Have a couple of times come across the statement that the drink 'Gin and Tonic' prevents malaria since it contains quinine which is an antidote to malaria. That sounds so good. How fun is it not to cure yourself with alcohol?But maybe it sounds too good to be true? Today, I decided to google the whole thing and came up with the following.
1. The quinine is part of the bitter tonic.
2. The drink came about as the early colonialists tried to mask the bitter quinine taste with gin.
3. To prevent malaria one needs to drink the equivalent of 67 liters of GTs per day according to the travel doctor here.
So the answer to my question is unfortunately NO, Gin and Tonics' do not prevent malaria. Well, that is if you consume less than 67 liters a day.
Pic from cafepress.
4 comments:
Ha ha ha haha...it sounded really convincing till I got to the 67 liters part.
I'm PRETTY SURE consuming 67 liters of anything will KILL you before it cures whatever you're suffering from.
Last one I had years ago on a hot day tasted real good!
hehe, nice one Kajsa. Yes, unfortunately G&T does not help really, but tastes soo nice in the Ghanaian sunset nevertheless. So, don't let science discourage you to enjoy ur G&T - after all, it is proven that a placebo effect gives you some protection too ;)
MMS does however prevent Malaria.
Fact!
liking your blog Kajsa.
M
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