# Food myths **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 2, 2017, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225 "2017-03-02T18:18:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/41 "2017-03-02T23:04:14Z")
Oh, and I remember one more from my mother. Never drink water or anything else after having eaten cherries or prunes (every other fruit is ok), or else you get stomach cramps. Has anybody heard about that? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/42 "2017-03-02T23:07:22Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > The most pervasive I can think of is that oysters make one amorous. Oysters and Spanish fly, a beetle which creates a dangerously toxic chemical called cantharidin, a potent blistering agent. Because nothing turns on the average person like serious chemical burns. > [@](#): > > Maraschino cherries are made of balogna (no word what the balogna was made of) Who knows what the bologna was made of. > [@](#): > > Pop rocks, if eaten with soda pop will explode in your mouth Well, yes. That’s the point. The legend is that they’ll explode in your stomach, creating enough gas to kill you. IIRC, the first episode of Mythbusters busted that one with a pig stomach. > [@jz78817](#): > > I haven’t heard it in a long time, but there were some in my grandparents’ generation who believed swallowing chewing gum would lead to appendicitis. I used to be a nervous, twitchy little kid, so I chewed my pencils something terrible. I can still remember my second grade teacher standing over me, intently detailing just how terribly pencil wood would destroy a tiny little organ no bigger than the tip of my pinkie finger, and how she apparently believed that being scary and intimidating to a nervous second-grader would make him _less_ likely to chew his pencils. (Well, the second part was implied, I suppose.) Anyway, the little organ was the appendix, which I’ve never had a second of trouble from my whole life so far. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/43 "2017-03-02T23:41:24Z")
Mountain Dew shrinks your testicles. Around 1990-1992, Michigan. Middle-school boys. We talked about it in school and in youth group, etc. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/44 "2017-03-02T23:50:36Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Oh yes, I’m actually German and this is what I was always told when I was kid in the seventies: reheated mushrooms will kill you. My mother never did it. Since I’ve cooked my own food, I’ve let this rule silently slip and reheat my tagliatelle ai funghi merrily in the microwave and can digest them quite well. But my Mom still would never do it… > > ETA: I’m a vegetarian too, if that matters, and eat my fair share of mushrooms. > > ETA2: oh, and NEVER eat raw mushrooms, of any kind. They will kill you too. Same bullshit. Oh, goodie! Finally someone other than my friend and her friends who’s heard of it! I’m wondering if maybe there is some kind of mushroom where there is some shred of truth to this, or we can identify the source of this myth or something. But, then again, I’ve heard lots of odd myths that have apparently no basis whatsoever in reality that it could just be something spun out of whole cloth. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/45 "2017-03-02T23:53:25Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Oh, and I remember one more from my mother. Never drink water or anything else after having eaten cherries or prunes (every other fruit is ok), or else you get stomach cramps. Has anybody heard about that? I don’t know that one, but my parents were fond of “don’t drink ice cold water on a hot summer day” because the shock to your system might kill you or something. I haven’t heard them repeat that one in a long while, though. Must be some Eastern European thing a la “if you’re a woman, don’t sit on a cold stone floor/bench/surface because it will make you infertile.” ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/46 "2017-03-02T23:58:52Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I think I asked about this many many moons ago on the Dope ([actually, here’s the brief thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=25416) – hey, back from May of 2000, when I joined the Dope, so this must have been one of my first threads), but one of my German friends told me that reheating and eating cooked mushrooms would make you sick. I have no idea where this comes from, or why an intelligent human being such as her would believe it to be true, but she did. And she’s a vegetarian, so I assume she’s eaten her fair share of mushrooms (actually, it looks like the context, which I had forgotten, was her relaying a story about getting sick after eating cooked mushrooms.) Is anyone else familiar with this? I’ve never heard it, but I’ve refrigerated, reheated and eaten cooked mushrooms plenty of times and I’m still here to tell the tale. I don’t recall ever getting sick from suspected bad mushrooms. Going back to the OP and the assertion that Dr. Pepper is made from prune juice. I once heard that prune juice and Sprite taste like Dr. Pepper. They do NOT. They taste like gross prune juice, which is already kind of gross (it’s so dense, for lack of a better description). ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/47 "2017-03-03T00:00:35Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > \Must be some Eastern European thing a la “if you’re a woman, don’t sit on a cold stone floor/bench/surface because it will make you infertile.” Our version of that was, “Don’t sit on cold cement because it will give you piles.” ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/48 "2017-03-03T00:04:53Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Our version of that was, “Don’t sit on cold cement because it will give you piles.” Mom never said piles of what. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/49 "2017-03-03T00:05:13Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > That’s not a myth, that’s REAL!!! I’ll pick damned near anything up off the floor and dust it off and eat it if I just dropped it. Same here. I’m perfectly aware that contamination is instantaneous (I saw that on _Mythbusters_ too) but I’m not about to toss out a delicious morsel of food simply because it’s fallen on the floor. Saying “Five second rule!” distracts you from the reality that you’re eating food coated with dead skin cells and dust mites. Also, blowing on the food completely sanitizes it. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/50 "2017-03-03T00:11:16Z")
This one is from my high school girlfriend’s uber religiously stupid parents: Don’t cook anything in the microwave because it makes the atoms spin backwards which WILL give you cancer. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/51 "2017-03-03T00:30:16Z")
“Chicken eggs that float are rotten.” No, they may or may not be, but they’re floating because they’ve been around long enough for some of the liquid to evaporate thru the permeable shell. ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/52 "2017-03-03T00:48:04Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Mountain Dew shrinks your testicles. > > Around 1990-1992, Michigan. Middle-school boys. We talked about it in school and in youth group, etc. My husband STILL says this, although I have to believe he’s being sarcastic. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/53 "2017-03-03T00:53:14Z")
The 5, 10, 20, or more pounds of undigested meat that is in every non-vegetarians colon. Sometimes it comes up in terms of the above mentioned juice cleanses. :rolleyes: Just think about the volume that even five pounds of meat takes up. There is no way I would be unaware of carrying 20 pounds around with me. If food has that little organic certification on it that means no pesticides were used growing it. There’s actually a list of approved natural pesticides for the US certification. Some of that list, like Rotenone and Azadirachtin, are worse than most of their non-naturally occurring competitors. Eating after some time at night (or within so many hours of bed time) makes the food all turn to fat. [It doesn’t.](http://www.medicaldaily.com/4-studies-debunk-dont-eat-bed-myth-best-time-eat-396814) ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/54 "2017-03-03T04:42:35Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > Also, blowing on the food completely sanitizes it. Why would you want to do that? It is another myth that perfectly sanitary food is better for you. You want a bit of grot on your food, to keep your immune system in practice (that is assuming you do not have an autoimmune disease). This is why picnic food is always better. Nothing like a little yellow jacket crap on your potato salad. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/55 "2017-03-03T04:54:06Z")
> [@Azeotrope](#): > > A tooth left in (whatever brand of soda Mom didn’t want you drinking) overnight would dissolve. There is a bit of truth to this, at least if you use Coca-Cola. Try it! We did in a junior high science class (with a baby tooth thoughtfully donated by someone who’s younger sibling had lost one recently) and while the tooth did not “dissolve” in the sense of completely disintegrating, after a day or two a lot of enamel had come off and the structural integrity of the tooth seemed doubtful. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/56 "2017-03-03T05:02:38Z")
Yeah, I think there the rub is not that it’s false, but that it’s meaningless. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/57 "2017-03-03T06:04:19Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Yeah, I think there the rub is not that it’s false, but that it’s meaningless. That, and something “all-natural” like lemon juice would probably do the same thing. After some research: [Lemon juice has a pH of 2](http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Chem_AcidsBasespHScale.shtml), [whereas Coca-Cola Classic has a pH of 2.50](https://www.sheltondentistry.com/patient-information/ph-values-common-drinks/) (and lemon juice a pH of 2.29, which is exactly the same as the previous reference accounting for differences in precision). So, yes, lemon juice would not only do the same thing, it would do it _better_ and _faster_ than Coca-Cola. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/58 "2017-03-03T06:46:19Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Why would you want to do that? It is another myth that perfectly sanitary food is better for you. You want a bit of grot on your food, to keep your immune system in practice (that is assuming you do not have an autoimmune disease). This is why picnic food is always better. Nothing like a little yellow jacket crap on your potato salad. Actually, I’ve used that excuse too—thinking “this will toughen up my immune system” as I pick up a Flaming Hot Cheeto from the carpet and pop it into my mouth. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/59 "2017-03-03T06:52:52Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > no mention of the 5-second rule? Yes, see post #21. > [@pulykamell](#): > > I don’t know that one, but my parents were fond of “don’t drink ice cold water on a hot summer day” because the shock to your system might kill you or something. Daredevils that our family may be, we cheat death every day in Summer by disobeying this rule. Another one is “nothing cools you better on a hot day like a cup of hot tea”. My Irish parents in law mentioned this one. I said “strangely I’ve never heard anyone from a hot climate ever say this”. Knowing I’m from Brisbane, they appeared to accept my authority on the point. And when they stay with us, it isn’t hot tea they drink. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/60 "2017-03-03T07:04:24Z")
Green bananas give you a bellyache. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225.md?page=4)