# Quinine



## In the Kitchen (Aug 21, 2006)

Isn't quinine supposed to be healthy for you in some way?  I got some and it is so bitter.


----------



## jennyema (Aug 21, 2006)

Very bitter.


----------



## GB (Aug 21, 2006)

quinine is what give that bitter taste to tonic water.


----------



## JMediger (Aug 21, 2006)

I've read it's good for achey muscles ... when I ran track in college, our coaches would tell us to drink tonic water with lemon at night and it helped our legs.  Now, as an adult, when I feel cramped up during the month, if I drink  tonic water(even diet), it helps more than ibuprofen or midol will.

I've never seen just straight quinine so am not sure what you could mix it with but maybe lemon juice and seltzer water?


----------



## Half Baked (Aug 21, 2006)

You won't get malaria, In the Kitchen.  

Actually Mr HB was prescribed quinine for his leg cramps.  He tried tonic water but it wasn't potent enough to solve his problem....maybe the gin and limes counteracted the good stuff in the tonic.


----------



## GB (Aug 21, 2006)

I have never heard of quinine for cramps. You learn something new every day here 

I usually take some form of potasium when I get leg craps. I will either reach of the tums or a banana, whichever is closer. My cramp is gone before I have finished swallowing 

Wasn't quinine used to prevent scurvy at one time?


----------



## jennyema (Aug 21, 2006)

Scurvy is vitamin C.  

I think quinine was for malaria.


----------



## Andy M. (Aug 21, 2006)

I think that was limes...


----------



## In the Kitchen (Aug 21, 2006)

*Fast*

Thank you for responding.  You people are much quicker than the pharmicist at Walgreens.  I just knew you would know.  Thanks again and it does sound like if you can drink it would be good for you.  Just my curiousity that I wanted to taste it.  I mixed w/club soda in order to try it.


----------



## GB (Aug 21, 2006)

jennyema said:
			
		

> Scurvy is vitamin C.
> 
> I think quinine was for malaria.


Will it cure my dementia or my CRS?


----------



## JMediger (Aug 21, 2006)

GB said:
			
		

> Will it cure my dementia or my CRS?


 
No, GB, that's where the gin and lime come it ...   ... They may not cure it, but you'll be happier as you forget that you are forgetting.


----------



## jennyema (Aug 21, 2006)

GB said:
			
		

> Will it cure my dementia or my CRS?


 

Like 1/2baked said, it might help if enough gin and limes are consumed along with ...


----------



## GB (Aug 21, 2006)

Bombay Saphire here I come!


----------



## FryBoy (Aug 21, 2006)

*Quinine is a drug that shouldn't be taken without medical supervision. Check the side effects and precautions cited by the National Institutes of Health here: **http://tinyurl.com/p29c3*

*In 1994, the FDA ordered drug companies to cease marketing quinine as a treatment for leg cramps, "even under a doctor's care," due to serious health risks, including 23 deaths: **http://www.fda.gov/fdac/departs/695_updates.html*

*The FDA issued its final rule in 1998. The summary in the Federal Register states the following: "The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is issuing a final rule establishing that over-the-counter (OTC) drug products containing quinine for the treatment and/or prevention of malaria are not generally recognized as safe and are misbranded."*

*As for quinine in tonic (i.e., the bitter carbonated beverage sold by Canada Dry, among others, and used for Gin & Tonic), the FDA does not allow more than 2.45 mg/ounce of quinine to be contained in a carbonated beverage (CRF 21 part 172.575). That compares to therapeutic doses for the treatment of malaria of 600 to 650 mg per day, the equivalent of the quinine in a little over 2 gallons of tonic water. Drinking tonic water will not prevent nor treat the disease. *

*Self-medication is a fool's game -- don't play with your health. *


----------



## Andy M. (Aug 21, 2006)

As soon as SO gets home from work, we're going to self-medicate with some quinine.  We disguise the flavor with Tanqueray and lime.


----------



## Ishbel (Aug 21, 2006)

Make it Bombay Sapphire and I'll join you both, AndyM!


----------



## Gretchen (Aug 21, 2006)

Malaria treatment. Although more recently it apparently does help leg cramps. Oh, I see Jenny already answered.


----------



## Claire (Aug 21, 2006)

The limes were for scurvey, the tonic (quinine) for malaria.  I think it was a good excuse for colonists to drink lots of gin!  Hubby says many GIs got the runs from taking their malaria pills, but when they skipped them they got a life-long lesson (malaria never goes away, it just sits in your body and waits to attack you).  Both our fathers had malaria (his from WWII in the tropics, mine, believe it or not, from France in the fifities).  He says in Vietnam he actually had to watch his guys take the pills and inspect their mouths if necessary.  He always took his and is malaria free, thank heaven.


----------



## In the Kitchen (Aug 21, 2006)

*Results*

bring up a topic and everyone has their views.  I will just t ake them all as they are given and figure out which one best  applies.  I do like the idea of mixing w/something.  Just plain really like taking medicine.  This quinine is something no one really talks about in mixed company.  I find out more information here than talking in the group at church.  Maybe they don't think appropriate to talk about what we drink?  Well, I feel better w/this group. thanks


----------



## kadesma (Aug 21, 2006)

_I take quinine as needed for severe leg cramps..It comes in capsule form...and is perscribed by a doctor. It relieves the cramping for several days..Potassium can help as well, but the levels in your body need to be checked when you supplement._

_kadesma _


----------



## Caine (Aug 21, 2006)

Quinine will also induce labor, or a spontaneous abortion, depending on how far along the pregnancy is.


----------

