Why do you drink ginger ale on a plane?

When you're sick, do you reach for some ginger ale? What about when you're flying in an airplane? If you said yes, Delish may have a theory as to why that is.

It's all about the power of suggestion. Many of us are prone to travel-induced anxiety or motion sickness when we fly. So, just as other times when we are sick, we seek out ginger ale. However, the "real ginger" in ginger ale is not nearly enough to actually soothe our belly aches, more than likely, what helps is the sugar and carbonation in the drink.

So why ginger ale and not cola or lemon-lime soda? Because our mothers and grandmothers taught us that only ginger ale does the trick when we are sick on the ground, so we translate that in our heads when we are feeling nauseous in the air.

The article suggests that if you really want to soothe your stomach while traveling, that ginger does work, but try ginger root tea or ginger lozenges.

(via Delish)