Dr. Pepper 10-2-4?

With the debate over Obamacare and the desire of liberals and Democrats to want government regulated healthcare, it amazes me what people believed dating back to about the first half of the twentieth century, how America evolved health-wise, and that a little common sense may result in healthier people.

I came across an old Dr. Pepper bottle with the numbers 10, 2, and 4 on the label and growing up in the latter half of the twentieth century and the fact that this Texas-born soda pop was a late comer to the New York metropolitan area (remember Eddie and The Kid in 1970?), I was curious of the significance of these three numbers on a bottle of Dr. Pepper.  Today, the number they promote is 23, because the beverage’s flavor is a combination of twenty-three different fruit flavors.  Charles Alderton created the formula in Texas in 1895.  But in the past, it was 10, 2, and 4.  This is what I found out.

Further research led me to a clock available for about $500 on Ebay as a collector’s item with the 10, 2, and 4 in large, red, bolder-face than the other numbers.  A few articles later on Wikipedia determined the advertising centered on the idea that one should drink a full size bottle of Dr. Pepper at 10:00, 2:00, and 4:00.  In the days when diet soda was not a gleam in any beverage-maker’s eyes, a 150-calorie bottle of Dr. Pepper at 10:00, 2:00 and 4:00.  Dr. Pepper is a caffeinated beverage, around the level of the average cola and the pseudo-medical claim was one’s blood-sugar runs low at 10, 2, and 4, and one feels fatigued and run-down, low ambition so pepper up yourself at 10, 2, and 4.  The full slogan was Drink a Bite to Eat at 10, 2, and 4.  To help promote the concept, in Texas and other Midwestern states did a half-hour radio show called The 10-2-4 Ranch where listeners would hear cowboy music sung live and reminders throughout the show to drink a bite to eat at 10, 2, and 4.  The show aired Monday through Friday three times a day at…you guessed it!

Getting back to healthcare, what doctor today would advise a patient to drink three Dr. Peppers a day?  Especially since a report was aired on last Sunday’s edition of Sixty Minutes (CBS) about the harmful effects of excessive sugar intake on diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and on how if a cancerous tumor is present in the body, the sucrose converted to glucose feeds the tumor making it far more dramatic and worse.  Three Dr. Peppers a day would result in an additional 450 calories and loads of sugar, high fructose corn syrup, or artificial sweetener (associated with other health concerns), and even in people with accelerated metabolism would stop eating right as they would not feel hungry for meals.  And Dr. Pepper is not a meal replacement.  Calories resulting from sugar or corn syrup have no proteins, fats, carbs, or essential vitamins and minerals.

We can do our part to keep the cost of healthcare down by learning from the past and using common sense methods to be healthier in the present, the future, and pass it on to the next generation.  An apple or other fruit snack at 10, 2, and 4 makes more sense as it achieves the same purpose, natural energy to get through the day and aids us in our recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables a day.  As for Dr. Pepper, I like the flavor too and an occasional Dr. Pepper will do you no harm, just don’t overdo it.  Leave the 10-2-4 ranch in the past.