Freedom, with or without Caffeine

Some additional context on the previous entry resurrected by Jason Kottke, hat tip to Marginal Revolution.
As the Economist showed back in 1997, consumption of Coke correlates strongly with both health, measured by the UN human development index, and freedom as reported by Freedom House:

Ah, now the American Medical Association’s attempt to reduce soft drink consumption by restricting economic freedom makes sense.
But won’t reducing our soda intake make us less healthy? I guess I’m still confused.