Search for wellness enhancements with nutrition, supplements, and exercise. We help you reduce medication dependence and achieve ideal health.
Quinine and Cinchona Bark
Introduction:
Quinine, also known as Cinchona, Cinchona Bark, Fever Tree, Jesuit’s Bark, Peruvian Bark, Quina-Quina, Red Cinchonais an agent produced from the bark of the South American Cinchona tree. It is also produced synthetically. Quinine has been traditonally used for malaria treatment but new, more effective agents are available.
Quinine use and the FDA:
Quinine has been prescibed by physicians for leg cramps off-label without any strong evidence of effectiveness (1). The FDA has warned for many years that harm outweighs benefit of this agent for this condition (1). Quinine is also present in small amounts of tonic water to produce a bitter taste. The dose of quinine is quite small in tonic water, and one would need to consume over 6 liters of tonic water to obtain one therapeutic dose of quinine. Quinine is present in cinchona bark which is available over the counter in herbal supplement stores as a variety of different names. Cinchona bark has an unknown quinine content, and is not standardized or regulated by the FDA.
