Acne, Chocolate, Shaving and Hair – Medical Truth Behind the Myths

One of the small joys of medical school is finding out a bunch of the stuff you’ve been told is wrong.

That may not be the noblest of intentions, but joy nonetheless. My first startling discovery of this type was on the health of your eyeballs and the illumination of your reading material. Who doesn’t have memories of Mom turning on lights with the exclamation: “Quit reading in the dark; you’ll ruin your eyes!” Few of us questioned the wisdom of the advice, even if the lesson didn’t seem to stick.

I still remember cheerfully calling home and explaining to my parents the workings of the eye and the complete lack of damage from reading in poor light. Just like a camera, poor light gives bad pictures, but it doesn’t damage the camera. Yes, these were the same parents that were paying for medical school.

Another bit of mistaken medical folklore involves swimming after eating.

I remember dutifully waiting a good 30 minutes, which seemed like three hours, before swimming after eating, as advised by all sensible adults.

Living in California I heard countless stories of careless people going for a dip too soon after eating, only to be incapacitated by a cramp, and sinking like a stone into the murky depths – that would be the 8-foot end of the pool. I spent months going through every last organ in my cadaver specimen and assure you there is no cramp organ. Swim 10 seconds after your last bite, and use pool water to wash it down and you still won’t get a cramp.

Moving on to teenage years there were lots of well intentioned dietary advice for a teenager with pimples. Chocolate was the favorite food to blame for acne. This myth is so pervasive in society that one of my medical school professors specifically addressed this mistaken notion.

She told us to please find some chocolate that really caused acne (good luck, there isn’t any). She theorized that if it could be found, with a little analysis we could find the specific culprit, and remove it. That would allow us to make acne free chocolate. Think of the sales, I could pay off medical school. This perhaps takes some of the guilty pleasure out of chocolate, even more so now that we know a little dark chocolate is good for you.

About the time we were getting over the worst of our acne, we were giving our young livers a work-out with the new found joys of alcohol. I have vague memories of getting drunk on the most ridiculous beverages, cheap wine, sloe gin or anything else we could get our hands on.

Who has not poured coffee into a drunk friend expecting to sober him up enough to not be killed by his parents? Perhaps you have tried the coffee cure on yourself. Alas, coffee will not speed up the metabolism of alcohol even a little bit. You are just as drunk after 5 cups of coffee – and you have to go to the bathroom even more. The caffeine might wake you up enough to do something stupid, like drink more, or call your ex.

Getting a little older, arthritis seems more like reality, and colds are not shrugged off with the vigor of youth.

If you do get some hand arthritis, don’t blame it on cracking knuckles. Cracking knuckles causes zero joint damage, and produces no increased risk of arthritis. It’s harmless, although quite irritating to most of the people around you, which may be the point.

What about wet hair and colds? Colds are caused by viruses and not cold air or a wet scalp. Wet hair doesn’t even weaken your immune system and make you more susceptible to the first germ that passes by. The dangers of wet hair are clearly overstated.

Shaving causes hair to grow back thicker and darker. Everybody knows that. This also is medical fantasy. Bunches of studies have been done on this very subject. Shave or grow a beard, the whiskers stay the same. Same goes for legs.

How about the healthy glow from 8 glasses of water a day? Another medical myth. The origins of this belief are obscure, but the evidence is clear. Drink when you are thirsty, a little more if you are exercising.

Medical myths are common in society, and always have been. Partly it’s magical thinking, partly American pragmatism. We have only recently started making decisions based on evidence. As that gathers speed, it may spell the end for sewer dwelling alligators, or maybe not.

Take care,

Dr B (aka Dr Don Bucklin)

Debunking 3 Weight Management Myths

Overweight? You have lots of company. It is one of the greatest public health issues of the last 20 years. Let’s discuss a few myths, as well as a few ideas.

Myth: Eat three meals a day.
Not so! Three meals a day is a modern concept. Historically there never was enough food for the average person to eat three meals a day. In many parts of the world, that is still true. If you eat three “reasonable” meals a day, you will be overweight.

photo © 2008 Steven Depolo | more info (via: Wylio)

Myth: The kind of food you eat dramatically affects your weight.
That also is more myth than science. Your body needs somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,500 calories per day. If you take in more calories, you gain weight; taking in less means you lose weight. If you eat 4,000 calories of carrots per day, you will gain weight (and turn orange – I’m not kidding). The body happily converts protein, carbohydrates and fat in your diet to whatever the body needs. Carbohydrates are not the great Satan, nor are fats. Fats do happen to be twice as calorie-rich per weight as everything else. So you can only eat half as much fat. On that thought, it really is too bad that the body stores extra calories as fat (4,100 calories per pound). If it stored excess as carbohydrate or protein, it would only take 1,800 calories to burn a pound.

What is a calorie anyway? The calorie is a certain amount of energy that is contained in food. It can be thought of as “stored work.” You use it when you exercise or to keep your heart beating. Calories are good stuff, in moderation.

Myth: Exercise absolves you of food sin.
Unfortunately, there is no absolution. You need to exercise, and it is one of the most important health habits you can have. Exercise will burn 200-500 calories per session. That will help you lose weight or keep you trim. Keep in mind that 200-500 calories isn’t even a candy bar’s worth of calories. So exercise alone won’t do the job.

Now I would like to suggest the concept of dining for enjoyment vs. for fuel. I define fuel as calories I take in only to keep going. These are not tasted, savored or enjoyed. They are simply thrown down my throat hastily. Here is the important thing, in my opinion: if I am not going to savor and enjoy a meal, I might as well throw down something good for me (a protein or yogurt drink). If I have time to sit down and really enjoy a meal, I might as well eat something tasty, even if it’s not that great for me.

So get some exercise and don’t throw down bad food without enjoying it. If you are trim, it will help you stay that way, and if not, you will make steadily progress toward a lesser you.

Stay well,

Dr. B