Wiekes weetjes: 10 facts that people still believe, even though they are nonsense

Are you looking for a fun fact? I'm here for you. It's always fun to amaze people with useless knowledge. But the thing is, I can also be quite a know-it-all and I get really upset when people spread fun facts that are totally untrue. For example, that people eat an average of x number of spiders in their sleep each year. That's just not true. It frustrates me a lot. But there are more like that; the facts below are often seen as truth, while they are completely false.

1. Cracking your knuckles causes rheumatism or arthritis
Nope. Simply not true. Doctors advise: ‘As long as it doesn't hurt, there's nothing to worry about.’ It's just pure air that you hear and it can't harm you.

2. Detox tea
No, that's what your liver and kidneys are for. A few detox teas a week won't really help you.

3. Spinach contains a lot of iron
Thanks Popeye, for this myth. Sure, there is iron in spinach, but not a huge amount or more than in other vegetables. It seems that a scientist once researched this and wrote a decimal point wrong, making it seem like spinach contains ten times as much iron. Oops. If you want to get a lot of iron, go for kidney beans.

4. Dogs can't see colors
Also not true: they can see colors just fine, just not with the intensity that we do.

5. We only use ten percent of our brains
The movie Limitless with Bradley Cooper only adds to this, but unfortunately: we actually use one hundred percent. Yes, even that disgusting ex of yours who behaves so stupidly, even if it may seem otherwise.

6. Your tongue has different ‘zones’ for tasting
I seriously believed this when I was younger, and there are still many ‘maps’ on the internet showing which part of your tongue you should taste with. https://image.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/human-tongue-taste-zones-sweet-260nw-1520964476.jpg All not true: you taste everything with your tongue. Everywhere.

7. ‘Tomatoes are not vegetables, they are actually fruit.’
This is often used as a fun fact and it is also true, for half. It is both. Botanically, it is fruit, but vegetable is not a botanical category, it is a culinary one. And if you want to see tomatoes as fruit, you should do the same with beans, peppers, pumpkin, corn, and many more.

8. Hair grows back thicker and darker when you shave it
Confession: I believed this too. The consistency and color of hair only change due to hormones and not because of shaving or not shaving. It seems that way because you shaved it, so the end is no longer smooth and ‘pointy’. Additionally, many people start shaving during puberty and due to hormones, hair indeed gets thicker over the years.

9. Colds are caused by the cold
The cold doesn't help because it makes you more vulnerable to the virus that causes you to catch a cold. Because yes, this can only come from a virus and not because you went running outside naked in -10. Although I would advise against that anyway.

10. Carrots are good for your eyesight
This has been a propaganda thing that was used by the British during World War II. It's quite a long story (click here if you want to know), https://www.livescience.com/38861-carrots-eyesight-myth-origins.html but it boils down to the fact that it's simply not true.

URL: myths-and-myths-not-true