7 Popular Old Wives’ Tales That Turned Out To Be Myths

Over the summer I wrote a post sharing a list of surprising old wives’ tales that turned out to be true. Following that post, I reached out to my followers on social media to help me compile a new list of old wives’ tales so we could continue our investigation!

You guys delivered in a big way, of course, sharing all kinds of clever (and sometimes questionable) old adages passed down from your mothers, grandmothers, aunts, neighbors, and friends! I immediately started conducting my research, and today I’m ready to present a follow-up and counterpoint to my first list of old wives’ tales, in the form of seven tales that are totally false!

7 Old Wives’ Tales That Are NOT True

1. If You Pull Out A Gray Hair, Two More Will Take Its Place

Only one strand of hair can grow from each follicle on your head. So despite the claim that two gray hairs will grow to replace one you’ve pulled out, that just isn’t possible!

If you really hate those stray silver or white hairs, I recommend trying some of these hair-dyeing hacks. But there’s also nothing wrong with embracing the change and letting those grays stay (while keeping your aging hair healthy)!

2. If You Swallow Gum, It Will Stay In Your Body For 7 Years

While this may have been something you heard from adults as a kid, you can rest assured that any gum that makes its way into your stomach will pass shortly thereafter. (And when I say shortly, I mean days, not years!)

According to Yale Scientific, even though the gum will eventually pass through your digestive system, swallowing it can lead to other negative health consequences like diarrhea or abdominal pain. The bottom line is that while you should spit your gum out when you’re done chewing it, there’s no reason to panic if you do accidentally swallow.

3. Swimming Less Than An Hour After You Eat Causes Cramps And Drowning

This idea likely originated from a Boy Scouts handbook from 1911, which stated: “Many boys make the mistake of going into the water too soon after eating.” It went on to state that paralyzing cramps would result and could lead to drowning, but we know now there’s no real truth to that belief.

The claim in the handbook was based on an old idea that while your stomach was actively digesting food, blood would be diverted away from your limbs and make it difficult for you to swim. Today, while we know that there is an increase in blood flow to your digestive muscles during digestion, there isn’t nearly enough blood being diverted away from your limbs to create any real risk of drowning.

In 2012, the American Red Cross published a review that stated, “Current available information suggests that eating before swimming is not a contributing risk for drowning and can be dismissed as a myth.”

4. Eating A Watermelon Seed Means The Fruit Will Grow Inside Of You

Hopefully you realized this a long time ago, but I’ll say it definitively for whoever needs to hear it: If you swallow a watermelon seed, you definitelywon’t grow a watermelon inside of you! This old wives’ tale just isn’t true, and in fact, it’s scientifically impossible.

What will happen to a watermelon seed if you do swallow one? It will likely just pass through your body without being digested, and that will be the end of that.

5. If You Pick Up Dropped Food In Less Than 5 Seconds, It’s Still Okay To Eat

If you’ve ever invoked the “five second rule” before eating something you dropped on the ground, it unfortunately did nothing to make your food any safer to eat. Scientists from Rutgers University found that bacteria transfers to food immediately, and while you may be slightly better off eating something you dropped onto freshly-mopped kitchen tile as opposed to living room carpet that was in need of a good vacuuming, it’s best to just avoid eating any food you’ve dropped on the ground.

6. You’ll Catch A Cold If You Go Outside With Wet Hair

Colds are caused by viruses, not temperature, so you can’t catch a cold by going outside with wet hair. It’s also important to note that the common cold is transferred through bodily fluids (like the small droplets of moisture that fly out when we cough, sneeze, or shout).

While your wet hair may make you a bit colder when you go outside, rest assure that it will not turn you into some sort of magnet for viruses. :-)

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7. Feed A Cold, Starve A Fever

Old wisdom states that in order to heal and recover, those with a cold should eat lots of chicken soup and other nourishing foods, while those with a fever should fast. But according to medical experts, fasting when you’re sick (no matter what you’re sick with) will only weaken you further.

Eating healthy food and (even more importantly) staying hydrated while you’re sick is crucial to helping your body fight illness and infections. So even if you feel yucky and don’t have an appetite, you should try bland foods such as—you guessed it!—chicken soup.

Which old wives’ tales did you grow up hearing?