Fun and Fitness for the 40-Something

The British medical journal BMJ is out with its second list of “festive medical myths.” As the authors admit, “both physicians and non-physicians sometimes believe things about our bodies that just are not true.” To probe the truthiness of common medical beliefs that often pop up around the holidays, they searched the National Library of Medicine’s medical database for scientific evidence to support or refute these beliefs. Their work generated the following list of medical myths:

1. Sugar makes kids hyperactive.
2. Suicide increases over the holidays.
3. Poinsettias are toxic.
4. You lose most of your body heat through your head (so all those ridiculous hats my mom made me wear were for naught?)
5. Night eating makes you fat.
6. Hangovers can be cured.

For more details, check out the New York Times health blog. And you can find last year’s list here.