This cannot be true! Black
licorice is deadly. Or so say the doctors
who treated a man who died after eating almost two bags a day of black licorice
for several weeks.
Why is this so distressing to
me? Because I love licorice. I have kept a jar of licorice in my office my
entire 41 years of working. And now
this. “The key message here for the general public is that food containing
licorice can potentially be hazardous to your health if eaten in large quantities.”
So says Dr. Neal Butala, a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. (Source: Yahoo News)
With all due respect to Dr.
Butala and his colleagues who authored the study calling out black licorice as
the latest thing that will kill me, I wonder if the ‘key message here for the
general public’ might not instead be, “Don’t eat two bags a day of black licorice,
or anything, people!” As a licorice-lover
I rise to its defense, and argue the problem is not the candy but the candy-eaters.
The doctors say that even two ounces a day for two weeks can cause heart trouble,
so if that’s true, I can eat one ounce and live!
In the ancient church
teachings gluttony was listed as one of the ‘seven deadly sins.’ It’s opposite, the virtue, is moderation or
temperance. In other words, it’s a sin
to gulp down bags of licorice, but it’s not a sin to have a little at a
time. Isn’t that how most of life should
be lived, friends?
The prophet Isaiah wrote, “Listen,
listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight yourself in the richest
of fare.” (55:2) That is one of my favorite passages to read at funerals.
Heaven is not the absence of food. People in heaven, like this man who died from
over-consumption of black licorice, I pray, still get snacks. In fact, we get the richest of fare because God
wants us to enjoy ourselves in God’s presence, worshiping God always, even
while we snack.
I have a doctor appointment
coming up. Maybe I will bring along my jar of licorice and ask her if I need to
give up black licorice until I get to heaven. Or maybe I won’t.
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