Booze Beats Soda

Nick Gillespie | March 22, 2006

So sayeth the head of the American Dietetic Association:

Soda (or "pop," if you're from the uncivilized parts of the country), "whether regular or diet, offers no health benefit besides the water it contains," says Milton Stokes, M.P.H., R.D.

Whereas liquor is not only quicker, it "may help slow the absorption of food and keep blood sugar levels in check (pasta with Chianti anyone?) And research shows that moderate drinking (one drink per day for women and two for men) may increase circulating leptin, a natural hormone that curbs the appetite for sweets."

More here.

That being said, let's stop the campaign against "liquid candy" already. And freedom fries. And anything else that tastes so good.

Comments

|3.22.06 @ 5:53PM|#

And cigarettes beat booze! Where is meth in all this?

|3.22.06 @ 6:13PM|#

Well, I tend to consume alcohol in non-moderate amounts, and I have to say that I have absolutely no taste for sweets whatsoever.

Then again, I never did (and no, I haven't always consumed non-moderate amounts of alcohol). So maybe non-sweets-lovers simply have a taste for alcohol instead, and this study is picking up on that correlation.

|3.22.06 @ 6:17PM|#

I'm an above-moderate drinker, myself (shit, I'm a hockey player...we're all alkys), not a big sweets person, but I do love chocolate and ice cream (although I don't really partake).

I always liked sour candy way better than sweet candy.

|3.22.06 @ 6:25PM|#

Coming soon: Alcoholism awareness clinics for children 10 and under who do not like sweet candy.

|3.22.06 @ 6:30PM|#

I'll be dead in the cold, cold ground afore I know what soda is. Now I'm a go get me a redpop.

R C Dean|3.22.06 @ 6:34PM|#

Dave? You out there?

|3.22.06 @ 6:43PM|#

Hey now. Everyone knows it's really pop!

|3.22.06 @ 6:46PM|#

Yeah, well, I can't remember the last time I heard of someone drinking six Coca-Colas and beating the shit out of their family, or downing a two-liter of RC Cola and killing themselves in a car accident...

|3.22.06 @ 7:14PM|#

I dunno. You've never seen people drink pop like they do at an AA meeting. (Or coffee, or smoke, or eat cookies).

|3.22.06 @ 7:17PM|#

Pop my foot! It's coke and don't ferget it!

|3.22.06 @ 7:29PM|#

In both general tone and definitely in tactics, the folks at CSPI remind of PETA . . .

just a thought . .

|3.22.06 @ 8:15PM|#

It doesn't make sense for the CSPI to call soda "liquid candy" as a negative. It sounds even more tempting that way. I don't trust people who don't like candy.

|3.22.06 @ 8:36PM|#

Ever notice how these Beverage Commissars rarely, if ever, make any distinction between sodapop that has been sweetened by sugar, corn syrup, etc. and diet drinks?

They do seem to realize that Beer is Food.

Kevin

|3.22.06 @ 9:07PM|#

Kevin - I've noticed that tendency, though it doesn't exactly apply in this case (see sentence #2 of Nick's post). I do love how the health-o-crat assumes that everything we consume must have some nutritional value.

(And, last I checked, water was a fairly important component of the diet.)

|3.22.06 @ 9:26PM|#

When I was a kid, the Swiss Colony Cheese Store in Northpark Mall sold Daquiri, Martini, and Bourban Cocktail flavored hard candies. I, and pretty much everyone in my grade who could cajole a parent into a trip to Dallas, ate boatloads of 'em. I wonder what CPSI would think of such things now.

|3.22.06 @ 9:28PM|#

When I was a kid, the Swiss Colony Cheese Store in Northpark Mall sold Daquiri, Martini, and Bourban Cocktail flavored hard candies. I, and pretty much everyone in my grade who could cajole a parent into a trip to Dallas, ate boatloads of 'em. Now those were "liquid" candies. I wonder what CPSI would think of such things now.

|3.22.06 @ 9:52PM|#

Zach,

Sadly, there is too much truth in what you said for it to be very funny . . .

And this thread is making me crave a tasty Lemondrop--the triple sec and vodka kind. Now that's "liquid candy".

Jammer|3.22.06 @ 10:03PM|#

Folks, it's coke. Dr Pepper coke, Sprite coke, Big Red coke, and even Coke coke. Get it straight.

|3.22.06 @ 10:26PM|#

Heh, I call all soda pops "Coke" as well. :)

|3.22.06 @ 10:42PM|#

Jammer and Madog,

If you also call all convenience stores "7-11"s, please don't give directions without mentioning that quirk. In an alternate universe, I'm wasting away in prison after having murdered my friend who did that.

In this universe, I got sent to the principal's office for not answering correctly when asked

Is that a tonic?

when I was drinking a soda on my first or second day of school in New Hampshire. I didn't know of their soda prohibition and I certainly had no idea what a tonic was.

It wasn't all bad ... Governor Mel was always good for a laugh.

b-psycho|3.22.06 @ 10:43PM|#

Well then, I guess when they see this Rum & Coke I'm drinking their heads are going to explode, huh?

|3.22.06 @ 11:22PM|#

Beer beats Coke!!!


Yaayyy!

At last science is proving the right things.

Jadagul|3.22.06 @ 11:29PM|#

People, people, people. It's a soft drink.

And Zach: it may have something to do with a fondness for more complex tastes. Sweets tend to have a strong and simple taste-they're sweet. Alcoholic drinks tend to have somewhat more complex compositions and flavors, and so people who don't just want simple and strong tastes favor them.

John M. Joy|3.23.06 @ 6:17AM|#

Re: "pop" or "coke" or "soda"...

This, courtesy Lew Rockwell's blog:
http://blog.lewrockwell.com/lewrw/archives/008619.html

JMJ

John M. Joy|3.23.06 @ 6:27AM|#

And speaking of (the "what's the 'other' on the map" edition)...

Back in my undergrad days, I had a friend from a north of Boston town for whom it was "tonic" (regardless of quinine content).

JMJ

|3.23.06 @ 6:43AM|#

They're always eating candy in Shelbyville. They love the sweet taste!

John M. Joy|3.23.06 @ 7:02AM|#

And speaking of booze vs. whatever-you-call-it...

Someone needs to do a similar study on what folk call liquor stores.

Or, as they're known here in Connecticut, "package" stores.

JMJ

|3.23.06 @ 8:52AM|#

It's a refreshing beverage.

Actually, it's coke.

|3.23.06 @ 9:10AM|#

You out there?

I hate it when they lump all the sodas together like they are all equally harmful. As Snopes predicted, it is looking pretty good for aspartame right now:

http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/news/ng.asp?n=66211-ajinomoto-aspartame-cancer

Score 1 for FDA / manufacturer co-operation!

|3.23.06 @ 9:17AM|#

Jadaqul:

"Alcoholic drinks tend to have somewhat more complex compositions and flavors, and so people who don't just want simple and strong tastes favor them."

Yeah, yeah, that's right...I jest love the complexity and depth of flavors in Bowman's Vodka. especially when it's mixed quite heavily with orange juice. Oh, it's a veritable cornucopia of flavors...like, um, orange. And alcohol. And...well, that's about it.

Alcoholic drinks aren't inherently complex (just take a sip of grocery store shit-wine and you'll see what I mean). They get you fucked up, though. I think this may have more to do with their appeal to the masses than their depth.

|3.23.06 @ 9:18AM|#

Uncivilized! I think it's indicative of an advancing civilization for its people to distinguish between soda and soda-enhanced drinks such as pepsi, coke, and others.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=soda

Jammer|3.23.06 @ 9:39AM|#

And Zach: it may have something to do with a fondness for more complex tastes. Sweets tend to have a strong and simple taste. They're sweet. Alcoholic drinks tend to have somewhat more complex compositions and flavors, and so people who don't just want simple and strong tastes favor them.

Can we now expect a Berkely study showing that "conservatives" favor simple fructose laden beverages while "liberals" are more likely to favor a nice chardonay (organic, natch!), or maybe a brandy due to its complex melange of fruits and oakiness?

Or you can combine the two in a good port, like I do.

|3.23.06 @ 11:18AM|#

We here in completely uncivilized Michigan cook with soda and drink pop. We're so uncivilized we think that a 7-course meal is a six-pack of Bell's Amber and a bucket of smelt......thank God for the Uncivilized!