Candy Health Hustle

     A lot of time has passed since the consumption of my last piece of candy; approximately 36 minutes. The little voice in my head tells me I probably shouldn't have anymore, and maybe it's right. Or, the voice is terribly wrong and more candy is exactly what I need.

    Isn't it wonderful how candy seems to leave you feeling vibrant? When I bite into a piece of candy, I think of simpler times where people enjoy chocolate and sugary sweet confectioneries in special parts of human interaction and life. 

    For example, movie theaters hold a special place for most people, especially when they start to think about being with someone they love, eating popcorn, and of course, munching on delicious boxed or bagged candies. But why is candy so prevalent to happiness? I'll tell you why. It's because of the love that's baked and packaged inside of each and every piece of candy. Well, we'll just call that love, sugar.

    Sugar can be wonderfully taste worthy in many situations; however, some people's bodies produce different levels of insulin, which can create various issues when considering sugar consumption. This deficiency is also known as Type 1 Diabetes. There are different forms of diabetes, but that's a discussion for another day.

    From one end to the other, the spectrum on sugar is full of needs and wants, but how does it all effect most people, by means of healthy consumption? The common folks who consider themselves to be even mildly healthy, try to limit their intake of candies, cakes, and pies, but are they truly happy about where they are in their lifestyle choices? People like Little Debbie would probably say they haven't consumed enough love in their lifetime. According to Yong Kang Chea et al., in "The relationship between health risk and consumption of confectioneries: An instrumental variable approach," from the Malaysian Journal of Nutrition (2020), Little Debbie is right. Chea and the other authors conducted research on the correlation between confectionary consumption and the level of health risk in a large pool of subjects in Malaysia. They included all types of people to make the research more rounded, which in turn brought the helpful information that people who are of lower health risk, enjoyed sugary sweets more than those who had higher health risk.

    I began to wonder if the reason that the higher health risk people consumed less candies and such was because they feared the sugar wasn't good for their bodies, and hoped to lower the risk. Setting aside the diabetic population, it would seem that people who consumed more sugar were happier and lived more full lives, which might be true, but it ultimately got me thinking about what other effects candies can have on one's health.

    After doing a little more research, I found out that one of the more popular health helpers in the candy world is chewing gum. 

    Ken Asakawa et al., wrote an article on "The Effects of Chewing Gum in Preventing Eyestrain," which I think is an insightful bit of information during the pandemic we currently live in. On a daily basis, the majority of people are spending several hours a day looking at lit up screens, which is commonly known to create a wide array of eye troubles. There is hope though, through the regular use of bubble gum, the muscles in your face can be strengthened and stretched, which will greatly reduce eyestrain and keep you happier and healthier.

    There are many other questions on how candy can effect one's health, in good and bad ways, but I hope this bit of information may help spark some curiosity in which someone may consider adding a little bit of "love" to their diet, in order to help their body and mind in a more positive way.