Over the summer I wrote a post sharing a surprising list Old wives tales that turned out to be true. Following that post, I reached out to my followers on social media to help me compile a new list of Old Wives Tales so we can continue our investigation!
By sharing all kinds of clever (and sometimes questionable) old sayings passed down from your mothers, grandmothers, aunts, neighbors and friends, you guys delivered in a big way! I immediately began doing my research, and today I’m ready to present a follow-up and counterpoint to my first list of old wives’ tales, in the form of seven stories that are quite wrong!
7 Old Wives’ Tales That Aren’t True
1. If you pull out a gray hair, two more will take its place
Only one hair can grow from each follicle on your head. So despite the claim that two gray hairs will grow in place of the hair you pull out, it is not possible!
If you really hate those stray silver or gray hairs, I recommend trying some of these hair-dyeing hacks. But there’s also nothing wrong with embracing change and letting it be gray (when Keep your aging hair healthy)!
2. If you swallow gum, it will stay in your body for 7 years
While you may have heard this from adults as a child, you can rest assured that any gum that finds its way into your stomach will soon pass. (And when I say soon, I mean days, not years!)
According to Yale ScientificAlthough the gum will eventually pass through your digestive system, swallowing it can cause other negative health consequences such as diarrhea or stomach pain. The main thing is that you should spit out your gum when you are done chewing it, there is no reason to panic if you accidentally swallow.
3. Swimming less than an hour after you eat causes cramps and drowning
The idea probably originated from a 1911 Boy Scouts handbook, which stated: “Many boys make the mistake of going to the water immediately after eating.” It states that paralytic convulsions result and can lead to drowning, but we now know that there is no real truth to this belief.
The claim in the handbook was based on an old idea that when your stomach is actively digesting food, blood will be diverted from your organs and it will be difficult for you to swim. Today, while we know that blood flow to your digestive muscles increases during digestion, not nearly enough blood is removed from your organs to pose a risk of drowning.
In 2012, the American Red Cross published a review that stated, “Currently available data suggest that eating before swimming is not a contributory risk factor for drowning and can be dismissed as a myth.”
4. Eating watermelon seeds means that the fruit will grow inside you
Hopefully you figured this out long ago, but for anyone who needs to hear, I’ll say it for sure: if you swallow a watermelon seed, you DefinitelyWatermelons won’t grow inside you! This old wives tale is not true, and in fact, it is scientifically impossible.
What happens to watermelon seeds if you swallow them? It will probably pass through your body undigested, and that will be the end of it.
5. If you pick up the dropped food in less than 5 seconds, it is still okay to eat
If you used the “five second rule” before eating something that was on the floor, unfortunately it did nothing to make your food safer to eat. Rutgers University scientists Bacteria have been found to transfer to food immediately, and while you might be a little better off eating something you put on a freshly mopped kitchen tile, that living room carpet needed a good vacuuming, it’s best to avoid eating any food you spill on the floor.
6. If you go out with wet hair, you will catch a cold
Colds are caused by viruses, not temperature, so you can’t catch a cold from going outside with wet hair. It’s also important to note that the common cold is transferred through bodily fluids (such as the tiny droplets of moisture that escape when we cough, sneeze, or scream).
Your wet hair might make you a little cold when you go out, but rest assured that it won’t turn you into some kind of virus magnet. 🙂
7. Feed a cold, starve a fever
Old wisdom states that to heal and recover, people with colds should eat chicken soup and other nutritious foods, while people with fevers should fast. Also According to medical expertsFasting when you are sick (no matter how sick you are) will only make you weaker.
Eating healthy foods and (more importantly) staying hydrated when you’re sick are crucial to helping your body fight off illness and infection. So even if you’re feeling queasy and not hungry, you should still try a bland food like—you guessed it!—chicken soup.
What old wives tales did you grow up listening to?
