Coke Zero may be the answer.
This drink may just let me have my proverbial cake and eat it too – to cut back on sugar while enjoying the fizz-filled sensation of a corporate icon. Let’s forget for a moment this is Diet Coke re-packaged for people who have an aversion to anything “diet” in the labelling. The deception is working.
And after watching a documentary on Netflix about artificial sweeteners, I no longer fear their consumption. As it turns out, they sometimes cause cancer in rats. As for humans – so says the Netflix experts – no worries!
It would be nice to cut out sugar altogether, but it’s a tough go. A year ago, I gave up sugar for a month and life was barely tolerable.
Even my wife called it stressful. I’m still not sure what to make of this. Was it because of my moodiness or because she didn’t like me refusing her baking? She made baking a priority during the pandemic which helped us all deal with feelings of emptiness and isolation. (We also took up online aerobics, which didn’t last as long.)
While I returned to my sugar-eating ways, there’s merit in giving something up for even a short time period. Many people give up alcohol in January, another comfort drink during the pandemic. My sister-in-law gives up meat for the entire Lenten season.
According to another Netflix documentary we just watched, abandoning meat is the be-all and end-all to achieving optimal human health. As you can tell, I’m a little skeptical. I don’t doubt that vegans are, on average, healthier than your typical North American meat-eaters, but to what degree and at what cost? I would venture a guess that consuming enough calories from vegan foods is costlier and more time-consuming than eating some meat every day. Meat is jam-packed with juicy calories that last long into the night.
The health risks of red meat in particular appear to be overblown with more research needed. Nevertheless, cutting down on meat holds merit, particularly on the environmental side of things.
Cattle in particular release a horrendous amount of methane into the air which is a contributor to climate change. Livestock feedlots pollute the local environment. But perhaps the most significant impact of our meat-eating ways is on the oceans.
If you can stomach it, I encourage you to watch Seaspiracy, another, yes, Netflix documentary. This one didn’t come across as overly preachy or biased, but I could be wrong. Maybe our oceans aren’t being pillaged for everything that lives in them.
There appears to be no easy answer to the environmental degradation of the oceans other than not eating seafood. Watching this documentary felt like the time I visited a slaughterhouse; I didn’t want to eat pork for a while.
With seafood, I truly want to stop, but alas, the flesh is weak. When everyone else is chowing down on shrimp, it’s hard to resist.
The problem is (yes, this is the problem), none of my family members or friends are vegetarian or vegan. I live on the Prairies, where it’s first nature to kill and eat. Over time, I suspect more people will become vegetarian, making it easier for us weak-willed omnivores to come on board. Don’t get me wrong, the vegetarian revolution has begun. Mostly in California, but it has begun.
Like I’ve said many times before, I’ll start with a meatless meal every now and then and see how it goes. With my Coke Zero. Small steps.
No comments:
Post a Comment