Cherry
Cherry, sweet or sour, is an anti-inflammatory food. It is especially valuable in gout, which is characterised by certain form of inflammation of the joints and swellings of a recurrent type. This was discovered by Lodwig W. Blan, Ph.D., some 50 years back. Himself a gout sufferer, he found the use of cherries to be miraculously effective in his own case and published his own experience in a medical journal.
Subsequently, many people with gout used this simple therapy with great success. To start with, the patient should consume about 15 to 25 cherries a day. Thereafter, about 10 cherries a day will keep the ailment under control. While fresh cherries are the best, canned cherries can also be used with success.
Garlic
Garlic possesses anti-inflammatory property. It is known to affect prostaglandin that helps reduce inflammation. Physicians in India noticed during a study of garlic’s impact on heart disease that garlic eaters often got relief from joints pain, in particular those with osteoarthritis, which also involves inflammation. During; the test, subjects ate two or three raw or cooked garlic cloves every day.
In Russia, garlic is used extensively in the treatment of rheumatism and associated diseases. In Britain also, garlic is recommended to rheumatic sufferers. Recent experiments in Japan tested a garlic extract on patients with lumbago and arthritis and a large number were benefited, without any undesirable side effects.
Garlic is also one of the most effective food medicines in sciatica. It can be used in the form of either raw garlic or garlic milk. In case of raw garlic, it should be cut into small pieces and taken with a teaspoon of honey with each meal. Garlic milk can be prepared both in cooked and uncooked states. Raw uncooked form is more powerful.
The milk is prepared by adding the pulp of crushed garlic in uncooked buffalo milk. The proportion is four cloves to 110 ml of milk. In cooked state, it should be boiled in milk. The most popular method is to take the garlic cloves internally, although some reports indicate that pain can also be relieved by rubbing the affected parts with cloves of cut garlic. Garlic oil is rapidly absorbed through the skin and into the bloodstream, and quickly reaches the affected areas.
Ginger
Ginger is a powerful anti-inflammatory drug. It has been used for centuries in Ayurvedic system of medicine to treat various rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. In a recent study, Dr. Krishna C. Srivastava of Odense University in Denmark, tested ginger in small doses daily on a group of arthritis patients for three months. Most of them reported less pain, swelling and morning stiffness and more mobility.
Dr. Srivastava, who has successfully treated several arthritis patients with ginger, recommends an intake of 5 grams of fresh ginger or half a gram ground ginger three times a day. The ground ginger should be taken after dissolving in a liquid food. The experts opine that ginger seems to have no side effects. In fact, ginger is considered to be superior to the widely prescribed anti-arthritis drugs known as NSAIDs (non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs), according to Dr. Srivastva.
Ginger presumably works in two or even more ways. It blocks formation of both prostaglandins and other inflammatory substances called leukotrienes. Further, Dr. Srivastava suggests that ginger’s antioxidant activity breaks down inflammatory acids in the joints’ synovial fluid. Dr. Srivastava has also found powdered dry ginger effective in combating pain and swelling from the inflammation of osteoarthritis.
Grapes
Grapes are a valuable anti-inflammatory food. They help reduce inflammation due to their richness in alkaline elements, which tend to dissolve the uric acid. Their use is therefore highly beneficial in the treatment of arthritis, gout and rheumatism. Doctor Tabanera, who has had vast experience in treating patients with grape diet, affirms in the Median Journal Viva Cien Anos that chronic rheumatism and gout can be alleviated by an exclusive diet of grapes and their juices.
Green Vegetable Juices
Green vegetable juices possess anti-inflammatory properties. They help greatly in relieving arthritis and other rheumatic conditions. Green juice extracted from any green leafy vegetable, mixed with carrot, celery and red beet juice, is a specific remedy for these conditions. The alkaline action of raw juices dissolves the accumulation of deposits around the joints and in other tissues, thereby relieving pain and swelling.
Indian Gooseberry
This fruit is of great value as an anti-inflammatory food. Its use has been found beneficial in reducing inflammation in arthritis and other rheumatic conditions. The fruit should be dried in shade and powdered. One teaspoon of this powder, mixed with two teaspoons of jaggery, should be taken twice daily for a month in the treatment of these conditions.