By Dr. Joseph Mercola
     with Rachael Droege

There is an overwhelming amount of health information circulated by the media, and it can be difficult to discern between what is credible and what is not. What’s more, some of the information that has been accepted as truth by many experts, health care practitioners and Americans are actually myths.

Your health really depends on your own ability to sort through all of the information and pick out what is reliable. Unfortunately, you often cannot rely on the "popular" opinions to give you the best results. Here are some of the top health myths that are wrongly accepted as truths by many.

Myth: Sun Causes Skin Cancer

Experts and the media bombard us about the "dangers" of the sun. This is one of the most inaccurate myths that persist among most Americans. Unfortunately, this myth has contributed to massive amounts of disease and illness in our society because we ALL need sunshine to stay healthy.

Can sun exposure cause skin cancer? Absolutely. However, appropriate sunlight actually prevents cancer. Exposure to the sun provides many benefits such as promoting the formation of vitamin D. We also have strong evidence that sunlight is protective against MS and colon, ovarian and breast cancers.

This does not mean that we should all go out and get as much sun as we want--you must exercise caution. At the beginning of the season, go out gradually and limit your exposure to perhaps as little as 10 minutes a day. Progressively increase your time in the sun so that in a few weeks, you will be able to have normal sun exposure with little risk of skin cancer.

Remember to never get burned, that is the key.

Using sunscreen is not a good way to limit your sun exposure; in fact, sunscreen is one of the LAST things you want to put on your body, and sunblock does not stop skin cancer. Sunscreen is a toxic chemical that can cause problems in your system and increase your risk of disease.

A far more logical solution would be to creatively use your clothing to block the sun’s rays during your build-up time.

Additionally, consuming many whole vegetables will increase antioxidant levels in the body, which will provide protection against any sun-induced radiation damage.

If you are interested in preventing disease by way of the sun, I cannot urge you strongly enough to read the book that I am calling one of the most important health books of all-time, The Healing Sun by Dr. Richard Hobday.

If you have been brainwashed by conventional medical wisdom into fearing the sun, this book will help you see the light about the value of proper sun exposure. Without question it is the single most important book on health I have read in a long time.

Myth: Milk Does a Body Good

Commercial pasteurized milk is not a health food and should be avoided. It is primarily the pasteurization process, combined with the source of largely unhealthy cows, that is the problem. When milk is pasteurized the structure of the milk proteins changes (denaturization) into something far less than healthy.

Then, of course there is the issue of the hormones, antibiotics and pesticides and the fact that nearly all commercial dairy cows are raised on grains, not grass, like they were designed to. This will change the composition of the fats, especially the CLA content.

I believe Sally Fallon of the Weston Price Foundation says it best:

Pasteurization destroys enzymes, diminishes vitamin content, denatures fragile milk proteins, destroys vitamin B12 and vitamin B6, kills beneficial bacteria, promotes pathogens and is associated with allergies, increased tooth decay, colic in infants, growth problems in children, osteoporosis, arthritis, heart disease and cancer.

Calves fed pasteurized milk die before maturity.

Raw milk sours naturally, but pasteurized milk turns putrid and processors must remove slime and pus from pasteurized milk by a process of centrifugal clarification. Inspection of dairy herds for disease is not required for pasteurized milk. The practice of heating milk to kill germs was instituted in the 20s to combat TB, infant diarrhea, undulant fever and other diseases caused by poor animal nutrition and dirty production methods.

But times have changed and modern stainless steel tanks, milking machines, refrigerated trucks and inspection methods make pasteurization absolutely unnecessary for public protection. Clean raw milk from certified healthy cows is available commercially in several states and may be bought directly from the farm in many more. By executive order, it is forbidden to transport raw milk across state lines.

This is particularly sad because milk is one of the healthiest foods available prior to its being pasteurized.

So, there is a major distinction needed in the prevalent belief that milk is good for you--it should be RAW milk, as raw milk does provide many outstanding health benefits.

With that said, I am happy to announce that I have found a truly superior source of "real" organic raw dairy: Organic Pastures Dairy Company. Never processed, never pasteurized and never homogenized, these raw dairy products are high in antioxidants, vitamins (including B-12), all 22 essential amino acids, natural enzymes, natural probiotics and good fatty acids. Also, none of the individually named cows are ever given antibiotics, hormones or GMOs--and only pasture, natural grains, and approved organic homeopathic methods are used to feed and care for the cows.

Myth: Saturated Fat Causes Heart Disease

Contrary to what you hear on the news, it is not the saturated fat in the foods we eat that is causing all of this heart disease, but rather, and far more, it is the excess carbohydrates from our starch- and sugar-laden diet that is making people fat and unhealthy, and leading to epidemic levels of a host of diseases such as diabetes and later, heart disease. Trans fats are another major contributing factor.

The reason why many people have not succeeded with the original diet-heart hypothesis that says a low-fat, high-carb diet is the best diet for the heart is likely explained by metabolic typing. We each have one of three nutritional types and each suits people to a different type of diet. Some people will benefit from a "high"-carb program that is two-thirds carbs as vegetables--while others need to follow a diet that is higher in protein to function optimally.

I do believe that we are slowly getting away from the old diet-heart hypothesis, however. The trend now is to place less emphasis on total cholesterol and more on other cardiac risk factors such as:

• Omega-3 fats
• Blood pressure
• Systemic inflammation indicators like C-reactive protein (CRP)
• Insulin levels
• Oxidative stress
• Homocysteine

Myth: Low-Fat Diets are Healthy

Your body cannot function properly without adequate amounts of fat--it influences everything from blood clotting to vitamin absorption to brain function. As such, there are many dangers associated with a low-fat diet such as:

• Raises bad (LDL) cholesterol
• Won’t prevent prostate cancer
• Can increase risk of injury
• Increases triglycerides
• May increase risk of stroke
• Worsens heartburn
• Denies children essential nutrients

However, the major reason why low-fat diets are harmful is that most people replace the fats with grains and sugars. If vegetables were substituted instead, as I detail in my new book, then it is far less likely that there would be a problem.

Also, many people have adopted low-fat diets as a way to lower their cholesterol. Not only are low-fat diets not the key to lowering cholesterol--as mentioned above they may actually raise bad cholesterol--but low cholesterol does not necessarily imply good health. For instance, low cholesterol is linked to many problems including aggressive behavior, depression, suicide and stroke.

It’s important to note that lower fat diets may be beneficial for some, especially those with carbohydrate metabolic types, but all of us need some beneficial fats in our diet to stay healthy and fat phobia and exclusion of all fats is a prescription for disaster.

Myth: Fish is Good for You

Sadly, as fish would otherwise be one of the healthiest meats on the planet since it is packed with the incredibly beneficial omega-3 fats, fish (and shellfish) easily accumulate high levels of chemical residues from the water they live in. Residues in fish can be as much as 9 million times the amount found in the water!

Due to the massive pollution of the environment by coal-fired utility plants--they release 40 TONS, or 80,000 pounds, of mercury into the air each year--and other sources, this once healthy food has now been rendered largely unfit for human consumption. Some of the contaminants found in fish flesh include:

• Mercury
• PCBs
  
• Radioactive substances like strontium
• Toxic metals such as cadmium, lead, chromium and arsenic

There are some viable alternative options for obtaining the nutritious benefits of fish, such as regularly consuming high-quality purified fish oil like the Carlson's brand of fish oil, and enjoying the absolutely delicious Vital Choice Alaskan wild red salmon, I discovered through independent lab-testing my team coordinated, to be mercury- and PCB-free and safe.

Very small fish like anchovies and sardines are also likely OK to eat, as they are small enough to have minimal contamination.

Aside from these alternatives, most all fish is contaminated--this includes fish in supermarkets and restaurants, whether farm-raised or ocean-caught. If you cannot confirm, via lab testing, that the fish you are eating is not filled with toxins--don’t eat it! Mercury and PCBs are not something to play around with, and they can really sabotage your future health.

Myth: Whole Grains are Good for You

While nearly everyone, including myself, agrees that whole grains are better for you than refined grains, whole grains are still not something that most people should be eating.

The central issue is that well over 75 percent of Americans would benefit from severely limiting or eliminating all grains--refined, whole, sprouted or otherwise--from their diets.

This is because nearly everyone with high insulin levels benefits from avoiding grains, yes even whole grains. People in this group would be anyone who is or has:

• Overweight
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Diabetes

The majority of Americans fall into one or more of these categories. Plus, an additional one-third of the remaining people will need to avoid grains because they are protein metabolic types.

So even if you are purchasing whole grain, organic sprouted bread, more than likely it will not move your body toward health, and you are better off avoiding it. The higher your insulin levels and the more prominent your signs of insulin overload are, the more ambitious your grain elimination should be.

Grains to eliminate include:

Highly processed grain products are not recommended regardless of insulin level. These include:

Generally, the exception here is if you need to gain weight and aren't sensitive to wheat (and are not a protein nutritional type), then limited amounts of sprouted-grain bread could be included in your diet.

Related Articles:

Learn Why the Myth of the Sun Causing Skin Cancer Can Hurt Your Health

Reduce Your Risk of Cancer With Sunlight Exposure

Dietary Fats and the Cause of Heart Disease

The Truth About Saturated Fat

Why You Don’t Want to Drink Pasteurized Milk

Pasteurized Milk and its Link to Autism