Carrots Improve your

Eyesight And Other

Health Myths

Myths about food, nutrition and health characterize the

food habits of a number of people. Some people,
especially girls, avoid eating dark chocolate because it is
believed that it causes acne. Others start consuming garlic
in the hope that it will prevent cancer. Sadly, both of these
facts are actually myths! Therefore, it becomes essential
to know the truth about a number of such widely held
beliefs.

Let us debunk some popular health myths!

1. Carrots increase eyesight

Carrots are a rich source of vitamin A. This leads to the
assumption that they help in increasing eyesight. This is,
however, not true. Vitamin A is very important for healthy
eyesight but it doesnt increase it. This myth gained
ground during the World War 2, when the British Army
spread the rumor that carrots had helped their men to be
successful. The British had done this to prevent the
Germans from knowing their actual techniques.
Beta-carotene found in the vegetable helps in reducing
risk of cataract, but it must be noted that the doses of
vitamin A were extremely high for this experiment. It would
generally not be possible to consume so many carrots by
an individual to get this benefit.

2. Citrus fruits for flu prevention

Photo by inspiredimages via pixabay.com

Citrus fruits are rich sources of vitamin C. Vitamin C is

believed to be effective against flu and common cold.
There is not much proof to back this claim up. In a study,
undertaken in July 2007, researchers set out to ascertain
whether consuming 200 milligrams or more of Vitamin C is
going to help in flu prevention. The results were found to
be largely negative. Studying 60 years worth of clinical
research, it was concluded that vitamin C doesnt help in
preventing flu. When taken on a daily basis, it might
reduce the chances of catching flu very slightly: by 8% in
adults and by 14% in children.

3. Cranberry for urinary infections

There are a lot of myths surrounding the cure of Urinary
Tract Infections (UTIs). The popular one being that
cranberry helps in treating urinary infections. According to
urologist Courteney Moore, there is an active ingredient in
cranberries that can prevent the attachment of bacteria to
the bladder wall. But, according to most studies, juices and
supplements do not possess enough of this ingredient.
There are many conflicting studies regarding the benefits
of cranberry for urinary infections. For instance, a 2012
Cochrane study held that cranberries may not necessarily
help in urinary infections but cranberry juices can surely
help. And a 2013 study held positive results for both.
Hence, there is conflicting evidence on the efficacy of
cranberries for treating urinary infections.

4. Garlic for cancer prevention

Photo by condesign via pixabay.com

It is widely believed that garlic helps in preventing
cancer. There is no scientific basis to this claim. Garlic
does help in preventing cancer but in test tubes and some
animals. But there is not much research to suggest that it
has the same effects on humans. There are certain survey
reports that have positive results, for instance, the 2001
meta-analysis on this subject. But the evidence is not
strong enough to give conclusive results. All the scientific
research available on this issue has conflicting results.

5. Aloe Vera for treating burns

Aloe Vera is a succulent plant species. It is frequently
used in herbal medicine and is said to be very effective for

treating burns. This is, however, not true. There is NO

scientific research available to back this claim. Its various
supposed benefits like treating sunburns, mild burns and
treating radiation burns are all false claims. In fact, a
popularly perceived benefit, i.e treating radiation burns,
has been proved to be misleading advertisement as well!
Hence, we can conclude that aloe vera does not help in
treating burns.
References
1. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/270191.php
2. Ibid.
3. http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/carrots.asp
4. Ibid.
5. http://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2008/4/Newly-Discovered-Benefits-Of-VitaminC/Page-01
6. http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/cold-guide/vitamin-c-for-common-cold
7. http://health.clevelandclinic.org/2015/10/can-cranberry-juice-stop-uti/
8. http://www.webmd.com/women/tc/cranberry-juice-and-urinary-tract-infections-topicoverview
9. Supra note 7.
10. Ibid.
11. http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2014/03/24/dont-believe-the-hype-10persistent-cancer-myths-debunked/#superfoods

http://www.medhalt.com/