Forget Everything You Thought You Knew: A Cold Soda Isn’t the Cure for an Upset Stomach
As a child, my mother brought a sick, couch-ridden me many-a cold ginger ale to soothe the stomach flu. And as an adult, I have stumbled into a corner store on more than one occasion in search of an ice-cold can of fizzy ginger ale after a night spent downing too many margaritas (and, let’s be honest, probably making other questionable life decisions). And all these times, I thought that cold, bubbly beverage was doing me a favor — but in a new video put together by the folks at STAT, a gastroenterologist says cold, fizzy ginger ale might actually make you feel worse when you’re nursing an upset stomach.
What the whaaaat?
Turns out, the gas from the bubbles and the cold temperature are doing your stomach no favors. Warm, flat ginger ale is a better option — because, really, it’s the ginger itself that helps. And yes, warm, flat ginger ale sounds disgusting and not like something you would ever want to drink, let alone something that would make you feel better, but doctor’s orders. See the full explanation in STAT’s video below.
Boddities: Will soda settle an upset stomach? from Stat News on Vimeo.
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