Mexican Coke vs other sodas

Is the water used in the Mexican Coke fluoridated or not? That would be one factor. I don’t know the answer to that.

I like root beer with sugar in glass bottles. It no doubt has fluoride, but I have never noticed a sensitivity to fluoride in myself. (Unlike Ray, who was super-sensitive to it.) So I don’t sweat an occasional cane-sugar soda in a glass bottle. Or even, once in a blue moon, whatever soda a restaurant serves.

I believe that the main reason from a Peat viewpoint is that if the Mexican Coke is made with sugar as opposed to high fructose corn syrup is that sugar is half sucrose half fructose. The problem with high fructose corn syrup is that there may be residual starch not converted in processing.
But in my opinion there are a few other things in Mexican Coke that might also be beneficial.
The Coca Cola company is the largest importer of coca, which is one of the components in the drug cocaine. But for many centuries the coca leaf has been used by the people in the Andes to combat the effects of altitude sickness. The leaves are chewed or made into a tea that combats the fatigue altitude sickness imparts. But it does possess some health benefits. Coca Cola also has some caffeine content as well which from a Peat point of view may possess adaptogenic properties.

I remember Ray Peat stating HFCS metabolized about the same as sugar. In an emergency situation I would not say no to HFCS. It’s not something to consumer on the regular.

Definitely, cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup is the first important factor. There are also beneficial trace minerals.

I think a lot of people get wigged out when they hear Ray Peat is for sugary soda and gummy bears. Instead, think of these foods as a kind of medicine. Ray’s famous “in context.” I would rather try a soda to pull myself out of a fever or a headache or whatever–at least try it–rather than taking a Big Pharma prescription. Which you would have to use a doctor to get.

“Until 2006 I was using mostly frozen pulp-free concentrate, then they introduced the enzyme process (for disposing of waste fiber, making it stay suspended in the juice), affecting even the “pulp-free” type. So now I use only sweet oranges that I squeeze myself. US people don’t realize how ridiculously degraded their standard of living has become. Nutrition is political economical. The governments tell people to eat beans and bread for a reason. I use coca cola as a fill-in when I can’t get oranges.” -Ray Peat.