Old Wives' Tales?

From the day we begin to walk and talk, our parents and grandparents give us countless pieces of advice - "eat plenty of carrots - they're good for your eyes", "don't leave the house with wet hair - you'll catch a cold" or "stop crossing your eyes - they'll stay that way!" These pieces of advice are known as old wives' tales. Passed down throughout the generations in the family, old wives' tales are probably as old as language itself - even older than pen and paper. How many of them are true and how many are just plain rubbish? There are too many to examine one by one, so I've selected just a few for your enjoyment.

The earliest piece of parental advice I can recall is my mother's little nugget of wisdom - "Don't smell the dandelions or you'll wet the bed". This saying may have its roots in the fact that dandelion root is a diuretic. "Eat plenty of carrots - they're good for your eyes" or you may have heard - "eat plenty of carrots and you can see in the dark better". Carrots do contain vitamin A, which is helpful for the eyes. Vitamin A deficiency is one cause of night blindness. Carrots also contain the nutrient lutein in small amounts, which has been shown to reduce the severity of the age-related eye disease macular degeneration (one of the top causes of vision loss). This nutrient though can be found in much larger quantities from leafy green vegetables such as broccoli and spinach. Carrots therefore are good for your eyes, but then so is spinach and broccoli and many other vegetables.

Another old wives' tale we often hear is something mothers say to their kids a lot - "don't leave the crusts of your bread - that's the best part!" They certainly weren't wrong. A study in the journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry found that a crumb from the crust of the bread has eight times the amount of cancer fighting antioxidants as a crumb from another part of the bread.

We've also heard the saying "an apple a day keeps the doctor away". Besides being very tasty and sweet, fresh fruit is also a great source of antioxidants, which can reduce the risk of strokes, cancer and heart disease. Eating an apple everyday can give your body the nutrients it needs to stay healthy. On the other hand so can bananas, mangos, pears etc. You could say "a banana a day keeps the doctor away".

On the subject of food, you may have heard "fish is brain food'. Fish is an excellent source of omega - 3 fatty acids, which is important for the development of the brain. Research also shows that fish eaters have less plaque in their arteries, which allows a good blood flow to the brain - which may be associated with better mental function. Fish also contains vitamin B, which helps with cognitive ability and memory.

There is one fascinating aspect of old wives' tales, which is revealing and some might even say mystical. Many of them have good scientific evidence supporting them, yet they originated hundreds of years ago; way before the invention of today's scientific tools which allow us to validate them. If we think in terms of Darwin's theory of evolution, then our ancestors should have been leagues behind us in terms of understanding the human body. We only have to look at ancient Chinese medicine to know that our ancestors were very wise in this field. An example is the use of acupuncture (a field which Western medicine is now beginning to accept) Thousands of years before the invention of x -rays and CAT scans, the ancient Chinese doctors were able to map out the body's acupuncture points with startling precision. How did they do it?

This is not to say that all old wives' tales are words of wisdom. My mother used to tell me "stop crossing your eyes or they'll stay that way!" Needless to say, people whose eyes are permanently crossed are not being punished for making silly faces when they were kids! Disordered messages from the brain, muscle imbalance and insertions can cause the eyes to be permanently misaligned. Eyes crossed in are known as (esotropia) and eyes crossed out are known as (exotropia).

The same can be said with something my dad used to tell me - "don't swallow your chewing gum or it'll stick to your ribs!" or "If you swallow chewing gum it'll take 7 years to digest!" Like any other foreign objects you swallow, gum goes straight through your system. Although it's sticky, it does not attach itself to the well-lubricated lining of the gastrointestinal tract.

Going into the future I hope that we can keep this tradition alive. Some old wives' tales are true, some contain elements of truth and some are just absurd, For parents though, the odd old wives' tale here and there is a useful parenting tool ; I certainly never crossed my eyes, swallowed my chewing gum or stuck my nose in a dandelion again!