Flossing is a complete waste of time. It’s one of several everyday rituals that have no health benefit whatsoever, according to medical experts.
Taking naps, reaching for vitamin C tablets and drinking eight glasses of water a day are also largely pointless, say various doctors.
Britain’s Academy of Royal Medical Colleges today released a list of 40 treatments that bring little or no benefit to the patient and should no longer be used.
They include washing out a wound with saline instead of tap water, requesting an x-ray for back pain or using a plaster cast for small fractures. You can read the full list here as reported by City A.M.
Meanwhile, Britain’s Guardian newspaper has followed up with its own list of more medical habits that doctors from around the world have said are necessary or can actually do more harm than good. Read that here.
The Guardian list includes the opinion of a doctor from the University of Tokyo, who claimed last month that regular, hour-long daytime naps can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes by 45 percent.
Several medical studies have concluded reaching for vitamin C tablets won’t do anything unless you are stressed to the max, smoke a ridiculous amount of cigarettes or live in a freezing climate.
Drinking eight glasses of water a day was first recommended 70 years ago but you need far less than that to be hydrated, according to more recent studies.
Meanwhile when food in your fridge reaches it sell-by date it doesn’t immediately turn poisonous. Unless it’s covered in mold, you’re probably good to eat it.
Back in August, the British Dental Association’s scientific adviser declared flossing pointless, adding that all floss-based studies of the past 25 years have been of low quality. But then British dentistry has never had the best reputation – one look at the teeth of Austin Powers should be enough to make you carry on flossing!
