Don't Cross Your Eyes...They'll Get Stuck That Way!: And 75 Other Health Myths Debunked by Aaron E. Carroll Read Free Book Online Page B

can also lead to cancer. Specifically, ultraviolet radiation from the sun is a major cause of skin cancer. So, cover up, or at least use sunblock. Ionizing radiation is even more of a concern in regard to cancer, because it actually rips electrons from their orbit, killing or irreparably harming components of some of your body’s cells. These cells can then go on to become cancer. Ionizing radiation can come from either medical sources, such as radiological scans, or from radon in homes. Most of the increase in radiation exposure in recent years is because of the increased use of CT scans in medical practice. Try to avoid these when you can.
    There are a number of other things you can do to prevent cancer, although there is not as much evidence for them compared to what we’ve already discussed. A number of reviews have been conducted, and most point to the fact that fruits and nonstarchy vegetables are associated with a decrease in the risk of getting cancer. However, when these types of food are carefully studied in scientific randomized controlled trials, their protective effects are not clearly seen. Similarly, alcohol has been linked to some cancers. But no conclusive evidence exists. Since we always rely on evidence to make declarative statements, we can say with confidence that a diet high in fruits and nonstarchy vegetables, without alcohol abuse, may reduce your risk of cancer and definitely will result in better overall health.
    Lots of people will tell you that vitamin and mineral supplements will prevent cancer. This, unfortunately, goes over the line into the myth category itself. No good evidence exists that they do any good. In fact, a prospective study of beta-carotene (vitamin A) found that it might actually increase your risk of lung cancer. Antioxidants like vitamin E or selenium have failed to show any significant results in studies. Vitamins C and E do not prevent prostate cancer. And the Women’s Antioxidant Cardiovascular Study could detect no protective effects for vitamins C, E, B 6 , B 12 , folic acid, or beta-carotene.
    The problem with all this is that we often pin false hopes on things that don’t work and ignore the obvious things that do. It would be great if popping a few vitamin pills would prevent cancer. But they won’t. What will is avoiding tobacco and the sun, getting necessary vaccines, and, perhaps, eating more healthily.

Celery
    Celery has negative calories
    The key to weight loss or weight gain is simple: it is all a matter of how many calories you take in and how many calories you burn. If you burn more calories than you take in, then you will lose weight. If you burn the same number of calories as you take in, then you will maintain the same weight. In this equation, celery has come to hold a legendary role among dieters. In contrast to most foods, which add to the calories you take in, celery is reported to have “negative calories.” The idea is that you use up more calories in the act of eating the celery than are actually contained in the vegetable.
    It is true that celery can be a great part of your diet when you’re trying to lose weight. An eight-inch stalk of celery contains only six calories. Not much at all, but it does contain some calories. Do we use up that many calories chewing up the celery? Probably not. The body burns roughly eighty-five calories per hour while eating (not so much more than the sixty calories per hour it uses when you are sleeping!). This means that in one minute of eating, you only use up 1.4 calories. It would have to take you several minutes of chewing to burn up the number of calories in a stick of celery, and even though those stringy stalks take some time, it probably does not take you four minutes to chew one piece.
    However, you just might use up all those calories in the stick of celery from the process of digesting the celery. Much of celery is a substance called cellulose that the human body does not digest, and which passes