Is it OK to drink Tonic Water?

[quanglewangle]

Not being very keen on tea and coffee I struggle to drink plain water. For a time I drank soda water + elderflower cordial but because of the escalating cost of the latter I switched to low cost Tonic Water from Lidl. Somewhere in the back of my remaining brain cell is a vague feeling that the (minute) quinine ingredient is problematic. Does anyone remember why?

[Teresa156]

Hi quanglewangle ( love your name 😊)

You will no doubt get a lot of replies advising that the quinine in tonic water will bring on Afib and to avoid it. There are some who are unaffected and I’m one of them. It seems you must be unaffected too, if you’re ok with the Lidl tonic?

My burden of Afib is very, very low though ( one episode a year, currently) and I’ve had Afib for about 18 years and I’m not sure if that has any relevance. What I would add though, is to try and avoid tonics that have sweeteners and many do, even the ones that aren’t slimline. Aspartame is known to be problematic for Afib. I presume the LIdl one has sweeteners in it? Also, perhaps try and limit the amount of tonic water daily, if you can? I.e not litres of it. It might be best to switch back to the elderflower and soda, but it’s entirely up to you.

I did read that too much quinine daily can be a possible health issue, but it’s not clear how much, but I generally keep it just as a ‘treat’.

I drink one zero alcohol gin and tonic most evenings ( I like Tanqueray Seville and also Whitley Neill) with a Fever tree tonic, which has sugar but it’s fairly low but still has that dryness. I buy a pack of the tiny cans ( I like the elderflower one). It’s up to you though, just my personal opinion.

[healingharpist in reply to Teresa156]

I also love the Fever Tree elderflower & tonic water--yes, in the little cans! Researched this, & it's people who take quinine as a supplement who have issues with it. The very small amount in Fever Tree & other brands (regulated by law) is not considered harmful to us with AF. But I guess there's always the possibility that trial & error may reveal a sensitivity for some. I dilute the little can with half filtered water, and still enjoy the flavour without fearing any problems. The elderflower is lovely-- So far, so good! Good health to all-- Diane S.

[Teresa156 in reply to healingharpist]

Hi Healingharpist,

It’s lovely isn’t it? It’s just a little treat and I’ll keep on having it, as I do like it. I can highly recommend the Whitley Neil zero alcohol gin with it, in Rhubarb and Ginger which I know sounds like a strange combination with the elderflower and like it wouldn’t work, but it does work for me 😊 also the Tanqueray ‘Seville’ zero which is slightly drier but very orangey, also works with elderflower…

Take care.

[healingharpist in reply to Teresa156]

Hi Teresa, Wow, thanks for the recommendation on "zero alcohol gin"--didn't know such an animal existed! I'll have to look for Whitley Neil here in Kentucky & nearby Ohio, I'm not familiar w/ that brand. But the mixture sure sounds great! Here's mud in yer eye !! Cheers, Diane

[Teresa156 in reply to healingharpist]

Ah, I didn’t realise you were from the US - you may not be able to get it easily sadly. I did just look on Amazon US and there are a few others I see. I get mine at the moment from Amazon, though you can get it in Supermarkets here too…it is slightly cheaper on Amazon strangely enough…might be worth looking out for anyway 😊

Cheers!

[healingharpist in reply to Teresa156]

Thank you, Teresa--I will try Amazon or there may be some other online sources. We also have some supermarket chains here like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods that carry more international brands. Will let you know what I find! D.

[Desanthony]

Not all tonic water contains quinine these days - I would also avoid the low cal with artificial sweetners.

[Teresa156 in reply to Desanthony]

I never knew that at all 😳 I just did a search and found a few…..Thankyou! I looked before but never found anything.

I’m definitely going to give them a try. Some look really interesting and much healthier.

[Desanthony in reply to Teresa156]

I only found out when I was told to drink tonic water with quinine in and started reading the bottles. I also thought all gins had quinine in but they don't. It used to be thought that drinking a gin and tonic helped keep malaria at bay - it would have been the quinine that did that .

[Teresa156]

I read that too about malaria 😳 it does make you wonder about the quinine….I think my zero alcohol gins don’t have it in…I do look forward to one in the evening, we all need a little pleasure in life lol.

[pusillanimous in reply to Teresa156]

Yes quinine was about the only thing available to treat Malaria until the modern drugs were developed.

[quanglewangle]

Thanks guys for your comments. I am in permanent AF so not worrying about triggering . I see online that the amount of quinine is very limited by law so I am going to carry on with my citrus flavoured tonic - that does have saccharine but thankfully no aspartame which would certainly have ruled it out

[secondtry]

I would avoid the standard tonic with quinine; I used to drink a lot but of course not sure if that was a contributory factor to my AF history.

I do drink a very small amount of Fevertree Aromatic before my main meal as I find it helps digestion.

nb I hold no shares in Fevertree!!

[Elli86]

I don’t think anyone truly enjoys drinking water at first 🤣 I guess it all depends what your parents gave you growing up but just go through the stage of displeasure and eventually you will reach a point where you actually don’t want anything else other than maybe some fruit juice or alcohol for some.

My mrs always used to give my kids cordial when they were younger which was annoying as that’s all they wanted. It’s taken me a while to get them on only water but now at 7 and 9 that’s all they want so that’s a definite win 💪

I too used to drink fizzy rubbish growing up as did a lot of people from my generation. Once I started training I forced myself to only drink water for a few weeks and voilà, its all I’ve drunk for the last 15 years barring a few years of booze and some orange juice.

Water is your best friend for sure. It’s worth the initial pain if we can call it that 🤣

[Tellingfibs in reply to Elli86]

Just joining the thread here….I have found I can tolerate much more water if I add a squeeze of lemon, or pop a couple of slices of cucumber in it. It makes the water taste more like I’m having something special to drink, rather than just downing an amount because it’s good for me 😊

Annie

[Elli86 in reply to Tellingfibs]

I don’t need to add anything to mine to be honest. I enjoy drinking it as it is. As I said in the message it can be tricky at first if your used to your taste buds being overwhelmed with flavour every time you take a sip of whatever your poison of choice is 🤣 but after a few days to a week you learn to love it. Water is so important.

[Singwell]

Quinine increases heart rate. Avoid I was told. Loads of nice soft drinks these days but do check sugar content as high sugar can trigger some of us.

[Mugsy15]

Staying hydrated is important for all of us but much more so, in my opinion (and long experience), for AF and arrythmia sufferers. There's only one sure way to do this, and that's to drink plain water regularly every day. I don't really get how your dislike of tea and coffee relates to your dislike of plain water, but anyway...

You have my sympathy that you 'struggle' with drinking plain water, but I find that difficult to understand. Water tastes of nothing and it's simply a case of pouring it into your mouth and swallowing, is it not?

Think of it as your most important health supplement. It's free and on tap in your home. And like anything, the longer you keep doing it, the more you'll begin to like it.

I think back to things I wanted to like but hated as a young man - olives, Guinness, smelly cheeses. In each case I kept at them for months until my palate caught up and now I love them all. In this case it's rather more important than just adding to the enjoyment of foods; it's a vital component of your health. Give it a go!

[Jetcat]

I drink mostly fizzy spring water but have also tried tonic water and had no problems.👍

[2learn]

I was told by GP friends that any regular consumption of fizzy drinks was bad long term for your stomach and contributed to worsening any acid reflux. I often just put a slice of lemon in water to give it a bit of a taste, also slice is then ideal for getting rid of bathroom scale.

[Mugsy15]

There are often threads on here about the proximity of the gastrointestinal tract to the bottom of the heart, and the belief that bloating of the tract from ingesting gas can cause arrythmia. I can vouch for that so avoid fizzy drinks.