Debunking 5 myths of modern health
Dr Ross Walker is a leading integrative cardiologist, endocrinologist and author, specialising in the field of preventative cardiology.
There are many “myths” of modern health that gained so much traction at a time, they became fact. However, many of these are a result of misinformation, or even imaginative wife’s tales.
Dr Ross Walker takes five myths of modern health and debunks these misunderstandings.
1. You should drink eight glasses of water per day
Although it is important to stay hydrated, there is no evidence that consuming eight glasses of water per day has any major health benefits. Most people I know who do this spend half the day in the bathroom. There is an important physiologic mechanism called thirst and when you are thirsty you should drink fluid.
Although there is certainly nothing wrong with consuming water, there are other types of fluid that are quite good for your health. We have known for ages that consuming tea in all its forms has significant health benefits and evidence over the past decade has also shown two to three cups of good quality coffee per day has significant benefits as well. Low-dose alcohol, one to two standard glasses per day in combination with the Mediterranean diet has been shown to have significant health benefits. There are now many studies showing significant benefits of consuming A2 milk.
Although consuming water should be an important part of our daily fluid intake, excessive consumption may lead to a drop in the blood sodium levels which may have disastrous health consequences.
2. Everyone should take supplements
The common view from many conservative researchers in the scientific world is that supplements purely give you expensive urine. In this situation I take the opposite view in that I believe they also give you expensive blood which is exactly what you want.
When you objectively examine the evidence on supplementation, those studies that were performed over a long period of time have shown significant benefits. To give one example, Harvard University have been conducting the nurse’s health study and the male physician’s trial for the past 30 years.
The 15-year data from the nurse’s health study and the 20-year data the male physician’s trial have shown an overwhelming benefit from taking a daily multivitamin for a prolonged period. There is also increasing evidence that the regular consumption of fish oil, ubiquinol and a new supplement called Bergamet Pro plus all have significant benefits when added to healthy lifestyle principles.
3. You need to wait an hour after eating to swim
Although there are no major health consequences in swimming soon after eating, when a large meal is consumed, there is significant blood flow directed to the gastrointestinal tract. If you perform any form of exercise on a full stomach, there is only so much blood to go around and some will be directed away from your muscles where you clearly need a good blood supply for exercise. So, it is probably better to wait at least half an hour after you have eaten before you swim or perform any other significant exercise.
4. Do not swallow gum because it will stay in your system for seven years
There is certainly no good evidence for this one. The stomach acid breaks down many foodstuffs and if most undigested food makes it to the colon, the gut bacteria then have a feast. What is left over is passed out in the faeces as undigested matter.
5. Cholesterol causes heart disease
Many experts in the field, including myself have disputed the importance of cholesterol and heart disease for a number of years. A recent study in the British Medical Journal looked at 68,000 people over the age of 60 and showed there was no link between the so-called bad cholesterol, LDL and cardiovascular disease. Surprisingly, the same study showed that the higher your LDL, the longer you lived. This does not mean that if you have had a prior heart attack, bypass operation or coronary stent that you should stop your cholesterol-lowering pills but purely suggests that those people who have high cholesterol over the age of 60 without proven heart disease should not be treated with medications.
Can you think of any other modern healthy myths you would like to know the truth about? Let us know in the comments below.
Related links:
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