Quinine in Tonic Water: Benefits, History & Safety

Quinine is a drug used to treat malaria. It has been used off-label to treat leg cramps, but the side effects outweigh the benefits in this case. Modern tonic water contains much less quinine than is necessary for any medical treatment.

History

• Quinine is found in cinchona bark and was used by native South Americans to treat malaria. Europeans first encountered the drug in the mid-seventeenth century.

Early Uses

• Quinine was originally added to tonic water as an anti-malarial treatment. According to legend, gin and tonics were born as a way to mask quinine's bitterness.

Malaria Treatment

• Both natural and synthetic quinine are still used today to treat strains of malaria that have grown resistant to other safer drugs.

Leg Cramps

• The FDA has not approved quinine as a treatment for leg cramps. It has dangerous side effects, including blood clotting and death, that may be an acceptable risk for life-threatening disease but not for less serious conditions.

Modern Tonic Water

• Today, tonic water only contains twenty milligrams of quinine per six ounces. It would take up to five gallons of tonic water a day to treat malaria.