Kola nut

Cola drinks account for a whopping 70 percent of the enormous U.S. soft drink market.  Americans might drink even more if they knew the tropical nut helps flavor them may help manage asthma.

West Africans have used kola since prehistoric times.  They chewed the seeds for their stimulant effect and used them to treat fevers.

West African slaves introduced the kola tree into Brazil and the Caribbean.  Kola became a favorite Caribbean diuretic to treat water retention, a digestive aid, and folk remedy for diarrhea, fatigue, and heart problems.  Over time, kola's stimulant properties led to the belief that it was an aphrodisiac.

Kola arrived in the United States after the Civil War.  The 19th-century Eclectics noted that Caribbeans ascribed "innumerable fabulous virtues" to it.  The eclectics correctly identified the stimulants in kola as the same ones in cocoa.   They prescribed kola to "overcome mental depression" and prepare for "severe physical and mental exertion."  They also recommended it to relieve diarrhea, pneumonia, typhoid fever, migraine headaches, seasickness, and morning sickness.

Because it was used medicinally, 19th-century pharmacists stocked kola.  Legend has it that on May 8, 1886, Atlanta pharmacist John Styth Pemberton mixed some sugar with extracts of kola and coca (the source of cocaine) in a three-legged brass pot in his backyard.  He added carbonated water to his sweet syrup and created a refreshing drink his bookkeeper dubbed Coca-Cola.

Two years later Pemberton sold all rights to his beverage to Atlanta based businessman Asa Candler for $2,300.  Candler was an imaginative marketer, and by 1895, Coke had become America's first national soft drink.  Today Coca-Cola is the best-known product in the world.  People request it 250 million times a day in 80 languages an 135 countries.  Since its development, Coca-Cola's formula has been a closely guarded secret.  The formula has evolved over the years.  When the United States outlawed cocaine, the drug ws removed from Coke.  Today Coca-Cola is known to contain decocainized coca leaf extract and a small amount of kola.