It does not surprise me in the least that when the serpent tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden that food was involved. The old adage says that a person should not live to eat, but eat to live. The problem with a lot of people is knowing where to draw the line at eating just enough to live, particularly during holidays and celebrations.
I use myself as an example. My wife says that she does not understand how I can eat so much and be no bigger than I am. In my younger days, I would say it was due to metabolism. When “penny” suckers actually cost one cent, I could put away a dollar’s worth (100) in a single afternoon. I felt a little sluggish and had a sore tongue when I was through, but if opportunity arose I could eat a half pound of Whitman’s Sampler candies the next day. On the third day, if opportunity again presented itself, I could eat the other half pound, thereby finishing off the box. On the next day I could eat an entire quart of orange sherbet in a single afternoon sitting.
There was a line in the George Jones’ song “If Drinking Don’t Kill Me, Her Memory Will” that goes, “With the blood from my body, I could start my own still.” I’m sure I would be frightened if I could see the collection of all the Kool-Aid that I drank as a child. If Kool-Aid had been intoxicating, I would have been continuously drunk for practically all my pre-adult life. As a matter of fact, I used to call Kool-Aid “poor man’s wine”. There was rarely carbonated Coke or Pepsi products in the home of my childhood and youth, but their sugar content might possibly have been less than the amount found in an equal amount of Kool-Aid. I still have a plastic Kool-Aid pitcher in my garage shed, and I never look at it that I don’t recall it being once filled with “red” Kool-Aid.
Now, bottled water with sugar free packets as flavoring is a much better alternative to my Kool-Aid binges. As a child and youth, I know I drank on average no less than a half-gallon pitcher of Kool-Aid daily. I now find myself a Type II diabetic. Did I bring it on myself by being a Kool-Aid-a-holic in my earlier years? I remember my mother once telling me that my uncle Jack Thomas used to eat a lot of candy every night when he went to bed. He died of leukemia, and my mother surmised this overindulgence caused his fatal disease. I’m not sure if Mother was possibly using this “fact” to discourage my overt sugar consumption. There didn’t seem to be any other attempts to curb my binges.
Interesting enough, there are foods that I now crave that I would not have touched before being diagnosed Type II. I never had the least desire for stack cake—now when I see one on sale at Food City I have to restrain myself. I never liked pecan pie previously, but now it is a fine way to top off a good Thanksgiving or Christmas meal. I cannot think of one sweet that I ever liked that I still do not find enjoyable. Even diabetes has not been enough to make me crave either natural fruits or licorice.
One of the possible negative effects of a huge consumption of sugar is dental problems. I have previously written of my bad experience with a dentist at age eight. This resulted in my not visiting a dentist for almost twenty-five years. I did require work, but not as extensively as might have been thought. The dentist told me that I had to have strong genetics or I would have lost my teeth.
I weighed 120 pounds from the time I was in eighth grade until I graduated college. I credit walking to and from classes at Lincoln Memorial University from my dorm atop Grant-Lee Hill and the quality of cafeteria food for my lack of weight gain during my undergraduate days. When I began teaching, I gained approximately five pounds a year until I topped at 160. When I became an administrator, my weight rose to almost 190 pounds. It was during that time that I was diagnosed Type II. For me, weight is proportional to sugar level. If my current bathroom scale is correct, I am again approaching the 160-ish level as the gray in my hair increases daily.
The good news is that I don’t crave sweets as strongly as I did a few years ago. What I crave now is sleep. My all-time favorite leisure activity is reading; unfortunately, reading has now become a sleep tonic. I suppose my second all-time favorite leisure activity is watching retro television, but rarely do I make it through a show the first time. DVR’s were invented for people like me, those who have to watch an hour long show in three to four sittings to see the ending.
There are those who are very health conscious and take all measures possible to be their healthiest. Others feel that as life is short, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” (Hebrews 9:27 KJV), get all the enjoyment from life possible as the end approaches. It was the Apostle Paul in the Scriptures who said, “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do” (Romans 7:19 KJV). Regarding eating and sleeping, I could take this out of context and paraphrase for myself as something like this: “For the good diet I would maintain I do not: but the evil of sleeping too much that I would not do, I do.” A Google search will show that the Bible has lots to say about eating, drinking, and being merry. Sometimes this comes with a warning, however—“And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die” (Isaiah 22:13 KJV). The Scriptures even address exercise: “For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” (I Timothy 4:8 KJV).
In closing, I must caution against taking little snippets of Scripture out of context. It is always advisable to read and study what precedes and follows a particular quote so that the intentional meaning can be determined. In reference to proper care of the body, perhaps the best Scripture is “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 KJV). Because of this, we need to care for ourselves, both the inner and outer person, to the fullest extent possible. Perhaps, Dear Reader, this would be the greatest resolution that could be made for this New Year.
I leave you with the following tidbits from my email until we meet again via the printed word.

Comedian Bob Hope Concerning His Early Failures: "I would not have had anything to eat if it wasn't for the stuff the audience threw at me."

I got over my addiction to chocolate, marshmallows, and nuts.
I won't lie, it was a rocky road.

After going to California, Carolyn started telling everyone
about the benefits of eating dried grapes.
It's all about raisin awareness.

A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.

The liquid inside young coconuts can be used as a substitute for Blood Plasma.