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Compare And Contrast Alcohol And Caffeinated Drinks

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Tom Standage’s book “A History of the World in 6 Glasses”, showed how six varied drinks can have drastic effects on human civilization. Beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and Coca-Cola all have helped mold the world into what it is today, and though the marks of alcoholic and caffeinated drinks are different, there are similarities between them as well. With their effects on the body being polar opposites, alcohol and caffeine impacted economies differently, and even influenced the U.S. in their own distinctive ways. One thing they both share however is their impact on ancient medicine, giving way to decreased disease and increased population. Alcohol was first consumed as beer in ancient Sumeria when growing wheat and barley became popular. …show more content…

Most, if not all, of these drinks had medicinal uses before they were either proven wrong or were surpassed by a better product. Aqua vitae, a distilled wine, was a popular medicine that was either consumed or applied on a wound. The higher alcohol content provided by distillation allowed aqua vitae to “preserve youth; improve memory; treat diseases of the brain, nerves, and joints,; revive the heart; calm toothache; cure blindness, speech defects, and paralysis; and even protect against the plague.” The caffeinated drink that was used the most among medicine is easily tea. Originating in China, people immediately noticed the decline in bacterial diseases such as cholera, typhoid, and dysentery, which were killed off while boiling the water. “It was, in effect, an efficient and convenient water-purification technology that dramatically reduced the prevalence of waterborne diseases, reducing infant mortality, and increasing longevity.” Coca-Cola was even considered a medicinal drink for a short period of time as well since it contained kola nuts, which had caffeine, and coca leaves, which released small amounts of

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