When I first started my private practice 35 years ago, integrative or alternative health care was considered to be “voo-doo”, or at least very suspect. In spite of the fact that many natural treatments, (those not scientifically proven), worked extremely well for many maladies was of no interest to traditional thinkers.

One of the folk-treatments that was often discussed by patients who came into the office was an intoxicatingtreatment to address arthritis pain and discomfort. An unusual Rx, a “Raisin-Gin” elixir, made at home and very inexpensive, is highly touted as a miracle cure for arthritis. By all appearances, this treatment works very well for the many individuals who have tried it.

Now that I am older, my horse-back riding and jogging injuries have come back to haunt me. I have sadly developed some arthritis in my hips, which I am told is the result of the pounding from many years of 10K training. Whatever the reason, I have hip joint pain that needs to be addressed and the raisin-gin cure came to mind. It is something I am planning to try shortly.

It requires a little preparation. First you buy golden raisins (ONLY golden raisins), a bottle of gin and a glass baking dish. You lay out the golden raisins in the glass baking dish and cover the raisins with the gin. Use only enough to cover the raisins but do not over do it.

Cover the dish and put it in a safe place, where it won’t be knocked over on your kitchen counter – a place you can easily keep an eye on it. It will take 7-10 days, depending on how much gin you put in, for the raisins to absorb and metabolize all the gin. When the raisins are plump and all the gin is absorbed, it’s time to try “the cure”.

Take two (2) tablespoons a day of the raisins, storing the “brewed” dish of raisins in a covered glass jaw. Do NOT refrigerate. If this is an agreeable treatment for your arthritis, you should see results within 7-10 days, with less pain and stiffness.

This treatment is believed to work as a result of the metabolic interaction between the raisins (which are living foods being that they are derived from dried plums) and the gin, which is a fermented extract of grain mash, so it to is a living food material. The thinking is that somewhere in this metabolic marriage a natural chemical is produced that addresses the inflammation and stiffness of arthritis.

If you are curious, you can try it yourself, and I will let you know the outcome of my own experiment with this rather unique and rather tasty treatment.

All the best,
Georgianna

Copyright 2010 G. Donadio