9 Things We Know to Be Bad For Us Today That Were Once Marketed as Health Foods
If anyone has ever given you grief for enjoying a nice snack, now you'll have a reason to tell them to check the facts. Some snacks were actually created as a medicine. Whether all of them lived up their claims varies, but you can at least reference their original intent and go about enjoying your snack in peace.
Around 1876 Lieutenant Moxie was using a plant extract to prevent "softening of the brain," nervousness and insomnia. Then, a doctor friend of Moxie took his idea and put it in soda water known as: Beverage Moxie Nerve Food.
Creator John Pemberton originally sold the soda for 5 cents in vending machines, because people used to think a carbonated drink improved their wellness. Now we know just how acidic this beverage really is, yet we still consume it in massive quantities. Not that far off from Pemberton's Indian Queen Hair Dye and Pemberton's Globe Flower Cough Syrup really.
Because it contained lithium citrate, so it was meant to stabilize moods. Lithium wasn't removed from the recipe until 1948. We still use it to settle an upset stomach, so it sort of is still thought of as a medicine. Go figure.
Back in 1892 doctors thought that curing digestion problems would cure a lot of other illnesses, so the original snack was a roll of figs that was was meant to help digestion. Now they're in a square cake that we still eat today, but not as prescribed by a doctor.
Just like Coke and 7-Up is was meant to help cure the ails in your life, because you know its "Good for life!". Now it's packed with 23 flavors and has got people claiming they are "a pepper." How the times have changed.
Yeah, and for just a nickel! But, wait, where's the nourishment in chocolate and marshmallow? Or, maybe it's the peanuts? Yeah, that's it.
Because, the use of the best milk, chocolate, almonds, butter and pure cane sugar was thought to help give a person a little more pep in their step.Â
In 1829 Reverend Sylvester Graham thought bland food would make people's need for "self abuse" slow down. Well, that didn't work out too well, but at least now we can eat s'mores instead of playing with ourselves, so maybe in the end it worked out.
McVitie's started the whole thing of calling cookies digestives, because they thought eating these after a meal would help with digestion. Too bad that wasn't true and people were just indulging in an after dinner dessert routinely that had no beneficial effects. Now they come with a warning that says they have no ingredients which aid in digestion. Thanks for the heads up!