Pat writes: cherries get a good press as a health food, and our late friend Dr Noah Hutchings claims they get rid of gout pain.
We were on a tour with Noah in California one year, and he suddenly said: 'Larry (Larry Spargimino, who was driving the van), pull over at the next food store so I can get some cherries.' Why this sudden hankering for cherries, we asked. He said that his gout was acting up and a handful of black cherries would stop it. We got a can of cherries and it did the trick!
Recent research has shown that a glass of cherry juice a day gives the same health benefits as eating 23 portions of fruit and vegetables. The juice is packed with antioxidants, which destroy harmful molecules in the body.
This research was done on juice of the Montmorency tart cherry grown in the U.S. This is available in the U.K. in health shops under the name CherryActive. Other research shows that the longest living people in the world all achieve a very high intake of antioxidants.
As the old song says: Life is just a bowl of cherries!
For other home remedies, see our article by typing 'home remedies' in our search engine. And if you know of any more, please email us. I see websites offering tantalizing cures for this and that - but they never tell you what the cures are; you have to buy their book, or register your name on their database etc.
I always click off and think - well, if they really knew some cure and it would stop people suffering, they should just tell us all, not trick us into buying a book. So that is why, when we hear of some home remedy and know of people who have been helped, we broadcast the information. Obviously, if you have something wrong, go to the doctor. But you have a brain - do your own research as well. In fact my doctor has even said to me on occasion: do some research. She doesn't have time to give each patient a long lesson.
