Growing up, there are a lot of things that people would say that you would take as gospel. And sometimes, these things were said by teachers or parents.

However, these adults were wrong and you need to recheck your facts so as not to mislead the upcoming generation.

Here are 5 myths you need to stop believing.

1. Chewing gum takes 10 years to leave your body

Your mother told you this to prevent you from making a habit of swallowing your gum. However, should it be swallowed, it's passed out as other food items regularly are.

2. Seeds become trees in your stomach

When you finished high school, the process of germination should have made it clear that seeds can't grow in your stomach unless sunlight was present.

3. Chameleons stick to your hair

This was spread so as to scare children. There was also the rumour that touching toads would give you warts but very few toad and frog species have toxic skin and even then, they don't give you warts. Chameleons aren't toxic either.

4. Cracking knuckles causes arthritis

Cracking your knuckles causes fluid to move between around the joint but it has no bearing on whether you get arthritis or not.

5. We evolved from apes.

We didn't come from monkeys. We may share a common ancestor where humans went on to evolve to homo sapiens while chimps, gorillas, orangutans and other simians evolved into their present day species. So no, apes and monkeys don't turn into people eventually.