7 Old Wives' Tales about Your Health ...

Kayla

Are there any old wives' tales about your health that you believe in? Surprisingly, most of us have at least one tale which we believe to be the absolute truth. Perhaps, you were told old wives' tales about your health when you were a child or maybe you've read up on them as an adult. See how many of these old wives' tales you believe in now.

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1. Cracking Your Knuckles Causes Arthritis

One of the most common old wives' tales about your health is that cracking your knuckles causes arthritis. If you're one of the many who thinks this one is true, you should know that it's actually false. The sound that you hear when cracking your knuckles is nothing more than the release of gas bubbles, which build up each time you stretch your fingers out. So, while your knuckle cracking may be an aggravation to your friends and family, it's not going to cause arthritis.

2. Having Another Drink Cures a Hangover

If you had a few too many drinks last night and are hungover, don't follow this tale. According to this old wives' tale, having an alcoholic drink will get rid hangovers, but it won't. It actually makes your hangover worse. What's even worse is that it can make your hangover last even longer. So, the next time you wake up with a hangover, try a different hangover cure.

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3. Warm Milk Helps You Sleep

I'm personally not a fan of warm milk, but my little girl loves it. She says she prefers it to cold milk. According to this old wives' tale, drinking warm milk will help you sleep. The truth is that it doesn't promote sleep any more than cold milk, but there are still benefits of drinking it. Some studies show that warm milk does have a calming effect on many people, which helps them unwind quicker.

4. Caffeine Stunts Your Growth

If you're a heavy caffeine drinker, you've likely been told about all of the negative effects that it has. According to this old wives' tale, drinking it will actually stunt your growth. While caffeine can increase your heart rate and keep you up at night, there is no proof that it affects how tall you will be. In fact, people drink more caffeine now than they did 20 years ago and the average height of adults has actually increased.

5. Clove Oil Helps a Toothache

If you've ever had a toothache, you know that it can be awful. According to this old wives' tale, you can use a cotton ball that has clove oil on it to cure a toothache. This is one tale that I completely agree with. When my husband had his wisdom teeth removed, one of them caused him a great deal of pain. As a way to relieve pain, his oral surgeon used clove oil.

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6. Swimming if You've Just Eaten

When we were little, my mom always made my brother and I wait at least 20 to 30 minutes to go swimming, if we had just eaten. I must admit that this is something that I have always done with my own children, as well. This old wives' tale states that you need to wait at least 30 minutes to swim if you've just eaten because it can cause leg or arm cramps while your food is digesting, but it's false. There is no evidence to prove that this is true. If you choose to go swimming right after eating, remember it is possible to have stomach cramps while your food is digesting.

7. Warts Are Caused by Toads

My daughter recently had a plantar wart and someone told her that she got it from a frog, but that's not true. Warts are actually caused by a virus. You can contact this virus by touching surfaces that someone that has a wart touched, as well. For example, if someone has warts on their hand and you touch a door know that they have, it's possible to catch them. Luckily, warts can easily be treated, and some of them even go away on their own.

Whether they're true or false, learning about old wives' tales can be fun. Are there any old wives tales that you would like to share with me? I'm excited to hear what you think.

Sources: science.howstuffworks.com, rd.com, doctoroz.com, huffingtonpost.com

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I thought these wer actually true!!

Cracking knuckles consistently over a lifetime will cause arthritis as it is release fluid from the interlocking crevice in the joints. This wearing down of fluid ends up bringing bones closer together where they end up becoming bone rubbing bone creating unbearable pain and discomfort difficulty moving etc. talk to your local chiropractor. Also it's proven warm milk helps people sleep as to bananas as they posses a chemical and hormone which yes in turn helps calm the mind and settle our bodies, in turn making it easier to settle back to sleep :) just an FYI :)

I think long hair causes headaches could be one too.

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