Health is about more than simply fighting diseases, and many pharmacy services exist that not only prescribe medicines to help with conditions diagnosed by a doctor but also help to encourage a better quality of life.

These include, but are far from limited to, providing travel advice and vaccinations, microsuction to help with earwax build-up, sexual health services, support and therapy to help stop smoking, as well as advice and treatment to help people looking to lose weight.

That latter service, in particular, requires a holistic approach. Injectable and oral weight loss medication typically needs to be taken in conjunction with health and lifestyle changes in order to be effective in the long term, and that often means exploring whether diet and lifestyle habits might be doing more harm than good.

A good example of this is soft drinks, which have surprised people in the past with the level of sugar they contain and can contribute to a number of health conditions if consumed too much.

This is a huge change from how many soft drinks, including some of the most popular in the world, were originally sold as medicines. How was this even possible?

The Ideal Brain Tonic

One of the most commonly known parts of Coca-Cola’s history is that it contained cocaine, although in levels that may never be known due to the secrecy surrounding its formula.

However, what is perhaps less known or less appreciated given what we know now about the health effects of an abundance of sugar and caffeine is that Coca-Cola was first sold as a health drink, advertised as “the ideal brain tonic” for curing headaches and exhaustion.

In reality, it was one of many ‘patent medicines’ available on the market that sold themselves as panaceas and cure-alls, typically using a mix of alcohol and cocaine in order to make people feel better.

Patent medicines were neither patented (usually they were protected under a trademark) nor were they medicines as we understand the concept today, often relying on deliberately opaque ingredient lists, aggressive marketing and outlandish claims.

Coca-Cola was doing what Daffy’s Elixir and the infamous Mrs Winslow’s Soothing Syrup did at the same time, with several of the same ingredients. Coca-Cola was different as it did not contain alcohol, but it did still rely on coca leaves around the time cocaine was understood to be the dangerous and addictive drug it is.

Similarly, Pepsi would be initially sold as an indigestion cure, with the name coming from “dyspepsia”, an alternative term for a stomach upset. It even received the slogan “Delicious and Healthful”.

Outside of the patent medicine era of the 19th century, arguably the most famous example of a soft drink marketed as a medicine was Lucozade before it transitioned to a sports drink with the help of Daley Thompson and Iron Maiden.

Initially known as Glucozade and absolutely not to be confused with the diabetes medication gliclazide, Lucozade was sold as a health drink to help children who were nil-by-mouth when undergoing operations.

This led to an association with health that endured until the late 1970s and a greater understanding that sugar and its energy-providing qualities were not inherently good.