Skip to main content

Amazing Cure for Malaria...But Only Before 2006, and...Oh...

Have you ever heard that old adage that Ignorance is Bliss?  Better off not knowing?  If you knew then what you know now? Etc?

Tonight is an instance where knowledge is NOT power, it is a burden...and the Internet is a curse.

Q = Quinine.

Quinine is a herbal substance and it's what imparts its bitterness to tonic water...tonic water being a popular mixer for spirits.  The classic gin & tonic, vodka tonic, and about a million other combinations that would be amazing.

However, did you know quinine used to be a treatment for malaria?  And babesiosis...that weird disease the nurses ask about when you give blood (fyi, a disease transmitted by parasites like ticks - gross!)  These days, we've got such amazing advances in modern medicine, quinine is no longer Top of the List...only as a last resort, says the World Health Organization.

Because, as it turns out, quinine is one of those medicines that have a myriad of side-effects that seem a whole lot worse than just suffering through the damn malaria.  So, yay, WHO?

However, the quinine in tonic water is in such small amounts, it's hardly toxic to a healthy human being.  Unless...you drink MASSIVE amounts of tonic water...in which case, weirdosauce.

So...for those of us who enjoy a good gin & tonic...we may keep buying the tonic water that contains quinine. 

I cannot recall, exactly, when I had my first gin and tonic.  I can't remember if I loved it or was indifferent.  I just know at some point in my life, probably after 30, I began to love these cocktails.  I enjoy the piney/sometimes juniper-y flavor, combined with the fizzy bitterness of tonic, with an added splash of fresh lime juice.  Yes.  It is my favorite.  But...I've just recently become gin-aware.  And I do realize that gin matters.  Tanqueray is always a good middle-of-road choice.  Bombay is supremely special, and Magellan is very very nice as well.  If I had to make a choice between Seagram's and New Amsterdam, I'll choose Seagram's (crazy, isn't it?)

Always a lime.  And if I had my druthers, I'd want the barkeep to muddle a lime and include a wedge - both.  'Cause I'm fussy like that.

Q = Quinine.  Perfect for those pioneers traveling the Oregon Trail.  Would have saved them from malaria, and hadn't been outlawed by the World Health Organization yet.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Garden Party, Pt. 2

6:30 is too early for a Sunday, ne c'est pas?  Alas, that is the time I arose this morning, and while my body wanted to fall back asleep, my mind was already off and running.  So, up I got. Something tells me I'm going to regret this later...like when I'm trying to watch the new Avengers movie tonight. Last Sunday was my last day off, and that was only at my request.  There are no more days off in the foreseeable future, between the part-time bar job and the near-40 hour demands of the restaurant.  It's a hard-knock life, I reckon, but that's how it goes when you're in search of The Dream.  So we savor the tranquil moments while we can.  Like yesterday, for example.  By some stroke of excellent luck, it was just me and the youngest son in the house for a few hours.  I took him out for lunch, and then I made him do yardwork with me.  I showed him how to mow the yard, and he discovered it's not terribly fun nor easy.  Ah, yes. Tranq...
Post a Comment
Read more

Go Placidly

My food truck business started back up this past weekend, and from here until November, the weeks will be packed.  Sandwich-slinging Thursday-Saturday and bartending work Monday-Wednesday.  And Sunday, I guess, is the day to sleep in and hide in my house. Hiding out is the one thing I feel like doing a lot of these days.  My food truck's ReOpening wasn't the only thing happening in my hometown this weekend past.  A 13-year-old boy was accidentally shot and killed on Saturday and then yesterday, the police department busted one of the biggest meth labs in a long time. Both are tragic...one is a sad loss, one that will devastate a loving family for the rest of their lives.  One is tragic only because of the profound stupidity/ignorance/addiction of a few people who happen to be living in a town mostly filled with good-hearted, hard-working people. And if it's not drama at the local level, then there's the constant bombardment of news that seems to be vividly...
5 comments
Read more

Education Makes The Man(icotti)

First, a thing about our No-Restaurants experiment. This past weekend, we traveled with good friends to Kansas City to the Renaissance Fair. We made a pit stop at Gino's Italian Cuisine in Kearney, and I'm not exaggerating (much) when I say Brent and I both copiously salivated for days before the trip. It would be our first outing since the inception of NR. And really, the food was good...but I wouldn't say it was the most amazing meal of my life. And yes, both Brent and I spent some time on the toilet the next morning because of it. (Better on it than in it, I say) So, end point, the experiment continues (although, it seems less of an experiment now and more of a lifestyle choice). The kids agreeably are on board with continuing, so now maybe the challenge is to see how long we can go before we cave into the pressure/desire to visit a local eatery. Second, my obsession with purchasing food-related texts is nearly at a climax. I have not even finished with Marion Nest...
Post a Comment
Read more