People's Pharmacy

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Seniors Sneak Gin For Arthritis Relief

Posting Date: 10/03/2005

Q. Some elderly friends recently told a group of us that they were surreptitiously going to the liquor store and purchasing gin so they could soak golden raisins in it and eat a few daily. This was actually helping their arthritis!

Being skeptical, I wonder if there is any medical advantage to this. Is it the power of suggestion?

A. We first started writing about gin-soaked golden raisins over a decade ago. Some readers have found this remedy amazingly helpful. Others tell us it is worthless.

There is no scientific research to resolve your question. Nevertheless, the amount of gin is small and the raisins are tasty, especially in oatmeal.

Here?s the recipe: Put golden raisins in a shallow bowl and add just enough gin to cover them. Allow the gin to evaporate and eat nine raisins daily.

For more details on this and other recipes, we are sending you our Guide to Home Remedies. Anyone who would like a copy, please send $2 in check or money order with a long (no. 10) stamped (60 cents), self-addressed envelope: Graedons' People's Pharmacy, No. R-1, P. O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027.

Q. I read that eating pomegranates would lower one's cholesterol. Is this true? If so, what is it in the pomegranate that causes the effect? I would prefer to avoid taking prescription medicine if there are other ways to control cholesterol.

A. Eating a single pomegranate might not provide much health benefit, but concentrated pomegranate juice does seem to have some cholesterol-lowering power. A small study of diabetics with high cholesterol found that this concentrate lowered total and bad LDL cholesterol (Journal of Medicinal Food, Fall, 2004).

Other research has shown pomegranate juice has other heart healthy effects. It lowers blood pressure, increases blood flow to the heart and may even have anti-inflammatory properties that could relieve arthritis pain. What components of pomegranate are responsible for all these effects is unknown.