The number of quack cures peddled by doctors and salesmen over the ages never ceases to amaze. Most of the mixtures marketed were at best ineffective, and at worst poisonous enough that prolonged use could prove fatal (lead, arsenic and mercury all spring to mind). In order to make their product more attractive, producers would often advertise it as a cure-all solution.

I recently came across one such cure which, whilst probably not harmful, seems dubious at best. Whilst browsing an 1892 copy of the Baedeker guide to the Rhine, I was intrigued by the mention of something called the ‘Grape Cure’. Considering the region’s longstanding reputation as a wine-growing area, I assumed that it involved the time-honoured ritual of drinking of large quantities of wine in order to miraculously cure one of all ailments, both mental and physical (at least temporarily). However, it turned out that the Grape Cure literally involved gorging on a prodigious quantity of grapes. Here is what the guide’s editor has to say about it:

Grapes when eaten in moderate quantity (1-2 lbs. daily) have a soothing effect on the mucous membrane, and in conjunction with a generous diet contribute materially to restore the strength of convalescents. When eaten in greater quantities (3-8 lbs. daily), the vegetable acid and salts produce an effect similar to that of mineral waters containing Glauber’s or common salt.

The grapes of the Rhenish Palatinate (‘Gutedel’ or ‘Junker’, and ‘Oesterreicher’ or ‘Sylvaner’) are large, thick-skinned, and well-flavoured, and hence this district is the centre of the ‘Cure’…good dessert-grapes may be procured almost everywhere on the Rhine, and the grape-cure may be undergone at Honnef, the Laubbach, Boppard, St. Goarshausen, Ruedesheim, Wiesbaden, Badenweiler, and numerous other summer resorts.

The Grape Cure, which was according to the Baedeker guide a “very popular Continental institution”, spread to America in an altered, more readily marketable form. In 1892, William Kelsey, the owner of a printing press in Connecticut, began marketing a patent remedy called ‘Dr. Baker’s Grape Cure’. He maintained that several “fat and jolly Germans” had discovered that eating nothing but grapes cleaned out their digestive system, made their liver healthy, and substantially improved their general health. The advertisement went on to claim that “our own Dr. Baker studied this wonderful medicine, and reduced it to an extract” which Kelsey sold for $1 a bottle. The formula contained water, fortified wine, glycerin, herbal extracts, and 80 grams of acetanilide (a pain remover), together with the “secret ingredient” so ubiquitous in quack medicines.

Kelsey is near-forgotten today, but the legacy of the Grape Cure’s most fervent advocate, Johanna Brandt, lives on. Johanna Brandt (1876-1964) was a South African propagandist of Afrikaner nationalism, spy during the Boer War, and writer on controversial health subjects. In her book, The Grape Cure (published 1928), she claimed that following a grape diet had managed to entirely cure her of stomach cancer. There is actually no evidence to suggest that she ever had cancer, let alone that she was cured of it by eating grapes. Doubtless hoping to boost her credibility, Brandt maintained that “books on this wonderful Nature Cure have been published in all the various languages of Europe” as far back as 1556. Her variant involved a strict regimen of fasting followed by a grape diet. For particularly weak patients grape juice could be used as a substitute, while for external cancers she recommended a grape poultice or a grape juice compress. Her explanation of the scientific workings of the cure is as follows:

The grape is highly antiseptic and a powerful solvent of inorganic matter deposits, fatty degeneration, morbid and malignant growths. It acts as a drastic eliminator of evil while building new tissue. Abnormal growths, cancers, tumors, ulcers, abscesses and fibrous masses seem to be dissolved by the powerful chemical agent in the grape. The secret of the Grape Cure in wasting diseases is to be found in the rich proteid supplied by the grape. Grapes are the most magnetic food, as every tendril of the grape is a living receiver of cosmic magnetism.

Brandt also maintained that the grape cure had demonstrated effectiveness against arthritis, diabetes, gallstones, cataracts, stomach ulcers, tuberculosis and syphilis; but it is its reputed effectiveness in curing cancer which has remained influential. It is not supported by any scientific evidence, yet a search for the Grape Cure on Google throws up a surprisingly large number of results. Brandt’s book is still selling on Amazon with a high proportion of 5 star reviews. The Grape Cure’s credibility is, however, rather undermined by the fact that it is frequently featured on sites with titles such as ‘Vibrational Healing’ and ‘MysticalPortal’.