Article text:
Drunk raisins heal arthritis?
Lafayette company producing gin-soaked raisins to
heal arthritis pain

Peter Marcus, DDN Staff Writer
Monday, November 29, 2010

These raisins won’t be joining the California Raisins with Ray Charles for a drunken rendition of “I Heard It Through The Grapevine.”

But Lafayette, Colo.-based DrunkenRaisins may alleviate pain associated with arthritis Ń something the California Raisins could never boast.

Founder Larry Wright has started a company that produces gin-soaked raisins, a known home remedy for the alleviation of inflammation pain associated with arthritis. DrunkenRaisins is the only known producer of the home remedy for the marketplace.

“Food is something that we spend years destroying ourselves with, we’ve got to figure it’s going to take a little bit of time to put the right food in our mouth to begin to heal,” said Wright, who has been using gin-soaked raisins for more than 12 years to alleviate arthritis pain in his hands.

These gin-soaked raisins aren’t just your average jumbo golden raisins soaked in gin, they are also covered in honey and cinnamon. There’s something about the golden raisins, juniper berries in the gin, cinnamon and honey that has an anti-inflammatory effect on the body, says Wright.

While he wouldn’t reveal the secrets behind his recipe, Wright says the raisins are soaked in the gin mixture for at least 10 days, until the raisins have swelled to the right size. They won’t get you drunk, but the raisins may take away the pain in another way.

It is recommended that consumers eat eight to nine gin-soaked raisins every day to experience relief. But there’s no limits on how many or in what way to eat the raisins. Some people put them in oatmeal, some in smoothies, says Wright.

There may not be empirical evidence as to the healing qualities of gin-soaked raisins, but if testimonials stand for anything, it appears about 80 percent of consumers note a healing quality associated with gin-soaked raisins, according to comments left at PeoplesPharmacy.com.

“The day after eating my first daily dose of nine gin-soaked raisins, the morning swelling in my arms and hands was gone,” wrote one user. “It was probably coincidence, but I thought it was amazing that I had no pain for the first time in months É Frankly, I couldn’t believe it was working (I’m a skeptic), but I wasn’t about to stop. It’s been three weeks since starting the gin-raisin concoction and I can’t tell you what a great relief it is!”

Another PeoplesPharmacy.com user, however, simply wrote, “Did nothing for me.”

Wright says he’s pumped about $30,000 into his company to find the right recipe and get production going. He’s looking to get up to 30 pounds per day. While he’s producing from mostly out of his home, Wright says he has facilities lined up to increase production.

DrunkenRaisins is sold by the pound at DrunkenRaisins.com. Wright recommends that new users start with three pounds, which costs $19.95 per pound.

“I’m not going to try to reinvent it,” Wright said of the 75-year-old gin-soaked formula. “I’m going to try to improve what’s already there.”