In the late 19th century, the urban population in the United States exploded with the influx of immigrants. Then, excessive labor, rapid urbanization, and industrialization made the drinking water system in the United States very chaotic. Waterborne diseases, heavy metals, and chemical poisoning were everywhere with sewage. At that time, there was also overwork caused by the long 14-hour work system; lung diseases caused by coal smoke and cotton dust; infectious diseases caused by overpopulation; malnutrition caused by the single food supply in cities, etc. All these caused Americans to be anxious about their health. At that time, although modern medicine based on bacteriology had already shown signs, it was not popular enough. The old set of ineffective treatments such as fluid balance theory, bloodletting, vomiting, and enema made the masses more anxious. Treatment was useless. In this case, what should the masses do? Of course, it was alcohol, cocaine, morphine, and even opium tincture.
For example, there was a drug called Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup, and the advertisement said something like "What if the child cries and refuses to sleep? Just take a sip and it will be fine." Yes, the child did fall asleep after taking a sip, because the drug contained 19% alcohol and 65 mg of morphine per ounce. Other drugs, including cocaine wine, 70% alcohol painkillers, heroin cough syrup, etc., appeared in batches on the US market.
But at that time, the United States had a system called patent medicine, and merchants could not disclose the ingredients of the drug on the grounds of patent protection, so everyone pretended to be confused. In addition to these addictive substances, some merchants would also do some strange technological gimmicks. For example, electrotherapy that can make bald people grow hair, ultraviolet light machines that can cure everything, including the later famous radium water.
Therefore, lithium was also one of the technological medical gimmicks at the time... In 1847, Alfred Baring Garrod, a London physician, found that gout patients had uric acid in their blood, and then thought of using lithium salt solution as a gout medicine (but it didn't work. If you want to deal with the uric acid of gout men, you have to eat lithium poisoning first). In 1870, Silas Weir Mitchell, a Philadelphia neurologist, recommended the use of lithium bromide as an anticonvulsant and hypnotic, and later promoted the use of lithium bromide to treat bipolar disorder. This makes sense. It can indeed calm nerves, but the side effects are a bit big... At least in the mid-20th century, lithium can still be used as a drug for treating bipolar disorder. Therefore, at the end of the 19th century, a drink called lithium water was quite popular. For example, the natural lithium spring water in Georgia has been famous since 1890. Of course, more manufacturers just add lithium bicarbonate to water. At the same time, many soft drinks also add lithium citrate to play gimmicks, such as Coca-Cola. Well, the next story begins to become natural. In 1906, the United States enacted the Pure Food and Drug Act; in 1909, the Opium Exclusion Act was enacted; in 1914, the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act was enacted; in 1919, the Prohibition Act was passed. This combination of punches made drug addicts and alcoholics completely crazy.
Didn’t I say before that lithium has the function of treating bipolar disorder...but the side effects are a bit big. But for those who couldn’t drink alcohol or take medicine at that time, it did have a calming effect... The founder of 7-Up was named Charles Griego, who was over 50 years old before he joined the beverage industry. In the 1920s, he found an investor and founded howdy orange-flavored beverages. However, there was also a big guy who used pure fruit pulp: Orange crush, so Griego was directly eliminated from the orange-flavored beverage track. In 1929, Gregor thought that the orange market was not competitive and the lemon market was crowded, so he simply launched a lemon-flavored lithium citrate soda, with the main feature of calming you down... Then 7-Up was born...
Sometimes, entrepreneurial success depends mainly on luck. At least Gregor certainly didn't expect the Great Depression in 1929... When those Americans who lost all their stocks, were laid off and unemployed, and their assets depreciated, the easiest way to calm themselves down without anesthetics or alcohol was to drink lithium-containing 7-Up...
As for the kidney and nerve damage caused by excessive intake of lithium, I won't say much. In 1948, the US FDA banned the addition of lithium to beverages, and then 7-Up didn't taste so lithium-rich.
