That’s not true!

15 myths about the human body you should stop believing

Image: The New York Public Library

Think you know your body? Think again. Many "facts" we hear about the human body are actually just popular myths that have been long debunked by science. From the color of your blood to the capacity of your brain, join us as we separate truth from fiction.

Image: David Matos

Myth: We only use 10% of our brains.

Truth: Brain scans show that most areas of the brain are active even during simple tasks. Modern advanced imaging reveals that nearly all parts of the brain have specific roles. This is why damage to any area can lead to severe impairments. Come on, this one was fairly obvious, evolution wouldn’t keep an organ with 90% redundancy.

Image: Tekara

Myth: Swallowed gum stays in your stomach for seven years.

Truth: Gum passes through your digestive system just like any other non-digestible materials. This means that, while it’s true that it cannot be broken down, it will simply exit your body within a few days, along with waste. There’s really no evidence of gum lingering in your stomach for years after swallowing.

Image: Eddie Jones

Myth: Cracking knuckles causes arthritis.

Truth: Studies show no link between knuckle cracking and arthritis. The sound it makes might make you cringe a bit, but it actually comes from minuscule gas bubbles collapsing in joint fluid, not bone damage. In fact, knuckle cracking indicates normal joint function. Arthritis is caused by other factors like age, genetics, and injuries.

Image: Supply

Myth: Shaving makes hair grow back thicker.

Truth: Who hasn’t heard this one? A very popular myth, it has long been debunked. The truth is that shaving can make hair appear thicker because unshaven hair ends in fine points, while shaving cuts it at the surface, leaving a blunt edge that feels coarser. However, hair regrowth is determined solely by genetics and hormones, not by how it’s trimmed.

Image: Hush Naidoo Jade Photography

Myth: Blood is blue in your veins and red when exposed to air.

Truth: Blood is always red, though it can appear blue under the skin due to an optical effect caused by light diffraction. However, the oxygen level in blood can actually affect its hue, that goes from a bright red (oxygen-rich) to a darker red (oxygen-poor).

Image: Myriam Zilles

Myth: Sugar makes kids hyperactive.

Truth: Research consistently shows no direct link between sugar consumption and hyperactivity. If you are a parent, you might be convinced otherwise, but data suggests that this is often a case of self-fulfilling prophecy. Parents' expectations (as well as children’s awareness of the myth) can influence perceived—or very real—behavior changes, but sugar itself is not the culprit here.

Image: Cole Patrick

Myth: You lose most body heat through your head.

Truth: Mothers may cringe at this, but no, the head is not the heat sink many believe it to be. Heat loss simply depends on the exposed area. If your head is uncovered while the rest of your body is insulated, it might feel like most heat escapes from your head—but it’s not necessarily the primary heat-loss site.

Image: Eeshan Garg

Myth: Drinking alcohol kills brain cells.

Truth: Alcohol is far from being good for you, but it doesn’t literally kill brain cells as many believe. Instead, it can impair the communication between them. Among other things, long-term excessive drinking can damage dendrites, leading to cognitive and behavioral changes, but the cells themselves remain intact. Moreover, with a healthy lifestyle and given enough time, the brain can actually repair itself to some extent.

Image: Sean Benesh

Myth: Different parts of your tongue taste specific flavors.

Truth: Ever seen a taste map showing specific areas of the tongue associated with certain flavors? Well, forget it. It turns out that taste receptors for sweet, salty, sour, and bitter are actually distributed evenly across the tongue. The "tongue map" was a misinterpretation of early research.

Image: Klim Sergeev

Myth: Reading in dim light damages your eyes.

Truth: Another parental favorite. While dim lighting can temporarily strain your eyes, it doesn’t cause any permanent damage. Your eyes adapt to low light but may need time to adjust back.

Image: Clay Banks

Myth: Sweating removes toxins.

Truth: Sweat is mostly water and salts, not toxins. The liver and kidneys handle detoxification, while sweat’s primary role is regulating body temperature.

Image: rashid khreiss

Myth: Hair and nails keep growing after death.

Truth: After death, the skin dehydrates and retracts, giving the appearance of growth. Hair and nail cells require living tissue to grow, which ceases after death.

Image: Harry Quan

Myth: Humans only have five senses.

Truth: In addition to sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing, we have other important senses like balance (vestibular), temperature (thermoception), and body position (proprioception). Some scientists count up to 33 senses in total! Bet this one caught you off guard.

Image: Trust Tru Katsande

Myth: Sweating leads to fat loss.

Truth: Just like the "sweat = toxins" myth, this is simply not true. Sweat loss reflects water weight, not fat loss. While you might weigh slightly less after intense exercise, you’ll regain that weight after rehydrating. Fat is burned through metabolic processes, not perspiration.

Image: Tamara Bellis

Myth: The phases of the moon influence hair growth.

Truth: There is no scientific evidence linking moon phases to hair growth. This myth likely originated from agricultural practices that encourage planting seeds according to the moon's phases (also not scientifically proven). Studies show that hair growth is primarily determined by genetics, nutrition, and overall health, not lunar cycles. As long as you are healthy, hair grows at a consistent rate, regardless of the moon's phase.

Secret uses

There’s a hidden microphone in your phone, and here’s where it is

You’ve probably twisted a bread bag closed, filled up your car, or pulled a sheet of aluminum foil from the box thousands of times without giving it a second thought. But many of the everyday objects we’ve used for decades have clever features that most people never notice. From the tiny pocket on blue jeans to the little arrow next to your gas gauge, these hidden designs have practical stories behind them, and once you know them, you’ll never look at these familiar items the same way again.

If you own an iPhone, you’ve probably noticed the tiny black dot next to the rear camera. It’s small, so people tend to assume it’s another camera sensor or even part of the phone’s design. The small hole found near the camera bump on every iPhone is actually a rear microphone.

It captures clearer audio when you’re recording videos and helps reduce background noise during FaceTime and regular phone calls. If you own an iPhone Pro model from the iPhone 12 Pro onward, you'll also see a larger dark circle. That’s the LiDAR scanner, which sends out invisible infrared light to create a 3D map of your surroundings. It helps the camera focus faster in low light, powers Apple’s Measure app, and makes augmented reality features much more accurate.

Whether it's a holiday dinner, an anniversary, or simply a nice meal with friends, you’ve probably held a wine bottle and noticed the deep indentation in the bottom. Many people tend to think the deeper the indent, the fancier the bottle.

That indentation is called a punt, and it’s been a part of the bottle-making for centuries. Originally, it helped strengthen hand-blown glass bottles, making them less likely to crack under pressure. Today, it still adds structural stability, particularly for sparkling wines, while also giving servers a comfortable place to rest their thumb when pouring, though some say it helps collect the sediment as wines age. In any case, a deeper pun doesn’t automatically mean a better or more expensive bottle.

Almost every driver has experienced that awkward moment at the gas station. You pull up to the pump, step out of the car, and suddenly realize the fuel door is on the opposite side.

To help prevent exactly that situation, many modern vehicles include a small arrow next to the gas pump symbol on the dashboard’s fuel gauge. The arrow points towards the side of the vehicle where the fuel filler door is located. It’s a small detail on the dashboard, yet once you notice it, you’ll never have to circle the pump again.

All elevators look pretty much the same. Bigger or smaller, they all look similar, a gray box with a mirror and buttons. But if you pay close attention, you may notice there’s a small round opening near the top of the door.

That opening is a keyhole used by trained maintenance technicians and emergency responders. With a special elevator key, they can manually unlock the landing doors when repairs are needed or if passengers become trapped inside. The system allows professionals to reach the elevator safely without damaging the doors or relying solely on electrical controls. Hopefully, most of us will never need to see it in action. But in an emergency, that tiny opening becomes one of the most important parts of the system.

If you’ve ever stood in the bread aisle comparing loaves, you’ve probably noticed the colorful plastic clips or twist ties holding the bags shut. Contrary to what many think, they’re not simply a part of the packaging.

For many bakeries and grocery stores, the colors indicate the day a loaf was delivered or baked. While the exact color schedule can vary between bakeries and regions, employees use the system to quickly spot older inventory and rotate fresher bread to the back of the shelf. That way, customers are more likely to pick up the freshest loaf available.

Whether you wear jeans every day or only pull them out for yard work, you’ve probably noticed the tiny extra pocket tucked inside one of the front pockets. It’s too small for a phone and not very useful for loose change, but there’s a reason for it.

Back in the 1800s, when Levi Strauss & Co. created rugged denim pants for miners, ranchers, and cowboys working across the American West, pocket watches were commonplace. Workers needed a safe place to carry their watches while riding horses, so that little pocket was designed specifically to protect the watch from damage. Pocket watches disappeared, but the tiny pocket became such an iconic part of blue jeans that manufacturers have continued including it for well over a century.

Almost everyone has had the same frustrating experience. You pull on a sheet of aluminum foil, and suddenly the entire roll slides out of the box and lands on the kitchen counter.

That’s exactly why major manufacturers such as Reynolds introduced the small side tabs, known as end locks, in the mid-1990s. By pressing the tabs inward, they hold the cardboard roll in place like built-in axles. This keeps the roll from sliding out of the box, makes it much more stable as you pull, and helps the serrated edge cut a cleaner, straighter sheet. It also reduces waste by preventing the foil from bunching up or tearing unevenly. It’s a simple design, yet useful as it can get.

Every household has pens lying around for all kinds of purposes. And most of them have a common feature, a hole in the cap, which isn’t simply part of the design.

BIC and other pen manufacturers included the opening as a safety feature. If someone, especially a child, accidentally swallows a pen cap, the hole can allow a small amount of air to pass through, reducing the risk of complete airway blockage while emergency help is on the way. The design became part of border efforts to improve consumer product safety after choking incidents drew attention to the danger of small plastic objects.

If you grew up sewing or watching somebody do it, you probably remember the classic tomato-shaped pincushion sitting beside the sewing basket. Hanging from it was a tiny red strawberry that looked like nothing more than a cute finishing touch.

In reality, that little strawberry has its own job. Instead of soft stuffing, it’s filled with emery, a gritty material made from crushed abrasive minerals. Running pins and needles through it helps polish away tiny spots of rust, smooth rough edges, and keep the points sharp enough to glide through fabric more easily.

Think back to the first time you learned to type. Maybe it was at work, or on a family computer. Wherever it was, someone probably told you to keep your fingers on the "home row." That’s exactly why the F and J keys have tiny raised ridges.

The bumps let your index fingers find the correct starting position by touch alone, allowing you to type without constantly looking down at the keyboard. The technique, known as "touch typing," is widely credited to American court stenographer Frank Edward McGurrin, who demonstrated it in 1888. As typewriters became more common, manufacturers experimented with different ways to help typists orient their hands, and by the mid-20th century, companies such as IBM standardized the subtly raised plastic bars that remain on nearly every keyboard today.