Ginger Isn't Going to Help Your Arthritis -Roger Mason

Recently this column criticized the Life Extinction Foundation and their catalog-posing-as-a-magazine "Life Extinction" on several points. One point was their arthritis formula "ArthroCRAP", which contains nettle leaf, fish oil, willow bark and ginger oil. Folks, how are the useless ingredients in  this overpriced formula  going to help your arthritis? They won't even tell you how much nettle leaf, fish oil, ginger oil, and willow bark is in the formula much less how much glucosamine and chondroitin. Aren't they proud of their ingredients? Don't they want to tell you how much active ingredients are in here- especially at the astronomical price of $59.00 a bottle!!!! What is this? A pharmaceutical prescription drug, or a natural OTC supplement at that price?  It costs them about $3.00 to make it. Yes, they sell a $3.00 bottle of useless crap for $59.00. 
 
The last 40 years of research on arthritis in Chemical Abstracts doesn't show any value for nettle, willow, or ginger in relieving arthritis. That took months of sitting in medical libraries going over thousands and thousands of abstracts. This is as enjoyable as much as it is meaningful surprisingly, and it's a full time calling. Where is one single published study found anywhere in the world to show that nettle leaf has any effect on arthritis? Never once were any studies found on ginger root to show that is had any effect on arthritis. There aren't any OBJECTIVE, unfunded, studies to show that chondroitin has any effect on arthritis. Ditto for willow bark.  
 
A representative for Life Extinction wrote me and vigorously defended the value of ginger root and chondroitin for inflammation. Of course, she never bothered to read the actual studies. This column has repeatedly explained that chondroitin has no value at all since the molecule is too large to be absorbed by your intestines. All the "studies" are, in fact, paid advertisement by IBSA Corporation, and not objective clinical, unfunded investigations into the real value of chondroitin. There are objective studies showing there is no value as proven by actual blood serum analyses of real human beings fed large amounts of generic chondroitin, that leave no doubt about this. The representative quoted three studies showing the value of ginger root for inflammation. Two of these were by the same author in the same journal- Medical Hypotheses. Neither one of these "studies" studied people or even animals given ginger root. There sure was a lot of pseudo-scientific double talk about "cyclooxygenase", "lipoxygenase" and even "5-lipoxygenase", but not anything to do with giving real people (or even lab rats) some ginger root to see if they benefited from it.  
 
The third study was in volume 49 of Pharmacology (1994)- which was right in my files, of course. Lab rats were given HUGE amounts of not powdered ginger, but very potent ginger oil. This would come to almost 4 grams of ginger oil per 70 kg human. If ginger root is 2% oil content this would mean about 200 grams of ginger root daily which is clearly a toxic amount. This is ridiculous on the surface. Sure,  ginger is a great condiment, and important in Asian cooking. You can take ginger root capsules and crystallized ginger when you go fishing, sailing, and diving, as it is an excellent remedy for seasickness. It is a fine condiment- but not for arthritis and inflammation.  
 
What can you do for arthritis? EAT BETTER FOOD. Stop eating so much fat, so many simple sugars (all sweeteners are the same basically, and honey is no better than white sugar- that's a fact), quit eating refined grains like white bread, white rice and white pasta, stop eating all those preservatives, colorings and additives. Also you can stop eating Nightshade vegetables like potatoes, tomatoes and eggplants. Eating these has been clinically correlated with higher rates of arthritis and inflammation. Take flax oil 1-2 grams a day. Curcumin 500 mg for 6-12 months only. MSM has no human studies proving its value. Try 250 mg of 10% boswellin for 6-12 months only. Take All Your Minerals with 20 elements. Definitely take 500-1,000 mg of glucosamine a day. You should take an extra 400 IU of vitamin D in addition to All Your Vitamins. 
 
You can also test your hormones. If your hormones aren't balanced you will have more inflammation and be unable to control it. Test your DHEA, testosterone, progesterone, estradiol, estrone, melatonin, cortisol and pregnenolone whether you are a man or a woman. Women should also test estriol. Do exercise that does not stress your joints like swimming and yoga. Never buy an overpriced supplement where they will not freely tell you how much of the active ingredients you are getting. Ginger oil, willow bark, nettle leaf, chondroitin are simply not going to help you.  
 
For God's sake, do not go to your doctor and take those awful arthritis drugs, as they will only make you worse while they make you poorer. That's right, none of them work and they are all toxic. Read the package insert or the side effects that are listed after the magazine ads. You will actually get WORSE by taking these toxic, synthetic, unnatural poisons no matter how much professionally written propaganda you read in the media. None of them work and none of them have ever worked. Every year you hear about a "scientific breakthrough" that never delivers on its promises. A few years ago it was "COX-2 inhibitors". Every year a new chemical crock of crap that fails. 
 
It is not easy to cure arthritis, rheumatism and inflammation, and it takes a lot of time and commitment to do so, but there is no other realistic choice. Better food choices, proven supplements, balancing your basic hormones, no prescription drugs, and low impact exercise like walking will help you be pain free. Fasting once a week will help detoxify and strengthen your body and your immune system. Please also read Treating Bone and Joint Problems Naturally in our library. 
 
One more thing... those capsaicin topical lotions do provide temporary, safe, effective, superficial relief from the pain and you may want to try them if you haven't done so.