You aren’t alone if you want to prevent or limit your caffeine intake. Most people prefer to avoid including caffeine in their diet due to pregnancy, religious restrictions, adverse health effects, headaches, or other health concerns.
Others might choose to moderate their caffeine consumption and just stick to 1 or 2 caffeinated drinks per day.
However, you are not alone if you wish to enjoy a fizzy drink from time to time. Ginger Ale is one of the best caffeine-free drinks. Ginger ale is naturally free of caffeine. A 12 fl oz. Ginger Ale has 0 mg of caffeine in total.
Schweppes and Canada Dry are two of the most popular brands that provide diet options for Ginger Ale, and they are both caffeine-free.
How Much Caffeine Does Ginger Ale Contain?
A 20 fl oz. Serving of standard ginger age contains approximately 75mg of sodium, 60g of carbs, and 60g of sugar. Its total calorie count roughly stands at 225. As a result, unless it has been listed on the can label, commercial ginger ale doesn’t contain any caffeine in it.
Several commercial manufacturers of ginger also specialize in producing a diet offering of ginger ale (caffeine-free ginger ale) with fewer added sugars.
These retail brands also produce club sodas and caffeine-free tonic water. In addition, caffeine-free seltzer water is also gaining significant traction amongst the majority of drinkers.
Ginger ale, founded in the United States of America, is much more renowned in the states. A few obscure ginger ale brands may include caffeine.
Some smaller brands might even opt for a whole ginger root or use natural flavors. However, since caffeine does not naturally occur in ginger, it will be mentioned as an ingredient on the label.
Hence, it is always best to check.
While the majority of ginger ales you will come across are artificially flavored, the Canada Dry brand uses natural ginger extracts to bring out the most authentic ginger flavor in its drink.
Schweppes is another renowned manufacturer of ginger ale.
Both Schweppes and Canada Dry are famous for offering a diet version of ginger ale and are caffeine-free.
Caffeine-Free Ginger Ale Can Be A Godsend Blessing For Expecting Mothers.
Indeed, ginger ale outperforms sodas due to its caffeine-free status. As we all know, caffeine is a renowned stimulant that tends to increase your blood pressure levels and heartbeat.
Among pregnant women, caffeine consumption is even riskier as it might transgress the placenta. This can affect the fetus by disrupting sleep and causing unnecessary movement within the womb.
Ginger ale is one of the safest drinks and often acts as a godsend for expecting mothers. The American Pregnancy Associated recommends pregnant women shouldn’t consume more than 180mg of caffeine every day.
Ginger ale also acts as a stimulant, just like caffeine, but without the majority of adverse effects. It also stimulates the body but doesn’t trigger any long or short-term medical conditions that are typically caused by consuming caffeine.
Carrying mothers are aware of the discomforts they experience because of morning sickness.
Even though carbonated beverages might be the essential cure for this particular medical condition, women are advised to avoid consuming sodas and fizzy drinks during pregnancy, primarily because commercial sodas contain quite a bit of caffeine.
In its place, ginger ale is one such drink that expecting mothers can drink without worrying because it is free of caffeine. Still, it is always better to discuss with your obstetrician to know if your medical condition permits you to consume ginger ale as a remedy for morning sickness.
Types of Ginger Ale
Ginger ale is available in various varieties. The best type of ginger ale depends on ingredient preferences and personal tastes. Here are the most famous kinds of ginger ale you can find:
1. Regular
The regular category consists of traditional ginger ales and sodas. This includes carbonation, ginger, and high fructose corn syrup or sugar. Depending on the brand, some other ingredients may also be included.
2. Dry
Dry is a marketing term brands use to describe ginger ales with a drier and spicier flavor because of the specific way manufacturers process and source the ginger root.
3. Diet
A diet version of ginger ale comprises calorie-free or artificial sweeteners to replace sugar.
What Does Ginger Ale Taste Like?
Ginger ale is a ginger-flavored soft drink that has been on the market for over a hundred years. It is both alcohol and caffeine-free, despite what its name alludes to.
Ginger ale tends to be generally less sweet and light in color, with a mild ginger flavor.
You may even come across some ginger ales that have no ginger included. They are merely flavored beverages with high sugar content.
Difference between Canada Dry and Schweppes Ginger Ale
Canada dry is a century-old household name and a personal favorite brand to many regarding ginger ale. Canada Dry’s ginger ale has a sweet, elegantly balanced flavor and is often known as the champagne of sodas.
It also contains less than 2% of ginger extract.
Similar to Canada Dry, Schweppes is a star seller brand in the sector of carbonated ginger beverages. It is among the oldest brands of Coca-Cola in Great Britain.
Even though its color is practically hard to distinguish from Canada Dry, Schweppes has a slightly more muted taste and is less fizzy.
Is Ginger Ale Safe To Consume?
Many studies found ginger to offer a vast range of health benefits. However, these effects apply to ginger and not specifically to ginger ale.
Ginger ale isn’t categorized as a healthy food.
Still, it can offer a lot of benefits since ginger ales mainly consist of real ginger root. Some of these benefits include:
- It may help you get rid of your nausea.
- It may support heart health.
- It may help treat migraines.
- It may offer antioxidant effects.
- It may help alleviate inflammation.
Moreover, ginger ale is also naturally free of caffeine, making it an excellent alternative to sodas and other caffeinated soft drinks. In general, it can be safe to say that ginger ale is safe for people to drink, as long as it’s consumed in moderation.
Still, there are some potential side effects you may want to keep in mind:
● Gassiness
Consuming ginger ale can increase gassiness and also cause burping and bloating. These are the effects of carbonation and are usually prevalent with any carbonated drink.
Diet ginger ale also consists of calorie-free sweeteners in the form of sugar alcohols. These artificial sweeteners can result in diarrhea or bloating when drunk in large amounts.
● Nonnutritive and artificial sweeteners
Nonnutritive sweeteners like stevia, saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, neotame, and acesulfame-potassium (Ace-K) can be potential culprits. They have all been approved to be used in food by the FDA in the US. Hence, they can also be found in diet ginger ale.
Another recent review observes 56 studies on the impact of nonnutritive sweeteners. In general, no such difference could be found in the health outcomes of individuals who consumed it and those who didn’t.
Most diet ginger ales include a nonnutritive sweetener that might pose some side effects. However, there are mixed research results, and there needs to be more investigation carried out on the potential side effects of ginger ale.
A 2017 review on aspartame’s safety recommended that it can affect many cellular processes leading to inflammation.
A 2018 review states that aspartame consumption in significant amounts might result in insomnia, trigger headaches, and other behavioral and thought-processing issues in individuals sensitive to it.
● Health consequences of added sugar
Excess sugar can be the most unhealthy thing about consuming ginger ale. Most studies have recommended that drinking high amounts of sugar can result in chronic diseases and weight gain.
Studies have also discovered that individuals who regularly drink sugar-infused drinks and sodas tend to have more visceral fat and higher body weights than those who do not.
Studies also suggest that too much sugar consumption is associated with risks like cardiovascular diseases, chronic health conditions, dental cavities, and type 2 diabetes.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans suggest you should maintain your sugar intake under 200 calories/day or a 2,000-calorie diet.
A single 360 ml can or 12. Oz of ginger ale contains up to 36g of added sugar. This makes up 72% of the daily value based on a 2000-calorie diet. To limit your sugar consumption, you must check the list of ingredients and drink sugar-infused ginger ale in moderation.
Wrapping Up
If you choose to drink ginger ale, you should consume it in moderation and as part of a healthy and balanced diet. Finally, you must also remember that several brands of ginger ale drinks use artificial ginger flavoring to develop that flavor.
A few brands also contain excess sugar and very little ginger. When consumed in moderation, it is a relatively low-risk drink and can be a part of an average person’s overall healthy diet.