Quote:True or false: Eight glasses of water a day are mandatory for staying hydrated. Vitamin C protects you from catching a cold. Frequent snacking is the quickest way to bust your diet. Natural foods are always better for you.

You hear advice like this all the time. But what do these four nuggets of so-called medical wisdom have in common? They're all myths, half-truths, and misconceptions-pieces of information so familiar we take them for granted without truly considering the scientific truth behind them.

In today's information age, when supposedly accurate medical advice and diagnoses can be found online with the click of a computer mouse, medical myths are all around us. But much of this information isn't true, and using it to make decisions about your own health-whether it's how to treat the symptoms of the common cold or how to care for a child or aging relative-can be harmful. Even deadly.

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Medical Knowledge versus Misinformation
Myths about Water and Hydration
Vitamin and Nutrition Myths
Dieting-Separating Myths from Facts
The Fallacy That Natural Is Always Better
Probiotics and Our Bacterial Friends
Sugar and Hyperactivity
Antioxidants-Hype versus Reality
The Common Cold
Vaccination Benefits-How Well Vaccines Work
Vaccination Risks-Real and Imagined
Antibiotics, Germs, and Hygiene
Vague Symptoms and Fuzzy Diagnoses
Herbalism and Herbal Medicines
Homeopathy-One Giant Myth
Facts about Toxins and Myths about Detox
Myths about Acupuncture's Past and Benefits
Myths about Magnets, Microwaves, Cell Phones
All about Hypnosis
Myths about Coma and Consciousness
What Placebos Can and Cannot Do
Myths about Pregnancy
Medical Myths from around the World
Roundup-Decluttering Our Mental Closet