ginger ale and colds

Factual Questions
1

Whenever I have ever been sick, drinking Ginger Ale truly alleiviated my symptoms and made me feel much better.

Why?
What is it in there that helps?
Or is this really just my imagination?

2

Imagination has much to do with it.

But Ginger Ale is often given as a remedy (though usually for queasiness, not a cold). It’s believed to be a combination of of the sugar (quick energy) and the ginger (which supposedly settles the stomach, though I don’t know if the quantity in ginger ale is enough to have an effect.

3

It’s good for keeping you hydrated, too.

4

Not to mention that carbonated beverages often make an aching stomach feel better.

5
  1. I’m with you, Vanilla - Ginger Ale is the Chicken Soup of Soft Drinks[sup]TM[/sup]
  2. It’s not your imagination - it’s some combination of ginger and carbonation, as mentioned in the previous posts, and the placebo effect (which is not imagination, right?)
  3. It’s gotta be Seagram’s Ginger Ale, not Canada Dry - CD is too sweet; Seagram’s (and a few other brands) is more gingery and less sweet - tastes better, is more effective.

my $.02

6

Vernor’s truly sucks, though.

7

I’ve heard that ginger is supposed to alleviate nausea and used to keep a baggie of candied ginger around for nibbles, but I doubt that there is enough actual ginger in ginger ale to be effective in any case.

Oh, and you have my sincerest condolences vanilla, obviously your taste buds were severely damaged during the war.

8

I have always been told to try to hydrade a nauseated stomach with clear soda or Ginger-Ale for the bubbles. Water just sloshes around, but the carbonation. . .

It’s just Effer-Fucking-vescent.

9

My SOs patent remedy for stopping being sick is large quantities of green cordial. Works a treat on me. So I’d say it’s the sugar and water that does it, since those are basically the only ingredients in the stuff…