8 hours ago
7Up's Original Formula Contained A Substance That Really Put The 'Up' In The Drink
Back at the turn of the 19th and early 20th century, when soft drinks like Coca-Cola and Pepsi were first created, it was mainly pharmacists who came up with these beloved (and demonized) drinks with the idea of creating health tonics. As an example, Pepsi was named after the medical term for indigestion, that is, dyspepsia. But back then, what was considered healthy was a bit different from today. While Coke actually contained small amounts of cocaine, 7Up contained lithium, a mood-stabilizer that today is used to treat bipolar disorder and some forms of depression.
7Up's inventor -- Charles Leiper Grigg, who wasn't a pharmacist -- highlighted the use of lithium citrate, a naturally occurring alkali metal with psychotropic (or mood altering) effects, in his soda. He allegedly named it Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon Lime Soda, but it was more likely simply called 7Up from the beginning. The meaning of this mysterious moniker has been lost to time, but the "up" part may be related to lithium's enhancing effects. A the time Grigg created his new drink, lithium was a bit of a mystery and didn't come into use as a psychiatric drug until around 20 years later.
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Charles Lieper Grigg, who had started the Howdy Corporation in 1920, began working on the formula for a new lemon-flavored soda. In a crowded field of around 600 competitors, he needed to find a way to stand out. By 1929, just weeks before the stock market crash that helped lead to the Great Depression, Grigg had perfected his new soda. There were a few key differences between his new concoction and the competition. It was a lemon-lime soda with a bit less sugar and more fizz. And, of course, there was the lithium.
Among the supposed curative effects of 7Up, Grigg successfully promoted it as a hangover cure, which is funny considering that a few decades later someone came up with the idea of combining Seagram's 7 and 7Up, a hugely popular highball in the 1970s and (likely) the cause of more than a few hangovers. Also like Coke, which had removed any cocaine from its soda by 1929, 7Up removed lithium in 1948, after studies determined the possibility of serious side effects from its overuse. Even without the lithium, 7Up continued to grow in popularity, knocking out the competition, such as the now-discontinued Sierra Mist. The days of drug-laden soft drinks are over, but their descendants live on.
Read the original article on Chowhound.
