Natural Painkillers

   "Yeah," you're saying to yourself right now, "sure, booze is a painkiller." It's not about the booze! Well, it IS, and it isn't.

   As a sufferer of chronic pain due to an injury from about eight years ago, I have seen every kind of specialist and doctor there is. I've tried typical western medicine, acupuncture, chiropracty, therapeutic massages. I've taken a million salt baths, worn pain patches, used a TENS device. Nothing has stopped the constant flow of pain, which becomes unbearable on some days.

   The wonderful osteopath I'm seeing currently told me about a "recipe" that might help. She told me it would sound crazy, but was an OLD remedy, and has helped a lot of people. Gin and golden raisins. Not just any gin, mind you, but specifically Gordon's Gin. The key ingredient here is the juniper berries. Not juniper flavoring, but actual berries used in the distilling process. Something in the juniper reacts with something in the golden raisins, and nobody really knows how it all works. 

   She told me it was based on some eastern medicine- an old Chinese herbal remedy for pain. People who have had great success with it are folks who suffer from arthritis and joint pain.

   Basically, all you do is put the raisins out in a thin layer in a pan, and pour just enough gin to cover them. 

I can really smell the juniper in this!

Pouring. Keep pouring until they are all *just* covered.

   You let them sit for a week or so, until all the gin has been soaked up by the raisins. Don't cover them with plastic wrap or anything. They need to breathe and evaporate. You can drape a towel over the dish if you like, to keep out dust. Then, you eat NINE per day. No more, no less. You won't notice the effects for probably about six weeks, according to what I've read. Keep them in an airtight container in the fridge. And no, they won't make you drunk, so don't worry about that.

   I've started mine soaking today. I'll let you know down the road how it works out.


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