"Was that supposed to be good for you?", I asked, one eyebrow raised.
"Well duh!", he said, thrusting the bottle in my face so that I could read the label.
"Hmmm", was my reply, obviously less than he had hoped.
"This drink tastes sweet because it was flavored with corn, not sugar cane. It is common in many foods, sadly many of which are "health" drinks."
"What does that mean?" he queried, the defiant look from before now faded.
"It means you are ingesting a lot of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) daily. And it isn't limited to just soft drinks and bags of bread or cookies. You'll find the ever present sugary liquid in things like yogurt, herbal teas, and..." pointing to his empty bottle, "so called healthy sports drinks."
"Why is that a big deal?", he asked, drawing a step closer.
"Because, Einstein, HFCS has been linked to a variety of health problems."
"Like what?" The look on his face and the darting of his eyes made me think he was going to attempt to find a place to spew, should the information be too much to handle.
I continued, "Dr. George Bray, a researcher, has found a connection between HFCS and obesity."
"But I'm not obese..." he said, frowning while pinching his side just above his belt.
"I know that. It's true that HFCS is not the only cause of obesity, but it's certainly one of the contributors. Dr. Meira Field, another researcher, fed lab rats a diet high in HFCS."
I paused to let the sound of my voice reverberate through the air.
"The rats encountered several significant health problems, including anemia, fatal heart conditions, and delayed testicular development."
His hand drifted slowly toward his zipper.
"And all of the rats died before they made it to adulthood. And their livers? They looked like Swiss cheese, kind of like what an alcoholics liver resembles. They were full of cirrosis and plugged with fat."
His color was now akin to the white of a freshly painted door in a hospital.
"So...what can I do to make sure I don't eat or drink anymore of this stuff?", he asked shakily.
"Three simple things," I replied, glad to see the responsive turn around in my friend,
- Drink pure water or homemade tea instead of soda.
- Avoid pre-packaged products and eat whole, unprocessed foods. Eat foods like God made them, in other words food that grows naturally.
- If you've just got to have a pre-packaged product, do two things: A) read the label before you buy, and B) remember this conversation.
God bless you,
Steve
