I’ve always wondered: Do digestive biscuits really help with digestion? I mean, there has to be a reason for naming them as such, right?
So down the virtual rabbit hole I went. Like Alice in Wonderland, I came across history as strange as the Cheshire Cat. Unlike her though, the drinks I encountered didn’t alter my size but they did expand my mind.
For instance, did you know that soft drinks such as Coca-Cola, 7Up and root beer were originally sipped at the pharmacist’s? And cocktails made with tonic water were imbibed as medicine?
Back in the late 1800s in Europe and the US, when you’re more likely to consult an apothecary or pharmacist than a doctor, these beverages were dispensed to “treat” just about every ailment, from the common cold to constipation and to calm the nerves.
People were more likely to visit the pharmacy than the doctor's when they weren't feeling well in the past. (Photo: iStock/powerofforever)
And it wasn’t just drinks. Marshmallow was consumed to soothe a sore throat. And what of the digestive biscuits that started my quest? They were apparently eaten to treat an upset stomach in the past.
If you’re thinking, well, at least the “medicine” tasted great back then, they probably didn’t when they first appeared on the apothecary’s shelf. Sugar was a scarce and expensive ingredient in the past, and wait, was the precursor to SodaStream even invented yet?
It was fair to say those remedies probably tasted bitterly earthy, seeing that they were concocted from chemical compounds and herbs based on traditional medicine recipes.
Interestingly, the key ingredients – or their derivatives – in those drinks and foods are now used in today’s modern medicines. But are the ingredients still found in the snacks and soft drinks that initially had them? Let’s find out.
(Photo: iStock/carlosalvarez)
The popular fizzy drink that we love originated as a wine infused with coca leaves, said Associate Professor Gavin Dawe, the head of Department of Pharmacology at National University of Singapore’s Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. It was called Vin Mariani and was invented in 1863 by French chemist Angelo Mariani as a sore throat medicine.
Now, here’s where it gets interesting: Coca leaves are the raw ingredients from which you get cocaine (it was legal then because people didn't know better). Naturally, they are highly addictive but they also have “local anaesthetic actions”, according to Assoc Prof Dawe.
“Coca wine was said to be popular among opera singers because of cocaine’s stimulating and local anaesthetic effects in soothing the throat,” said Assoc Prof Dawe.
Then, in 1886, US confederate veteran and morphine-addicted pharmacist John Pemberton patented his version of the coca wine by adding kola nuts to the concoction and calling it Pemberton’s French Wine Coca. It was sold as a syrup to pharmacists, who mixed it with carbonated water (carbonation techniques were already invented in England in 1767) to create a bubbly “brain tonic”.
Pemberton claimed the drink cured him of his morphine addiction, along with a list of “wonders” such as treating hangovers, hiccups, headaches, fatigue and impotence.
We don’t know about those health promises but the French Wine Coca must have been rather addictive and lucrative; some websites noted that each glass could have 9mg of cocaine.
As for the kola nuts, they are a source of caffeine and consuming them could indeed enhance alertness, said Professor William Chen, the director of Nanyang Technological University’s Food Science & Technology programme. The nuts also have antioxidants known as polyphenols, he said.
Today, Coca-Cola no longer contains coca leaves or kola nuts. But they still have caffeine – about 33mg per 330ml can, according to The Coca-Cola Company. Their competitor Pepsi has reportedly never used coca leaves or kola nuts in theirs.
(Photo: iStock/darios44)
It isn’t clear why lithium citrate was added when 7Up was created by Charles Leiper Grigg in the US in 1929. Maybe it was to set his apart from the many other lemon-lime soft drinks that were already available then.
Lithium citrate could also have been a naturally occurring salt found in the groundwater that was used to make the soft drink. Another theory? 7Up was launched just two weeks before the stock market crashed, leading to the historical Great Depression. And people needed a pick-me-up.
In any case, Assoc Prof Dawe didn’t think that the amount of lithium citrate in the soft drink was sufficient to have a therapeutic effect. “It is unlikely that 7Up had any effect on mood.”
According to Assoc Prof Dawe, over-dosing on lithium citrate could lead to serious health problems ranging from nausea to vomiting, diarrhoea, dizziness, memory impairment, weight gain, hypothyroidism and even acute kidney failure.
(Photo: iStock/iwatapp)
The origins of the name “7Up” was also often up for discussion. How did it come about? The drink was initially thought to be “Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda”, back when bottles weren’t printed but had pieces of paper around the neck like a bib to indicate their contents.
In 1930, the name was shorted to “7Up Lithiated Lemon Soda” but there was still no explanation for the “7Up” part. That didn’t stop the public from guessing.
Some thought the “7” referred to the seven main ingredients used in the drink: Lithium citrate, citrus oils, citric acid, sodium citrate (a flavouring agent), carbon dioxide (for the fizz), water and sugar. Others claimed that the atomic mass of lithium was seven. The “Up” was widely accepted to mean the drink’s mood-lifting benefit.
The jury is still out over the meaning of the name. According to a spokesperson from the Dr Pepper Snapple Group that owns 7Up, Grigg took the secret to his grave. And so, the mystery persists.
Since 1948, the drink no longer contains lithium citrate as it is banned by the US Food and Drug Administration in beverages. And if you're wondering about Sprite, the other lemon-lime soft drink, it apparently never had lithium citrate in its recipe before.
Ice-cold root beer with a scoop of vanilla ice cream sure sounds divine on a hot day. But the carbonated drink wasn’t always a sweet treat but a hot herbal tea. It was originally brewed by indigenous North Americans from plants such as sassafras, wintergreen and sarsaparilla.
The leaves, barks, fruits, flowers and mostly roots of these plants were used, which later contributed to the drink’s name. The plants weren’t only selected for their medicinal benefits; sassafras root, for example, was also chosen as a flavouring agent, according to Prof Chen.
The taste of these root teas must have been pretty good. In the 1840s, the first bottled root tea was sold for medicinal use in confectionaries and general stores.
Sassafras roots that have just been brewed. (Photo: iStock/JJPaden)
The name “root beer” only came about in 1876 when American pharmacist Charles Elmer Hires adopted it to make his version of the non-alcoholic drink more appealing to a beer-favouring working class.
Later, he marketed it as a teetotal alternative to alcohol during the US’ Prohibition era from 1920 to 1933. At that time, the drink was sold in powder form and you had to add water, sugar and yeast to create your own fizzy beverage.
Today’s root beer doesn’t use sassafras root because one of its active compounds, safrole, has been linked to liver toxicity and was found to cause cancer in animal studies, said Prof Chen. “It also damages the nervous system and causes nausea, vomiting, confusion and mild psychoactive effects,” said Assoc Prof Dawe.
“What we have now as a replacement flavour in root beer,” said Prof Chen, “is artificial sassafras flavouring.”
(Photo: iStock/Gustavo Muñoz Soriano)
The bark of the cinchona tree in Peru had always been used by the Quichuan people to treat fever. In 1636, Spanish Jesuit missionaries recognised it as a treatment for malaria and brought it back to their country.
But it was only in 1820, when two French scientists isolated quinine, the key ingredient that could kill or prevent the growth of the malaria-causing parasite plasmodium falciparum.
“In addition to its antimalarial effect, quinine also has mild antimicrobial effects,” said Prof Chen.
Quinine is a very bitter compound and to make this anti-malaria medicine go down, it was often mixed with carbonated water and sugar by British soldiers posted in India in the early 19th century – thus, creating the first tonic water. We also have them to thank for inventing the gin and tonic, which was also motivated by the need to make quinine palatable.
(Photo: iStock/duncan1890)
Tonic water didn’t stay in the medicine box for long. The first commercial tonic water was produced and patented in 1858 by Erasmus Bond, the owner of Pitt & Co. By 1868, gin and tonic was regarded as a refreshing cocktail for horse-racing spectators, according to the earliest record of the drink in the Oriental Sporting Magazine.
Could you drink tonic water before travelling to a malaria-known location as a preventative measure? “The amount of quinine in tonic water is below the threshold needed to have any impact,” said Prof Chen.
Moreover, quinine “has a short half-life, which requires frequent dosing”, so “it is less frequently used now as there are other antimalarial drug options available”, said Prof Chen.
Quinine dosage has to be carefully prescribed as it can cause severe adverse effects such as low blood sugar levels, sweating, blurred vision, fast heartbeat or a persistent headache, warned Assoc Prof Dawe.
(Photo: iStock/etiennevoss)
Digestive biscuits were created to do exactly what its name says – help with digestion – by a pair of Scottish doctors in 1839.
The ingredients were simple: Brown wholewheat flour; sugar; butter; and the key ingredient, sodium bicarbonate or baking soda. “In medicine, sodium bicarbonate has been used to neutralise stomach acid,” said Prof Chen.
Other than its role as an antacid, sodium bicarbonate may also “enhance the flavour and browning of the biscuits as it causes mild alkalinity, which can increase the Maillard reaction”, said Assoc Prof Dawe. “The production of carbon dioxide bubbles may also improve the texture of the biscuits.”
The use of wholemeal flour, which retains more of the wheat grain’s fibre, might have also played a role in aiding digestion.
These round, semi-sweet biscuits are most commonly associated with the UK brand McVities, whose recipe was developed by Sir Alexander Grant in 1892. The company later introduced the chocolate-coated version in 1925.
Can digestive biscuits replace a glass of Eno when you have heartburn? “The dose required to neutralise stomach acidity is far greater than the amount found in digestive biscuits,” said Assoc Prof Dawe.
Some brands may not even use “sodium bicarbonate as alternative leavening agents are used by some manufacturers”, he added. McVities still does, along with other raising agents.
(Photo: iStock/popovaphoto)
Like many home remedies, marshmallow comes from a plant, specifically althaea officinalis from the mallow family that grows well in marshy areas (hence, the name “marshmallow”).
Marshmallow wasn’t always a sweet, airy candy. Back in the 9th century, the Greeks made its sap into a balm and used it to treat toothaches and bee stings. By the Middle Ages, the plant was counted on for various ailments ranging from sore throat to cold and upset stomach.
Mallow root, for instance, was particularly useful. “It contains many polysaccharides, making it highly slimy or gel-like,” said Assoc Prof Dawe. “This mucilaginous property makes it soothing for the mucous membranes of the respiratory, digestive and urinary tract walls, and for damaged skin.”
“The mucilaginous coating may also be protective, preventing further damage or infection and allowing the tissue time to heal,” said Assoc Prof Dawe.
The flowers and dried roots of the marshmallow plant. (Photo: iStock/matrixnis)
It was the ancient Egyptians who gave marshmallow its sweet beginning. They made a candy by combining its sap with nuts and honey. It probably didn't look like the fluffy treat we know today. Nor was it likely to taste as sweet because the marshmallow plant itself is very bitter.
Fast forward some centuries. It was between the late 1700s and early 1800s when the French created pate de guimauve, a spongy dessert made by whipping marshmallow root extract with sugar, water and egg whites.
It was in the late 1800s when pate de guimauve made its way to the US. There, the recipe was tweaked to make an anti-wrinkle facial cream, while new uses were introduced in 1927 such as S’mores, the campfire must-have in America.
Marshmallow underwent its final transformation in the 1950s by taking on the fluffy and cylindrical shape that we now know.
These days, you aren’t likely to encounter marshmallow made with the plant, unless they're homemade, said Prof Chen. The ones from the supermarket are likely concocted from gelatin, sugar and cornstarch, said Assoc Prof Dawe.
Continue reading...
So down the virtual rabbit hole I went. Like Alice in Wonderland, I came across history as strange as the Cheshire Cat. Unlike her though, the drinks I encountered didn’t alter my size but they did expand my mind.
For instance, did you know that soft drinks such as Coca-Cola, 7Up and root beer were originally sipped at the pharmacist’s? And cocktails made with tonic water were imbibed as medicine?
Back in the late 1800s in Europe and the US, when you’re more likely to consult an apothecary or pharmacist than a doctor, these beverages were dispensed to “treat” just about every ailment, from the common cold to constipation and to calm the nerves.
People were more likely to visit the pharmacy than the doctor's when they weren't feeling well in the past. (Photo: iStock/powerofforever)
And it wasn’t just drinks. Marshmallow was consumed to soothe a sore throat. And what of the digestive biscuits that started my quest? They were apparently eaten to treat an upset stomach in the past.
If you’re thinking, well, at least the “medicine” tasted great back then, they probably didn’t when they first appeared on the apothecary’s shelf. Sugar was a scarce and expensive ingredient in the past, and wait, was the precursor to SodaStream even invented yet?
It was fair to say those remedies probably tasted bitterly earthy, seeing that they were concocted from chemical compounds and herbs based on traditional medicine recipes.
Interestingly, the key ingredients – or their derivatives – in those drinks and foods are now used in today’s modern medicines. But are the ingredients still found in the snacks and soft drinks that initially had them? Let’s find out.
COCA-COLA
(Photo: iStock/carlosalvarez)
- Historically intended for: Sore throat, morphine addiction, hangover, hiccups, headache, fatigue and impotence
- Original key ingredients: Coca leaves and kola nuts
- Modern application: Cocaine gave rise to
The popular fizzy drink that we love originated as a wine infused with coca leaves, said Associate Professor Gavin Dawe, the head of Department of Pharmacology at National University of Singapore’s Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. It was called Vin Mariani and was invented in 1863 by French chemist Angelo Mariani as a sore throat medicine.
Now, here’s where it gets interesting: Coca leaves are the raw ingredients from which you get cocaine (it was legal then because people didn't know better). Naturally, they are highly addictive but they also have “local anaesthetic actions”, according to Assoc Prof Dawe.
“Coca wine was said to be popular among opera singers because of cocaine’s stimulating and local anaesthetic effects in soothing the throat,” said Assoc Prof Dawe.
Then, in 1886, US confederate veteran and morphine-addicted pharmacist John Pemberton patented his version of the coca wine by adding kola nuts to the concoction and calling it Pemberton’s French Wine Coca. It was sold as a syrup to pharmacists, who mixed it with carbonated water (carbonation techniques were already invented in England in 1767) to create a bubbly “brain tonic”.
Pemberton claimed the drink cured him of his morphine addiction, along with a list of “wonders” such as treating hangovers, hiccups, headaches, fatigue and impotence.
We don’t know about those health promises but the French Wine Coca must have been rather addictive and lucrative; some websites noted that each glass could have 9mg of cocaine.
As for the kola nuts, they are a source of caffeine and consuming them could indeed enhance alertness, said Professor William Chen, the director of Nanyang Technological University’s Food Science & Technology programme. The nuts also have antioxidants known as polyphenols, he said.
Today, Coca-Cola no longer contains coca leaves or kola nuts. But they still have caffeine – about 33mg per 330ml can, according to The Coca-Cola Company. Their competitor Pepsi has reportedly never used coca leaves or kola nuts in theirs.
7UP
(Photo: iStock/darios44)
- Historically intended for: Depression and mood stabilising
- Original key ingredient: Lithium citrate
- Modern application: Lithium citrate (liquid) and lithium carbonate (tablets) are used to treat mania, manic-depressive illnesses and recurrent depression
It isn’t clear why lithium citrate was added when 7Up was created by Charles Leiper Grigg in the US in 1929. Maybe it was to set his apart from the many other lemon-lime soft drinks that were already available then.
Lithium citrate could also have been a naturally occurring salt found in the groundwater that was used to make the soft drink. Another theory? 7Up was launched just two weeks before the stock market crashed, leading to the historical Great Depression. And people needed a pick-me-up.
In any case, Assoc Prof Dawe didn’t think that the amount of lithium citrate in the soft drink was sufficient to have a therapeutic effect. “It is unlikely that 7Up had any effect on mood.”
According to Assoc Prof Dawe, over-dosing on lithium citrate could lead to serious health problems ranging from nausea to vomiting, diarrhoea, dizziness, memory impairment, weight gain, hypothyroidism and even acute kidney failure.
(Photo: iStock/iwatapp)
The origins of the name “7Up” was also often up for discussion. How did it come about? The drink was initially thought to be “Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda”, back when bottles weren’t printed but had pieces of paper around the neck like a bib to indicate their contents.
In 1930, the name was shorted to “7Up Lithiated Lemon Soda” but there was still no explanation for the “7Up” part. That didn’t stop the public from guessing.
Some thought the “7” referred to the seven main ingredients used in the drink: Lithium citrate, citrus oils, citric acid, sodium citrate (a flavouring agent), carbon dioxide (for the fizz), water and sugar. Others claimed that the atomic mass of lithium was seven. The “Up” was widely accepted to mean the drink’s mood-lifting benefit.
The jury is still out over the meaning of the name. According to a spokesperson from the Dr Pepper Snapple Group that owns 7Up, Grigg took the secret to his grave. And so, the mystery persists.
Since 1948, the drink no longer contains lithium citrate as it is banned by the US Food and Drug Administration in beverages. And if you're wondering about Sprite, the other lemon-lime soft drink, it apparently never had lithium citrate in its recipe before.
ROOT BEER
(Photo: iStock/bhofack2)- Historically intended for: Fever, cold, rheumatism, skin wounds and infections, and as a diuretic
- Original key ingredient: Safrole
- Modern application: A
Ice-cold root beer with a scoop of vanilla ice cream sure sounds divine on a hot day. But the carbonated drink wasn’t always a sweet treat but a hot herbal tea. It was originally brewed by indigenous North Americans from plants such as sassafras, wintergreen and sarsaparilla.
The leaves, barks, fruits, flowers and mostly roots of these plants were used, which later contributed to the drink’s name. The plants weren’t only selected for their medicinal benefits; sassafras root, for example, was also chosen as a flavouring agent, according to Prof Chen.
The taste of these root teas must have been pretty good. In the 1840s, the first bottled root tea was sold for medicinal use in confectionaries and general stores.
Sassafras roots that have just been brewed. (Photo: iStock/JJPaden)
The name “root beer” only came about in 1876 when American pharmacist Charles Elmer Hires adopted it to make his version of the non-alcoholic drink more appealing to a beer-favouring working class.
Later, he marketed it as a teetotal alternative to alcohol during the US’ Prohibition era from 1920 to 1933. At that time, the drink was sold in powder form and you had to add water, sugar and yeast to create your own fizzy beverage.
Today’s root beer doesn’t use sassafras root because one of its active compounds, safrole, has been linked to liver toxicity and was found to cause cancer in animal studies, said Prof Chen. “It also damages the nervous system and causes nausea, vomiting, confusion and mild psychoactive effects,” said Assoc Prof Dawe.
“What we have now as a replacement flavour in root beer,” said Prof Chen, “is artificial sassafras flavouring.”
TONIC WATER
(Photo: iStock/Gustavo Muñoz Soriano)
- Historically intended for: Malaria
- Original key ingredient: Quinine
- Modern application: Still is an antimalaria medicine but is less effective on the malaria in Southeast Asia
The bark of the cinchona tree in Peru had always been used by the Quichuan people to treat fever. In 1636, Spanish Jesuit missionaries recognised it as a treatment for malaria and brought it back to their country.
But it was only in 1820, when two French scientists isolated quinine, the key ingredient that could kill or prevent the growth of the malaria-causing parasite plasmodium falciparum.
“In addition to its antimalarial effect, quinine also has mild antimicrobial effects,” said Prof Chen.
Quinine is a very bitter compound and to make this anti-malaria medicine go down, it was often mixed with carbonated water and sugar by British soldiers posted in India in the early 19th century – thus, creating the first tonic water. We also have them to thank for inventing the gin and tonic, which was also motivated by the need to make quinine palatable.
(Photo: iStock/duncan1890)
Tonic water didn’t stay in the medicine box for long. The first commercial tonic water was produced and patented in 1858 by Erasmus Bond, the owner of Pitt & Co. By 1868, gin and tonic was regarded as a refreshing cocktail for horse-racing spectators, according to the earliest record of the drink in the Oriental Sporting Magazine.
Could you drink tonic water before travelling to a malaria-known location as a preventative measure? “The amount of quinine in tonic water is below the threshold needed to have any impact,” said Prof Chen.
Moreover, quinine “has a short half-life, which requires frequent dosing”, so “it is less frequently used now as there are other antimalarial drug options available”, said Prof Chen.
Quinine dosage has to be carefully prescribed as it can cause severe adverse effects such as low blood sugar levels, sweating, blurred vision, fast heartbeat or a persistent headache, warned Assoc Prof Dawe.
DIGESTIVE BISCUITS
(Photo: iStock/etiennevoss)
- Historically intended for: Digestion
- Original key ingredient: Sodium bicarbonate
- Modern application: Antacids
Digestive biscuits were created to do exactly what its name says – help with digestion – by a pair of Scottish doctors in 1839.
The ingredients were simple: Brown wholewheat flour; sugar; butter; and the key ingredient, sodium bicarbonate or baking soda. “In medicine, sodium bicarbonate has been used to neutralise stomach acid,” said Prof Chen.
Other than its role as an antacid, sodium bicarbonate may also “enhance the flavour and browning of the biscuits as it causes mild alkalinity, which can increase the Maillard reaction”, said Assoc Prof Dawe. “The production of carbon dioxide bubbles may also improve the texture of the biscuits.”
The use of wholemeal flour, which retains more of the wheat grain’s fibre, might have also played a role in aiding digestion.
These round, semi-sweet biscuits are most commonly associated with the UK brand McVities, whose recipe was developed by Sir Alexander Grant in 1892. The company later introduced the chocolate-coated version in 1925.
Can digestive biscuits replace a glass of Eno when you have heartburn? “The dose required to neutralise stomach acidity is far greater than the amount found in digestive biscuits,” said Assoc Prof Dawe.
Some brands may not even use “sodium bicarbonate as alternative leavening agents are used by some manufacturers”, he added. McVities still does, along with other raising agents.
MARSHMALLOW
(Photo: iStock/popovaphoto)
- Historically intended for: Sore throat, dry cough, constipation, burns and skin wounds
- Original key ingredient: Mallow root
- Modern application: An herbal supplement as well as lozenges and syrups for the throat
Like many home remedies, marshmallow comes from a plant, specifically althaea officinalis from the mallow family that grows well in marshy areas (hence, the name “marshmallow”).
Marshmallow wasn’t always a sweet, airy candy. Back in the 9th century, the Greeks made its sap into a balm and used it to treat toothaches and bee stings. By the Middle Ages, the plant was counted on for various ailments ranging from sore throat to cold and upset stomach.
Mallow root, for instance, was particularly useful. “It contains many polysaccharides, making it highly slimy or gel-like,” said Assoc Prof Dawe. “This mucilaginous property makes it soothing for the mucous membranes of the respiratory, digestive and urinary tract walls, and for damaged skin.”
“The mucilaginous coating may also be protective, preventing further damage or infection and allowing the tissue time to heal,” said Assoc Prof Dawe.
The flowers and dried roots of the marshmallow plant. (Photo: iStock/matrixnis)
It was the ancient Egyptians who gave marshmallow its sweet beginning. They made a candy by combining its sap with nuts and honey. It probably didn't look like the fluffy treat we know today. Nor was it likely to taste as sweet because the marshmallow plant itself is very bitter.
Fast forward some centuries. It was between the late 1700s and early 1800s when the French created pate de guimauve, a spongy dessert made by whipping marshmallow root extract with sugar, water and egg whites.
It was in the late 1800s when pate de guimauve made its way to the US. There, the recipe was tweaked to make an anti-wrinkle facial cream, while new uses were introduced in 1927 such as S’mores, the campfire must-have in America.
Marshmallow underwent its final transformation in the 1950s by taking on the fluffy and cylindrical shape that we now know.
These days, you aren’t likely to encounter marshmallow made with the plant, unless they're homemade, said Prof Chen. The ones from the supermarket are likely concocted from gelatin, sugar and cornstarch, said Assoc Prof Dawe.
Continue reading...