The Return of Soda Milk?

When I was growing up, I went through a few phases where I didn't want to drink ANYTHING but soda ("pop" to you midwesterners). My parents were understandably upset about this, since they wanted me drinking healthy juices and milk so that my little body didn't wither away for lack of vitamins and calcium. Rather than set up a direct battle of wills - my family is renowned for our stubbornness - Mom came up with a novel plan of attack. She invented "soda milk", a drink made from lots of milk and just a little bit of cola or root beer. It gave the milk a slightly sweet and fizzy texture, but made sure that most of what I was getting was the healthy stuff. Brilliant!

It now appears that Coca Cola's industrial espionage people have been listening in on my childhood stories, as they have now released Vio, a fizzy milk alternative drink. With no artificial flavors or sweeteners, it might not even be too bad for you. Although, I think I'll stick to the real stuff - juice and milk - now that I am a grown-up.

Cola Addicts Experience Weakness

During my weight-loss journey, one of the first things I did to cut calorie consumption was to cut out soda altogether. I like water and juices, so it has been easy to switch and it automatically has made every trip to a restaurant healthier by reducing the sugar intake. But a new study is showing that the only danger in cola is not sugar, but also a combination of problems which can lead to muscle weakness.

The first, a 21 year-old woman, was consuming up to three litres of cola a day and complained of fatigue, appetite loss and persistent vomiting. An electrocardiagram also revealed she had a heart blockage, while blood tests showed she had low potassium levels.
The second also had low potassium levels and was suffering from increasing muscular weakness. It turned out she had been drinking up to seven litres of cola a day for the last 10 months.
In a commentary on the paper, Dr Clifford Packer from the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Centre in Ohio relates the strange case of the ostrich farmer who returned from the Australian outback with muscle weakness. He had been drinking four litres of cola a day for the last three years and drank up to 10 litres a day when he was in the outback, causing a rapid reduction in his potassium levels.

I know several people who have switched from coffee to cola for their daily caffeine fix, because of the perception that it is healthier. I wonder how many of them are suffering from muscle weakness and have no idea that the cause is the fizzy drink in their hands.

"Coke Classic" is now just "Coke"

Twenty-one years after introducing "New Coke" - and then reintroducing the original formula as "Coke Classic" - Coca Cola is finally ready to remove the "Classic" label. It is the end of an era... an era of strange business decisions and proof that marketing does not truly rule everything.