The Best Health Drink That Money Can Buy

My wife was recently approached by a woman selling the best health drink ever. As the gal went though her sales shtick, she claimed this was a health drink that had virtually saved her mother’s life.  By drinking two cans of this stuff each day, her mother supposedly dropped 20 points off her cholesterol and eliminated her high blood pressure.  This was supposed to be the greatest stuff since pockets on a shirt.  All for the low, low price of $10 per can.  We got a freebie, just to try it out…

The Best Health Drink

I’m not making this up.  The stuff this gal was selling is called Zija.  I checked out the ingredients list, and it seems that the primary ingredient is parts from a plant called the moringa oleifera.  This is a vegetable tree that grows well in tropical and semi-arid tropical areas and is considered to be highly nutritious.  To be honest – never heard of it.

I have absolutely no doubts that this tree is very nutritious.  It may be high in antioxidants and very nutrient dense.  But come on!! The recommended serving size is 1-2 cans per day.  That’s $20 a day.  For $7,000 a year, this stuff should provide everlasting youth and obsolete viagra.

If you can’t tell, I’m cynical.  I see the explosion in bottled drinking water, and can’t help but wonder why this stuff is so popular.  Yes, it’s convenient and I do sometimes drink bottled water for that reason.  Usually, I just refill a bottle from the tap though.  Some would argue that it tastes better than tap water.  Whatever.  Now you go into store and the shelves are loaded with all sorts of bottled water equivalents.  My local grocery store has an entire aisle for Health Water.  You can buy mineral water, vitamin water, health water, and sport water.  The list goes on and on.  Not to mention the stuff is expensive.  The selection of different types of bottled water on the market starts at $5 a gallon and goes up fast from there.  So we’re going to gripe about the price of gas, yet shell out unbelievable amounts of cash for water, which is virtually free from the tap.  I can’t help but wonder why all this other stuff exists.

Don’t get me wrong.  I don’t have a problem with bottled water or health drinks.  I sometimes drink them.  I believe there’s a good reason for some specialized drinks.  Take Gatorade.  It most definitely has quantifiable purpose, and I use it when I’m really exerting myself.  This makes sense to me.  Sustained, intense, physical effort leads to changes in electrolyte balance, which needs to be corrected.  But I’m dubious that bottled drinking water chipped from an iceberg is any better for me than the stuff coming out of my tap.  And I believe this stuff being foisted on my wife is no better than eating a healthy balanced diet.  Am I wrong?

Is this just a bunch of marketing hype?  I wonder if we buy into these designer products, with a subconscious hope they’ll make up for our other choices?  Drink “product X” to make up for eating a triple bacon oink-burger and cheese fries.  Or is there something to this, and I’m just missing it altogether?  What do you think?  Do you have a favorite health drink and if so, why do you drink it?