Years ago the main “drug” against depression was sold massively in supermarkets: 7up

It is a more or less known fact that The origin of the Coca-Cola is in the development of Medicinal tonic by the American pharmacist John Pemberton. However, this drink is not the only soda in having an origin linked to the world of pharmacy.

Nor are we talking about the tonic, but of 7up.

The history of this drink is prior to its name and its current formula and begins in 1929. The soda began to be marketed with the name of BIB-LABEL LITHIATED LEMON-LIME SODAbefore being renamed as 7 UP LITIED LEMON SODAand, finally, 7up.

However, it is not the change of name of the soda what most usually attracts the attention of its history, but the change in its formula. And, as these names already pointed out, the original formula of this soda contained no less than lithium (Li), The third element of the periodic table.

Before the alarms jump, it should be clarified that it was not elementary lithium (remember that this is a very reactive alkaline metal), but Lithium citratean organic compound, salt of lithium and citric acid.

To understand the reason, we must know what is the use of this compound. For decades, lithium citrate has been used as Drug in psychiatric treatments. It is a compound considered a mood stabilizer and is used in the treatment of bipolar disorder, depression and mania. The soda would have been marketed in origin not as a drug against these problems but as a kind of tonic, a remedy for hangover To settle your stomach.

It is unknown what is the origin of the name 7 UP but, among the various theories, one points out that It is a reference to lithium. The reason is that, although the atomic number of this element is the three, its atomic mass is approximately seven (6.94 to be more precise).

As we indicated at the beginning of the article, this It is not the only soda whose history has a close link with the pharmacy. Coca-Cola also has An origin as a reconstituent tonic. In this case it is also an ingredient already disappeared from its formula (cocaine) the one that most usually calls attention to the history of the soda.

The contemporary tonic still counts in its formula with the “active substance” that made it a treatment, the quinineused among other uses for Malaria treatment. Of course, the current content we can find in this soda It is very scarceso again we cannot talk about therapeutic properties in the soda we find today in supermarkets.

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Image | Mike Mozart, CC by 2.0