During my stay in Utah for two weeks, I got to indulge in a very Utah/Mormon phenomenon of getting your caffeine fix via flavored sodas. Two competing companies, Swig and Sodalicious sell what they call “dirty” sodas. Dirty means they put other favors in a soda base to create a drink full of sugar and caffeine. So contentious is the rivalry between these two purveyors of a Mormon legal caffeine fix that they recently settled a lawsuit over the use of the word “dirty”
In order to know what I was writing about, I felt obliged to partake of this delicacy. I tried a Raspberry Dream from Swig, which is Dr Pepper, cream (half and half), coconut flavoring, and raspberry puree. While waiting in the drive through window, I conducted a mini interview to better understand this.
Me: So what percentage of your drinks are caffeinated?
Swig Girl (SG): We have a root beer and 7-up based drinks but nobody orders them
Me: what is you most popular base?
SG: Diet Coke
Me: What is your busiest time?
SG: Mornings, then again early afternoon
Me: do you sell coffee?
SG: You mean the Devils Brew? Nope, we don’t sell such vile and caustic drinks hear, nothing but LDS approved caffeine with high fructose corn syrup and Aspartame sold here.
Me: So you are kind of like a Mormon Starbucks?
SG: Oh my heck yes!
I must admit that the drink was good, and I don’t regulagry drink sodas. But what does this say about Mormons following the Word of Wisdom? Is this a case where following the church’s current interpretation of D&C 89 with respect to “Hot drinks” is actually making church members less healthy? Do you think that Utah church members are any worse than members at large with their soda consumption?
Wheat & Tares 
Warning, rant coming. 1. Per several private letters to the First Presidency in the 60s and 70s, decaffeinated coffee is not breaking the WOW; 2. When a coffee manufacturer decaffeinates coffee, they are left with mounds of caffeine powder, they sell this to soda and energy drink companies to caffeinate their drinks. My conclusion? Our WOW caffeine policy makes zero logical sense. Why could you drink decaffeinated coffee in one cup and drink a soda with the caffeine extracted from the coffee in another cup and maintain a temple recommend, but you can’t drink the coffee and caffeine combined? Do a lot of LDS members (including General Authorities) use caffeinated sodas exactly like the rest of the world uses coffee? Yes. Is it less healthy? Yes. I hope when more people start asking these questions, the Church will actually look at what D&C 89 says and adjust our temple recommend policy accordingly.
I think it is important to note that the WoW does not prohibit caffiene. Caffiene content is an invented justification for the coffee/tea prohibition. So, the comparison and implied hypocricy (or inconsistency) in the WoW really doesn’t hold up. As a community, we have lots of unhealthy eating/lifestyle habits that *are* in direct violation of the letter of the law, yet we fixate on caffiene. It is odd…
It seems that many LDS – whether in or out of Utah – will find a way around the “hedge” around the law (DC 89). It would be better if we adopted a stance along the lines of “here’s the actual scripture – do you live it”.
It’s difficult to say which is worse a large Starbucks full of cream, sugar, fat, and coffee or a large Dirty Swig full of cream, sugar, fat, and self righteousness.
I don’t think the location (Utah) has much to do with it. My previous bishop in AZ openly admitted he depended on Diet Coke to function. At least he recognized the irony.
If members really lived the spirit of the WoW they would eat/drink healthier in general and exercise more. The WoW has always been one of the more overrated commandments imo and the focus on the banned substances, as has been pointed out, is ironic/hypocritical. I may not have been paying attention, but have there ever been any church lessons or talks on living healthily (beyond just admonishment to avoid said banned substances)?
Am reminded of a ward Burns’ Night supper held by our ward a few years ago. No caffeine has generally been more strictly observed in the UK, at least in my experience. Anyway, the usual Burns Night supper would involve scotch whisky, this being the lds version, there was instead vast quantities of the Scottish soda Irn Bru, and in this instance very definitely caffeinated. Many members were unused to these levels of caffeine as observed the following morning in church services. I had to sub piano for the organist, who having been awake all night at 5 am took a sleeping pill which didn’t kick on until half way through the opening hymn which she managed to finish before she had to lay down and sleep…. I had avoided the Irn Bru, but the organist wasn’t the only one suffering from the caffeine.
Eliza, it’s also important to note that the WOW doesn’t prohibit tea and coffee, it allows for beer and some wine. The key verse is verse 2 of D&C 89: “To be sent greeting; not by commandment or constraint” because we wanted to jump on the prohibition bandwagon in the early 1900s, we made it into a commandment, when it was never intended as such. The prohibitions against meat are much more clear than anything about tea and coffee. D&C 89 and our current WOW policy are two totally different things.
Toad said “It’s difficult to say which is worse a large Starbucks full of cream, sugar, fat, and coffee or a large Dirty Swig full of cream, sugar, fat, and self righteousness.”
That is correct, but there is such a thing as plain black coffee, there is no equivalent on the soda shelf.
« D&C 89 and our current WOW policy are two totally different things. »
This is the whole crux of why there is such seeming arbitrariness and confusion around the current WOW. When we look at the actual scripture in section 89 from which the WOW derives, there is not much in the scripture that we adhere to currently and no president of the church since Joseph Smith has ever changed, by more current revelation , what the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith then. Through « policy changes » we have completely wrested (twisted the meaning of; coming from the same word root as «wrestle» Alma 13:21; Alma 41:1; D&C 10:63) this scripture. The « wresting » has turned what was « not given by way of commandment » into something used to compel and control. See here what the Lord says about the priesthood when used to compel and control (D&C 121:37).
“That is correct, but there is such a thing as plain black coffee, there is no equivalent on the soda shelf.”
Wouldn’t that be Club Soda? Of course, almost no one in the U.S. drinks it plain, but carbonated water is popular in other countries.
I have long thought that the Word of Wisdom’s commentary on hot drinks was more about somewhat arbitrary differentiation from the rest of society rather than anything with a tried-and-true health benefit. I mean, do people actually believe that the Word of Wisdom’s pronunciations thereon are about health?
That being said, maybe you have to be there to experience, but I don’t get the huge fuss around Sodalicious, Swig, etc., Isn’t it basically like how you can mix stuff at Sonic? Does Utah not have Sonic? Or is it just about the increased variety?
I miss out a lot as caffeine generally does not affect me the way it does others. Sugar does, so I’ve taken to drinking diet root beer at home.
But 12 20 ounce glasses of diet coke, or no diet coke, I sleep pretty much the same.
I always love the sanctimonious complaints about mixed diet soda consumed in Utah screeched out by those who regularly down cream and sugar packed cappuccinos and sucrose-laden cocktails on the weekends.
Heck, even NYCs soda-ban inexplicably exempted coffees and alcoholic drinks with much more sugar than soda.
Perhaps someone could explain to me how any alleged prohibition on “hot drinks “ also includes iced coffee and ice tea .
The modern “word of wisdom” has very little overlap with D&C 89.
Wait! Ice tea isn’t OK?
And how is it that LDS people will say “i had some tea last night when i wasn’t feeling well. But it’s OK it was herb tea. Where do they get that doctrine?
Why is the WoW a commandment? Is it because of health benefits/harm or some other (arbitrary?) reason(s)? It appears more likely due to purported health benefits because of the “blessings” promised us. But if health is the basis, then why do we primarily emphasize alcohol, tobacco and “hot stimulating drinks” while not emphasizing other parts?
There is some research studies which show lower rates of cancer and cardiovascular diseases as well as longer life expectancy rates for LDS people and others who don’t use tobacco or alcohol.
If we are concerned about health we ought to be emphasizing exercise and maintaining a healthy weight, especially since obesity rates are increasing.
However there are potential health benefits to drinking coffee (not necessarily decaf):
Studies indicate 3-5 cups/day in your 40’s and 50’s can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s, dementia and possibly Parkinson’s
A 2013 study by Harvard Public Health found those who drank 2-3 cups of coffee/day reduced suicide risk by 45% ( suicide rates are increasing among youth in UT)
Older adults who drank 4 or more cups coffee/day were half as likely to die of upper throat and mouth cancer. (no protection from tea)
Studies have found decreased risk of stroke for older men and women.
Lower rates of endometrial cancer, and some protection from colon and possibly prostate and liver cancer associated with coffee consumption.
Studies show high consumption of caffeinated or decaff coffee is associated with lower risk of type 2 diabetes (though coffee may raise,on a short-term basis, blood glucose levels in people with diabetes).
When caffeine in soda or hot drinks is not recommended for those with:
acid reflux or heartburn
anxiety or insomnia
those on thyroid psychiatric/depression medication or taking the antibiotic Cipro or heartburn medication Tagamet
high cholesterol levels (cafestol a compound in coffee raises LDL cholesterol–but can be trapped by using a paper filter).
difficulty controlling blood pressure
older women with low intake of calcium and at risk of osteoporosis.
(source: AARP Caffeine for Your Health–Too Good to be True?)
If I have a strong family risk of dementia and/or Alzheimer’s/Parkinson’s etc in my family could I use coffee for “medicinal” purposes to reduce my
risk?
I believe the WoW should be revisted and modified.
I’m beginning to see more and more people drink iced tea and flavored teas sold in tall aluminum cans. I think if iced tea is against the wow they better reemphasize that one because a lot of the kids aren’t getting the message. We need more conference talks like this one:
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1975/04/a-self-inflicted-purging?lang=eng
Oh how I long for the pre conflict days where everything was black and white.
Elder Featherstone does talk about “an overweight girl” in his talk too, and this being why she is so lonely. This talk covers WOW, what Lois is talking about, and many other great topics.
PS – Sugar production is my main source of income so if you guys could all keep sugar bashing to a minimum I would greatly appreciate it.
OP, you said that you visited a Swig and that the employee told you that they don’t sell coffee. However, the menu on Swig’s website (and even the picture on this blog post!) clearly state they indeed sell “Premium Coffee”. Please explain.
I love that everyone has their own interpretation and that the Church has been, a bit unclear except for Hyrum Smith’s definition as Coffee and Tea. I suspect at that time, black tea was the prevailing type available. Yet the Saints also used tobacco and some alcohol for medicinal purposes. It wasn’t until the 30’s that WOW became a temple recommend requirement.
Paul: Herbal tea is not tea. It’s just called that. It’s actually an “infusion” if you look at the box, not a tea. https://www.harney.com/pages/herbal-infusions
Bishop Bill: “there is such a thing as plain black coffee, there is no equivalent on the soda shelf.” Yeah, Diet Coke. No cream, no sugar, no high fructose corn syrup, no calories. Don’t like aspartame? There’s a Splenda version. Also, there’s another drink called “Ice” that’s flavored, carbonated and has vitamins, but no calories and no caffeine.
I do not even remotely understand the Swig and Sodalicious craze. I can’t drink these sugary drinks. It’s like drinking cough syrup.
We have quite a few different herbal teas.. erm “infusions”, in our kitchen cupboards. Personally I favour chamomile.
That said, I’m not sure what my wider member family would make of that, because growing up we did in fact avoid herbal teas as I believe many British members did, and probably many still do. The first herbal tea I ever drank I was given whilst on an exchange trip in France with a dreadful cold. The mother of the family I was staying with was very concerned to assure me that it wasn’t tea, and would be good for my cold. I drank it, slept amazingly well, and felt a lot better the following day.
LiteralHipster, it appears that SWIG has gone to the dark side. I will now be taking my business to Sodaliciouse
D&C 89:2: not by commandment or constraint.
That’s how the WoW begins.