Fact or summer myth In the shade the skin tans too?

Summer myth fact check: Will you also brown in the shade?
"Mosquitoes love sweet blood" or "hot drinks quench your thirst better than cold ones": such "wisdoms" are often heard. But are these only summer myths or is there something about such statements? A fact check gives an overview.

Summer myths in the fact check
Especially now in the warm season you can hear many old kitchen wisdom. So it is said that mosquitoes love sweet blood, or you get a strong stomach ache when you drink water after eating cherries. Also, that you can turn brown in the shade, can be heard on the maybe last hot days of this summer. But what about such statements? Are these just summer myths? In a message from the dpa news agency, some such allegations are subject to a fact check.

Many summer myths turn out to be unfounded in the fact check. (Image Thaut Images / fotolia.com)

Even in the shade you will turn brown
What about the claim that you can turn brown in the shade? "That's right," said dermatologist Reinhard Mrotzek, who is organized in the Federal Association of German dermatologists. "In the shade, you still get 50 percent of the UV dose." So you get there color, but slower and gentler. "It does not matter if you're sitting under a tent roof or a tree," explained the expert. Since window glass also lets in part of the sunlight, office employees could also tan while working. To assume that after a sunburn much browner, said the dermatologist: "This is of course nonsense." This would rather destroy important skin cells and pigments, which provided for tanning, not even formed. It should not be forgotten that every sunburn is added to your own skin account and increases the risk of skin cancer.

Should you avoid black clothes??
According to the dermatologist, there is no difference between black and white in clothing - at least with regard to UV protection. "It does not depend on the color of the clothing, but on how tight it is woven." However, you probably get in the black T-shirt rather in a sweat: "I think dark clothes are more likely to warm up." According to experts, however some mosquitoes who like dark blue or black clothes.

How to keep annoying mosquitoes away
And what about the claim that mosquitoes love sweet blood? "This is really a myth," said biologist Julian Heiermann Nabu Conservation Union in Berlin. "Some people, however, are stung more often than others." According to the expert, this has something to do with the scent: "The sweat contains a certain substance that attracts mosquitoes. Some are producing more of that. "British researchers have recently found in a study that genes and not sweet blood are responsible for attracting mosquitoes. According to Heiermann, diet also helps a little: Garlic and onions could keep people at a distance, but not the Stechtiere. Many experts, however, see this differently and advise, among other garlic as a natural home remedy for mosquitoes. Also essential oils can help against annoying mosquitoes.

To drink hot or cold? And how much of it?
On the question of whether hot drinks help against the heat better than cold, explained Bernhard Watzl, nutritionist from the Max Rubner Institute in Karlsruhe: "Cold causes the body produces heat." And continues: "I think it would be cheaper, rather, to consume the warm drinks. "However, it is not sufficiently researched whether they are really better than an ice-cold Schorle. "It is important to drink enough on hot days." How much water we should drink depends, among other things, on temperatures and activities. In summer, it can also be three liters per day. But is it true that one should not drink water if one has previously eaten cherries or ice cream? "This may be related to hygiene in earlier times, but can not really be justified today," says Watzl. "There's nothing wrong with having a drink afterwards."

Change wet bathing suits after swimming
The fact that you get heat-free at particularly high temperatures is not fundamentally correct. Usually, it is up to the rectors to decide. But students have it better than workers. "There is no right to heat free," said a spokesman for the Confederation of German Employers' Associations. However, bosses would have to protect their employees, for example, by an air conditioning or flextime work. That one should not go out with wet hair, because otherwise you get sick, is not right. However, if you freeze because of the wet hair, bacteria are prevented bad and thus increases the risk of infection. The advice of the grandmother not to be allowed to dry in wet bathing suit should be followed. According to health experts, wet bathing suits and swimming trunks should be changed immediately after swimming. As reported by the State Pharmacy Chamber in Hesse, this reduces the risk of cystitis. As a result, cold and wet conditions reduce blood flow, thereby promoting the spread of bacteria that can enter the bladder. (Ad)