FITNESS & EXERCISE: Ruthie Porter

A TYPICAL DAY in the life of 94-year old Ruthie Porter begins at 4:00 a.m. “If I’m fortunate enough to wake up with my eyes open wide, then I thank God and I get up.” It’s that thankful, positive attitude that keeps Ruthie going. This diminutive lady is the embodiment of longevity and she’s happy to share her “secrets” with others.

Ruthie’s first order of business after she awakens each day — before she even brushes her teeth (which are all hers, by the way) — is to drink a cup of boiling water. “I’ve been doing this for 30 years,” she said.  “There’s no cost, it’s easy to do, and it works wonders for me.”

Yellow Raisins & Gin

After drinking her cup of boiling water, Ruthie has one cup of coffee and maybe a banana.  Then she partakes of another secret of her longevity— yellow raisins soaked in gin.  “I call this my ‘recipe’ and it’s helped my arthritis for more than 16 years,” says Ruthie.  “I have never missed a day and have yet to take a pill.  You know, I always have them marinating.  It’s not a cure for arthritis, but I know what good it’s done for me.”

Ruthie further explains that “gin is made from Juniper berries, which were used by the American Indians for stomach ailments, and, since the Middle Ages, in anti-inflammatory remedies and prescriptions.”

There are a lot of theories on the alleged healing effect of gin-soaked raisins. As stated in the Green Pharmacy Herbal Handbook on www.mothernature.com. “If you benefit from gin-steeped raisins, the raisins probably do you more good than the gin. Grapes and raisins contain many pain relieving, anti-arthritic and anti-inflammatory chemicals.”

The remedy was actually made famous by Paul Harvey, a radio announcer who mentioned the gin-raisin solution to arthritis. Some, like Ruthie, think that eating nine gin-soaked yellow raisins a day can ward off arthritic pain.  However, there is as yet no scientific evidence that eating three or nine or any number of gin-soaked raisins a day can cure arthritis.

Exercise Enthusiast

After her morning elixir, Ruthie leaves her Merritt Island, Florida home at 5 a.m. five days a week so she’s at Pro-Health & Fitness Center when it opens at 5:30 am.   “I love that time of morning,” said Ruthie, “especially to exercise,” which she does seven days a week.

You can hear the pride in her voice when she says, “I’m keeping up with the younger generation.  I do all different kinds of things—spinning, kickboxing, lifting weights.  I’m so interested in the aerobics room; I call myself ‘the token’ and have so much fun with the young women and men.”

Ruthie is very petite, weighing just 98 points.  “Well,” she explained, “when some women age, they either shrink or expand—I shrank!  “Others either dry up or leak—fortunately I don’t have either of those problems!”

Ruthie the Fan Dancer in the mid 1930s.

In Ruthie’s younger days, she had a lot of fun—and a career—in show business.  “I loved performing,” she said.  “From around 1933 through World War II, I worked as a fan dancer and in floor shows, USO clubs, and even on a gambling ship.  I was ahead of my time back then.”

Fast forward to 1983, when Ruthie moved to Florida from up north.  Always a swimmer, Ruthie continued to swim for exercise in Brevard Community College’s Olympic-size pool at its Cocoa campus.  She swam a mile every day, but now opts for other forms of exercise at the Pro-Health & Fitness Center.

Simplicity and common sense guide Ruthie. “I eat everything and if something doesn’t agree with me, I just don’t eat it again.”

When it comes to beer, Ruthie believes in the words of chemist and renowned brewer, Bruce Carlton, “Beer will always have a definite role in the diet of an individual and can be considered a cog in the wheel of nutritional foods.”

Ruthie describes herself  as very casual.  “I do everything I always have, just not as often and not as fast.”

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