Skin/Body Myths

[V15U4L_3RR0R]

Know any? Got one you'd like to share? i love this forum because it's an education in looking after ourselves and treating ourselves right so I thought I'd add this in. I've seen quite a few myths busted in various places on the forum but I thought it might be a pain to trawl through posts to find what you're looking for.

Ok so one thing I learned at the end of of last year is that you don't actually need to drink 8 glasses of water a day. Shock horror! But it's really true. Your body's large intestine is extremely efficient at extracting water from what we eat and also from things like tea and fruit juice. I heard that on BBC radio 4 as they were doing a segment on some scientists who'd decided to dispel 10 common myths.

 

[NutMeg]

Good idea for a thread. I try to drink a ton of water anyway, but not because I think I'm supposed to. I'm very headache prone and I find drinking a ton of water really helps keep it under control.

 

[V15U4L_3RR0R]

Apparently, the only physical reason you should have a headache is dehydration but I'm not sure how much I believe that.

 

[CantAffordMAC]

I hardly ever drink water. maybe 5 glasses or less a month. isn't that horrible? I still want to be healthier so I'm going to drink more of it. I don't think its necessary but I think its probably good for you.

 

[Kuuipo]

Healthy people get headaches for lots of other reasons beside dehydration. There are headaches from allergies, smoke, mold, hormonal fluctuations, vascular congestion in the head, stess, sinus trouble,noise, lack of oxygen, poor posture, some people with spinal cord injuries get bad headacehes when their bowels or bladders are full, chemical or food sensitivity , drugs, chemical reaction to foods in the body (MAO inhibitor drugs and wine, cheese, beer, soy,etc0)prememstrual,the sun, "ice cream headaches (file under vasculature) and so on.

Water is good in moderation (about 2 quarts a day). Its the medium where most chemical reactions occur in the body. Bodies of humans are the smae percent water and salinity as the ocean -generally.

 

[liv]

I hate when people say trimming your hair will make it grow faster. No, it will not grow faster, it will grow in the same as it always has, but it will look nicer than had I not trimmed it because I've cut off all the dead/straggly ends.

 

[MiCHiE]

I think a lot of people know this, but I'll post anyway. Stretch marks begin under the skin (logical, huh?). That's the reason some people can slather their skin in Vitamin E and still become a "victim".

 

[MACATTAK]

Chocolate causes acne. I never it eat, but I always have acne

 

[V15U4L_3RR0R]

Some eye creams can actually help cause bags rather than reduce them.

 

[sinergy]

thats interesting about the water! well some people think its ok to not use a moisturizer or have a regular skin care routine, but your skin, if it gets too dry, can react just like oily skin, and you can have really bad breakouts. So its better to use 'a system' with a wash and moisturizer at least.

 

[MiCHiE]

"Trimming cuticle will make it grow more."

Not true. Cuticle is dead skin. However, if you trim the eponychium (that ring of skin around the nail) cuticle will increase.

 

[V15U4L_3RR0R]

Ahh but you don't have to moisturize everyday if your skin doesn't need it.

 

[chameleonmary]

Quote:

Originally Posted by V15U4L_3RR0R Ok so one thing I learned at the end of of last year is that you don't actually need to drink 8 glasses of water a day. Shock horror! But it's really true. Your body's large intestine is extremely efficient at extracting water from what we eat and also from things like tea and fruit juice. I heard that on BBC radio 4 as they were doing a segment on some scientists who'd decided to dispel 10 common myths.

Yes I have heard similar things - with watermelon and lettuce being around 95% water, its quite understandable! One thing that hinders the body extracting water are foods that contain high amounts of sodium, as they "take" the water in the body... ever notice after eating something with vinegar or salt that you get a little thirsty?

I think the best thing is to drink when you feel hungry or thirsty, as we often mistake thirst for hunger, and we need to train our bodies to become accustomed to the extra water we are giving it.

I have a question that I would like de-bunked. Since Vitamin E is linked to tissue repair and growth, a rumour came up a few years ago when I worked in a pharmacy that it can also help skin cancers grow... can anyone find any truth/false in this?

 

[lvgz]

im not sure, but that vitamin E helping cancer doesnt seem true. cancer is caused when cell growth is unmanagable and the cell keeps on undergoing mitosis or replicating. the cell basically does not undergo apoptosis (sp?) which is a program in normal cells that causes cell destruction. when dna replicates and there's a big abnormality, the cell will undergo apoptosis to keep that abnormal cell from making a clone of itself. so when cancer grows.. its bc apoptosis is not working and cells are going through mitosis like crazy. i doubt that vitamin E would help that grow because we're not prokaryotes.. where our cell replication is based on the environment or nutrients available. for that reason, cancer wouldnt grow just bc we have a lot of vit E. hm hopefully my thinking is right on. anyone know for sure??

 

[darkishstar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lvgz im not sure, but that vitamin E helping cancer doesnt seem true. cancer is caused when cell growth is unmanagable and the cell keeps on undergoing mitosis or replicating. the cell basically does not undergo apoptosis (sp?) which is a program in normal cells that causes cell destruction. when dna replicates and there's a big abnormality, the cell will undergo apoptosis to keep that abnormal cell from making a clone of itself. so when cancer grows.. its bc apoptosis is not working and cells are going through mitosis like crazy. i doubt that vitamin E would help that grow because we're not prokaryotes.. where our cell replication is based on the environment or nutrients available. for that reason, cancer wouldnt grow just bc we have a lot of vit E. hm hopefully my thinking is right on. anyone know for sure??

I think what they were talking about was Vitamin E does not help prevent stretch marks, which is true.

What you're getting at is totally right from what I've studied of bio. I don't think they were talking about Vitamin E causing cancer. Cancer happens, as you said, when a mutation happens that prevents a cell from controlling how much it replicates. The mutated DNA keeps the cell replication going on and on and that's how cancerous growths happen. The DNA is also affected in a way where apoptosis is prevented as well, so the harmful cells are not destroyed, so unless the cells are removed (like tumors getting surgically removed) before metastasis occurs, cancer is most likely to happen. But because cancer is caused by mutations and free radicals that can affect DNA, Vitamin E should NOT cause cancer because it does not react directly with DNA.

Back on topic:
Cutting hair does NOT make it grow faster, even if they say that about guys and how they have to trim their hair very often. Because their hair is so short whatever growth they have is way more obvious than whatever growth that girls have, that's why they trim more often because they want to keep their hair short.

Another one:
Shaving your hair, like armpit hair, doesn't make it grow back thicker either. It's just because your hair naturally grows out with a tapered end so it seems finer. When you shave the hair is sliced off so that the end is stumpy and seems thicker when it grows out, when actually it isn't.

 

[CantAffordMAC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by liv I hate when people say trimming your hair will make it grow faster. No, it will not grow faster, it will grow in the same as it always has, but it will look nicer than had I not trimmed it because I've cut off all the dead/straggly ends.

if you want to grow your hair long, you should get trims every 4-6 (or 6-8) weeks. Trimming it does not make it grow longer/faster, but if you have split ends, you won't keep your length. It will keep breaking off, becoming uneven, and splitting up higher and higher. A slight trim every 6 weeks helps get rid of the dead ends so that your hair can keep all that length its getting.

 

[Dreamergirl3]

My Grandmother used to tell me if I cut my hair on a full moon it would grow longer...hahaha

 

[liv]

quote:
Shaving your hair, like armpit hair, doesn't make it grow back thicker either. It's just because your hair naturally grows out with a tapered end so it seems finer. When you shave the hair is sliced off so that the end is stumpy and seems thicker when it grows out, when actually it isn't.
/quote

Yeah, that bugs me too. Shaving doesn't change the composition of your hair and make it darker/thicker! Drives me nuts. If you let your leg hair grow out to what it used to be like before you shaved, it would eventually lose the sharp end and wouldn't look as dark as stubble can.

if you want to grow your hair long, you should get trims every 4-6 (or 6-8) weeks. Trimming it does not make it grow longer/faster, but if you have split ends, you won't keep your length. It will keep breaking off, becoming uneven, and splitting up higher and higher. A slight trim every 6 weeks helps get rid of the dead ends so that your hair can keep all that length its getting.

I agree, I have long hair, and trimming regular is needed for hair to stay healthy looking long (this is true for short hair too, but it isn't as noticeable). I'm talking about the people who have told me that if I trimmed my hair more often, it would grow faster because of that. Um, no.

 

[amoona]

^ my mom still believes that lol she freaks out when i go to cut my hair and don't pay attention to the moon!

 

[Kuuipo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lvgz im not sure, but that vitamin E helping cancer doesnt seem true. cancer is caused when cell growth is unmanagable and the cell keeps on undergoing mitosis or replicating. the cell basically does not undergo apoptosis (sp?) which is a program in normal cells that causes cell destruction. when dna replicates and there's a big abnormality, the cell will undergo apoptosis to keep that abnormal cell from making a clone of itself. so when cancer grows.. its bc apoptosis is not working and cells are going through mitosis like crazy. i doubt that vitamin E would help that grow because we're not prokaryotes.. where our cell replication is based on the environment or nutrients available. for that reason, cancer wouldnt grow just bc we have a lot of vit E. hm hopefully my thinking is right on. anyone know for sure??

My father had a lobectomy for lung cancer (both lungs), radiation, chemo....the radiation oncologist and the oncologist told him no vitamin E supplements. I have read in journals that antioxidant supplements can potentiate and protect cancer cell growth if the oncogenes (cancer producing cells) have started their replication. The most prudent way for a person to consume antioxidants is via food.