Believing in fables was drilled into me by my mother at a young age. I still remember well that I got my very first pimple when I was about thirteen years old. The world was ending, you understand, so I wisely followed the advice of my classmate to put toothpaste on it. My mother couldn't believe it and immediately explained to me why you get pimples and that you should especially touch them as little as possible. I didn't take much of her advice, but her doctor status fortunately had some persuasive power. Hopefully, I have that with you too.

You get pimples from chocolate

This is a classic. There have been hundreds of thousands of studies done on the relationship between chocolate and pimples, and so far no study has proven that there is a connection. Your hormonesn have the most influence on pimple formation. For example, due to a lot of stress or taking a different pill. This does not mean that nutrition has no influence on the skin at all. Eating healthy with protein-rich foods and Oomega-3 fatty acids contribute to a strong skin. For example, one study showed. this studie zien.

Crossing your legs? Immediately varicose veins!

How often do I not hear that I shouldn't sit so weirdly (I always wrap my right leg completely around my left leg) because otherwise, I'll get those ugly varicose veins. “Not true!” I usually call back condescendingly. Varicose veins are generally hereditary and you often see them in pregnant women. Fortunately, you can treat them; a kind of fluid is injected. According to a friend, this is not very pleasant. But hey, who wants to be beautiful wants must suffer. Right?

Cutting hair = growing faster

“I need to go to the hairdresser because then my hair will grow nicely again,”, I hear my friend R. say. I don't know who ever came up with this, but your hair grows from the hair follicle on your head and not from the ends. Duh. By the way, do keep going to the hairdresser, okay? No one is happy with a bunch of straw.

If you go outside with wet hair, you will get sick

I have a friend from Montenegro and thus also a sweet mother-in-law from the Balkans. When she sees me walking outside with freshly washed hair, she can't take it anymore. She prefers to pull me inside, blow-dry my hair, and wrap me in fifteen scarves (even in summer). Time and again, I explain to her that flu or a cold comes from a virus combined with a low immune system. She wants doesn't believe it. You do, right?

I get abs from exercises

An intern said it just last week: “From now on, I'm going to do abdominal exercises every day so that in a few weeks I have a summer six-pack.” This makes no sense if you still have fat here. If you want a flat stomach, pay attention to your diet (abs are made in the kitchen) and definitely get moving. That Jet told you that once too.

Shaving makes the hair grow back thicker

“Since I started shaving my legs, I have thicker hair.” Also nonsense, people. Your hair structure starts at the hair follicle (point 3). I do understand why you think this, because when you ‘cut off’ the hair in the middle, which is what you do when shaving, it feels stiffer.