Easing Arthritis Pain With Raisins And Gin

Easing Arthritis Pain With Raisins And Gin

There are many folk remedies that purport to help with easing arthritic pain, ranging from the bizarre to the sublime. However, none has quite the initial appeal as the recommendation to consume raisins and gin. After all, there is a general expectation that for any cure to work it must be just a little unpleasant; but gin-soaked raisins certainly sit in the pleasant category of remedies for most people. If they were to work, that would make for a refreshing change.

This historical basis for this particular approach is rather scanty- the most obvious being recent recommendations by minor celebrities, such as Paul Harvey and Teresa Kerry. If you were to check the medical literature relating to arthritis, would there be any physiological basis for this ‘cure’? To date the answer is a firm no- in order for the effect of any remedy to be confirmed scientifically, suitable large-scale trials need to be conducted. In addition, no one is funding such research- not even gin distillers and Californian raisin growers.

There could, however, be a kernel of truth behind this particular claim. One area, that the medical community has tended to shy away from, is the effectiveness of herbal remedies. The basis of herbalism is anathema to the pharmaceutical biased health industry. However, herbal remedies do have a strong body of anecdotal evidence to support many of their medicinal effects.

In the case of gin-soaked raisins, there are two potential sources of anti-inflammatory agents, which could be of benefit for an inflammatory condition such as arthritis. First raisins are known to contain a whole host of such compounds, as well as minor quantities of pain relievers. In addition, gin is flavored with juniper berries, which have been used to counter arthritic pain- but only when applied externally.

Therefore, the indications are there, but the proof is probably only going to be in the eating. At the very least, both gin and raisins are generally recognized as safe, and so if you are not prone to problems with these, trying this cure is unlikely to be harmful.

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