Down this, get up!

We all grew up with our parents nagging us about soft drinks and how carbonated drinks are not good for us. And when we did grow up, our inbox got bombarded with e-mails about aspartame. Now that we are trying to be healthy by drinking flavored tea drinks, we learn that it’s all sugar. Can someone tell me what the health is going on?

The past few weeks have brought collective sniffles into our systems. Weather changes bring in barks and the blues. On my way home from a night out on a cold night, I went into a Mini Stop and grabbed myself the usual comfort goods. Before heading to the cashier, I usually look around to see what else I can get — it’s not easy to go back when you have late-night cravings. I saw this red can with the word “Mojo” dancing on its façade. Curious, I got one and tried it. Tastes like cola, less the fizz. I thought that was it.I forgot that it also says, “organic fizz”—what an irony, I told myself. “Check the label,” as my health adviser Tessa says. At the back, the Mojo ingredients were laid out: “asparagus root, dwarf lily turf tuber, honeysuckle flower, figwort root, and licorice.” It sounded more like Harry Potter than Department of Health to me. Okay, marketing gimmick 101. Or so I thought.

The Herbal Life

The next day though, I woke up refreshed, without any colds or cough, and also no sign of my daily battle with the flu. The weather was still cold, but I felt warm and good, ready to face the day. Could it be? Well, it can’t be the Doritos or the pistachio nuts I ate. I looked at my empty can of Mojo, and again read the label. This time, I checked with my friendly neighborhood doc, who already knew of the product. In a knowing tone, he told me that the organic fizz’s ingredients somehow did the trick. “Asparagus cools the body, moisturizes the lungs, and cleans the kidneys. Dwarf lilytuber nourishes and promotes the production of body fluids to clear respiratory passages. Honeysuckle flower removes heat and toxic substances that cause sore throat. And Chinese licorice reinforces the function of the spleen, eliminates heat and counteracts toxicity, dispels phlegm, and relieves cough to alleviate spasmodic pain.”   He continues with his clinical assessment. “Collectively, they strengthen the body’s immune system, relieves stress related symptoms such as cough, colds, flu, and sore throat.”“Clinical studies have proven that due to the active components found in them, herbs can greatly increase the effectiveness of modern drug treatments, reduce their side effects, and sometimes even replace them entirely,” said Dr. J. It also means that drinking Mojo is as close as we can get to a do-it-yourself herbal therapy.To futher test the “herbality” of this new drink, I went to Guangzhou, China, where the drink is produced. The Chinese have long established their reputation for herbal medicine. There, as part of a media group, we went to visit the Shennong Garden, where the history of Chinese medicinal culture is written on its walls. Situated at the southern foot of Baiyun Mountain, the garden is able to integrate herbal and health culture into a one-stop park and shop. The factories are just nearby, and wearing lab gowns and caps and protective footwear, we journeyed for our collective mojos to be unleashed.

The Factory Tour

Exploring the factories like we were reps from BFAD, I saw for myself the stringent tests that were made, from picking the herbs to processing them into the drink that I now hold in my hand, that healthy dose of mojo-inducing magic. Later during the trip, I also got to try their new flavors, aside from cola, lime, and orange. I loved it! The orange one tasted like a glass of cold water with Berrocca — tastes healthy, and feels it, too! It is here in China where I realized that the origins of this Mojo drink is found in this Baiyunshan bottle, a      ubiquitous tonic that, if the Chinese are to be believed, is said to boost your system’s inner capabilities. Why, even the Chinese Olympic team swear by it’s mojo unleashing qualities. Filipino entrepreneur Jagdesh Gagoomal first tried it, liked it but decided to alter its use of sugar to sucralose, a non-aspartame-based sweetener derived from sugar. Thus, Mojo was born.

Now onwards to more pressing matters. Most people have given up on carbonated drinks for fear of losing the battle of the bulge. With Mojo “Only one calorie to boot, zero caffeine, and sugar,” says Jagdesh Gagoomal, or Jag as I call him, about this fountain of roots, the ideal guilt-free alternative to satisfy that sweet tooth. 

A dieter’s dream? “Even diabetics can enjoy it,” states Jag.