Grape Juice for Arthritis

QUESTION: To my surprise, I've had great results with grape juice and pectin. For the past 15 years, I've tried numerous medications for joint pain in my knees and hips, including Advil, Tylenol, Vioxx and Celebrex, but nothing else has helped so much. Now I can exercise more often and I get through the night with far less pain.

But there's one problem -- sugar. It seems to upset both my stomach and my metabolism. (Incidentally, my father developed diabetes at about my age -- 67.)

The label on the grape-juice bottle says a cup of juice contains 42 grams of sugar. Since you recommend 3 cups of grape juice with pectin a day, that adds up to 126 grams, or about 16 teaspoons daily, according to my rough calculations.

Is grape juice a necessary ingredient, or it is included only to sweeten the sour taste of pectin? If the latter, I believe I could do without it. For example, I could mix pectin with oatmeal at breakfast.

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