If you’ve ever been told not to cut your nails at night or that chocolates are the root cause of pimples, you’ve been subjected to an old wives’ tale — which is a faintly derogatory phrase for folk wisdom passed down through families. Growing up whenever we had a problem, our family and most importantly the head of the family, sitting in her favorite spot on the living room couch would offer an immediate cure. The term rightly known as “Old wives’ tale”. We would generally, roll our eyes because more often, these little tid-bits were based on hokum and created out of sheer thin air. But take it or leave it, our dear grannies would surely hand them to you like free candy.
So we are looking into few old wives tales that actually stood the test of time and science!. The scientifically proven old wives tale-The nerd in us can finally rejoice!
Carrots give you great eyesight!
Carrots do have a relationship with good eyesight, but that does not mean cramming yourself with as many as possible and waiting for 20/20 vision. Carrots are made of beta-carotene, which helps produce vitamin A, a key ingredient in a healthy, functioning eye. But vitamin A is useful for maintaining eye health, avoiding cataracts, and slightly improving night vision-if that’s something you’re into.
Having Fish Oil boosts your brain!
The bridge between omega-3s and oily fish is actually quite famous, and it’s almost losing its significance as an old wives’ tale that fish is “brain food.” The fatty acids, such as omega-3s, in fish are thought to improve the conductivity and networking between brain cells, raising brain performance. And a study in 2014 showed that people with fish as a regular menu staple increased the volume of their brains. It’s literally a neuron body-builder. So head to the nearest fish market to grab some ocean swimming brain boosters.
Eating cheese at night gives you Bad Dreams!
Every pizza lovers’ dream-starts with the oozing dairy strings, but old wives say, eat cheese at night and you will fight demons in your nightmares. The idea is that eating cheese or dairy before bedtime will give you bizarre nightmares — are largely thought to be a myth. But a bewildering study by the British Cheese Board claims to have proven that they’re real!. The board surveyed 200 volunteers who ate a variety of cheeses before bedtime, and reported that most of them recorded peculiar dreams the day afterward. Frankly, this may just say a lot about the sort of person who volunteers for a study at the British Cheese Board. But we’ll take their word, anyways who needs extra calories before bedtime.
Having heartburn during pregnancy means you’re having a hairy child!
This one just tops it!. It’s time to tell grandma to hold it, but let’s read up. It seems that pregnant women who suffer heartburn are much more likely to give birth to a hairy baby. What’s even funnier? The study that confirmed it, at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, had set out to disprove it. Heartburn and hairiness on newborns might not be as strange bedfellows as they seem. The scientists behind the study, once they got over their surprise, theorized that it might be down to pregnancy hormones. Higher levels would both prompt lots of hair growth and relax esophagus muscles, causing gastric reflux. So welcome that heartburn for taming long tresses in future.
Eating Honey will cure cough and cold!
Adding honey and lemon to your tea when you’ve got the cough from hell is now officially a scientific bonus, not just what your grandmother once advised. A study showed that children with upper respiratory infections were more likely to get better if given spoonfuls of honey than they were if dosed with a common cough-and-cold medication. The reason? Honey is a demulcent, meaning that it forms a mucous membrane that soothes the irritation in an infected area. Honey is also antibacterial; it was used in ancient history to heal wounds and reduce infection. No wonder drug companies are making good use of it. Now how do we get grandma to reap in the royalties from that?
Share your weirdest old wives’ tale in the comments below.
