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Ginger ale for your stomach ache? Not so fast (Sorry, Vernors)

Does ginger ale actually help with your stomach ache?

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Morning Musings 🤔

In Michigan, when someone says soda, we quickly and proudly correct them. "Ahem, you must be mistaken, it's called pop."

Where did this prideful label come from? The real answer is, nobody knows. There are theories. I like this one.

When pop became popular in the U.S., it started with "soda" fountains on the East Coast. In the South, because Coca-Cola was founded in Georgia, they call pop "coke," which is funny to me for some reason.

In the Midwest, we may have started calling it pop because of the sound it made to pull a cork from a bottle of ginger ale.

Dialect Blog found a mention of "ginger pop" in a cookbook from 1824, entitled Cookery and Confectionary:

Ginger pop. One pound of loaf sugar, one ounce cream of tartar, one ounce of ground ginger, one gallon of boiling water; mix together; when nearly cold, add one spoonful of yeast; strain and bottle it; tie the cork over, and in six hours it is fit for use.

Either way, pop is definitely the correct one.

- Ken

Morning Dive 🏊

I love Vernors. I love a good ginger ale on a flight. There's something refreshing about it, right? But I've often wondered if the theory of ginger ale being a stomach ache cure was just something my mother told me to stop whining. 

Ginger ale history

Ginger ale dates back to 1851. The original, the golden ginger ale, was invented by Thomas Joseph Cantrell, an Irish apothecary and surgeon. He marketed the beverage with an Irish company, becoming the first to offer the product. 

Dry ginger ale was invented later, in 1904, by Canadian chemist and physicist, John J. McLaughlin. It would later be patented in 1907 as Canada Dry. It became a huge hit in the U.S. during the Prohibition Era, as many started to use it as a drink mixer in speakeasies. Dry ginger ale far outpaced the popularity of golden ginger ale.

Nowadays, dry ginger ale is still most popular. Golden ginger ale is more regional, like Vernors in Michigan, which is the oldest American ginger ale company, dating back to 1866.

So, does it work?

So, here's the thing: Ginger has been used as a holistic home remedy for stomach pain, motion sickness and other queezy ailments for years and years. Pure ginger has been shown to help quell nausea and vomiting.

But ginger ale pop doesn't have much ginger in it. So, the quick answer here is -- no. It's not healing your stomach ache. In fact, it could be making it worse.

One can of commercial-brand ginger ale can have 10 to 13 teaspoons of added sugar in it, yet contain only a tiny bit of natural or synthetic ginger flavoring. Sugar helps feed bad bacteria in your stomach.

You're basically adding fuel to your stomach ache! (Thanks a lot, mom!)

What does work?

Pure ginger works. So, grab some pure ginger from your local grocery store, slice a bit off and add it to your tea. No sugar involved there -- just the pure ginger!

Chatter 🗣️

  • The UAW-GM strike is entering its 22nd day today after the UAW said on Sunday that talks have taken a turn for the worst. It's already the longest strike in the last 50 years. We'll see if the two sides make progress this week.
  • No joke: "Joker" broke box office records this weekend, even as its controversial depiction of violence made some potential theatergoers anxious. The gritty Warner Bros. film about the origins of the crazed Batman nemesis brought in an estimated $93.5 million in North America this weekend.

Housekeeping 🧹

Hey, if you like this newsletter, let us know. We'd love your feedback. We also offer several other newsletters that probably cater to at least one of your interests -- unless you're only interested in candles. We don't have one for candles. Sorry.

- Ken Haddad (Have something to say or a topic idea? Contact me: Email | Twitter)

Let's Link 🔗

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About the Author
Ken Haddad headshot

Ken Haddad has proudly been with WDIV/ClickOnDetroit since 2013. He also authors the Morning Report Newsletter and various other newsletters, and helps lead the WDIV Insider team. He's a big sports fan and is constantly sipping Lions Kool-Aid.

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