I think we spend too much time worrying. And the vast majority of things we worry about are out of our control. I worry about no peace in the Middle East, but I can’t do anything about it. I worry about John Kerry coming up with some treaty that just make matters worse. That I can’t help worrying about. But the bottom line is I should probably use my worry time in a more constructive way. Like my health. That’s closer to home and I can do something about it.
Through the years, I have made some very small life changes to make myself more “healthy.” I switched to skim milk (you can call it “fat free,” but it still tastes the same). I drink a lot of milk, so I figured that would help. Hey, after 15 or 20 years it no longer tastes watery. But, if I continue to drink Nestle Quik ice-cream floats, I’m not sure the skim milk is going to save me.
Back in the early Eighties, I quit drinking coffee. This was no big sacrifice because I probably didn’t like coffee. What I liked was all the sugar I dumped in my cup. And my hand was shaky and someone told me it was from drinking coffee. I had trouble holding my sugar spoon steady! So this little life change eliminated about nine spoonfuls of sugar from my daily diet.
I switched to tea. I still had to sweeten it, but with tea, I could use artificial sweetener. Then all I had to worry about was the warning on the pink Sweet’N Low packet. It advised that the use of Saccharin (the sweetener in Sweet’N Low) had caused cancer in rats. I couldn’t imagine what kind of rat put Sweet’N Low on their cheese. Anyway, around the year 2000 the warning went away. I think it had been decided that people were different than rats (at least most people. I keep getting this picture of former Congressman Weiner nibbling on sweetened cheese.) But, by then I had moved on to Equal in the blue packet.
The sugar industry was unhappy that the artificial sweetener companies were getting a free ride. So, The Sugar Association contracted with Duke University to study the impact of Equal and Splenda (the yellow packet) on rats. The University determined that rats that ate Equal got fatter. But, even more significant, after 12 weeks of eating Splenda, the rats “exhibited numerous adverse effects.” There was a reduction in beneficial fecal microflora and an increase in fecal PH. I clearly don’t understand what they are talking about, nor do I give a rat’s …. The only thing I took away from this study is don’t be upset with your job; you could be spending you day examining rat feces.
Am I concerned that the study said rats eating Equal got fat? No. Whenever you evaluate a study, the first thing you need to do is see who paid for it. In this case, The Sugar Association. And, gee, the study was unfavorable to artificial sweeteners. And they say you can’t trust a lawyer.
I ordered tea at a roadside diner not too long ago. Our table had a bowl containing pink, blue and yellow packets of sweetener. I fished around and found two blue packets. After I emptied them into my tea, I noticed that they were not Equal. It may have been NutraSweet but I’m not sure. What I am sure is that the blue packets were identical to the pink and yellow packets. The company had something for everyone. Then again, if the biggest thing you have to worry about is being duped on your sweetener, life’s not half bad. I am passing this along merely as a public service announcement.
You know, I don’t drink beer or spirits (only on special occasions like Friday or Saturday) and now, people are telling me that Coke is bad for me. What a bummer. I thought Coke was somewhere up high in the food pyramid. So now, I try to limit myself to one Coke a day. I don’t drink Coke in the morning, so that helps. But, if I drink one in the afternoon, I am a goner. I think I will worry about the Middle East and have another Coke.
Written by PJ Rice at www.ricequips.com