Just to get this out of the way, I don't normally buy and eat candy in bulk. In fact this was the first time in my life I had such a huge bag [of 41 ounces] worth of sugar, dyes, palm oil and corn (yes, corn) that has been dubbed Skittles. I actually prefer eating mostly raw vegan. Earlier today the only other food I had was half of a large organic watermelon. Imagine That; eating a well balanced diet of Skittles and watermelon.
Actually the only reasons I bought so much skittles was to fill up my amazon pantry box with enough qualifying items for free shipping. You got me Amazon with another clever marketing (and sensical) tactic. And if nonsensical is a word, than sensical can surely be a word even if I'm the one to make it up (what up, Shakespeare?).
Yes, I despise the fact its artificially flavored. Yes, I hate the fact it's full of dyes that are, in fact, stimulants (just like the sugar). And YES, that there's no real nutrition whatsoever in the whole bag. Just about 4,640 empty calories. And about is not an added adjective it's what the serving size section says right on the box. Seriously Wrigley? (the company who makes skittles, owned by mars). You couldn't base the exact nutrition off the weight of the bag with your industrially accurate scales and need to properly label the bag in exact ounces anyway? Well I guess the surprising number of misshaped and scales would mess up the calculation and violate some government law, perhaps there's some overdose limit on food dyes they want to avoid saying 'well we didn't know exactly how much was even in the bag!'
So, after digressing a bit let's get back to my teeth. DISCLAIMER, yes they've hurt recently and it did take almost half a bag (20oz) of these skittles to onset a hint of pain. More pain was wrought a few days ago with just a bite of bread. Before that I had a day or two of pain that would only subside with fasting or limiting myself to fruit only.
Something I have learned with eating the most skittles I've ever had in my life, and yes this counts all those years of Halloween candy got as a child, is that saliva not only helps digest food, it helps us from dying immediately from food. It lubricates the throat so we don't choke. I've also been researching health and nutrition for over 5 years in a lot of my free time. Today I ate so many skittles I stopped to think of what I was actually eating. There's only 5 distinct flavors in the whole bag; strawberry, lemon, green apple, orange and grape. I began separating the colors and eating them alone to feel what each actually tasted like. The lemon are probably the only ones that taste anything close to what a real fruit is. (and this says a lot coming from a self proclaimed fruitarian)
So remember kids, one 41 ounce bag of Skittles is part of a well balanced diet as long as you also have watermelon.
In all honesty there are a lot more food items I'd call less healthy in my experience. If you choose to intake more healthy items, stick to these basic rules: Eat more whole foods with the water intact, eat less dry processed foods with the water removed.
EDIT: Eeek, I'm dying. I just read on the bottom of the bag
"PRODUCED WITH GENETIC ENGINEERING"
At least I didn't consume the notorious 54 ounce bag which is known for sending many a teen to rehab.