15 Myths Busted: That You Still Believed to Be Incredibly True!

Quite famously quoted by someone that fables should be taught as fables, miracles as fantasies and myths should be taught as myths. There is no harm in believing certain myths but you will certainly think over once you know the truth behind it. A child’s mind very easily accepts and believes the myths and fantasies around him. All of us have at one point of time obtained a parental version of sense worthy thoughts, the scary myths, as part of high school education. Myths are nothing but a mere outcome of some little mistake made by some person, a few decades back and granted the “Taboo” status.

Since childhood we have been led to believe in them and quite fascinatingly, we still believe it. It is always there in our sub conscious mind. Here I acquaint you with some incredible myths which you believe, but will certainly rethink once I or more precisely, science, debunks them.

1. Sugar makes you hyper

High sugar diet might get you diabetes, but hyper activeness, Naah! That’s no real. Scientific research have proved this fact as untrue. Sugar does not change behaviour at any point of time. Moreover some studies does prove that the preservatives in certain sugary delights can cause a slight percentage of hyperactivity. But sugar diets can do nothing to you. So dig into that chocolate cake in the next birthday party!

2. Swimming after meal intake

The whole myth is that after you had your meal the blood circulation moves away from limbs and legs and gets diverted towards the digestion process which may cause cramps and then drowning. Well that is not entirely correct. The blood circulation gets to working in your tummy but drowning, that’s is not going to happen. But parents don’t resist to warn you on that.

3. Bingeing on turkey will make you sleepy

The oft-repeated fact that eating turkey makes one sleepy afterwards curtails from the scientific fact that turkey meat contains tryptophan, an amino acid that makes one tired which BTW, is equal in quantity in chicken or beef. Then why poor turkey is to be blamed. It is just giving you a gala time after a classic meal on your Thanksgiving.

4. Vitamin-C keeps colds at bay

I can surely tell it is one of the favourite myths of everybody and after proving it wrong you will still slurp on those oranges when you get cold. Vitamin-C will certainly provide relief during cold but it cannot evade cold or cure it. Scientifically proven.

5. Frogs spread warts

Our ancestors thought touching frogs can give you warts. Well med science says warts are caused by certain virus and touching frogs won’t give you warts nor will kissing them get you a prince!!

6. Watching TV closely will make you blind

Trust me, this was just to make you stop watching TV when you were children. The light beams from TV can give you a headache if watched closely but it cannot turn you blind. There has not been any medical case till now on that.

7. Humans have 5 senses

Did you know, humans are much capable to sense more than just five? Eyesight, smell, hearing, touch and taste are the basic 5 senses but we can sense more than that. Equilibrioception (sense of balance), Proprioception (knowing where your body parts are without looking), Thermoception (knowing the environment temperature) and the list goes on. You did think I was going to talk about the '6th sense', didn’t you?

8. Chewing gum takes 5 years to digest

Really, who thought of this? Even if you accidently gulp it down, it will go through you system quite normally just as the other foods do. It will not stay for years or stick your organs together.

9. Rust is the cause for tetanus

Tetanus is caused by a bacteria that is found on rusty objects and can also be found on other objects which are not rusted. So don’t rush for tetanus injection after every small wound by rusty stuffs but definitely check with your doctor for any deep wound.

10. Sleeping after a concussion will drive you into coma

It is actually advised the other way that you should rest if you had a head wound. Going into coma, only happens if you sleep after having a serious head injury, which has led to internal brain bleeding.

11. Falling pennies from skyscrapers can kill you

A dropped coin from highest of skyscrapers, like, the Empire state building will kill no one. There is a normal science explanation to that. Coins are round and flat, rather than falling at a great speed from top it will land like a feather just opposing gravity. So it might just topple you a bit but won’t kill ya. But, beware of a ball point pen, it might just shoot like an arrow. Let not your head come on its way.

12. The Coriolis effect on flushing

Those of you who thought the direction of flush in toilet bowls change when you move from northern to southern hemisphere and vice versa, well, you will be revealed. The Coriolis Effect, which makes any object fall curve and not straight from the equator, does not apply for toilet flush. So even if you in the Aussies, the direction of the flush will depend on the toilet design and not on any scientific or geographic effect.

13. The fact that our tongue has divided taste buds

The myth started when in the 1940s, the scientist Edwin Boring, misinterpreted a paper written by the German scientist D P Hanig. The right excerpt was that our tongue has some areas that were a little sensitive to some of the taste than the others. Gosh! What a mess up!

14. Our hair and nails continue to grow after death

Well, it is not true. Growth of hair and nails cells requires glucose which is stopped when one is dead. Oh! That explains the dracula’s get up!

15. Humans did not evolve from apes

Charles Darwin never meant that we evolved from apes. In his book, The Origin of Species, he wrote that apes and man shared common ancestor. He never said that man evolved through apes. Gosh! That’s a relief.