By Zoe Papadakis From Newsmax

Drink more water, do more cardio, avoid gluten — these are all things we are told to do if we want to be healthy, but it turns out that not all of these are true. In fact, they are among dozens of health myths that doctors really wish you would stop believing. To get the lowdown on what some of the more common misconceptions are, The Healthy spoke with several medical professionals to get their views. Based on the report, here are nine health myths they have debunked:

1. Drink more water. Since childhood we have been told to drink lots of water, but it turns out you can drink too much of it, said Neal Schultz, MD, a New York City dermatologist. Aside from having to take frequent bathroom breaks, too much water can cause sodium in your blood to drop to abnormally low levels, which could cause debilitating health issues including seizures. “You should drink to your thirst, not to meet an arbitrary number,” Schultz noted.
2. Detox with a juice cleanse. Your liver and kidneys allow your body to detoxify on its own. Most healthy people don’t need the assistance of trendy detox diets and juice cleanses, which can do more harm than good. “Drinking lots of juice does not assist with removing toxins from the body,” explained family physician Jennifer Caudle. “In fact, many juices are high in sugar, which can result in a blood sugar spike, quickly followed by a crash. Furthermore, being on a juice fast for an extended period of time may result in malnourishment.”
3. Don’t eat gluten. Medical experts have been tearing their hair out over this widespread health myth that has gluten labeled as the enemy. It’s not, said Caroline Apovian, MD, director of the Nutrition and Weight Management Center at the Boston Medical Center. “Only about 1% of the U.S. population has Celiac disease and another small percentage may have a gluten intolerance, but if you do not have any of the above, eliminating gluten from your diet does not offer health benefits, including weight loss,” she said.
4. Do crunches for abs. No amount of exercise can undo a bad diet, which is the main culprit when it comes to belly fat. “At least once a day, I’m asked if there is an exercise I can prescribe that will give you ‘abs’ but what most people don’t understand is that everyone already has abs, they’re just likely hiding under layers of fat,” said Jasmine Marcus, DPT.
5. If you’re skinny you can eat what you want. You may not be putting on weight but a bad diet could lead to a number of health issues. “Many studies now show that cancer growth can be associated with the food that we eat, especially those high in sugar,” said Robert D Willix Jr., MD, founder and CEO of Enlightened Living Medicine.
6. If you have allergies, get a hypoallergenic dog. This is actually just another health myth that doctors have to regularly debunk. “There is simply no such thing as a ‘hypoallergenic’ dog,” said Brian Modena, MD, Division of Allergy-Immunology at Scripps Health in La Jolla, California. There is a misconception that dog hairs cause allergies, but it is actually the microscopic proteins that come from the dog’s saliva and skin that cause the allergies. Eliminating dog hair won’t make a difference because these culprits float in the air.
7. X-rays can cause cancer. Despite popular belief, there is no need to fear medical X-rays as they cannot give you cancer or harm you, said Gary Glassman, DDS., an endodontist. “Standing outside in the sun for an hour exposes you to more radiation than you’d get from a full set of dental X-rays,” he explained.
8. You need to do loads of cardio to lose weight. There are numerous benefits from doing cardiovascular exercise and activities like running, cycling, and swimming can aid in weight loss, but only if combined with a healthy eating plan. Exercise alone will not necessarily help you shift the extra pounds. “For all of you people out there spending 60 to 90 minutes on the treadmill every day, thinking you are burning fat, I’m sorry to say you are mistaken,” said physician Josie L Tenore, MD. “To lose weight and keep it off you need to build more muscle because the more muscle you have, the higher your basal metabolic rate.”
9. You can diagnose yourself online. This has become the bane of almost every doctor’s life. “I hate hearing, ‘I read it on the internet,” said Tenore. “Folks, Dr. Google is a really bad doctor!” She explained that, while there is some truth to the information found on valid websites, “a lot of what’s out there is irrelevant, incomplete, or flat-out false.”

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