Foods that were Once Considered Healthy

Over the years, many products have been put on the market, often claiming to be healthy or have some kind of medicinal properties.

These are just a few items I have researched.

COCA COLA

In 1886 an Atlanta pharmacist, Dr. John S. Pemberton, created a flavored syrup which he mixed with carbonated water.

This Dr. Pemberton had fought in the Civil War and was pretty broke.  He had tried to make money creating various products but failed.

He created this  syrup as a patent medicine, claiming it would get rid of fatigue and headaches.

This worked for a time then, in 1898,  Congress passed a tax to fund the Spanish-American war.  This tax was placed on all medicines.

To avoid the tax Coca-Cola was now merely a beverage.

As you can see from the name, there was something in Coca-Cola.

There were two  “medicinal” ingredients: extract of coca leaves and kola nuts.

No one is certain how much Cocaine was in the original formula.   But it was there.

When questions about the negative aspects of cocaine took the front page, the producers decided to cut the amount of cocaine to a trace.

It was not until 1929 that Coca-Cola  became cocaine-free.

KETCHUP

Way back in 1835, Ketchup was considered to be a medicine.   It was sold in pill form.

Dr. John Cook Bennett, who was the president of the medical department at Willoughby University in Ohio had the belief that that tomatoes could cure  diarrhea, jaundice, and indigestion.

The H.J. Heinz company, a competitor, put forward scientific studies which claimed that tomatoes had antioxidants which were beneficial in preventing cancer.

However, lycopene, which is the ‘miracle drug’  is in such tiny quantities, that  there are no special benefits.

CORN FLAKES

Corn flakes was created by a fanatically religious doctor who believed it was a cure for masturbation.

Two brothers, , Dr John Harvey Kellogg and Will Keith “WK” Kellogg,  ran a sanitarium and health spa in 1894 in Battle Creek, Michigan.

In 1898 Dr. John created a process of turning corn into flakes.  These flakes would replace bread and would be served for breakfast

It was said the flakes would cleanse the body and cut down on the sex drive.

Many  famous people came to the Sanatorium and Health Spa during the 1910’s and 1920’s. Among the well known names are President Warren G Harding, actor Johnny Weissmuller, Henry Ford, Amelia Earhart, Sojourner Truth, and Mary Todd Lincoln.

VEGETABLE OIL

Since the end of World War II various  vegetable oils were created.

Some were to replace fuel, but were failures.   Some were fed to animals, with no hurtful effects.   And then, they were pushed on humans  with all sorts of promises for good health.

Canola oil, for example, was once recommended by the American Heart Association during the 1980s as an alternative to olive oil.

Natural oils, like Olive or Coconut, were condemned and the ‘healthy’ vegetable oil was pushed on the public and put into everything.

Recent studies have found that hydrogenated vegetable oil is pretty bad for you.  And has been linked with everything from behaviour issues to cancer.

These are just a few products, once held to be medicinal which are anything but.