People eat garbage… and lots of it. Now,
you shouldn’t judge someone for what they eat, just like you shouldn’t judge
someone for smoking or using recreational drugs, but neither should those
individuals feel shameless for what they are eating/smoking/injecting. If you
feel that this is not an apt comparison, each scenario is a person consuming a
substance which is killing them, just at varying speeds. And while milkshakes
might take their sweet time (pun definitely intended) compared to heroin, it is
also much easier to give up milkshakes than it is heroin. Yes, yes, I know,
there are those news reports distorting scientific studies that claim sugar is
addictive. In actuality consuming sugar just activates the dopamine, “reward”
pathway in the brain. Lots of things can activate it, but none are quite as
efficient as opioids, certainly not sugar. So do you feel good when you drink a
milkshake? Yes. Do you get the shakes if you go 8 hours without one? Probably
not.
So why am I shaming milkshake
drinkers? There is nothing wrong with an occasional milkshake. In fact, they
are one of my favorite treats. My problem is with the social acceptance of
drinking milkshakes. Now you’re probably thinking, I don’t even remember the
last time I saw someone drinking a milkshake, it’s certainly not a common
sight. This is another part of the problem. Part of the reason we eat so much
garbage is that in addition to all of the garbage produced, companies also make
garbage that looks like real food. People rarely make the food they consume
anymore, and if they did, they would realize how absolutely horrible some of it
is. For instance, say you have an 8oz glass of iced tea and would like it
sweetened. Would you add one teaspoon of sugar or two? If you answered five,
congratulations you’ve made commercial sweet tea. Things like sugar and oil are
greatly utilized in food because they taste good. This is kind of a big selling
point with food. However, if you saw the actual proportions being used you
would be able to gain a perspective on how much some foods rely on sugar or oil
alone, and how little they utilize the flavor of the food itself.
Okay, back to milkshakes. By this
point you are surely wondering where I am going with this. A long-held gripe of
mine is people who falsely claim they like coffee. I know I’ve lost you again,
but just stick with me it will all come together. If you don’t like coffee that
is fine don’t drink it. I’m merely saying don’t lie about it. And here at last
is my point. Just because coffee is an ingredient, doesn’t make it coffee. Coffee
ice cream is not coffee, nor is a blended coffee drink that is mostly sugar and
cream. That is called a milkshake. Now tell me how many people you see everyday
drinking milkshakes. How many people, at 8 in the morning having a milkshake on
their way to work. How many people drinking two or three of these a week. If I
did that with a conventional milkshake, of course I would be judged by those
around me. Yet when we pretend that it’s coffee, it’s okay.
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