I won't swear it works but, I am trying it and guess what! The arthritis pain is gone! I'm serious, it really is. What am I taking? You mean what popularly advertised drug or pain pill brought about this relief from pain that had become a regular part of my life?

You're not going to believe it. You really aren't. It's a born again folk remedy that is making its way into popularity. It's considered a natural cure for arthritis pain.

To many modern pharmacologists, it is too way out there to be real. They scoff! They laugh! Some even sneer. Of course I'm sure none of them have put it to the test as I did. Oh, I wasn't a scoffer, laugher or sneerer. One might even call me gullible and so be it. I did put it to the test, and by gosh, it worked. At least for the past 10 days I've had no, and I mean NO arthritis pain.

I didn't try it the first time I read about it. I didn't even try it when I ran across it somewhere on the Web. I'm not sure what it was that guided me and prompted me to try it but I did. I went for it, a bit skeptically but what did I have to lose? It certainly wasn't going to make my pain worse, was it?

Yes, friends, I tried the 'gin soaked raisin' cure and son of a gun, it worked.

There are several recipes for preparing and using it. Here's the version I used:

Take a box of golden, not regular black but golden, sometimes called white raisins.

Place the raisins in a shallow container, cover the raisins with gin, and let them soak in the gin for a few weeks until the gin evaporates. Then eat nine of these drunken raisins a day to help your arthritis.

I've seen the number you eat varied but I pretty much do the nine a day routine. After the gin evaporated, I put them in a large mouthed jar and stored them in the frig.

Some of the research I've done before writing this article suggests that raisins most likely do more for pain relief than gin. Raisins contain pain relievers as ferulic acid, gentisic acid, a few others plus an aspirin like salicylic acid. Grapes also contain some anti-inflammatory compounds.

Leads me to wonder if the daily does of gin soaked raisins and my evening glass of red wine is what made the difference.

What do you think?

A few words of caution--raisins contain sulfur or sulphides. Anyone who has a problem with these substances should check with their physician. And of course, if you have a problem with alcohol, avoid this folk remedy. People with liver disease also need to check with their medical advisor before trying this. Never make changes in your diet or exercise program without consulting your health care provider.
This article is for information purposes and not to be considered professional medical advice.