by Tessa Jupp, RN
We have been using gelatine and borax to alleviate arthritis successfully for many years now but there are so many other ways that our bodies also need and use all of these nutrients we should be getting from the foods we eat.
Each of us is a unique person and our bodies can end up with a wide variety of health problems that differ from person to person – but the answer may be the same vitamin, mineral or amino acid – things like gelatine or borax!
So from the long lists in the next few pages, find the main problems you might be having
and see if you can fix or improve them with some of these solutions. You won’t have all of
the listed problems, (I hope), but the more things that are going wrong, then the more of that item you are likely to need to take to fix them.
For lists of problems that are indicators for other nutrients, buy my booklets “Signs & Symptoms – be your own Detective” $6 (lists and explanations) and/or “Putting a Face to Nutritional Deficiencies” $8 (to view in coloured pictures).
Postage is an extra $3 for up to 4 booklets.
We need to have a symptom that we can say – “Yes! I can see or feel that taking or eating this is helping me with this particular problem.” Don’t just take something because it has been recommended by someone. Always have a way of evaluating whether it is working for you.
There are 2 types of arthritis – the most common being osteo-arthritis. Caused by wear-and-tear (polio walk) or aggravation on the body part; often in an old injury area, due to lack of the nutrients needed to maintain the joint or an inflammatory reaction to foods we eat or other things we are exposed to in our environment – like changes in weather. It is not the same thing as Osteoporosis.
Rheumatoid arthritis is thought to be caused initially by an infective agent that sets up chronic inflammation. So we need to get rid of the dormant infection and reduce the inflammation. Borax has all of these features.
With knees, hip and shoulder joints, we have extra tendons and ligaments holding the bones in place. This is where gelatine and manganese particularly are needed. Cartilage is like the “plastic” buffer on the end or outside of bone. Gelatine is the precursor for cartilage and bone, as well as being needed for tendons and ligaments. Vitamin C is part of maintaining these structures too – to get better results. Glucosamine (which can be made from glutamine and glucose in the body) plays a role in building cartilage, which is a series of connective tissues located between joints. This cushions the bones as they move along each other. The Glucosamine we are familiar with in shops is a type of amino sugar, which means it contains properties of both proteins and glucose.
When you get “grating” in a joint then the cartilage has been eroded and “bone-grinding-on-bone” causes bone damage – so borax helps. If you have tight muscles, this makes the tendons (which attach muscle to bone) pull on the attachment site on bone, which stimulates extra bone growth at that point, and this causes spurs! So take extra magnesium to allow the muscle to relax and to stop cramps.
Shoulder pain can be caused by injury – pulled, strained, torn, by twisting the tendons and ligament or by lifting awkwardly. We use our arms to help us stand, to reach out, to use walking sticks or elbow crutches and walking frames. Manganese, gelatine and Vitamin C, all together, over time, will help to repair damage to tendons. If you get a sharp stabbing pain, then either a nerve is being trapped or there is inflammation in the synovial membrane. For either of these causes, Vitamin B6 is the answer. The taste will tell you. The sweeter B6 tablets taste, the more you need. They taste really YUK when you don’t need B6. Your body is very good at letting you know – to take it or not?
I have found that an ache in shoulder or hip joints that was waking me up after lying on them for a while, does respond well to taking regular gelatine in a hot drink daily – no pain! It was not arthritis as such – just the tendons complaining.
Polio Clinic WA 