I am a bit disconcerted by this discovery, but grateful for it
Cola drinks have quite powerful analgesic effects
A little personal medical history is necessary to explain myself. I have had a chronic lower back problem for over 30 years now. For the last 18 years it has interfered very little in my life, since I got some really helpful advice from a physiotherapist. I can both minimise the chance of inducing any acute pain & ameliorate it quickly if I do
About a month ago I walked downstairs as normal, turned to negotiate the last 2 steps at the bottom, & somehow managed to wrench & twist my spine
Jump forward about a week to when I thought I could manage a trip to the supermarket. It was a struggle & I needed to sit down before starting home again
I hardly ever drink cola. Ice cold, it is a rare treat, can probably count on the fingers of one hand the number I have in a year. For one thing, £1 (near enough) for 500ml seems ridiculous, & all the sugar makes my mouth feel awful
But I had to buy something to justify sitting down in the café, & for some reason settled for cola rather than tea or coffee
I was amazed at how I perked up, walked easily the short distance to the bus stop & then home at the other end. No buckling knees or bending over double
The same thing happened next day, which was when I started to make the connection
A badly designed & controlled n of 1 followed. One day I tried fizzy lemonade instead – no joy
For a while I was on about 1 litre a day but have got it down to 500ml
Now that I have access to the web again I find that there is nothing new in this observation
For someone my age who still sometimes expect to be told firmly that it is all in my mind, I find that reassuring
It cannot be a classic placebo response, because I had no prior expectation or belief in its beneficial effects
The mystery is though, if the caffeine is responsible, then why doesn’t all the black coffee I drink have the same effect?
