Six Myths About Health During the Holiday Season
by Bonnie Alter, London 
on 12.18.08
TreeHugger loves exposing myths. We have written about energy myths, wind turbine myths and global danger ones. Now here are a few health myths that may surprise you.
l. Wear a Hat to Keep in the Heat
Everyone knows that you wear a hat in winter to keep in the body heat. Right? Wrong. A new study reported in the British Medical Journal claims that keeping one part of the body covered has just as much effect as covering any other. So when it is cold outside, wrap up, but wearing a hat won't make a big difference.
2. Sugar Makes Children Hyper-Active
There is a common belief that parents should cut back on the sugar for the children because it makes them hyper-active. This seems to be a figment of parents' imagination--the study says that tests show that there is no difference in the behaviour of those children that had sugar and those that didn't. This includes sugar from candy, chocolate and natural sources.
3. Hang-overs are Curable
The third myth is hangovers--there is no cure for hangovers. Never mind the aspirin, bananas, water--the only cure is drinking less.
4. Late Night Snacks are Fattening
Here's a delicious surprise: Late night snacking is not more fattening. It's just a matter of how much and how often you eat, not when.
5. Suicide Rates Jump at Christmas
More suicides over holiday periods? No again; there are fewer before, more afterwards. And surprisingly, the numbers are lower in the winter and higher in the summer.
6. Poinsettias are Poisonous
And lastly, bring on the poinsettias....they are not toxic. An analysis of all the so-called poisoning by the flowers showed that no one died from eating them and more than 96 percent of the cases didn't even need hospital treatment. Guardian
More on Popular Myths
Five Myths Causing Global Harm
Ten Energy Myths Exposed
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Eat a Vegetarian Diet, Reduce Your Carbon Footprint by a Ton
- 8 Fun Green Ways to Manage Stress (Kissing is One of Them)
- Are You at Risk From Wind Turbine Syndrome?
- Got Guts? Stand Up to Summer Heat Without Air Conditioning
- Fire Up Your Metabolism and Burn More Calories with Herbs
- No Sew Breezy Beanie Hat From Scrap Fabric
These "Scientists" need to have some children of their own. Experienced parents and especially teachers know better. They are simply using the wrong protocol to test the hypothesis.
Reminds me of the one where "Scientists Prove" that the full moon has no effect on human behavior. Ask any ER doc or nurse. Especially ask the check in assistant.
Want a nuclear explosion. Give kids a ton of cheap candy with food dyes on the day following a full moon. Especially good on empty stomach.
Is it really necessary to post this grossly misleading garbage?
Seriously - Is this article from the skeptics dictionary? It is really inaccurate. Please take some common sense and experience into account before publishing something on this site or it diminishes the validity of the entire site.
Well, as for candy and children... if you want to get all anecdotal... I give my nieces candy and they calm down.
It also helps if there's not more than 1 or 2 around. Energy levels seem to rise exponentially when there's more kids around.
Total bunk, what a worthless article.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7789302.stm
It is a common misconception that the tropical poinsettia is toxic.
The real toxic holiday plant is mistletoe!
It causes acute gastrointestinal problems including stomach pain, and diarrhea along with low pulse.
Don't let the kids, pets, or drunk guests eat it.
Epic fail of an article. Loads of water and a large vegetarian cafe breakfast have fixed just about every hangover I've ever had.
Old nurse here and for me during the winter months, since I do keep my house around 64 f or a little less, I can stay warmer, being fully dressed, wearing a hat than wearing a thermal fall jacket. The head gets a lot more blood flowing through it (as seen when someone bleeds profusely via flesh cut/scratch) which allows for more heat to dissipate out of the blood.
I will stick with Mythbusters when it comes to learning if a myth can be Confirmed or Busted.
What total bullshit!
Come on Treehugger I expect better that this sensationalist garbage.
Shame on you.....
I personally had two estranged relatives that committed suicide right before Christmas.
How do you go from "keeping one part of the body covered has just as much effect as covering any other" to saying a hat isn't incredibly important? That's lazy analysis: when it's cold, you're already wearing a shirt, pants and shoes -- so that only leaves a hat and gloves as easy next steps. So, yes, technically, a hat is no MORE important than, say, pants, but it's also no LESS important than, say, pants.
Good research, but one that confirms the "myth," not debunks it.
The research regarding kids and sugar has been around for years. The first commenter, John Laumer, got it right when he mentioned "cheap candy with food dyes," as one study I remember concluding that red food dye has a hyperactive effect on children.
On the other hand, I agree with DDK that the phrasing of #1 is misleading. Also, I am curious about the late-night snacking myth: Sumo wrestlers, for example, actually eat relatively healthy diets. They may eat more, but I know napping after each meal is part of the regimen. It makes sense that eating right before reducing one's metabolism (e.g. by sleeping) would increase the percentage of calories fully obtained from the food.
LOL. No matter the forum you will run into those, who will apply their own limited data from their own limited world, to judge others. Heck I may have done just that myself here. ;)