Purple grape juice offers potential health benefits

Q. My wife used to get sore throats every winter. They'd hang on for weeks and develop into a loud, hacking cough. Until she recovered, neither of us would get much sleep.
Then I remembered that my sister had had a similar problem with her four growing boys. In desperation, she tried a remedy she read about: drinking "red" grape juice regularly.
Both my wife and I started drinking a glass of Concord grape juice every day, fall through spring, and the problem vanished. Since then, we've almost never had a sore throat or bad cough.
We drink half a glass of grape juice and add half a glass of water. We make the juice from frozen concentrate. Do you know why this works?
A. Purple grape juice has a surprising number of potential health benefits. Research has shown that it can reduce bad cholesterol, lower blood pressure and help keep blood vessels flexible. There is even some data to suggest that ingredients in grapes may affect the immune system. Whether this effect would help ward off sore throats and coughs, we do not know.
Q. Are there any foods or supplements that are especially bad for people who get kidney stones? I would like to know what to avoid and what would be helpful. I never want to experience the pain of passing a stone again.
A. The most important recommendation for avoiding kidney stones is to drink plenty of fluids. But the type of beverage you choose makes a difference.
Grapefruit and cranberry juices may actually increase the risk of kidney-stone formation. Orange juice and lemonade lower the chances of developing a stone. They increase citrate in the urine, and that reduces the crystallization of calcium oxalate into kidney stones.
Recent research (Journal of Nutrition, July 2005) suggests that high doses of vitamin C (2,000 mg daily) can increase the risk of oxalate kidney stones.
Q. Some years back you wrote about Vicks VapoRub for treating nail fungus. I had noticed a change in color in my large toenail. When I showed it to my doctor, he confirmed that it was a fungus. He offered to write a very expensive prescription for the infection.
Instead I started putting Vicks around the nail twice daily. It took months, but it cleared up, and I now have a normal-looking toenail. Vicks worked for me.
A. Herbal extracts in Vicks have anti-fungal activity. Although it doesn't work against all nail-fungus infections, we've heard from others who have cleared their nails with patience, persistence and Vicks.
Other remedies for fungus include applications of iodine, tea tree oil or vitamin E and soaks in dilute vinegar or Pau d'Arco tea. We have collected them in our Guides to Nail Care and Unique Uses for Vicks.
Q. I have a concoction for constipation that may help others. It gives me good results.
I mix 2 teaspoons honey, 1 teaspoon vinegar and enough hot water to make 4 ounces. This is the first thing I drink every morning. It helps my stiff joints, too.
A. "Hot lemonade" made with lemon juice, honey and hot water is a time-honored morning beverage said to encourage regularity. Your drink sounds like a variation on that theme.
XIn their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of King Features Syndicate, 888 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10019, or e-mail them at peoplespharmacy@gmail.com or via their Web site: www.peoplespharmacy.org.
& copy; 2005 King Features Syndicate Inc.