Bogus Health Facts You've Been Guilty Of Sharing On Social Media

This myth suggests that most of your blood supply will go to your stomach while you're digesting. This will leave your muscles with very little blood, causing cramps. While cramps do happen while swimming, there's no documented case that suggests that anyone has drowned from a cramp caused by a full stomach.

It's said that the probiotics, aka good bacteria in yogurt can aid in digestion. But while bacteria does influence our metabolic rate, there is no evidence that proves that yogurt will help you keep your digestive system in check. But that's not to say that yogurt is bad for you. Just make sure and avoid the ones that have too much sugar in them.

One of the reasons a hangover lasts as long as it does is because we're dehydrated. But this bogus health myth suggests that drinking a mimosa, a Bloody Mary, or even coffee in the morning will help you feel better in no time. Newsflash: it won't. If anything, it will make the symptoms last longer because they dehydrate you even more. Drink water instead.

Out of all the bogus health facts being shared online, this can be deadly! Now, we realize chemotherapy is painful on cancer patients, so the alternative remedy of mixing baking soda and lemon juice sounds amazing, right? Wrong! If this mix could cure cancer, there would be no cancer in the world. What's more, sodium bicarbonate can actually do more harm than good.

The belief that the pharmaceutical industry is trying to hide the cure is ludicrous. If you think they're hiding it out of greed, think of it this way: finding a way to treat cancer would actually ensure an increase in sales around the world. It's also important to remember that researchers and employees of this industry have loved ones who have suffered from cancer, so hiding a cure wouldn't really make sense.

Drinking too much can have a negative effect on the connections among brain cells, but it won't lead to any of your neurons disintegrating or anything. However, children born with fetal alcohol syndrome usually have less brain cells. Also, long-term drinking can cause brain damage, just not to your brain cells.

The myth says that if you have a beer before liquor you'll get sicker. But if you have liquor before beer, you'll be okay. Drinking liquor after a beer could cause the alcohol to metabolize quicker. But regardless of how you choose to switch your drinks, you're still ingesting alcohol, and the more you drink, the sicker you'll get. 

Brown sugar is not healthier than white sugar. In fact, brown sugar is basically white sugar with molasses, and while molasses contains potassium, magnesium, and vitamins, there isn't enough of the good stuff in brown sugar to call it the better option. It won't help you in your quest to eat healthier either. Switch to stevia!

The myth says that you get "baby brain" when you're pregnant, which turns you into a total ditz. It's obvious that an expectant mother would have a lot on her mind so she might forget things, but if anything, pregnancy makes mommies smarter and way better at organizing things.

You've been told that waking up a sleepwalker could cause a shock to their system, which could lead to heart failure or other ailments. Maybe even kill them! But do you know what really happens when you wake a sleepwalker up? Nothing. Well... something does happen. They wake up. It's probably more dangerous not to wake them as they can trip and hurt themselves.

The myth is that you can make up the sleep you weren't able to get during the week during the weekend. But, there's no such thing as catching up on rest. Not only does it mess up your sleep pattern, but you wind up feeling drowsier sleeping 14 hours as opposed to sleeping the regular number of hours every night.

Your parents and teachers warned you that cracking your knuckles would lead to arthritis. But you're not really popping any joints out of their sockets or grinding bones. That cracking noise you hear when you pop your knuckles is the popping of gas bubbles found in the fluids of your joints.

Eating red meat will lead to high cholesterol, heart disease and cardiovascular issues. It can also cause bladder, prostate, and lung cancer too... or so they say. The issue isn't the meat itself but how it's prepared. Processed meat contains additives that can cause health problems, but unprocessed red meat won't kill you.

Social media gets blamed for causing antisocial behavior in people of all ages, particularly younger people. But the truth is that social media has allowed us to connect with people from all over the world and made working remotely and communications easier. So, the trick is trying to figure out the right balance.

Your parents probably told you growing up that coffee prevents you from growing. But researchers have found that caffeine doesn't limit calcium absorption that much. The myth came from C.W. Post, a cereal manufacturer who called coffee a "nerve poison" and claimed that the morning beverage "Postum" was a better alternative for kids.

You might not get high on it, but the myth suggests that it's just as addictive. Dr. Robert Lustig, author of "Fat Chance," claimed that sugar has the same effect on the brain as heroin, alcohol and tobacco. But a behavioral eating specialist named Hisham Ziaudden claimed that there was no way to accurately study brain addiction through neuroimaging.

This might have been true in the old days when TVs produced certain levels of X-rays, but the newer television sets won't. So, your kids' eyes are likely safe. At the most, it will end up producing eye fatigue, which might give them a bit of a headache, but that's nothing too serious.

A study of 12 children appeared in The Lancet in 1998, which supposedly claimed that the MMR vaccine caused autism. The study was later debunked. As scientists continued to study what causes autism, they ruled out any connection caused by vaccines. But this hasn't stopped some parents from refusing to have their children vaccinated while warning everyone on social media about the "dangers" of vaccinations. 

The myth says that if you eat lots of sugar, like candy, and consume soft drinks, you'll get diabetes. But even the American Diabetes Association points out that there's no evidence of this being true. However, sugary drinks and eating big portions may potentially lead someone to wind up with diabetes.

After an eating binge, you can supposedly go on a juice cleanse, which will rid your body of all the negative stuff you ate. The fact is that juicing does more harm than good by getting rid of fiber. Your body has a natural way of getting rid of harmful chemicals in your system. The juice negates that process.

Your parents always told you to bundle up during the winter and warned you that you'd get sick if you didn't. Leave that jacket at home if you want, because this won't happen. The reason many of us get colds in the winter is because most of us spend a lot of times indoors with someone who is already infected. However, you can still get hypothermia if you get too cold.

You've probably heard as a child that milk does the body good and that it can make your bones more impervious to harm. But studies have proven that the calcium and vitamin D in milk will not reduce your risk of a fracture. However, some studies have suggested that the mortality rate is higher in those who consume milk.

The 5-second rule is the most popular among all these bogus health facts. It suggests that if you pick something of the floor 5 seconds after you dropped it, you can still eat it. The truth is that bacteria can infect food in milliseconds. But while dry food takes longer to attract bacteria than moist food, it all comes down to how clean the floor is.

According to the myth, if you swallow a piece of gum, it will take up to seven years to digest. The truth is that gum doesn't get digested, but it will go in one end and come out the other end. However, there was one instance in which a one and a half year-old girl suffered a gastrointestinal blockage, but that gum also had four coins attached to it. So..yeaaah. Don't go around eating coins...or gum, for that matter.