7 UP Once Contained a Prescription Mood Stabilizer that Treats Bipolar Disorders

Well, I’ll be darned: 7UP, that can of sugar water we’ve been drinking since our youth, once contained a mood stabilizer that’s since been banned. The original variation of the soda contained lithium citrate, a mood-stabilizing drug that was well-known in the late 19th century and early 20th. Today, it is still used to help people with bipolar disorders.

The addition of lithium citrate was used to market the beverage as a health drink. It was only until 1950 that they dropped the lithium citrate, after research showed it had the potential for dangerous side effects, about 31 years after the soda launched.

Originally called “Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda,” it was named after the main medicinal component it contained. Later it was renamed to “7 UP Lithiated Lemon Soda,” and finally the even shorter  “7 UP.” While it’s still pretty unclear where the “7 UP” came from, founder Charles Grigg once joked that it was intended to cure the “7 types of hangovers” humans experience.

H/T Gizmodo + Picthx 7 UP