The world of men’s health is riddled with myths and half-truths, which makes navigating it fairly tricky unless you have the right information to hand.

To help you avoid falling for common misconceptions, here are just five of the most common falsehoods that there is no evidence to support.

There is no way to prevent hair loss

Male pattern baldness impacts millions of men, yet most also think that you can do nothing to prevent it in spite of the fact that there have been effective treatments available for decades.

While the likes of Finasteride and Minoxidil may not be well known, they really do work for a large proportion of patients, stopping hair loss in its tracks and in some cases reversing the effects. You should definitely consider alternatives to hair transplants like Finasteride or Minoxidil rather than taking the surgical route.

Erectile dysfunction is only a problem for older men

ED looms large for plenty of men, but you might assume that you do not need to worry about this until you are well past your sexual prime. In reality, a growing number of men under 40 are suffering from performance issues in the bedroom, which is helping to raise awareness about the prevalence of this issue and also reduce the stigma surrounding it.

Protein powder is a shortcut to building muscle

Protein powders are all the rage at the moment, but unfortunately, they will do nothing in isolation; you need to actually put in the hard graft in the gym to turn that extra helping of protein into muscle mass. Indeed if you take protein supplements but do not follow a suitable training regiment, you could end up putting on weight without getting ripped.

Crash diets are effective

The trend for encouraging men (and women) to go on crash diets during which time calorie intake is rapidly reduced is problematic for a number of reasons, the most significant of which is that it is unlikely to lead to any significant weight loss.

The reason for this is that your body will react badly to a sudden drop-off in calories and will try to ration the burning of fat because it thinks starvation is on the cards, which is obviously far from the desired effect. You are better off taking a more balanced approach and using a combination of healthy eating and regular exercise to stay fit.

‘Light’ beers are good for you

While the real ale craze is still going strong, there is also another emerging trend for so-called ‘light’ beers, which offer a lower alcohol content and also a reduced number of calories per pint compared with their full-bodied counterparts. This gives the impression that they are healthy when in reality they are only marginally less problematic than the stronger alternatives. Do not assume that you will be able to shift a beer belly simply by switching to light, low-strength beers now that pubs are open again, especially if this is the only change that you are making.

In order to increase protection over customers, the UK Gambling Commission and Spelinspektionen, the Swedish authority, have opened the invitation to participate in a public consultation where online slots games are targeted for a complete redesign to reduce harm.

This, along with other previous measures, is part of a series of actions the Commission has implemented to freeze the rampant cases of problem gambling.

COVID-19 has imposed forced isolation over UK and Swedish citizens and with various casino sites without Swedish license utterly failing to protect them from increasing their gambling patterns, it was time to step in.

Spin me down

For many years slots had been condemned as the crack cocaine of gambling.

The game was initially conceived as a mechanic reel set where players needed to match a series of figures to obtain a prize. It quickly became popular among gamblers of all classes and budgets. Nowadays, the accessibility of mobile gaming and perfection of slots to draw away the user’s attention from losses raises concern.

The fact that dopamine rushes make neuroreceptors create resistance over time, forces compulsive gamblers to increase wagers and seek higher risk actions to keep the same levels of excitement. The more a gambler loses, the more the casino profits.

What the UKGC says

The latest report of the British Commission indicates that remote casinos take a larger chunk of gambling revenue with slots being the top gaming choice. The slot had been such a profitable option that dedicated sites (regulated or not) spawn the internet every day.

While banning gambling will only lead to leaving unprotected customers in the hands-on shady sites, the Commission has decided to follow the steps of the Swedish Gambling Authority – Spelinspektionen – and reduce harm over players by increasing the delay time of spins to a minimum of 2.5 seconds.

The measure will be part of a series of adjustments along with the elimination of stop buttons, reverse withdrawals, with stake and prize sizes too.

Spin delays times were prioritized after feedback provided by former gambling addicts that worked along a design group led by Scientific Gaming Corporation and PAs (the latest Playtech) to find ways to reduce harm for this gaming modality.

Will the implementation backfire? Opinion is divided, so the Suffolk Gazette weighs up the pros and cons:

Benefits
● With reduced gaming opportunities losses might reduce. An active problem gambler can lose up to 200 per hour. Delaying the next turn will reduce the amount players spend in a slot session.
● In combination with other adjustments (like sound and effects), spin delays will create less appeal for the game leaving customers to readjust their perception over their actions or leave frustrated.
● Spin delay is a feature that dealers can easily readjust to make it enter in effect almost instantly.
Drawbacks
● Players might seek illegal or unlicensed providers that will appeal to their needs, exposing themselves to unsolicited risks.
● Those with a mild to severe gambling compulsion will act more aggressively as the delay will create frustration as they aren’t having their timely fix.
● Gamblers will opt to make every spin count by the trading frequency with wager size unless this is readjusted like FOBT with a max stake of £2.

Final words

Putting the slots into slow-motion mode won’t be enough to curb down the UK’s problem gambler cases. But cutting harshly the access to online slots will only make users and providers create a gap for other addictive options to fill in.

Making changes in the industry that meets the Commission’s expectations will take a significant amount of time, as readjusting the whole sector is a process that demands the complete collaboration not only from operators but also from iGaming developers that now must measure the ethical impact of their products.