The Gin Soaked Raisin Experiment

Background
For as long as I care to remember, I have been going to the country on hunting trips and staying with family in a small wood stove heated house on a 130 acre farm in Kentucky. Every night we sit around "The Round Table", tell lies and let go of life's little annoyances.

For the last few years every time we would complain of an ache or pain my cousin who lives permanently on the farm insisted that we take a spoon full of his gin soaked raisins all the while swearing that he could not raise his arms above his head until he began this "treatment" with this concoction. Being the skeptic I am I laughed off his claims and took a few ibuprofen and went about my business.

During this time I had an increasing pain developing in my hip joints making it very uncomfortable for me to get out of bed in the morning. At first we blamed the bed and purchased a new and quite expensive mattress hoping that would fix the problem. After 3 months on the new mattress, I noticed no change in my condition.

To make things more interesting, my wife developed a problem with her left shoulder. Sometimes the pain has been unbearable for her and next to impossible for her to raise her arm above her head. She has made two trips to our Family Practitioner and has an appointment scheduled with an Orthopedic Surgeon coming up in December.

Well, I decided it was time to do a little research and put this gin soaked raisin hogwash to the test.

Research and Theory
I spent a few days scouring the net for scientific studies on this approach. Interestingly enough what I found was a plethora of testimonies swearing by the treatment and not much else in terms of true scientific studies on the treatment. Basically there are two main ingredients White or "Golden" Raisins and Gin.

White Raisins
White raisins have a high sulfur content that is concentrated during the drying process. Sulfur is believed to relieve the symptoms of arthritis. Gin (at least real Gin) is made from Juniper Berries.

Gin
Gin gets its distinctive flavor from Juniper Berries. Juniper Berries are the female seed cones produced by various types of Juniper trees. Junipers are conifers of the cypress family and can be found throughout the northern hemisphere. The berries have long been believed to relieve inflammation as well as providing other medicinal benefits acting as a strong urinary tract disinfectant.

Not any Gin will do mind you! Cheaper Gin's are flavored by artificial means so keep that in mind when making your own batch.

The Recipe
1. Put Golden Raisins in a bowl
2. Add Gin until covered
3. Let soak for a week or so until the Gin is absorbed in the raisins (They say the alcohol is evaporated but where is the fun in that?)
4. Place soaked raisins in a jar and cover tightly.
5. Eat at least nine raisins a day

My Concoction
Well, being a connoisseur of fine Gin I opted for a pint of Tanquerey London Dry Gin and a box of Sun-Maid Golden Raisins. Not wanting to waste a drop of the top shelf Gin to "evaporation", I packed the raisins in a mason jar and filled to the top with the Tanquerey. The remaining Tanquerey was then poured into a double old fashioned glass with a few ice cubes, some tonic water and a slice of lime and consumed on the spot. I then capped off the concoction and placed it in the refrigerator for 7 days.

"Clinical" Trials
My wife and I agreed to try this experiment together each taking the same dose. We are both taking one spoonful in the evening before bed consisting of approximately 10 to 20 raisins.

"Treatment" began on Sunday morning, 11/23/2008 and will continue for at least one month. If improvement is noticed we will continue treatment.

Today is day three of the treatment and I must admit that I am becoming a believer. For the first time in a long time I woke up and felt very little pain in my hips. Amazingly, my wife emerged from the bathroom asked if I noticed anything different about her. She was brushing her hair with the arm that she could not raise above her head just days before. She said there was still some pain but nothing compared to the pain that I personally witnessed bring tears to her eyes. She is not on any other medication for inflammation or pain presently (including OTC) and neither am I.

I will try to post a weekly report here to let you know how things progress and I would be interested in hearing back from you with the results of your own experiences with this if you have tried it or decide to give it a try.

Disclaimer - I cannot guarantee that it will work for you nor am I advocating that you try it. You can make that decision for yourself. I am just simply stating the results of my own personal experiences.

~Pooge