Health Food Makes Me Sick

I know it sounds paradoxical, but let’s face it, life itself is a paradox. No? Look at the number of people wearing T-shirts saying “Life sucks” and an equal number declaring “Life’s Good”. Instead of throwing myself headlong into another lengthy dissertation on the subject, let me just focus on a niche of mankind’s obsessive preoccupation: Health or health food supplements to be spot on.

Of course I’m not saying that health food is no good, I’m just saying the whole thing is damn silly. First let me define health food supplements. It’s those outrageously hyper overpriced pill-like pellets, or capsules with funny coloured liquid insides or some kind of wonder powder pack in gigantic containers and many other variations. These entire supplements have one thing in common: they purportedly extend the longevity of those who consume them, and oh, they help to make your bank balance very unhealthy for a start.

I have personally had some close encounter with these concoctions and let me just say it left a rather bitter aftertaste. Take the aloe Vera. This wonderfully efficient plant was skillfully harvested and processed and packed in a plastic container and sold for a horrific sum of money when it is actually a glorified laxative with one million and one purported medicinal benefits. I had ingested a few bottles with results I couldn’t categorize as miraculous and finally consign the bottles to the green centre for recycling as a responsible citizen.

Then there was a particular “green tea” made of some obscure sounding name that claim to make your high blood pressure plummet after several months of continuous ingestion. It also was the best drink for diabetics as constant drinking of this beverage will not only control the sugar level but actually “cure” diabetes in “some cases”. And get this; I’m not cooking this up: In “some cases” it even cured cancer. Not bad for a humble leaves which thrive only in limited quantity in certain climates only.

Also there’s these kind of green plant like chlorella, spirolina, moringa, sea coconut, virgin olive oil, mango, you name it.

Of course you will notice that the common feature of the above are they are all plants, and they are produced in pill form or in packets of liquid. All are “natural” and contain no additives, preservatives or artificial colourings. Another common denomination is their famously high price tags because of the way they are marketed: multi-level marketing.

Now the key to quantify the benefits of this so called food supplementary is a consistent and long term consumption, without which the effect is very seldom obvious, as in the passage of time certain malignant condition may have changed for the better or worse, which put the result of the test in question. Therein lies the problem. Should a person attribute his cure of a malignancy to the taking of the food supplement or to the natural process of healing of his body? This opens up a lot of argument.

Whatever the case may be, I’d say I have spent a tiny fortune on this health food over the years and I have like I said, not seen any real benefits. Maybe its my own fault that I am not consistent enough, or I’m a real sucker to suave MLM marketing sales talks by people who are willing to swear on the bible the efficacy of their concoction whatever that may be, or I’ve been duped too many times the golden opportunity to make tons of money while enhancing my health the natural way.

And thus along the way, I’ve dented my reputation as an upright businessman and worse had my credibility compromised in the eyes of my kinsmen. Which is why I had concluded rather belatedly that such category of food make me sick, and the only way to good health is a regular exercise, maintain a sensible diet and a sanity of mind (read happy mind) is the best antidote to longevity.