Seven popular myths you should not believe


1. Sugar can make kids hyper, or get a sugar high.
Sugar does not make kids hyper! We’ve all heard this before, from our parents or maybe teachers in school. We’ve been led to believe that sugar will makes kids go crazy, but the fact is there’s no link between sugar and hyperactivity. While it is true that sugar can give short bursts of energy, this whole “sugar high” that people think happens is not real.


2. You need to drink eight glasses of water a day.
Eight glasses of water a day is completely unnecessary. You don’t need to go out of your way to drink that much water every day, if you drink water when you feel yourself getting thirsty, you’re going to be just fine. Your body knows when it needs water, and so long as you listen to it, you don’t need to worry about counting out 8 glasses a day.


3. We only use 10% of our brains.
This misconception is something that when you really think about it, it’s apparent how ridiculous it is. As nice as it would be if our shortcomings as a species could be explained by 90% of our brain not being used, the truth of the matter is, over the course of a day we use 100% of the brain. There is no untapped potential in the brain, there’s no secret to unlock that would turn humans into super heroes. Even when we’re sleeping, we use significantly more than 10% of the brain.


4. Napoleon Bonaparte was short.
Napoleon Bonaparte was not short, in fact he was taller than the average Frenchman at the time. The myth stems from a lot of different things, one of the main reasons being the fact that the cited height of 5’2 is in French imperial units. If you do the conversion to our current measurement system, Napoleon was 5’7. Another reason this myth has been so widespread is because of a smear campaign run by the British at the time, trying to pass Napoleon off as a small angry tyrant.


5. Baby birds will be abandoned by their parents if you touch them because of your smell.
This isn’t even kind of true. Birds won’t abandon their babies if you touch them because of your scent, in fact, birds don’t even have a very strong sense of smell. You should still leave a baby bird alone though, birds will ignore their babies if you’re near them because they see you as a predator and will wait for you to leave.


6. Viking’s had horned helmets.
Vikings did not have horned helmets; this stereotype comes from a costume designer from the 1800s who was creating costumes for a Richard Wagner opera. Horned helmets would have been nothing but a disadvantage in combat. The horns would add another target to be hit, or to potentially be pulled on. Plus, you would need to find a LOT of horns to add them to every helmet.


7. Cracking your knuckles can cause arthritis.
Nope. Cracking your knuckles does not cause arthritis, it has no effect one way or the other. There are absolutely no health risks from cracking your knuckles. You can continue cracking your knuckles worry free!

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