Debunking the Popeye myth and others…
Popeye, with his odd accent and improbable forearms, used spinach to great effect as it gave him his strength. But why did Popeye eat so much spinach? What was the reason for his obsession with spinach?
The truth began more than fifty years earlier. Back in 1870, Erich von Wolf, a German chemist, examined the amount of iron within spinach.
In recording his findings, von Wolf accidentally misplaced a decimal point when transcribing data from his notebook, changing the iron content in spinach by an order of magnitude. While there are actually only 3.5 milligrams of iron in a 100-gram serving of spinach, the accepted fact became 35 milligrams.
To put this in perspective, if the calculation were recorded correctly each 100-gram serving would be like eating a small piece of a paper clip.
Once this incorrect number was printed, spinach’s nutritional value became legendary. And Popeye’s studio executives recommended that he eat spinach for his strength, due to its vaunted health properties.
Apparently Popeye helped increase American consumption of spinach by a third!
The error was eventually corrected in 1937, but the damage had been done!
But the error was so widespread that the British Medical Journal published an article discussion this spinach incident in 1981, trying to finally debunk the issue!
Oh, the frailties of human nature, to latch onto and spread the first thing we find or the fact that sounds correct!
“Facts” change all the time.
Smoking has gone from doctor recommended to deadly.
We used to think the Earth was the center of the universe and that Pluto was a planet.
For decades we were convinced that the brontosaurus was a real dinosaur, rather than an 
apatosaurus.
I’m sure each of us has encountered such “facts” as we have moved through life.
I’m relieved that it’s not really a fact that we use only 10% of our brain. And it is heartening to learn that 50% of marriages don’t end in divorce.
And as a child I quickly learned the phrase that “This won’t hurt!” was not a fact!
What about you?
Any myths you’ve debunked?
Facts that you now know are not really true?
6 Comments
As a young kid we believed if you picked up frogs , you’d get warts. It was sinful to play baseball on Sundays. If you do so and so the “devil’s gonna git ya!” Oh, well………..!
George, it’s probably a good thing that we do really know that “facts” don’t necessarily equate with “truth.” And it’s reassuring that a lot of the things we believed as youngsters didn’t turn out to be true!
Mostly what comes to mind would be medical/diet stuff – guess that’s a professional hazard. Foods get demonized (think ‘butter’ and ‘eggs’ for example) then later turn out to be not only just fine, but much better than alternative creations. Then there’s the aspartame-is-better-than-sugar for weight loss: NOT, plus it causes a host of other things, like MS and rebound sweets intake, and fibromyalgia. The list is very, very long here in the food world.
So….since things we believe to be true turn out so often not to be, and the reverse as well, I just figure a few old adages could apply…..Eat real food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Move your body. Moderation. Variety.
Do I follow all that? Well……mostly. After all I must include two of my most favorite food groups: Chocolate and Guinness.
Fay,
The medical field is probably one of the biggest categories with the ever-changing facts that keep coming to our attention. AND it’s obviously one of the most important to stay on top of! Your “few old adages” make a lot of sense!
The number 13 isn’t an unlucky one. I was born on that day. I’ve also cashed in a $500 plus lottery ticket using my birth numbers. It hasn’t caused me any grief.
John, I too find some of other folks’ superstitions my blessings. I have always said that Friday the 13th was my lucky day, because everyone else was “claiming” all the bad luck!