Fibre myth

Granny always said if you didn't eat your fibre you'd end up with legs like her - permanently narked off and clad in nuclear-proof tights to disguise all the purpley marbling covering each of her trunk-like pegs. Well, granny was wrong.

According to the venerable Edinburgh Vein Survey of 2003, there is no association between a fibre-filled diet (and thus regular bowel-emptying) and the presence or severity of varicose veins. So there.

Sit, don't stand

Spending the day on one's feet has long been linked with prematurely veiny legs, and a prospective study of nearly 10,000 Danes has proved it. So give yourself a nice sit down and let the penpushers do the running about for a change.