Anyone know anything about Mormons and caffeine?

[Anonymous]

We've been watching this viral YouTube channel with a Mormon dad and his two kids doing camping stuff in Alaska. Where a typical camping dad would make a morning coffee, the dad and the kids constantly drink garbage Swiss Miss hot chocolate; both in the morning and it appears at night too. Plus bread with honey, pancakes with syrup, donuts, cupcakes, you get the idea.

And I know Mormons are behind Crumbl, which has insane levels of sugar.

So caffeine is evil but you and your kids mainlining absurd levels of sugar and carbs is perfectly fine?

[Anonymous]

Not Mormon, but camped with my family growing up. Hot cocoa in the am and pm was part of camping. Pancakes and eggs for breakfast was smithed staple when camping. Sugar consumption definitely increased in hen we camped. We burned it off by being active all day and into the night.

Do they eat the same way at home?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not Mormon, but camped with my family growing up. Hot cocoa in the am and pm was part of camping. Pancakes and eggs for breakfast was smithed staple when camping. Sugar consumption definitely increased in hen we camped. We burned it off by being active all day and into the night.

Do they eat the same way at home?

Packed sweets are eaten so frequently on camera, there's no way it's isolated to just the camping. It's actually hilarious how often they'll randomly pop up and you'll see him or a kid noshing on strudel, donuts, cupcakes, flan. And every meal he makes seems to have sweets in it and/or a sweet dessert.

[Anonymous]

This may surprise you but that probably how most Americans eat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This may surprise you but that probably how most Americans eat.

This.

[Anonymous]

This is easily google-able.

Yes, most practicing mormons avoid caffeine due to how they interpret something from their scripture.

It sounds like you really just want to rag on how he feeds his kids though. This doesn't have anything to do with religion.

[Anonymous]

I have Mormon colleagues. They are very religious and don't drink coffee, BUT it seems that soda is OK, and they drink a LOT of soda.

Yet they seem to look younger than their age, and are all weirdly beautiful. I'm talking about early 40s adults with "normal" jobs, not influencers. Their teenagers are weirdly beautiful too.

I think that never drinking alcohol plays a role in this. Also, they put a lot of emphasis on family time, do a lot of sports like hiking and adult soccer league for parents and teens doing multiple sports.

The teens go to something called Seminary before school in the mornings, so very early. It's a required religion class of some kind. I think they get into the habit of lots of physical activity and early or reasonable bedtimes as teens and it just carries over into adulthood?

So maybe the other lifestyle factors outweigh the sugary treats they do seem to love?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is easily google-able.

Yes, most practicing mormons avoid caffeine due to how they interpret something from their scripture.

It sounds like you really just want to rag on how he feeds his kids though. This doesn't have anything to do with religion.

Not at all. Just seem to notice a broader theme of Mormons binge eating sweets and curious how that squares with being so disciplined about caffeine. Sugar, to me, is a drug just the same as caffeine. And when you're binge eating sugar like that, it's quite obvious it's an addiction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This may surprise you but that probably how most Americans eat.

Touche.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is easily google-able.

Yes, most practicing mormons avoid caffeine due to how they interpret something from their scripture.

It sounds like you really just want to rag on how he feeds his kids though. This doesn't have anything to do with religion.

Except for avoiding caffeine, what they are eating doesn’t have anything to do with religion. OP’s attitude has everything to do with religion.

[Anonymous]

Swiss miss also has caffeine

[Anonymous]

The actual prohibition is against drinking hot beverages, not caffeine (Doctrine and Covenants 89:9 "And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly.") The most common hot drinks also contain caffeine, so some Mormons took this a step further and don't drink cold drinks with caffeine.

The LDS Church officially stated a while back that caffeinated soda was fine and that
hot drinks meant coffee and tea, so hot chocolate would be fine as well: https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/mormonism-news--getting-it-right-august-29. The dirty soda trend started in Mormon communities around this time, I believe.

That said, I also agree with others that this is pretty much just how lots of Americans eat. I'm not Mormon and I grew up having a Dr. Pepper and a honey bun for breakfast most days.

[Anonymous]

^ What's the 'dirty soda trend'?

[Anonymous]

Yes, Mormons are very into sugar, it's a cultural thing. They are also into soda with caffeine. Utah is full of cookies and soda shops like Swig. But the effects of sugar are mitigated by more exercise and not drinking alcohol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ What's the 'dirty soda trend'?

It's like a alcohol free mixed drink made with soda: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_soda

Usually, soda with cream and flavored syrups. The big chain is Swig (https://swigdrinks.com/menu/) where you can get, for example, a Dr. Pepper mixed with vanilla and peach syrups and half and half.