This Iconic Soda Started As 'Brad's Drink' And A Cure For Indigestion

Every soda has an origin story, and Pepsi's is pretty interesting. It was initially created in 1893 by North Carolina pharmacist Caleb Bradham. Several soft drinks have been invented by pharmacists, including Coca-Cola and Dr Pepper. Pepsi is among those that were marketed as healthy beverages and pushed as a drink that could help cure a stomachache. 

Bradham initially marketed Pepsi as a "digestive aid" rather than a sugary soda. He sold the soft drink locally, calling it "Brad's Drink" and claiming that it could help with dyspepsia, or indigestion. One of Pepsi's earliest marketing slogans was, "Exhilarating, Invigorating, Aids Digestion," according to Vistaprint. Despite the claims and slogan, there was never any medical proof to back any of this up.

Five years later, Bradham changed the name to Pepsi-Cola, a more marketable moniker. He made up the name by combining dyspepsia and kola, because the drink contained kola nut among its ingredients. The name was changed again in 1961 when the brand dropped "Cola" and it simply became Pepsi.

It was formerly believed that Pepsi originally got its name because it contained pepsin, an enzyme that breaks down proteins in the stomach, but that was never actually an ingredient. Instead, the drink originally contained sugar, water, vanilla, kola nuts, and rare oils to create the signature flavor (which sets it apart from Coke). The formula has changed over the years, most notably the switch from sugar to high fructose corn syrup as the sweetener, but it has never contained any ingredients that would make it healthy for consumers, despite the original claims and slogan.

While the beverage may temporarily alleviate upset stomachs due to its carbonation, drinking cola sodas like Pepsi or arch-nemesis Coca-Cola with an upset stomach can actually make it worse in the long term because carbonation can cause gas, and caffeine can lead to more gastric acid production, which can irritate the stomach lining and cause acid reflux.

During World War II, Pepsi switched gears from claiming to relieve dyspepsia to being a "quick energy food," per Vox. That didn't last long, and by the 1950s, the soft drink was re-marketed as "The Light Refreshment," and ads claimed that the drink "refreshes without filling." Obviously, Pepsi couldn't continue being marketed as a health drink as science and nutrition evolved. By the 1980s, more information became available about the adverse effects of a high sugar intake, which started to become a hot topic. With changes to nutritional guidelines, consumers became more aware that Pepsi, and drinks like it, were anything but healthy. 

With sugar consumption linked to weight gain, type-2 diabetes, and tooth decay, just to name a few, limited soda consumption was recommended, leading to Pepsi's addition of "healthier" alternatives, including several "diet" versions of Pepsi that did not contain sugar. Those drinks use artificial sweeteners, which can also be controversial and carry their own health risks. While the soft drink industry is thriving, with PepsiCo pulling in $91.85 billion in net revenue in 2024 (according to the Pepsi annual report), health advocates have suggested switching to healthier drink alternatives like coconut water or unsweetened tea instead, and you can't go wrong by switching to plain old water.