However, a drowning person wouldn’t necessarily flail and scream. Very often, a drowning individual would lose energy and pass out.
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2. Drinking water: You don’t need to drink 8 glasses of water a day to maintain peak health. The amount of water needed varies by person (weight), activity level, clothing, and environment (heat and humidity). Also, you might not have to drink water in its pure form, either. It can be derived from liquids such as juices, tea, milk, soups, etc., and from foods including fruits and vegetables.
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3. Antibiotics: These medicines do not cure the common cold, and there is actually no cure for the common cold because it is an ever-changing virus.
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4. Redheads: The redhead gene is not becoming extinct. Although redheads may become more rare, they will not die out unless everyone who carries the gene dies or fails to reproduce.
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5. Swimming and eating: Eating less than an hour before swimming does not increase the likelihood of muscle cramps.
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6. Our five senses: People have more than 5 senses. Experts have said that we have at least seven…and possibly more than twenty.
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7. Antibiotic resistance: People can’t just become resistant to antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance develops within a population of organisms that experiences selective pressure through exposure to an antibiotic, favoring the survival and reproduction of individuals within the population that already have some degree of resistance.
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8. Hair and fingernails: These do NOT continue to grow after a person dies. Rather, the skin dries and shrinks away from the bases of hairs and nails, giving the appearance of growth.
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9. Sleepwalking: Waking a sleepwalker does not harm them. They may be confused for a bit as to how they got where they are, but no actual harm will be done to them.
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10. Sugar rush: Sugar doesn’t cause hyperactivity in children. Double-blind trials have shown no difference in behavior between children given sugar-full or sugar-free diets, even in studies specifically looking at children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or those considered sensitive to sugar.
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11. Blue veins: Human blood in veins is not blue. Blood is always red due to hemoglobin, our veins just appear to be blue.
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12. Milk consumption: Drinking milk or consuming other dairy products does not increase mucus production.
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13. Swallowing gum: Swallowed gum doesn’t take 7 years to digest.
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14. Athletic performance and sex: There is no physiological basis for the belief that having sex in the days leading up to a sporting event or contest is detrimental to performance.
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…so, each and every one of us have been hoodwinked. Your body may feel like a stranger to you now, so do your best to get to know it!
