TMHS 284: The History Of Soda: Medicine, Marketing & Moonshine

There’s hardly anywhere you can go in our modern society and not get your hands on a cold, fizzy soda pop. Whether you call it a soda, soda pop, pop, or just a plain old Coke, they’re as much a part of our world as reality tv, smartphones, and tiny dogs.

Fun fact, in certain parts of the U.S., millions of people refer to ALL types of soda as a Coke. In southern states like Alabama and Mississippi, when someone says, “Grab me a Coke”, the common reply would be, “What kind?”. And when you hear the Coke-wanting person reply with, “A Sprite”, don’t get confused and give them the side-eye.

Sodas seem to have been a part of our culture for a very long time. But, where did it all begin? Today we’ll be exploring the humble beginnings of the world of soda, and I guarantee it’s going to eye-opening (and maybe even a little trippy).

We’re also going to cover the impact that soda is having on the health of our world’s citizens today. We’ll look at how it all got to this point and, most importantly, we’ll talk about some solutions that we can apply to help get us all back in balance.

In this episode you'll discover:

• When the first soft drinks in history made their appearance.
• What a soft drink actually is.
• How carbonated water became popularized.
• Who created the first artificially carbonated mineral water.
• Who the “Father of Soda” is and the crazy stuff he was making drinks out of.
• Which soda-like beverages predated the arrival of the first massively popular soda.
• Why pharmacists were huge initial advocates of drinking soda.
• The surprising health benefits of the phytonutrients found in ginger.
• What some of the original ingredients in root beer were (times have changed!).
• The surprising secrecy behind Dr. Pepper’s original formula.
• Whether or not Coca-Cola actually has cocaine in it.
• Which soda originally used the mood-altering drug lithium.
• How one of today’s most popular sodas has a historical connection to moonshine.
• How soda distributors are driven to create heavy users.
• The shocking impact rampant soda drinking can have on bone density.
• The truth about whether you should be on an alkaline diet or not.
• How most conventional pesticides affect our health.
• Whether or not there’s a clear relationship between drinking soda and obesity.
• The surprisingly small amount of soda consumption it takes to cause insulin resistance.
• How sugary beverages can lead to cardiovascular disease.
• How sodas can easily become addictive.
• The connection between diet sodas and neurological disease.
• Which sodas kept me alive (while killing me slowly).
• Types of soda that failed miserably.
• How soda companies deeply embed themselves into certain groups and cultures (be mindful of this!).
• The top 5 alternatives to guzzling sodas.

Items mentioned in this episode include:

• Foursigmatic.com/model ⇐ Get 15% off your daily health elixirs and coffee!
• Organifi.com ⇐ Use the coupon code model for 20% off
• The History of Sugar - Episode 222
• Cindy Crawford Pepsi commercial

* Download The Transcript

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