YUCCA BRINGS R E L I E F !

Image Gallery PHOTO BY JAMES TALLON

The spiny yucca plant—used for centuries as a staple food by Indians of the southwestern U.S.?may offer hope for the 20 million Americans who suffer from some form of arthritis. At least, that seems to be the bottom line of a study conducted by California physicians Robert Bingham and Bernard A. Bellew (and reported in The Journal of Applied Nutrition, Vol. 27, No. 2).

In the Bingham-Bellew study, 165 arthritis victims?aged 11 to 92?were given from two to eight yucca extract tablets per day for up to five months. (A control group of 51 patients received placebos, or non?medicinal tablets. None of the patients who participated in the study knew which kind of pills?yucca or placebo—he/she was receiving.)

The results: 49% of the patients who'd taken yucca tablets felt that the pills had had an overall beneficial effect on their symptoms. By contrast, only 21% of the patients who got placebos reported any improvement in their condition.

Perhaps more strikingly, 60% of all patients receiving yucca extract said that they felt less swelling, pain, and stiffness after trying the pills. And more than 90% of these people—when asked?said that they'd noticed no unpleasant effects stemming from their "yucca therapy".

Dr. Bingham?who has treated well over 1,000 patients with yucca pills during the past two years?says that persons who suffer gastrointestinal disturbances with their arthritis seem to derive the greatest benefit from yucca therapy. He adds: "The pills seem to be useful also in treating some patients who have had chronic headaches in connection with joint discomfort."