1. Hair grows stronger if we depilate it with a razor
It is a most widespread belief. Among the many hair removal methods that exist, for those who want to wax, many avoid the razor for fear that their hair will grow stronger and darker.
It’s false. The reason is very simple: think about it. When waxing, we trim the hair close to the skin, but we do not stimulate the hair follicle. With which, it is impossible to provoke a strengthening.
The reason why your hair seems to grow longer after the razor is probably an optical effect, because all hair grows at the same time.
In any case, removing hair from the roots is perhaps more effective and long-lasting.
2. Hair grows stronger and healthier with each cut
For the same reason, hair also does not grow healthier and stronger after a haircut. I am sorry!
3. Cracking your fingers can cause arthritis
Why is this happening?
If you are one of those people who are fond of this habit, surely you have received fights from people around you warning you that this habit can cause problems, such as arthritis.
The truth is that there are no solid studies that confirm this hypothesis.
The bones of the joints are covered in a lubricating fluid called synovial fluid. Synovial fluid, among other things, is made up of gases like oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide.
When we stretch the joints, the capsule that contains this liquid and its gases is also stretched.
As you do so, the bubbles in this liquid burst , producing the characteristic sound you already know.
In 2009, a researcher named Donald Unger won the IG Nobel Prize (funniest and most absurd research awards) he dedicated himself to crunching the fingers of his left hand every day for six years (but not those of his right hand), and At the end, he did not observe differences in injuries between both hands.
4. The cold is the cause of the cold
The cold is caused by a virus, not a cold environment. In addition, viruses are not cured with antibiotics, but they only serve to treat infections caused by bacteria.
The only thing that can be done with viruses is to alleviate the symptoms that they cause us and hope that our immune system eliminates it by itself.
5. Vitamin C cures colds
A myth related to the previous one. When you have had a cold, they have surely recommended you to drink a lot of orange juice to cure yourself. Where does this widespread belief come from? This old idea has almost 50 years of history.
The fault is the American biochemist Linus Pauling, double winner of the Nobel (Chemistry in 1954 and Peace in 1962).
In the 1970s he published the book Vitamin C and the Common Cold , where he defended that eating 3,000 milligrams a day would prevent bronchitis, pneumonia and … colds.
But more than 30 scientific studies published later found no evidence for this. Also, if you want to swell to vitamin C, the orange has 69 milligrams, but other foods have much more: 84.7 milligrams, a mango 122.3, and a red pepper around 190. (put the little signs with the food and the milligrams below)
6. Ingested collagen helps to have firmer skin
If you’ve ever been tempted to try one of those collagen dietary supplements for cosmetic purposes, I must tell you, you’re wasting your time… and your money.
What science tells us about how collagen works in our body indicates that it is impossible to assimilate it as such through digestion.
I explain.
Collagen is a protein; rather, each molecule is made up of three chains of non-essential amino acids (peptides) forming a helical structure, which makes it very resistant.
Our body, and that of other animals, produces collagen naturally. Without collagen, our tissues could not maintain their structure.
The amino acids that make up collagen are mainly glycine and proline, amino acids that the body makes naturally, that is, non-essential amino acids.
If we ingest collagen, as it is a complex helocoidal structure, the chemistry that is produced during digestion breaks the structure into simpler amino acids, so that our body uses them as it suits it at all times.
You can use them to produce collagen, or not; therefore, there is no scientific evidence that ingested collagen is effective.
The only collagen that can be used is that produced by the body itself . However, it is possible to follow a diet aimed at producing more collagen naturally.
7. Nails continue to grow after death
This is one of the funniest and scariest beliefs. The reason why this myth spread is that the flesh surrounding the nails gradually dehydrates and, therefore, retracts, leaving more visible nails and thus making them appear longer.
Something similar happens with hair.
But the truth is that, although after death there is a real festival of life at the microscopic level in our organism, for hair and nails to grow, we need new cells to be produced, and for that, it is necessary, for example, glucose.
And, without glucose, cells begin to die within minutes after the oxygen supply to the brain shuts down.
