I don’t know how many times I’ve been told I eat like a bird.  Or that I’m going to get arthritis from cracking my knuckles.

There’s no truth in these statements.  As a matter of fact, a surprising amount of conventional “wisdom” is completely wrong.

Here’s a collection of  the truths behind the myths and misconceptions:

Food, Body, and Health

It takes three hours to dissipate or “burn off” all the alcohol in food.  So when you eat food that was cooked with alcohol, it still has alcoholic content.

Cracking your knuckles doesn’t cause arthritis.  The cracking or popping sound you hear is the bursting of air bubbles in the fluid surrounding the joint.

When someone dies, the skin dries up exposing more of the bases of hair and fingernails.  This is why it seems like hair and fingernails continue to grow after death.

It is just as safe to wake a sleepwalker as it is to wake a person sleeping in bed.

Randomized controlled trials have been done that have proved that excess of sugar does not cause change in a child’s behavior.

Reading in dim light can strain your eyes, but it won’t ruin your vision.  It won’t even worsen it.

Poison Ivy is not contagious.  You can only get that rash from actually touching the plant.

You won’t get stomach ulcers from drinking too much coffee or eating too much spicy food.  Ulcers are caused by a certain kind of bacteria.

Turkey won’t make you sleepy.  A large meal (like that turkey dinner for Thanksgiving) will.  Beef and pork actually have more tryptophan than turkey.

There isn’t a single part of the brain that isn’t active in some way.  So forget what you heard about using only 10% of it.

Weed doesn’t kill brain cells.

Go ahead and kiss your boyfriend (or girlfriend) with a cold.  You’re not likely spread it… unless he’s (or she’s) licking inside your nose.

The common cold is caused by a virus.  So standing out in the cold rain isn’t going to give you a cold.

Gum passes through your digestive system almost exactly like regular food.  It doesn’t take 7 years (or 10, or whatever else you’ve heard.)  The only difference is that your stomach can’t break it down, but it still gets rid of it.

Insects, Plants, and Animals

 If you “eat like a bird,” that means you eat half of your body weight in food daily.

Pigs do sweat, just not enough to keep them cool.

Pointsettias are not toxic.

A dog’s mouth is not sterile.  There are tons of bacteria in there.  (In our mouths, too)

Chameleons are like mood rings.  They change based on their physiological condition, not to match their surroundings.

A duck’s quack does echo, though the echo is very faint because the way a quack fades.  Trevor Cox, of the University of Salford, England tested it.

Daddy Long-Legs are not the most venomous spider.  Their venom only has a weak effect, even on insects.

Speaking of Daddy Long-Legs, they are only sometimes spiders.  The Crane Fly, the Pholcid House Spider, and the Harvestman are all called “Daddy Long-Legs”  Crane Flies (seen mostly in the UK and Canada) is not a spider.  The Harvestman (usually seen outdoors in the United States) is not a spider.  The Pholcid House Spider (seen indoors in the United States.)  It is a spider.  This is the only venomous Daddy-Long Legs

And speaking of spiders, only about half of spiders use webs to catch their prey.

You can’t get warts from toads.  A wart is caused by a virus that only humans can have.  Besides, those bumps on toads aren’t warts.

Gold fish have been trained to navigate mazes and can recognize their owners after being around them for a few months.  So much for “three-second memory”

Bats see better long-range and are disoriented by too much light, but they’re not blind.

History

The Revolutionary War was technically a civil war.  Most of the guys who fought for the British were citizens of the American colonies.

Chastity belts were originally intended to prevent masturbation (male or female), not intercourse.

Theodore Roosevelts Rough Riders didn’t actually ride anywhere in any war.  Plus, Roosevelt was second in command, not the leader. 

So now you know, and knowing is half the battle.  G.I. JOE!! A real American Hero.

There was not actual reason for posting this.  I just like to pretend that I have a million loyal readers that expect an interesting post from me every day!