Those "Natural" Soft Drinks -- Are They Really?

It never ceases to amaze me, the junk that companies sell today under the guise of being "healthy." A few days ago, on a trip to my local supermarket, I found just a couple of examples that absolutely shocked me.
First of all, I've got this lovely bottle. It's beautiful. Isn't it? It's a gorgeous color, lovely green top, with beautiful yellow coloring. It's got a picture of a couple out enjoying a view over a lake; it looks really nice and peaceful.
Oh, and it's got green tea in it. Now, that's pretty good. Isn't it? That's very good for you. "Gold Peak Iced Tea - Green tea with other natural flavors." That sounds good. Doesn't it?
Well, let's read the ingredients. "Water." That's a good start. "High fructose corn syrup." Ick!! That's not so good. Well, it's got "natural green tea concentrate." I don't know about you, but if I'm going to drink green tea, I think I'd rather drink the real thing than a concentrate. That's like the difference between drinking freshly-squeezed orange juice and orange juice from concentrate. If you've ever compared the two, well --- Revolting! So, that's our first one. That's delightful, and actually, that's probably the best one out of the three.
This next one is brilliant. "Rx-Stress." So, this is actually a prescription drink for stress! Perfect! Who isn't stressed? We all need this drink! Wonderful! "Herbal Iced Tea." Mmmmm!! "A soothing blend of naturally-decaffeinated black and green teas, with Panax ginseng, chamomile, valerian and vitamins B6 and B12." Wow! That sounds really good. I think I'll buy that.
Oh, hang on. I think I'll check the ingredients first. Agh! That's hilarious! It's got five lines of ingredients, and the first two are taken up with: "Premium brewed, decaffeinated black and green teas, using filtered water." Ooh, that sounds really nice. It almost makes up for the high fructose corn syrup that comes second. Okay. I don't think I'll get that one either. Ech!! Disgusting!
This one is my absolute favorite! This is absolutely hilarious. This is Diet Coke, plus vitamins! That's wonderful! I mean, who wouldn't want Diet Coke, all the goodness of Diet Coke, with vitamins? How could you possibly go wrong? I don't even need to read the ingredients on this one. This is just absolutely hilarious.
So, really, there's a word that sums all of this up: Marketing. These companies want you to buy their products. So they're going to use words like, "natural," "soothing," "healing," to make you buy the product without reading the ingredients on the back, and that really is the lesson here. Before you buy any kind of store-bought drink, or food for that matter, especially if it's got the words, "natural," or "soothing," or "healing" on the front, make sure that you always read the ingredients. Because even the health benefits that would be obtained from the black and the green teas found in a couple of these bottles are instantly cancelled out by the high fructose corn syrup, which definitely, obviously, isn't good for you. So, make sure that you always read the ingredients before you buy any kind of drink from your supermarket.