"Bell Peppers Are Good for Anemia"

Since I am here to be a health volunteer, I thought I should tell you about a few of the health myths that pervade my community. I've heard most of these just in casual conversation, although a few came out in my diagnostic survey as well.

• "Bell peppers are a cure for anemia." I have been told multiple times that if you have anemia, you need to make a smoothie of guava and bell peppers and you will get better. When I asked where this myth comes from, I was told "the doctors." I think I need to have a conversation with these doctors.
• "Víveres have a lot of vitamins and minerals." They do not. They are carbs and starch, which are a far cry from vitamins and minerals.
• "You need to wear gloves if you're going to touch a dog." My doña actually told me she would stop doing my laundry if she saw me touching dogs anymore. Every time she sees me petting my dogs, she practically cries because she thinks I'm going to get deathly ill. I was also told that HIV comes from animals, so that's just not great.
• "I can't eat spicy food because I have high blood pressure." I tell them that I think they are confusing salty and spicy, but they say, no, their doctors told them they can't have spicy food.

The thing that's so frustrating about these conversations is that I walk away feeling completely unbelieved. They know I'm a health promoter, they know I went to school to learn about health. They ask me questions like "do guandules have vitamins in them?" (They don't, really. Their main claim to nutritional fame is protein and healthy carbs). But when I challenge them on something they already think is true, they argue with me. The argument eventually ends with them essentially rolling their eyes and saying, "yeah, ok, Elena, I sure do believe you now."

I just keep telling myself that these conversations are laying the groundwork for my Hogares Saludables class that I'm starting for the women in my community next month. By the time they finish the class, at least some of them are bound to realize that spinach is a better source of iron than bell peppers, right?