Popular Old Wives’ Tales That Are Actually True

#1 An apple a day keeps the doctor away

Yeah, yeah – we all know eating fruit and veggies every day is important for our overall health. But an ‘apple’? A ‘day’? Turns out those old wives weren’t just nagging … they were actually spot on.

A 2013 study found that if all people aged over 50 in the UK ate just one apple per day, they would actually prevent – or delay – 8500 heart attacks and strokes every year. So let them eat apples!

#2 Going Bananas

There’s so much folk wisdom about pregnancies that Snopes.com has a whole section dedicated to it.

With so much bunk floating around about reproduction, you can pretty much file anything you hear about it into your internal garbage bin.

For example, eating bananas while pregnant will lead you to give birth to a baby boy. It sounds ridiculous, but at least one study suggests that it’s true.

There’s a catch, though: You can’t just feast on bananas for nine months and expect to have a 100 percent chance at having a boy.

Women need to eat a whole lot of high-energy foods (like bananas) right after conceiving.

Also, it’s only about a 56 percent probability, which doesn’t sound a whole lot better than pure chance — but it’s actually quite a large difference.

The exact cause is still a mystery. All we currently know is that high levels of glucose tend to be beneficial to boys and detrimental to girls in the embryonic stage.

In fact, with modern low-calorie diets being popular, there has been a very slight uptick in female births in developed countries.

What’s more, this seems to apply to any kind of mammals: Richer, higher-calorie foods also lead to a higher birth rate for males in wildlife as well.

#3 Full moon

No, you’re not imagining it when your kids go a bit bonkers when there’s a full moon on display. Those old wives have been hinting for centuries that a full moon can make for some weird-ass behaviour – from both animals and humans alike.

Generally, researchers have yet to prove categorically that our behaviour, fertility and birth rate, etc. are affected by lunar patterns (are you are LUNAtic?). But one study in particular has found that we find it more difficult to sleep around the time of a full moon, despite black-out blinds, etc.

#4 Carrots Really Do Help Your Vision

Carrots do have a relationship with good eyesight, but it's not as simple as cramming yourself with as many as possible and waiting for 20/20 vision. Carrots include beta-carotene, which helps produce vitamin A, a key ingredient in a healthy, functioning eye. But vitamin A is useful for maintaining eye health, avoiding cataracts, and slightly improving night vision — not for suddenly becoming a cat.

Interestingly, this tale didn't exactly come from old wives at all. Scientific American reports that it was made up by the UK Ministry of Food during World War II to explain the highly successful night missions made by British pilots (which were actually thanks to some sophisticated new technology the government didn't want to make public).

#5 A hot bath decreases chance of conception for blokes

If you and your partner are trying to conceive, make sure the man in the equation avoids a hot bath prior to the ‘act’. While old wives have known it for eons, science has proven it to be so.

A 2007 scientific study found that ‘wet heat exposure’ in a hot tub, bath or jacuzzi, is in fact a real risk factor for male fertility. So skip the hot bath before bed, fellas.

#6 Chicken Soup Fights Colds

Chicken soup really does fight colds. According to multiple studies, it’s basically kryptonite for respiratory viruses, only easier to come by and vastly more delicious. Like so much on this list, scientists stop short of telling us exactly why or how, but there are a couple of theories. One is that it somehow slows your white blood cells, reducing the symptoms of your immune system. Another is that the compound carnosine soothes inflammation while strengthening the little hair follicles in your nose that look gross but are actually preventing you from catching all the viruses. So . . . chalk another point up to grandmothers.

#7 Use Newspapers To Clean Windows:

It’s true. The fibers that make up newspaper are much denser than paper towels. This allows them to absorb liquids and they won’t fall apart as easily, says our blogger Chris Barnes.

#8 A Long Labour Means a Boy

This one just sounds like bull. Why would squeezing a tiny male fetus through a narrow hole take longer than a female one? Honestly, I have no idea. But for some reason it happens.A comprehensive Irish study logged the circumstances of over 8,000 births and found boys simply took longer to deliver than girls. At the same time, mothers delivering male children were slightly more likely to run into complications and need either forceps or a caesarean. Again, no-one’s really sure why this happens—physical differences aren’t pronounced enough to account for the swing. After three years of intensive research the best we’ve managed to come up with is ‘it just does’.

#9 Heartburn In Pregnancy May Well Mean A Hairy Baby

This is just bonkers, and we have no genuine explanation for it. It seems that pregnant women who suffer heartburn are much more likely to give birth to a hairy baby. What's even funnier? The study that confirmed it, at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, had set out to disprove it.

Heartburn and hairiness on newborns might not be as strange bedfellows as they seem. The scientists behind the study, once they got over their surprise, theorized that it might be down to pregnancy hormones. Higher levels would both prompt lots of hair growth and relax esophagus muscles, causing gastric reflux.

#10 Count sheep to fall asleep

Those old wives have been telling wakeful kids for centuries to close their eyes and count sheep to fall asleep. And it turns out they’re right about that as well … Well, sort of.

You see, while there hasn’t been a specific scientific study proving that counting actual ‘sheep’ will work to put you to slumber, the use of visualisation or mental imagery can certainly assist in getting you to the land of nod. How? It can help to distract you from thinking stressful or anxious thoughts – commonly associated with insomnia – which will make you fall asleep sooner. So baa.

#11 Fish is brain food.

True. You may have been told when you were growing up that eating fish improves your brain's capacity - and there is now some proof that this old wives' tale is true. The reason for this is fish oils, which contain omega-3 and omega-6. These essential fatty acids (EFAs) are critical for health, normal growth and the development and function of our brains. In a study carried out by neuroscientist and senior research fellow at Oxford University Dr Alex Richardson and colleague Dr Madeleine Portwood, 120 primary-school children with coordination difficulties who were given a mix of omega-3 and omega-6 EFAs over three months showed significant improvements in school performance. Fish oils have also long been shown to protect against coronary heart disease, as well as Alzheimer's disease and rheumatoid arthritis; they have anti-inflammatory properties which protect blood vessels and are also considered helpful in reducing stiffness and tenderness in joints. 1,801 Home Remedies, Traditional Wisdom Rediscovered, Hint & Tips to Make Life Easier, Your Cookery Questions Answered, Stay Calm Stay Healthy (Reader's Digest Association Books)

#12 Chocolate helps relieve pre-menstrual cramps.

Some truth to this old wives' tale. Claims that the reason women crave chocolate when they have PMS is that they're deficient in magnesium, have been dismissed by scientists. After all, wheatgerm and green leafy vegetables are high in the mineral and few people crave those. However, chocolate does contain mood-boosting chemicals that may explain cravings. Satisfy your desire with dark chocolate, which has less sugar and fat than milk chocolate.

#13 Hair of the dog

Did you overdo it last night and drink more champagne than you should have? Feeling a bit crook as a result? Ye ol’ wives would tell you to get straight back on that horse and have another drink to alleviate the symptoms of a hangover.

Do they speak the truth? Science says yes. Research has shown that consuming small doses of alcohol can actually relieve alcohol withdrawal symptoms. But a word of caution – easing the effects can increase dependency on alcohol creating a vicious cycle. So best way to avoid a pounding hangover? Drink a big glass of water before going to bed. Or even better … just don’t drink alcohol to excess!

#14 Old People Can Predict Weather

Old people sometimes say it’s going to rain because they “feel it in their bones.” This claim can be actually true. Stormy weather is preceded by a drop in air pressure, which causes pain in joints of those who suffer from the arthritis.

#15 Honey Genuinely Does Suppress Coughs

Adding honey and lemon to your tea when you've got the cough from hell is now officially a scientific bonus, not just what your grandmother once advised. A study showed that children with upper respiratory infections were more likely to get better if given spoonfuls of honey than they were if dosed with a common cough-and-cold medication.

The reason? Honey is a demulcent, meaning that it forms a mucous membrane that soothes the irritation in an infected area. Honey is also antibacterial; it was used in ancient history to heal wounds and reduce infection. A spoonful of sugar? So outmoded.

#16 A Wooden Spoon Prevents a Pot from Boiling Over

There are actually two reasons why this trick works. First, the spoon destabilizes the bubbles when they come into contact with its water-repelling surface, which makes the boiling water retreat. Second, the bubbles created from boiling water are filled with steam. If the bubble touches something below 100°C (212°F), the steam will condense and break the surface of the bubble.

#17 Use Walnuts To Remove Furniture Scratches:

This is one of our favorites. Remove the nut from its shell and rub it over marks in the wood. The oils from the nut will penetrate the surface, fixing the blemishes.

#18 Hot Baths Actually Can Damage Sperm

Heat + sperm = bad idea. I know this for a fact — my mother had my dad's sperm tested once (don't ask), and to waste some time before taking it to the testing facility, she went shopping in 100-degree heat. The tests, unsurprisingly, came back showing 100 percent dead sperm, and the doctors were very puzzled until my mom confessed to her shopping trip. But the old wives' tale about sperm having a hard time in hot baths specifically has turned out to be true.

A University of California study back in 2007 surveyed men who regularly spent 30 minutes or more in hot water per week, and found that their fertility levels were rock-bottom. Getting them to give up the hot water, however, led their sperm production to skyrocket — their levels went up 461 percent after three to six months.

#19 Gain a Child, Lose a Tooth

A popular old wives’ tale holds that for every baby a woman has, she is bound to lose a tooth, supposedly because the pregnancy interferes with calcium absorption and increases hormones that affect oral health. While the adage might be a bit overstated, a strong link between pregnancy and dental problems have really been found.

#20 Actions Speak Louder Than Words

This phrase might sound like a well-worn cliché, but the truth is that many people aren’t able to communicate well by speaking, so they do it through their actions. It is also estimated that about 80% (some sources even say 90%) of our communication is non-verbal.

#21 Early to Bed and Early to Rise Makes a Man Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise

Several scientific studies have proved that morning people are generally healthier, happier, more persistent, cooperative, agreeable, conscientious, and proactive. They procrastinate less and are better at dealing with negativity and stress.

#22 Cheese Gives You Weird Dreams

In a list of ‘scientifically valuable studies’, one funded by the British Cheese Board about cheese dreams would probably rank on an entirely separate list simply labelled ‘no.’ But luckily their findings were awesome, so I’m including it anyway.According to the ‘study’, 200 volunteers stuffed their faces with cheese before bed and recorded their dreams the following morning. Amazingly, the cheese they ate appeared to affect the type of dreams they had. Those who chowed down on Stilton reported intense, weird dreams, while Red Leicester lovers had nostalgic dreams about the past. Those who ate Cheddar were more likely to dream about celebrities. If this all sounds like a stupid PR stunt to get you buying cheese, that’s because it probably is—but any press release that includes the words ‘one man reported having a drunken conversation with a dog’ needs to be seen by as many people as possible.

#23 Count Your Blessings

The affect of a grateful outlook on psychological and physical well-being was examined, and it was discovered that being grateful for what you have is a great way to increase your happiness. So your grandma was right – count your blessings.

#24 Clothes Make the Man

This old adage seems to be still spot on. Numerous experiments have confirmed that the way people perceive other people greatly depend on what clothes the observed subjects wear. A man dressed in a business suit, for example, gives the impression of authority and is much more attractive to women than a man who wears jeans and a T-shirt.

#25 Onion Relieves Pain from a Bee Sting

In fact, not only a bee sting but also wasp, bumble bee, and some other insects’ stings. Rubbing a piece of onion on the sting can help reduce swelling as the vegetable’s enzymes break down the toxins from the sting.