William Atkins
Saturday, 20 December 2008 01:56
Science -
Health
Page 3 of 5
3. Hat-less heads lose more heat than other parts of the body
“As temperatures drop, hats and caps flourish. Even the US Army Field manual for survival recommends covering your head in cold weather because "40 to 45 percent of body heat" is lost through the head. If this were true, humans would be just as cold if they went without trousers as if they went without a hat. But patently this is just not the case.”
“This myth probably originated with an old military study in which scientists put subjects in arctic survival suits (but no hats) and measured their heat loss in extremely cold temperatures. Because it was the only part of the subjects’ bodies that was exposed to the cold, they lost the most heat through their heads. Experts say, however, that had this experiment been performed with subjects wearing only swimsuits, they would not have lost more than 10% of their body heat through their heads."
"A more recent study confirms that there is nothing special about the head and heat loss. Any uncovered part of the body loses heat and will reduce the core body temperature proportionally. So, if it is cold outside, you should protect your body. But whether you want to keep your head covered or not is up to you.”
Dr. Vreeman adds,
"We often hear parents say that as long as their kids are wearing a hat, they feel that they're sufficiently dressed. Of course they should bundle up for protection from the cold, but they should be equally concerned about gloves and boots as well." [CNN Health: “
Relax -- Your holiday health concerns may just be myths”]
4. Eating late at night makes you fat
“Holiday feasts and festivities present us with many culinary options. A common suggestion to avoid unwanted weight gain is to avoid eating at night, and at first glance, some scientific studies seem to support this. In a study of 83 obese and 94 non-obese women in Sweden, the obese women reported eating more meals, and their meals were shifted to the afternoon, evening, or night. But just because obesity and eating more meals at night are associated, it does not mean that one causes the other.”
The conclusion of this study was that the Swedish women just ate more calories than the calories they burned. These fat women were fat because they ate a lot throughout the night and night, and not just at night. Taking in more calories, according to the researchers,
“makes you gain weight regardless of when calories are consumed.”
And, page four talks about the rest of the myths.
