Tag Archives: medical

Bananas – The Swiss Army knife of the fruit world?

Growing up in the early 90′s the latest craze was getting high from banana peels (also debunked btw!) Over the years bananas have been used for various tasks. Demonstrating how to put on condoms, chimp bait, and explosives amongst them.

So, when I was sent a message currently circulating social media (thanks Lucy :) ) regarding bananas and their ability to whiten teeth I was intrigued. It sounded like bunkum but; bananas, they can do anything, right?

banana-teeth-whiteningI did a bit of research and it appears that the post is a regular on Pintrest (which, naturally, swings me towards thinking it’s nonsense) and although there are lots of articles around the interwebnets espousing the benefits of bananas for tooth whitening they are not quite the kinds of sites we look to to find the truth about things. Also they appear to be referencing each other (dubious). So we moved onto the science of it.

It appears that potassium nitrate, although present in tooth whitening products is in fact added (along with fluoride) to, ” help reduce tooth sensitivity side effects.” Chandler. The whitening agent in the products being carbamide peroxide.  A 2001 paper by the Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto confirms this.

After I conducted all this deep, lengthy, scientific research I found an article by Sarah Jio on Glamour.com who tested it herself and debunked it so I shouldn’t have bothered!

Oh, also have a butchers hook at this Website for laser tooth whitening, it’s one of at least four that use this image – recognise the smile? (Bet you thought I’d missed that!)

We’re calling this one debunked!

Water – it cures all known human ailments!

water-saves-lives

I’m not doubting that drinking water is good for you, but don’t you think that if you could avoid a heart attack simply by drinking 1 glass of water before going to bed we’d know all about it. Unless, of course, it’s a conspiracy by heart surgeons across the globe who would suddenly find themselves unemployed!

This first came to light in 2011 when Barbara Mikkelson from Snopes.com explained it so beautifully I’m just going to quote her verbatim!

“Beyond the nebulous suggestion that a glass of water “helps digestion” (how would that be measured?) or the fallacious claim that it “helps lower blood pressure” (it doesn’t) water does not “activate internal organs” in the morning. Our organs function quite well all on their own while we sleep, and they continue functioning after we wake up. As for the claim that downing a glass of water before bed “avoids stroke or heart attack,” were keeping ourselves safe from these dreaded killers that simple, the various stroke and heart disease foundations would be telling that very thing.” 14 November 2011.

Well said Barbara – DEBUNKED!