They say you are what you eat, but these days a better gauge may be what you drink.
Times are changing. Bottled water is up. Beer and whiskey are down. Healthful beverages, particularly those with kinky flavors, are all the rage.
Booze in general is on the decline. The new generation is drinking far less than their parents and grandparents — less beer, less wine, less spirits. The Millennials and Generation Z’ers instead prefer low-calorie, wellness drinks.
Molson Coors Brewing, the beer behemoth, changed its name to Molson Coors Beverage and now offers Aloe Gloe, a combination of water and aloe vera; Arya, a seltzer infused turmeric root extract; and Arriba Chelada, a tomato-and-clam juice made with no artificial coloring.
Vermouth and wine spritzers are on the rise, as is sparkling water with fruit flavors. Walk through the terminal of any major airport, and you’ll have an easier time finding a smoothie bar than a taproom.
The wellness trend has extended to cannabidiol, the unproven cure-all extracted from hemp. Young folks can’t get enough of it. Beverages containing CBD are more popular than orange juice.
And speaking of health benefits, whatever happened to red wine? We old-timers remember the “French paradox” of staving off cancer with Bordeaux and Burgundy. More recently, the Blue Zoners told us a glass of red wine a day will help us live longer. None of that’s true, say British researchers. A study of 160,000 adults showed that even a single drink a day increases risk of high blood pressure and stroke. Alcohol, they say, is flat-out bad for you. Stay away from it.
Consumers are also staying away from tea. Lipton, the world’s largest supplier, says black tea — long the underpinnings of the British Empire — is falling out of favor. Instead the new generation is sipping herbal or fruit-flavored tea, or more exotic stuff with beetroot, broccoli or chocolate flavors.
The dairy business is also facing hard times. With people increasingly concerned about the carbon footprint of cows and high fat levels in traditional milk, there’s a move to greener substitutes. My wife uses almond milk on her breakfast cereal.
How about coffee, the wonder drink that’s been around for 500 years? I can’t do without it and neither can most other people I know.
Changes are also afoot with coffee. Rising temperatures and drought are shifting bean-growing regions to cooler climes and causing scientists to breed plants with heat-resistant
genes. A biologist at California-Santa Cruz said, “Coffee is a very picky crop … it needs a lot of water and just the right amount of sun.” Restricted areas of growth mean higher costs. In 10 years, we are told, coffee could become a luxury product.
But there’s good news as well. California no longer labels caffeine a carcinogen. A new study says coffee does not disrupt sleep (as long as you don’t drink it within four hours of bedtime.) And a recent paper in the Annals of Internal Medicine reports that people who drink two to three cups a day have lower risk of death from heart disease or cancer than those who drink no coffee at all.
That’s good because Americans are drinking more of it than ever. While there is still “an awful lot of coffee in Brazil,” per Frank Sinatra, the U.S. leads the world in per-capita consumption. Thirty-four percent of us have at least one cup of joe every day
What to make of all this? Old habits die hard. I’m going to keep on drinking coffee, but I’ll probably skip the fruit-flavored mung juice. And when the sun goes over the yardarm, I’m going to have a Scotch, probably a double. As St. Augustine said, “Lord, make me pure, but not yet.” ¦
— Dave Trecker is a retired Pfizer executive.
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