5 Health Myths Debunked: Doctors and Experts Reveal the Facts Behind Wellness Tips

When it comes to staying healthy, there’s no shortage of old wives’ tales touting some sort of healing magic, but not everything people hear, especially when it comes to their body, is backed by science. Experts have set the record straight on some of the most common health myths, from how colds actually spread to why that glass of red wine might not be doing your heart any favors.

Does Cold Weather Make You Sick?

“People do get sick more often during the colder months, [but] cold weather itself does not cause illness,” says Dr. Judy Tung of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. “The seasonality of viruses, like influenza, [and] more time spent indoors when it’s cold out, encourages viral spread. The majority of infections are caused by viruses, and exposure to [them] and the ability of your immune system to fight makes you sick.”

Is Wine Really Good for Your Heart?

Saying that alcohol, most notably wine, is good for the heart is just bad advice. As Dr. Krishna Aragam, a cardiologist with the Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital explains, “[We’ve] found that along the entire spectrum of alcohol consumption, the risk of high blood pressure and coronary artery disease increases rather than decreases.”

How Much Water Do You Really Need Daily?

“Water is essential,” points out Boston’s Commonwealth Care Alliance. “We need it to keep hydrated. A common rule [you’ve] heard is to drink 64 ounces of water daily, or eight glasses. [But] four to six cups of water a day for healthy individuals is enough. This is especially true if you also get water [daily] from sources such as fruits and vegetables.”

Should You Put Butter on a Burn?

As Stanford Medicine emergency physician Dr. Italo Brown explained to Wired, “you should definitely not put butter on a burn. We’re not baking bread! [In fact], we do not recommend using any creams, any lotions. Chemicals can actually worsen the surface that is burned. The most common thing that we say to do is put it under cold water.”

Hand Sanitizer vs. Soap: Which One Works Better?

Per the CDC, “Soap and water are more effective than hand sanitizers at removing certain kinds of germs, like Cryptosporidium, norovirus, and Clostridium difficile.”

If a hand sanitizer is your only option, be sure to use one that contains 60-95 percent alcohol, cover all surfaces of the hands, and rub your hands together until they are dry.