There’s really nothing worse than taking medication. Medication sucks. I don’t care what you think about this because who wants to take any substance regularly every day unless it’s weed or something else that actually makes you feel good and happy? I say this because I’ve come down with a bit of a cold in the last couple days, and as my home remedy, I’ve been making massive amounts of hot water with honey, lemon, ginger, and turmeric. I took maybe two packets of Theraflu begrudgingly, but as I took all this, I thought about how at the last two offices where I’ve worked, the office managers always stocked Emergen-C in the medicine cabinet, and people flocked to it like birds during cold and flu season. At the first sign of a cold, as though Emergen-C was the end-all cure for all colds or nasal congestion, people would dissolve it in hot water and drink their berry or orange artificially flavored vitamin C as though it was God’s gift to humankind. It was always one of the most disgusting things ever. People are really into their artificial 1,000-mg serving of Vitamin C as long as it’s in a packet, it’s not natural, and you have to pay extra money for it as a dietary supplement or medication. Let’s just forget the fact that vitamin C is water-soluble, which means that once your body has taken in 100% of its daily value, it will just expel the rest of it out of you. And let’s also forget that you can eat your orange or apple or whatever fruit of choice that is really high in vitamin C and basically get better nutritional and health value out of that.

Our society has truly stopped valuing what is naturally healthy (real food! Fruit! Vegetables!) and instead has turned to medication and dietary supplements as a substitute for leading a healthy lifestyle. And they think they are being smart for it (hence the excitement and self-satisfaction in taking Emergen-C in the office. It’s like an announcement I constantly hear at desks near mine when the weather becomes cold).  It’s really no wonder why people come down with the cold every year (the average adult in the U.S. gets the common cold 2-3 times per year!) multiple times, why obesity is so high, and why Americans as a group are just so unhealthy compared to the rest of the developed world.

Just eat your damn orange, drink your lemon water, and be healthy.