Lab coats confirm we’ve been sold a pup when it comes to the old ‘my mother always told me’ beauty myth. Here are some of the latest scientific findings challenging that which we once held true.
Beauty myth to be treated with ‘suspicion’ number one:
Eight glasses of water a day, or so be damned
Scottish doctor, Margaret McCartney suggests in The British Medical Journal that eight glasses of water a day is excessive.
She believes any alleged health benefits - improved skin tone, better digestion and a chance of weight loss - are just convenient falsehoods created by bottled water manufacturers.
The G.P. instead warns against water-related risks like hyponatremia, a sometimes-deadly condition arising from low sodium levels in the blood. This coincides with news that with a five litres of water a day habit, Nigella Lawson is an ‘aqua-holic’.
Updated rule-of-thumb? Drink when thirsty, drink more before exercise and remember even caffeinated drinks and food are also sources of H20.
Beauty myth to be treated with ‘suspicion’ number two:
Some women don’t have cellulite
Scientists now consider cellulite to be a female secondary sex characteristic, meaning you, me and Jess Hart all have it.
Unfortunately, since cellulite is as necessary to the female form as our other lady lumps, this also means that your diet won’t improve it. Exercise, on the other hand, can make small improvements but never remove it completely. And some experts agree that liposuction won’t fix it either.
The (dimpled) bottom line is that like it or lump it, our cellulite is here to stay. And since we all have it, there’s less reason to feel so bad about it.
Beauty myth to be treated with suspicion number three:
Sunscreen is beauty gold.
Doctors and beauty experts break out in collective dance whenever alerting us to the necessity that is sunscreen.
However a new study, based on the findings of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in America, suggests those who slip, slip, slap religiously are more likely to experience the very thing they’re trying to prevent – serious sunburn.
Interestingly, those who used sunscreen a lot had a 23 per cent higher risk of multiple burns whereas those who opted for shade or covered up enjoyed a 30 per cent lower sunburn risk.
No one can deny that our good friend SPF has some great intentions; it just could be leading us down the beach path when it comes to full protection in the sun.
Myths in brief:
Apply perfume where you wish to be kissed
Only if a fan of skin pigmentation.
Split ends can be healed by products
Physically impossible, trims are thy only savior.
Washing your hair makes it oilier
Myth, myth, myth.
Exfoliation is for everybody
Definitely not for the sensitive of skin, except on parts of the skin that are tough enough to take it.
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