Hey, it's five o'clock somewhere, right? There's many many sayings about gin over the years, including "gin will make you sin" and "gin & juice" by Snoop Dogg. But did you know that gin actually can help you heal?
In fact, gin actually helped prevent and fight off the disease malaria.
Back in the old days, England came up with a great plan of taking the plant from a special tree (juniper) from Peru, grind it up and make it into a powder. They called it quinine and a new anti-malaria medicine was born for England's soldiers. Smart!
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So every soldier now had a daily ration of quinine. But there was one problem: It tasted super bad. Like, really, really bad. It was so super bitter that no one could take it without adverse effects of vomiting or just plain ol' spitting it out. Even if you add water and a ton of sugar, it's still didn't help.
Then someone had the bright idea of adding a ton of alcohol to the tonic. Because why not, right? And so the troops were like, "Cool, what alcohol do we have? Oh, here's a ton of gin. Yup, just dump it on in there."
And there you have it: gin and tonic was born. All the soldiers had a great drink and were no longer dying of malaria!
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So instead of just using gin as a great drink mixer, we keep the healthy tradition of gin by giving you what else it can be used for. You quickly see why a gin & tonic is one of the healthiest drinks ever. See below:
1. Bloating Be Gone.
The diuretic action of juniper berries helps you digest and pass water more easily and provide short-term relief from any bloating feelings. Your insides will also be soothed. Juniper berries contain elements that reduce inflammation and gas.
2. Gin for Your Skin.
Juniper berries are packed full of antioxidants that reduce wrinkles and promote healthy skin appearance. Want to reduce the amount of wrinkles around your eyes, cheeks and neck? One bottle of Tanqueray, please.
3. Gin Fights Off Diabetes.
To be perfectly honest, gin is actually recommended by scientists for sufferers of diabetes. One of the short term health complications of type 1 diabetes is hypoglycaemia, a deficiency of sugar in the bloodstream that can lead to coma and death. Alcohol has been found by scientists to have hypoglycaemic-inducing effects on a person with diabetes. Researchers from Nottingham University found that blood levels were the highest compared to other drinks following a gin and carbohydrate-free tonic, thus reducing the risk of hypoglycaemia.
4. It Makes Your Bones Stronger (Seriously).
Your bones can benefit greatly from gin (no, seriously). It's said to be...
...the best natural remedy for arthritis(!). And no, we're not talking about that temporary feeling of greatness when people get drunk, actual real, documented proof of it helping to restore bone health.
5. Gin Can Help You Lose Weight.
We all know alcohol is a major cause of weight gain. Gin is one the least calorific alcoholic drinks you can have. A single glass of gin is around 110 calories, while a pint of beer has 180 and glass of red wine is more like 159 calories. The numbers are more in your favor if you compare gin to popular mixed drinks--many times those drinks are three times the amount of calories as gin! It might not seem like a lot, but when you’re having multiple drinks across an evening, that could add up to the equivalent of almost 800 extra calories.
