Welcome, and remember...

Just a reminder about what we'd like to see here. Students will be responding to readings, and their grade will be based on the following rubric:
  • Reflection statements (self positioning within the course concepts);
  • Commentary statements (effective use of the course content in discussion and analysis);
  • New idea statements (synthesis of ideas to a higher level); and
  • Application statements (direct use of the new ideas in a real life setting).
Don't forget to mark the comments you want for credit with an FC.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Effects of Six Drinks

After reading the History of World in Six Glasses it's interesting to see how the six drinks Standage used have affected the health of the world. All drinks have, in some way, been tied to poor health habits. Beer is full of simple carbs and sugar and overtime will damage the liver. Spirits and wine fall into this category as well. Coffee and tea are both addictive to people because of the caffeine that is in them and the caffeine flushes nutrients out of the body. Cola is considerably bad because it has high amounts of sugar and caffeine and throws of the ionic balance of the body.
This book explores six drinks and how they have related with world history, but have they also affected the health of people over time and contributed to problems such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes?
Stephen Goodwin

2 comments:

  1. It was kind of interesting to see how the negative side of the drinks were mostly overlooked, but that is what happens when it is contrary to your thesis. He did mention how laws were formed to curb excess drinking in some of the earlier chapters, but not much for health negatives were mentioned pertaining especially to the the tea, coffee and cola.
    In the end I do think most of these drinks have done more positive things than negative though. Before the book I couldn't think of many positives for beer, but the way it created a safe liquid source is priceless, even if some ancient peoples got drunk. Sure, today beer may not have many health benefits, but it has its place, and it did once hold a vital role. Wine fostered conversation and excessive drinking was frowned upon. Spirits helped out sailors but it did provide a more efficient way to get drunk.
    Tea and coffee are addictive but can help raise focus, like cola. I think he could have mentioned something about health with the Coke though, especially since he placed it on such a high pedestal within American society. Much of America has gotten obese, and more are having to deal with heart issues and diabetes as you said. Our news seems obsessed with this sort of stuff, and the fact that we have become more sedentary in our lifestyles (typing at computers for instance) and yet we still drink plenty of Coke, full of sugar and Caffeine isn't really helping the situation.

    I don't think mentioning today's health issues would have hurt the book, it may have just shown how powerful drinks really are, that they can affect health today just as in ancient times...just in an adverse way when used incorrectly.

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  2. Oh, and FC for that last one, if it isn't too late to count.

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