Health trivia, and myths that you think are true

About eyes. Contrary to popular belief, some people can keep their eyes open when they sneeze. Also, green is the rarest eye color to have.

About that trick knee. Some of you have a trick knee (or shoulder) that can predict weather. Basically, you can tell when bad weather or a storm is coming with one of your bum joints. As the barometric or atmospheric pressure drops (before a storm), tissues in joints expand a little bit, and your knee or shoulder may feel it and alert you by experiencing pain.

About spinach. Some nutritionists still recommend spinach for people who have iron-deficiency anemia due to its iron content. Even Popeye made it famous for building up muscles. But the fact is that the iron content isn’t as high as you were told. It was mistakenly reported as 35 grams instead of 3.5 grams per serving, due to a printing error where the decimal point got moved. The chemist made a mistake in 1870 and it’s still being perpetuated.

About the bathroom. Pushing out waste in the wee hours of the morning doesn’t happen because we have sophisticated neurons in our gut that follow our 24-hour circadian rhythm. The bladder however, is only so big, and you might not be able to hold urine for six hours while you’re sleeping.

About burping. Also termed eructation, this is just your body expelling gas through your mouth. Most people burp between 8 and 20 times a day. It’s not objectionable to burp out loud after eating a meal in certain parts of China, India and a small island in the Middle East.

About amnesia. This occasionally happens after mind-blowing sex, and luckily it’s temporary. People can lose their immediate memories. It’s clinically termed “Transient Global Amnesia” and it can also occur after strenuous activity like vigorously exercising, jumping into hot water or a brain injury.

About hair. The color grey is a neutral tone between black and white and it really just appears due to the absence of color in the hair shaft. While it’s not a hard and fast rule, blondes have more hair on their heads than redheads – however each hair shaft is thinner in diameter. Redheads on the other hand, tend to have thicker hair shafts and less hair. Hair grows faster when you sleep.

About your tongue. Like that unique fingerprint, you also have your own tongue print. The average tongue has thousands of taste buds.

About your ticker. A human heart will beat about 2.5 billion times in an average lifetime. By the way a football weighs just slightly more than your heart.

About kissing. It lowers cortisol, which is a stress hormone known to inflame the body. So kissing is a natural anti-inflammatory. And get this – while I wouldn’t call it romantic, it’s still interesting… the longest kiss on record goes to a Thai couple who locked lips for 58 hours and 35 minutes. Eeew.

 
 
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