A study from the University of Michigan shows that eating one hot dog can shave 36 minutes off your life. Holy moly, that is concerning. I personally am not a big hot dog eater but growing up my nephew Gary ate boiled hot dogs almost every meal. The way I calculate it, he probably cut his life span by a little over 4 months during his early years.
My mother always warned me about smoking, drinking and carousing. She told me it leads to nowhere good. My dad, on the other hand, pushed me to enjoy as much of the carnal pleasures as I could.
Thankfully, I never took to smoking cigarettes. Research shows that one cigarette reduces your life expectancy by 11 minutes. So one frankfurter equals over three coffin nails. We may need to change our slang for some of these things. Perhaps a hot dog could be a coffin handle. Since they kind of look, a little like a handle. In addition, it is easy to get carried away when eating the rolled-up bologna on a bun.
According to the Michigan Wolverines, a slice of pizza chops 7.8 minutes off your time here on earth. Maybe we could call pizza a pie to the sky. A little slice of heaven could be a great description for that pizza with double meat and double cheese.
Michigan's research also puts soft drinks on the bad list. It is reported a soft drink diminishes your time of this mortal coil by 12.4 minutes each. "I'd like to buy the world a Coke" takes on a completely new meaning when thought of in this light. It could be the catchphrase of the newest villain in a James Bond movie.
Not all of the news is bad. Eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich adds 33 minutes to your time here on earth. Therefore, a PB&J adds a half-hour to your day.
Curiously, the Michigan research shows an order of French fries is on the good list. The fried spuds add 1.5 minutes to your life. Combine them with a piece of salmon that adds 13.5 minutes and you are adding a quarter-hour to your existence. So in Great Britain instead of everyone ordering, "Fish & Chips" maybe they could order a Quarter Flounder instead.
Michigan researchers tested over 6,000 foods. Some added to life expectancy and some took away from it. Probably after everything is said and done they balance each other out and we live our allotted time without food swaying it too dramatically.
Maybe a new industry comes out of this. PB&J pizza or salmon dogs anyone?
Mark Twain a man who was ahead of his time once said, "The secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside."