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Just when I'd more or less curbed my serious soda habit, they hit me with this.

Pepsi and Mountain Dew are both out in limited, eight-week editions made with REAL SUGAR.

If, like me, you grew up in the 80s and 90s you may have never actually tasted a major American soda made with real sugar. But the recent demonization of (and, let's not kid ourselves, rise in cost of) high fructose corn syrup has engendered a sort of nostalgia for good old natural sugar in the major manufacturers.

You can't fault them for going with some retro design for the re-releases, either.

It's hard to appreciate just how hideous the modern Mountain Dew design is until you look at it next to the classic one.

Is it better for you? Eh, it's probably six of one, half a dozen of the other. The "Throwback" editions, as they're calling them, are still about 100 calories per 8 ounces. But the taste is not even comparable.

For years I've been a fan of Jones sodas made with real sugar - and glad that in Greensboro's Proximity Hotel you can get nothing but real cane sugar cola at their Print Works Bistro. But unless you can scam some foreign-market Coke or Pepsi (and you can locally, at the Super G Mart), it's usually pretty hard to find major soda brands made with real sugar.

Those looking for something billed as actually better for them might try "Pepsi Natural," a new formula with natural flavoring and real sugar. Then again, maybe not. I recently tried "Red Bull Cola," which also bills itself as "all natural." Not pleasant.

I'm still trying to avoid soda when I can so that I can, you know, fit into my clothing and walk up a flight of stairs without wheezing. But while this Throwback stuff is around I think I'm going to enjoy at least one a week -- in place of dessert.