Drink eight glasses of water a day
The Truth: Water’s great, but you can also whet your whistle with juice, tea, milk, fruits, and vegetables—quite enough to keep you hydrated. Even coffee quenches thirst, despite its reputation as a diuretic; the caffeine makes you lose some liquid, but you’re still getting plenty.
Stress will turn your hair gray
The Truth: Too much stress does age us inside and out. It ups the number of free radicals, scavenger molecules that attack healthy cells, and increases the spill of stress hormones in your body. So far, though, no scientific evidence proves a bad day turns your locks silver.
Reading in poor light ruins your eyes
The Truth: Reading in dim light can strain your eyes. You tend to squint, and that can give you a headache. But you won’t do any permanent damage, except maybe cause crow’s-feet. Your overtired eyes can get dry and achy, and may even make your vision seem less clear, but a good night’s rest will help your peepers recover just fine.
Coffee’s really bad for you
The Truth: Too much may give you the jitters, but your daily habit has a lot of positives. Coffee comes from plants, which have helpful phytochemicals that act as antioxidants. Drinking joe gives your brain a boost, too. And, despite the jolt of energy it provides, coffee has no effect on heart disease.
Feed a cold, starve a fever
The Truth: Colds and fevers are generally caused by viruses that tend to last seven to 10 days, no matter what you do. There is no good evidence that diet has any effect on a cold or fever. Even if you don’t feel like eating, you still need fluids, so put a priority on those. If you’re congested, the fluids will keep mucus thinner and help loosen chest and nasal congestion.
Fresh is always better than frozen
The Truth: Frozen can be just as good as fresh because the fruits and vegetables are harvested at the peak of their nutritional content, taken to a plant, and frozen on the spot, locking in nutrients. And, unless it’s picked and sold the same day, produce at farmers’ markets—though still nutritious—may lose nutrients because of heat, air, and water.
Eggs raise your cholesterol
The Truth: Newer studies have found that saturated and trans fats in a person’s diet, not dietary cholesterol, are more likely to raise heart disease risk. And, at 213 milligrams of cholesterol, one egg slips under the American Heart Association’s recommendation of no more than 300 milligrams a day. Eggs offer lean protein and vitamins A and D, and they’re inexpensive and convenient.
Get cold, and you’ll catch a cold
The Truth: Mom was wrong. Chilling doesn’t hurt your immunity, unless you’re so cold that your body defenses are destroyed—and that only occurs during hypothermia. And you can’t get a cold unless you’re exposed to a virus that causes a cold. The reason people get more colds in the winter isn’t because of the temperature, but it may be a result of being cooped up in closed spaces and exposed to the spray of cold viruses.
Your lipstick could make you sick
The Truth: The reality is that lead is in almost everything. It’s all around us. But the risk from lead in lipstick is extremely small. In fact, lead poisoning is most commonly caused by other environmental factors—pipes and paint in older homes, for instance.
