Say it ain’t so — ginger ale doesn’t calm stomachs????

One of the few things I remember enjoying when I was sick as a child was drinking ginger ale to calm an upset stomach. I had terrible reactions to things like milk and aspirin as a child. Each sent my stomach reeling (you can imagine the details, I’ll leave it at ‘reeling.’)

But then there was ginger ale, tasty, soothing, calming. And I had a crush on the White Rock Ginger Ale girl (New Yorkers will remember that brand).

My mother also believed in the healing powers of ginger ale, always calling for it when she was sick as “bring me the ginger.”

So imagine my disappointment when I saw Ginger Ale Isn’t the Key to Calming Your Stomach—Here’s Why.

“One report finally sets the record straight, with the help of a leading gastroenterologist: ginger ale does not calm queasiness or aid other sickness symptoms. It’s ginger that does this best, but ginger and ginger ale are not one in the same,” reports Cooking Light.

Ginger itself may help stomachs, but there’s precious little if any of that in most ginger ales today, the article says.

Must you dump on all my family traditions is what I want to say to Cooking Light. But maybe I’ll just go get a ginger (ale) instead.