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Tonic Water for Coronavirus Prevention !?

I’m definitely NOT saying tonic water works to prevent coronavirus!

2021 UPDATE: This article was posted while we still had literally nothing to treat COVID. Now we know that Plaquenil is not effective, and there’s no longer any reason to believe tonic water would help. However, I’m leaving this post in place as a testament to how science moves on only when scientists can admit we’ve made mistakes and learned lessons. That definitely applies to this article.

Here’s why I think it might do more than nothing.

There is good reason to believe that we finally have a weapon to fight the global pandemic-causing coronavirus.

A Twitter thread yesterday alerted me to the potential for an antimalarial drug called hydroxychloroquine (also known by the brand name, Plaquenil) to treat and prevent covid-19. The Twitter thread linked to a google document, not a true research article. So I was reluctant to get too excited as google documents are not subject to the usual scrutiny to verify that it’s not a complete work of fiction.

Later, on Dr. Drew Pinky’s TV show, someone sent Dr. Drew a message suggesting that this medication is already being used in some US hospitals. Wow. Okay so IF that’s true, and it appears to be, then this is huge. Yooj.

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Good luck getting Plaquenil.

When I tried to order some for a patient who I think has coronavirus pneumonia, the pharmacist I called told me that not only is her store fresh out of Plaquenil, her usual supplier has none either. The supplier did not provide her with an availability date, but that’s not entirely unprecedented in times of scarcity.

It’s important to mention here that much of the original work on the use of this medication for treating coronavirus infection was done in China. This has lead some doctors to speculate that China’s sudden drop in new coronavirus cases is not due solely to their quarantine measures, but due also and maybe in larger part to the use of hydroxychloroquine. Thank you, China.

 

 

Actually, if it really is the case that China has been using this drug successfully without telling us, I won’t be surprised. We’ve not been on the best terms, lately and it might be naive to expect them to be fully transparent.

 

Tonic water contains quinine, which is chemically related to Plaquenil.

Tonic water was invented by a British physician to prevent malaria, and the British added gin to sweeten it.

Both quinine and Plaquenil are primarily used for the same thing, namely malaria. They have a long history of use for this purpose and were both very effective. (There’s now resistance to Plaquenil and its use has declined in recent decades). Both drugs are also used occasionally to treat rheumatoid arthritis and Lupus. Both drugs belong to the quinolone family. Both drugs also have similar side effects.

Bark of the cinchona tree (Fever Tree) native to the Andes of South America

 

In other words, quinine and Plaquenil are use for the same things, they’re chemically related, and have similar effects in our bodies. All of this suggests tome that if Plaquenil is truly useful against coronavirus, quinine might be useful, too.

While there is no research to support the idea that quinine has any effect against coronavirus at this time, if it really is true that Plaquenil works for coronavirus, then if I were a drug company wanting to help with this epidemic the next place I would be looking for additional effective medications would be in the same family. At the very least, if Plaquenil works then quinine deserves serious study.

Please know: This whole argument I’m making is seriously hypothetical.

First, we don’t really have good quality evidence yet about Plaquenil.

Second, quinine is a relative of Plaquenil and may not have the same effect.

Third, there’s a significant dose difference. The quinine dose in tonic water is much much lower than the quinine dose used to treat malaria, roughly ten times higher than what you’d get in a 1 liter bottle of tonic water: 500-1000 mg versus 83 mg.

So why am I writing this when we don’t have any solid evidence tonic water does anything at all for coronavirus?

Tonic water is cheap, safe and just might help you sleep.

 

 

Now, let’s consider the safety profile of tonic water.

There’s not much to say. It’s really safe. It’s available over the counter, kids can drink it as can elderly, and last I looked there’s no warning on the label. Although I wouldn’t advise pregnant women drink too much, since there may be some link to birth defects.

The one problem with drinking tonic water is that it’s also related to a heart medication called quinidine, and can interact with that as well as a number of other drugs.

It’s safe on your wallet, too.

You can buy a liter bottle of Canada Dry for about a buck.

And by the way, if you’re a diabetic with night time leg cramps it may also help you sleep better. Quinine has also been used for this purpose for years.

Oh, I should mention by way of full disclosure that I work for ABC Fine Wine and Spirits. They hired me so that their employees could see me at no cost, which is very progressive and they deserve credit so I’m very proud to say that our 130 or so Florida retail stores sell some kickin’ tonic water. Did they ask me to write this article? No. They don’t even know yet.

So while you’re self quarantined and trying to cut down on soda and sweets to keep your immune system healthy, why not order up a tonic? Make sure you get one with low or no added sugar. And it (almost) goes without saying that its best to not load up on gin!

 

Additional reading

“Could an old malaria drug help fight the new coronavirus?” https://www.asbmb.org/asbmb-today/science/020620/could-an-old-malaria-drug-help-fight-the-new-coron

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Christian_Meyer6/publication/8132181_Editorial_Gin_tonic_revisited/links/5aeb3037aca2725dabb6924c/Editorial-Gin-tonic-revisited.pdf 

Effects of chloroquine on viral infections: an old drug against today’s diseases: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1473309903008065

What quinine looks like: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Quinine#section=2D-Structure

What hydroxychloroquine looks like: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Hydroxychloroquine#section=2D-Structure

https://www.mmv.org/malaria-medicines/history-antimalarials 

With over two decades of clinical experience and expertise in genetic and biochemical research, Dr. Cate can help you to reverse metabolic disease and reshape your body.

Please note: Please do not share personal medical information in a comment on our posts. It will be deleted due to HIPAA regulations.

This Post Has 9 Comments

  1. Any update on this? Most of these discussions were 6 months ago. A thing or two has changed…

    Trump was pushing this, but things I read said it had to be taken with iron to be effective. Don’t think it was ever tested that way.
    Your latest comments please…. Thanks

  2. If the US govt recommends against it – it is probably good.

    If the US govt is behind it or advertising it – it is most likely a lie or downright harmful.

    Sad truth that we are facing.

  3. The corrupt medical system will not tell us how to naturally protect ourselves.
    Quite the opposite actually; the corrupt medical system has worked to discredit and silence holistic treatments.

    This should tell you all you need to know about our corrupt medical system; all that they do is to hurt and further degrade our health.

    They are the enemy, at least.

  4. I started drinking tonic water awhile back for leg cramps. Around the same time, my pulmonologist started me on azithromycin in conjunction with treatment for chronic lung infections !!! This was way before the virus… Portentous omen ???

  5. Great Value Diet Tonic at Walmart has no sugar and it has Quinine Hydrochloride. While it may not be effective to any degree, it’s probably more effective as a mixer than Wyler’s sugar-free mix.

  6. At this point if the government recommends against something that’s probably a good sign that next week they will say the opposite.

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