Indiana University School of Medicine pediatricians Rachel Vreeman and Aaron Carroll recently scoured medical literature to find the answers to some commonly held beliefs about our bodies and how they work.
They published their findings in the British Medical Journal and fracas happened upon some of their answers over at the Scientific American website.
Yes… please don’t tell anyone, but sometimes, fracas enjoys something more than fussing over all the sexy lingerie and great shoes out there . Sometimes… fracas even enjoys all that geeky stuff.
Here are the three myths I was most interested in.
(Just call me fracas… the mythbuster.)
Myth: Sugar makes kids hyper.
Answer: FALSE
Most parents swear that too many sweets turn their kids into the Duracell bunny. But Vreeman and Carroll report they found no link between sugar and hyperactive behavior. “When parents think their children have been given a drink containing sugar (even if it’s really sugar-free), they rate their children’s behavior as more hyperactive,” the researchers found. “The differences in the children’s behavior were all in the parents’ minds.”
Myth: Most of our body heat escapes through the tops of our heads
Answer: FALSE
How many times has your mom told you to wear a hat to keep heat from escaping your body on a cold, wintry day? Well, guess what? Some heat does escape through the head but certainly not the bulk of it, according to the researchers. “Heat loss is proportional to the body’s surface area that is exposed. Your head has a decent amount of surface area,” she says, but notes that the arms, legs and torso do, too. “By all means wear a hat, but there is nothing special about the head.”
In this article at the Guardian, Vreeman and Carroll rubbish the claim, stating that if it were true, humans would be just as cold if they went without a hat as if they went without trousers. “Patently, this is just not the case,” they write.
Myth: Snacking at bedtime causes more weight gain than earlier in the day
Answer: FALSE
When it comes to managing weight, one simple rule trumps all others: If you take in more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. “It doesn’t matter when calories are consumed,” Vreeman says. One could eat all his or her daily calories before bedtime without putting on pounds—as long as the number of calories consumed does not exceed those burned.
You can read the other myths over at American Scientist. Which will you admit to having believed?
All I can say… is kudos to Vreeman an Carroll. I’ve long been a night-time snacker. While in the past, I might’ve felt like I needed to diet to make up for my naughty habits, now I can stop feeling guilty for it and only enjoy the cookies because I want to!
I think on the issue of late night dining that most people try to rationalize that eating earlier gives the person the chance in ‘that day’ to burn off ‘those’ calories.
I’m realy confuzzled now. Luckily I have this brownie and melatonin to take before going to sleep it off. Whew!
I think what they’re saying though, is that say a person is 100 lbs and will burn 1000 calories via activity in the day which (for the sake of this example… not reality) = a loss of 1 lb of body fat. If the person eats all their (again for example only) 2000 calories in the morning and thereby gains 2 lbs, and then does their activity at 3 pm, they will be then… 102 lbs after eating, and then 101 lbs at 3 pm. If they do their activity at 3 pm but don’t eat anything until 11 pm, they will be 99 lbs until 11 pm and then 101 lbs, effectively making no difference.
I believe them. I do eat late at night, and don’t notice it doing a darn thing. I do notice though, that the amount of physical activity I engage in makes a bigger difference than when I eat.
But tsk tsk… you and those brownies. Should I let Olga know?
I always thought it was the artificial colouring in fizzy drinks that made kids [and others] high as kites. BTW, when I taught, it was observed by all, that windy days definitely had an affect on kids behaviour ……. [I could clear a classroom in seconds - tee hee]
‘Wind’ can do some real damage, that’s for sure.
I agree about the colorings. I ran an ADHD support group for some years and one of the most difficult things is convincing parents it’s not the sugar, it’s the chemicals. Colorings and even flavorings are most often the culprit. Some families find that if they remove all of that from the child’s diet, the child can get along without medication.
And then there are sulfites. Those can be the problem too, whether artificially introduced into foods, or natural.
It’s amazing how many similiar things we both know, isn’t it? You’d almost think we were… related or something. LOL.
Myth: Sugar makes kids hyper. should be revised to:
Fact: Sugar makes kids germ magnets
Years ago researchers carried out studies that examined how sugar consumption weakens the ability of white blood cells to destroy bacteria (germs).
The results of the study showed that if a person eats no sugar for 12 hours, each white blood cell could destroy an average of 14 bacteria.
When 24 teaspoons of sugar were consumed, the white blood cells were so compromised they could only destroy an average of one bacterium each.
(Kijak. E.; Foust G; Steinman R.R.; Relationship of Blood Sugar Level and Leukocytic Phagacytosis; Southern California)
National statistics say 12-19 year old boys drink 80 gallons of pop per year. One can of pop has 9-12 teaspoons of sugar, depending on the type. Sprite is lowest at 9 teaspoons of sugar per can. Orange Slice and Minute Maid Orange Soda are highest at 12 teaspoons per can.
So while hyper kids might not be the fault of sugar, when you see them sniffling and snuffling and spraying and wheezing their germs all over the place, sugar is part of that.
Sugar also inhibits the release of growth hormones, but I won’t go into that one, because this post is long enough. lol.
Just Google: sugar + immune system
That makes SO much sense Linda. #2 has a huge problem with how much sugar she consumes and she’s always been the one that catches every fraccing thing going around. I am so printing that out for her.
I also just read about sugar and yeast in a person’s system… causing all kinds of digestive issues. Apparently this can be corrected with cinnamon? (Okay, and eating less sugar, but it seems yeast does not like cinnamon and you can take these cinnamon tablets to correct some digestive troubles. I’ll have to get more info on that, but thanks for posting this!
You’re welcome! Incidentally, raw honey doesn’t do the same thing as sugar, so it’s a healthier way to get our sweet fix without nuking our immune system.
Honey (instead of sugar) & cinnamon…. mmmmmm
lol
If you’re drunk you can eat honey with crackers and get over the hangover quicker.
Linda – Raw honey as in honey that’s not pasteurized? Or can it be pasteurized?
John – Drunk? Fracas would never get drunk. Can I eat the honey anyway?
Ask Mr. Fracas for permission.