Buyer Beware

The list of powders one can add to a morning smoothie is almost endless, there is a cure for whatever ails you: Does your memory need boosting? Do your joints ache? How are your hormones? Do you need to poop?  Are you aging too quickly, does your skin sag, is your hair lackluster?  Never fear, the cure is out there somewhere. 

I’ve googled enough miracle cures Facebook now bombards me with links to articles and products on the daily. I’m showered with promises of the fountain of youth every morning and now my smoothie tastes like shit.

Who doesn’t want to be young and beautiful?  Who doesn’t want a digestive system that functions like a finely tuned machine?  Who wouldn’t pay all the money to feel like a thirty-two year old again?  Apparently all that and more is just a click away.  

Who truly believes any of these promises?  Does anyone really think a pinch of powder, a slick of oil or concoction of exotic ingredients will do anything more than relieve them of their money?  Is there anyone out there who, in their heart of hearts, honestly thinks we can stop the clock?

A promise of a quick and easy fix is tempting I will admit, I’ve fallen prey to marketing wizardry more than a couple (or a hundred) times in my life.   I’ve purchased promises and discovered they were lies. I’ve held my nose and swallowed hype and hoped that this time the magic would work all the while knowing I was being duped again.

I’m not knocking vitamins or nutritional supplements – the goodness in much of our food has been processed to the point of extinction.  If one wants to eat anything other than fresh fruits, vegetables and nuts one must add what has been laundered out of it.  One must also be cautious of what’s been added into whatever it is we are planning to consume. The science of food is making eating it a hazard. 

I’m all about healthy I’m just not very keen on stupid and much of the hype and promise of quick and easy fixes is just that – stupid.  If a plump-lipped, wrinkle-free, perfectly coiffed faux fifty year old is pushing a product it’s probably fake. Snake-oil sales people may have evolved in their finesse but their products are the same today as they were a hundred years ago. Buyer beware – if it’s too good to be true that’s exactly what it is.