The Gary Null Show

Lingonberry moderates high-salt diet inflammation

University of Helsinki (Finland), March 7, 2022

Lingonberry juice slightly lowers low-grade inflammation in rats fed on a high-salt diet, according to scientists. The rats were fed on 8% sodium chloride enriched pellets and given tap water or diluted lingonberry juice for ten weeks. The research, published in the Journal of Functional Foods, sought to test whether lingonberry juice could beneficially affect salt-induced inflammation and hypertension. The scientists saw that the salt-loaded diet impaired kidney function of rats without clear effect on blood pressure or vascular function. Within this, lingonberry juice was shown to moderately reduce biomarkers of low-grade inflammation. The researchers said the anti-inflammatory effects of polyphenols could explain positive cardiovascular effects. “We have found that lingonberry, a northern berry rich in polyphenols, improves vascular endothelium-dependent relaxation and decreases blood pressure of spontaneously hypertensive rats,” the researchers said.

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Physical activity may protect your brain as you age

University of Georgia, March 8, 2022

We all know we should exercise and eat healthy. But doing that isn't just good for maintaining your figure as you age. New research from the University of Georgia shows that physical activity could help protect your cognitive abilities as you age. And it doesn't have to be intense exercise to make an impact. Published in Sport Sciences for Health, the study followed 51 older adults, tracking their physical activity and fitness measurements. The participants performed tests specifically designed to measure cognitive functioning and underwent MRIs to assess brain functioning.

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Beta-Glucans Boost Natural Killer Cells to Fight Cancer, Boost Immunity

Université de la Méditerranée (France), March 10, 2022

Often used as medicine, beta-glucans are naturally occurring, biologically active polysaccharides that are found in the cell walls of mushrooms, algae, lichens, plants, and some bacteria. This matters because beta-glucans are also immunostimulating and boost the effectiveness of your body’s own cancer-eradicating natural killer cells, or NK cells. Natural killer cells are effector lymphocytes of the innate immune system that control several types of tumors and microbial infections by limiting their spread and subsequent tissue damage. Recent research highlights the fact that NK cells are also regulatory cells engaged in reciprocal interactions with dendritic cells, macrophages, T cells and endothelial cells. NK cell manipulation seems to hold promise in efforts to improve hematopoietic and solid organ transplantation, promote antitumor immunotherapy and control inflammatory and autoimmune disorders.” Oyster mushrooms and shitake are especially anti-carcinogenic for their high levels of beta-glucans. These mushrooms have also been shown to help destroy cancer cells, specifically. While different mushrooms have different levels of these healthy polysaccharides, most have been proven to boost immunity and also to have cytotoxic effects on cancer cells (meaning they help to kill them).

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Telling kids they're special may foster narcissism 

Ohio State University, March 9, 2022

Children who are told they are special by their parents are more likely to become narcissists, according to a study that aimed to uncover the origins of extreme selfishness The research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is based on 565 children in the Netherlands who were surveyed over the course of a year and a half, along with their parents. Children whose parents described them as "more special than other children" and as kids who "deserve something extra in life" were more likely to score higher on tests of narcissism than peers who were not lauded in this way. Researchers also measured how much parents overvalued their children by asking how much they agreed with statements like: "My child is a great example for other children to follow." The children were between seven and 11 when they entered the study. Parental warmth and encouragement may be a better strategy than inflating the ego, the study found. Youths who said they were often told they were loved by their parents were more likely to show high self-esteem but not narcissism. Children with high self-esteem did not see themselves as more special than others, but agreed with statements that they were happy with themselves and liked themselves as they were.

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DHA improves children’s sleep 

Oxford University  March 10 2022. 

The results of a study described in an article published in the Journal of Sleep Research reveal an association between higher levels of the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and better sleep in children. In a pilot study of 362 primary school students aged seven to nine years, Oxford University found that supplementation with 600 milligrams DHA per day for 16 weeks improved sleep in a sampling of participants who were rated by their parents as sleeping poorly. Those who received DHA experienced seven fewer waking episodes and nearly an hour more sleep than those who received placebos. When blood fatty acid levels were evaluated, the researchers found an association with higher levels of DHA and less bedtime resistance, parasomnias and total sleep disturbances. Having a higher ratio of DHA to arachidonic acid was also associated with better sleep.

COVID-19: Tannic acid targets key stages in the fight against SARS-CoV-2 infection

Natural polyphenol seems to inhibit the activity of three important molecular pathways involved in the SARS-CoV-2 infection Université de Montréal and McGill University, March 9, 2022

Professor Charles Ramassamy and his postdoctoral researcher Mohamed Haddad at  Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), in collaboration with scientists from Université de Montréal, McGill University, and Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), believe that tannic acid plays a role in inhibiting three important molecular pathways involved in the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Their work was published recently in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences (IJMS). Using a multidisciplinary approach, the teams showed that tannic acid inhibits the viral protein (RBD) of the British variant of SARS-CoV-2 from binding to its biological target, the ACE2 receptor. This receptor, which is found on the surface of many cells in the body, allows the virus to latch on and infect them. “Tannic acid binds to the RBD protein and prevents it from binding to the ACE2 receptor,” said Professor Ramassamy. He explained that in blocking the viral protein, tannic acid does not alter the physiological functions of ACE2 receptors, which have physiological functions in the body’s respiratory, cardiovascular, and renal systems, among others.

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Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy benefits people with depression through promoting self-kindness

University of Exeter, March 9, 2022

New research shows that Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) can help promote self-kindness in people with a history of depression, thereby putting their bodies in a state of safety and relaxation. The research, led by the University of Exeter with collaboration from the universities of Oxford and Magdeburg, indicates that MBCT may help break the cycle of highly critical thoughts and feelings of worthlessness, which often lead people with depression to relapse. Participants treated with MBCT showed a pattern of being kind to themselves, along with body responses of reduced threat response, a state of safety and relaxation that is important for regeneration and healing. Previous research has shown that individuals with recurrent depression benefit particularly from MBCT when they learn to become more compassionate towards themselves. This increased self-compassion has been defined as the ability to be kind to ourselves in stressful times.

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Herbal compound prevents colon cancer in mice

University of South Carolina School of Medicine, March 9, 2022

The active compound in Chinese herbs called emodin (naturally found in rhubarb and Japanese knotweed) can prevent colon cancer in mice, according to researchers at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. Physiologists conducting this study say this is likely due to emodin's ability to reduce the number of pro-tumor macrophages (a type of immune cell that can promote tumorigenesis). The study is published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology and has been chosen as an APSselect article for March.

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Resistance exercise may be superior to aerobic exercise for getting better ZZZs

Iowa State University, March 3, 2022 

Resistance exercise may be superior to aerobic exercise as a way to get better sleep, and sleep is important for cardiovascular health, according to new preliminary research . “It is increasingly recognized that getting enough sleep, particularly high-quality sleep, is important for health including cardiovascular health. Unfortunately, more than a third of Americans don’t get enough sleep on a regular basis,” said study author Angelique Brellenthin, Ph.D.,  “Aerobic activity is often recommended to improve sleep, yet very little is known about the effects of resistance exercise versus aerobic exercise on sleep. For this study, researchers enrolled 386 adults who met the criteria for overweight or obesity, which was a body mass index from 25-40 kg/m². Participants were inactive and had elevated blood pressure, measuring from 120-139 mm Hg systolic (top number) and 80-89 mm Hg diastolic (bottom number). Participants were randomly assigned to a no-exercise group (for comparison) or one of three exercise groups (aerobic only, resistance only, or combined aerobic and resistance) for 12 months. Everyone in the exercise groups participated in supervised 60-minute sessions, three times a week, with the combination exercise group doing 30 minutes of aerobic and 30 minutes of resistance exercise.

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Vitamin A, D and E deficiency linked to repeat colds and flu in Chinese children: Case control study

Harbin Children's Hospital (China), March 8, 2022

Low levels of vitamin A, D and E have been associated with Recurrent Respiratory Tract Infections (RRTI) among children living in Northern China, a new case control study reports. Writing in the journal PLOS One, researchers stated previous studies showed that the incidence of RRTIs among children in northern China ranged from 17.8% to 18.7% . They point out that numerous studies have focused on identifying the association between inadequate concentrations of vitamins A, D, and E and the incidence of RRTIs in Chinese children, but that the results have been contentious. They found that serum levels of vitamins A and E were significantly lower in the RRTI group than the control group. “The conditional logistic regression model and the receiver-operating characteristic curve showed that the insufficiency or deficiency of vitamins A, D, and E was positively correlated with RRTI occurrence (p < 0.05),” they added. “The incidence of insufficiency or deficiency for vitamins A, E, and D was 24.33%, 8.17%, and 19.33% in the control group but increased to 63.00%, 33.83%, and 56.50% in the RRTI group, respectively.” The researchers believe the study demonstrated that lower serum levels of vitamins A, D, and E are associated with RRTIs.

Proved the great antitumoral potential of a compound derived from olives

University of Granada (Spain), March 8, 2022

Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR), in collaboration with the universities of Barcelona and Jaen, have brought to light the antitumoral nature of maslinic acid (a compound derived from olives) in Caco-2 p53-deficient colon adenocarcinoma cells in the short term. Maslinic acid (MA) is a natural triterpene found in high concentrations in the waxy skin of olives. The results of this research, recently published in the renowned PloS ONE magazine, show without a doubt how maslinic acid is capable of early inducing the extrinsic cellular death pathway in Caco-2 cells that don't express protein p53 (known by its pro-apoptotic capacity). In previous works, professor Lupiáñez Cara's research team had reported that maslinic acid induces apoptotic cell death via the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway in cancer cell lines.

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Study finds that Nordic diet lowers cholesterol and blood sugar, even if you don't lose weight

University of Copenhagen, March 8, 2022

A healthy Nordic diet can prevent a range of diseases. Until now, the health benefits that researchers had attributed to a Nordic diet primarily focused on weight loss. But in a new study, University of Copenhagen researchers and their Nordic colleagues found clear evidence that a Nordic diet can lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels even without weight loss. In particular, they point to the composition of dietary fats as a possible explanation for the diet's positive effects. Berries, veggies, fish, and whole grains: These are the main ingredients of the Nordic diet concept that for the past decade, has been recognized as extremely healthy, tasty and sustainable. The diet can prevent obesity and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Until now, Nordic diet research has primarily been linked to the diet's positive health effect following weight loss. But a new analysis conducted by University of Copenhagen researchers, among others, makes it clear that a Nordic diet has positive health benefits, regardless of whether one loses weight or not.

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Study finds distinct biological ages across individuals' various organs and systems

Beijing Genomics Institute and Lobachevsky State University (Russia), March 8, 2022

It's common to say that someone looks either younger or older than their chronological age, but aging is more than skin deep. Our various organs and systems may have different ages, at least from a biological perspective. In a study published March 8 in the journal Cell Reports, an international team of investigators used biomarkers, statistical modeling, and other techniques to develop tools for measuring the biological ages of various organ systems. Based on their findings, the researchers report that there are multiple "clocks" within the body that vary widely based on factors including genetics and lifestyle in each individual. Most human aging studies have been conducted on older populations and in cohorts with a high incidence of chronic diseases because the aging process in young healthy adults is largely unknown and some studies have suggested that age-related changes could be detected in people as young as their 20s, we decided to focus on this age range."

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Treating heart attacks with a medium chain fatty acid

University of Michigan, March 8, 2022

A medium-chain fatty acid might one day help protect against heart attack injuries. In this publication, we target the interplay between energy metabolism and epigenetics mediated by the medium chain fatty acid 8C." Wang and colleagues were able to protect against heart attack injury in rat models with octanoic acid, an eight carbon (8C) medium chain fatty acid, as well as a few other metabolites. Those fatty acids produced acetyl-CoA, a building block for energy metabolism, which a stressed heart desperately needs. The idea is that a physician would administer this therapy to a person once they arrive at the hospital after having a heart attack, to reduce further injury and improve heart function during recovery, he says.

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Stress damages the movement centers in the brain

University of Bonn (Germany), March 8, 2022

Stress seems to have a negative effect on the learning of movements—at least in mice. This is the conclusion of a recent study at the University of Bonn. According to the study, the neurons of rodents lose some of their contacts with other neurons after stress. The animals also developed motor deficits. The results may be useful for earlier diagnosis and improved therapy of stress-related diseases such as depression. They also document that stress leaves traces in the brain—possibly permanent ones. The study appeared in the journal Translational Psychiatry.Chronically stressed people often show abnormalities in their motor skills, such as poorer fine motor control. The researchers came across a conspicuous feature: after the stressful situation, the neurons studied lost some of their synapses—these are the contacts to other nerve cells. During learning processes, new synapses are usually formed or existing ones are strengthened. Instead, the stressed rodents lost up to 15 percent of their contacts.

(OTHER NEWS)

Lead exposure in last century shrunk IQ scores of half of Americans

Duke University, March 7, 2022

In 1923, lead was first added to gasoline to help keep car engines healthy. However, automotive health came at the great expense of our own well-being. A new study calculates that exposure to car exhaust from leaded gas during childhood stole a collective 824 million IQ points from more than 170 million Americans alive today, about half the population of the United States. The findings suggest that Americans born before 1996 may now be at greater risk for lead-related health problems, such as faster aging of the brain. Leaded gas for cars was banned in the U.S. in 1996, but the researchers say that anyone born before the end of that era, and especially those at the peak of its use in the 1960s and 1970s, had concerningly high lead exposures as children. The team's paper appeared the week of March 7 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Lead is able to reach the bloodstream once it's inhaled as dust, or ingested, or consumed in water. In the bloodstream, it's able to pass into the brain through the blood-brain barrier, which is quite good at keeping a lot of toxicants and pathogens out of the brain, but not all of them. One major way lead used to invade bloodstreams was through automotive exhaust.

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Amazon rainforest is losing resilience: New evidence from satellite data analysis

Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (Germany), March 7, 2022

The Amazon rainforest is likely losing resilience, data analysis from high-resolution satellite images suggests. This is due to stress from a combination of logging and burning – the influence of human-caused climate change is not clearly determinable so far, but will likely matter greatly in the future. For about three quarters of the forest, the ability to recover from perturbation has been decreasing since the early 2000s, which the scientists see as a warning sign. The new evidence is derived from advanced statistical analysis of satellite data of changes in vegetation biomass and productivity. “Reduced resilience – the ability to recover from perturbations like droughts or fires – can mean an increased risk of dieback of the Amazon rainforest. The Amazon rainforest is a home to a unique host of biodiversity, strongly influences rainfall all over South America by way of its enormous evapotranspiration, and stores huge amounts of carbon that could be released as greenhouse gases in the case of even partial dieback, in turn contributing to further global warming. This is why the rainforest is of global relevance. The Amazon is considered a potential tipping element in the Earth system and a number of studies revealed its vulnerability.

Nicotinamide riboside shows promise in Parkinson disease trial

Haukeland University Hospital  (Norway), March 7 2022. 

The March 1, 2022 issue of Cell Metabolism reported findings from a randomized, double-blind trial that revealed a benefit for nicotinamide riboside (NR, a form of vitamin B3) among men and women with Parkinson disease. Nicotinamide riboside is a precursor of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), a coenzyme involved in metabolism whose levels decline during aging. “A growing body of evidence supports that boosting cellular levels of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) may confer neuroprotective effects in both healthy aging and neurodegeneration,” Brage Brakedal and colleagues wrote. The trial included 30 newly diagnosed Parkinson disease patients who had not received treatment for the disease. Half of the participants received 500 milligrams NR twice daily and the remainder received a daily placebo for thirty days. Upon enrollment and at the end of the study, participants received MRI and PET scans of the brain, and cerebrospinal fluid, skeletal muscle and blood cells were analyzed for metabolites. Gene expression in muscle and blood cells, and serum and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers of mitochondrial dysfunction and inflammation were also analyzed at these time points.

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GlyNAC supplementation extends life span in mice

Baylor College of Medicine, March 7, 2022

For over two decades, Sekhar has studied natural aging in older humans and aged mice. His work contributes to providing a better understanding of how glutathione deficiency, increased oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and multiple additional hallmark defects of aging contribute to the aging process and how they can be reversed with GlyNAC supplementation. "Energy is the currency of life and is generated by mitochondria. However, aging is associated with mitochondrial malfunction, and this could affect energy availability. When we discovered that GlyNAC supplementation can correct mitochondrial defects in aging, we asked an important question: Could GlyNAC supplementation from a younger age extend length of life?" said Sekhar. "To answer this question, we worked with healthy, normal laboratory mice."

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Common houseplants can improve air quality indoors

University of Birmingham UK, March 7 2022

Ordinary potted house plants can potentially make a significant contribution to reducing air pollution in homes and offices, according to new research led by the University of Birmingham . During a series of experiments monitoring common houseplants exposed to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) – a common pollutant – researchers calculated that in some conditions, the plants could be able to reduce NO2 by as much as 20 per cent. The researchers tested three houseplants, easy to maintain and not overly expensive to buy. They included Peace lily (Spathiphyllum wallisii), Corn plant (Dracaena fragrans) and fern arum (Zamioculcas zamiifolia). Each plant was put, by itself, into a test chamber containing levels of NO2 comparable to an office situated next to a busy road. Over a period of one hour, the team calculated that all the plants, regardless of species, were able to remove around half the NO2 in the chamber. The performance of the plants was not dependent on the plants’ environment, for example whether it was in light or dark conditions, and whether the soil was wet or dry.

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Nuts may help lower teenagers' risk of metabolic syndrome

University of Texas, March 5, 2022

Modest consumption of nuts every day is associated with an improved cardiovascular risk profile among adolescents, a new analysis of a large national database shows. T Adolescents who ate at least 12.9 grams (g) per day of nuts -- the equivalent of eating a small handful three times per week -- had less than half the odds of non-eaters for developing metabolic syndrome. This syndrome is a cluster of clinical features that heightens the risk of early heart disease and type 2 diabetes. "The surprising finding," said the study's lead investigator Roy Kim, MD, MPH, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, "is that, in spite of what we know about their health benefits, the majority of teens eat no nuts at all on a typical day." More than 75% of all teens reported eating no nuts at all. The researchers discovered that metabolic syndrome risk decreased with each additional gram per day of nut intake, but only up to 50 g/day (about 1.8 ounces), when the benefit tapered off. Kim theorized that at higher intakes, any benefits may have been offset by eating too many calories.

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Garlic sprouted for five days has improved antioxidant potential

Medical News Today, 1 March 2022

"Sprouted" garlic - old garlic bulbs with bright green shoots emerging from the cloves - is considered to be past its prime and usually ends up in the garbage can. Scientists are reporting in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that this type of garlic has even more heart-healthy antioxidant activity than its fresher counterparts. Sprouted garlic has received much less attention. When seedlings grow into green plants, they make many new compounds, including those that protect the young plant against pathogens. Kim's group reasoned that the same thing might be happening when green shoots grow from old heads of garlic. Other studies have shown that sprouted beans and grains have increased antioxidant activity, so the team set out to see if the same is true for garlic.

TONIGHT, ON The Progressive Commentary Hour MY GUEST IS, Edward Dowd, Edward Dowd is a consultant for Symphonic Capital, a US and German financial firm analyzing risk management performance for S&P 500 market opportunities, where he advises on market and risk strategies. He is also a former managing director for large cap growth equities at Blackrock -- one of the world's top three corporate and banking asset holders.

Study shows broccoli may offer protection against liver cancer

University of Illinois, March 3 2022

A new study from the University of Illinois reports that including broccoli in the diet may also protect against liver cancer, as well as aid in countering the development of fatty liver or nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) which can cause malfunction of the liver and lead to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a liver cancer with a high mortality rate. "The normal story about broccoli and health is that it can protect against a number of different cancers. But nobody had looked at liver cancer," says Elizabeth Jeffery, a U of I emeritus professor of nutrition. "We decided that liver cancer needed to be studied particularly because of the obesity epidemic in the U.S. It is already in the literature that obesity enhances the risk for liver cancer and this is particularly true for men. They have almost a 5-fold greater risk for liver cancer if they are obese."

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More alcohol, less brain: Study finds an association that begins with an average of just one drink a day

University of Pennsylvania, March 4, 2022

The science on heavy drinking and the brain is clear: The two don't have a healthy relationship. People who drink heavily have alterations in brain structure and size that are associated with cognitive impairments. But according to a new study, alcohol consumption even at levels most would consider modest—a few beers or glasses of wine a week—may also carry risks to the brain. An analysis of data from more than 36,000 adults, led by a team from the University of Pennsylvania, found that light-to-moderate alcohol consumption was associated with reductions in overall brain volume. The link grew stronger the greater the level of alcohol consumption, the researchers showed. As an example, in 50-year-olds, as average drinking among individuals increases from one alcohol unit (about half a beer) a day to two units (a pint of beer or a glass of wine) there are associated changes in the brain equivalent to aging two years. Going from two to three alcohol units at the same age was like aging three and a half years. The team reported their findings in the journal Nature Communications.

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Choosing to be with others is more consequential to well-being than choosing to be alone

Bar-Ilan University (Israel), March 4, 2022

A new study by researchers from Bar-Ilan University in Israel has found that the element of choice in our daily social interactions plays a key role in our well-being. Stable social relationships are conducive to well-being. But the effects of daily social interactions (or of time spent alone) on momentary feeling of happiness is not well understood. The current study, published in the Journal of Happiness Studies, suggests that our sense of choice of being with others (or of being alone) is a central factor which shapes our feelings in these contexts. Importantly, it was suggested that choice matters more 'with others' than alone, because experiences with others are more intense.

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Researchers find certain onions have excellent anticancer benefits

Cornell University, March 4, 2022

When it comes to cancer fighting foods, onions are high on the list. But while all onions help to prevent cancer due to key chemicals and compounds, there are certain onions that have more anticancer health benefits than others, particularly when it comes to preventing the spread of colon and liver cancers. A study conducted by Cornell University food scientists looked at 10 varieties of onion and shallots. Researchers found that the Western Yellow, pungent yellow, Northern Red and shallot varieties of onions were the highest in cancer-fighting compounds. Pungent yellow and Western Yellow were found to be especially effective against colon cancer, while shallots, Western Yellow and pungent varieties helped to combat colon cancer. Pungent, bitter onion varieties provide strongest anti-cancer benefits While all onions have cancer-fighting effects, these varieties in particular have a high flavonoid and phenolic content, and these phytochemicals contribute to higher amounts of antioxidants that provide even more protection. These powerful chemicals literally help to “mop up” free radicals that would otherwise pose a damage to cells.

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A new study relates liquid fructose intake to fatty liver disease

University of Barcelona (Spain), March 3, 2022

A high-fat diet is not enough to cause short-term fatty liver disease. However, if this diet is combined with the intake of beverages sweetened with liquid fructose, the accumulation of fats in the liver accelerates and hypertriglyceridemia —a cardiovascular risk factor— can appear. This is explained in a study on a mouse experimental model, published in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research . Fructose is one of the most common sweeteners in the food industry. This simple sugar (monosaccharide) is industrially obtained from corn syrup, a product derived from this gramineae. With a great sweetener power and low production costs, fructose is used by the food industry to sweeten beverages, sauces and processed foods, despite the scientific evidence that associates it with metabolic diseases which are risk factors of cardiovascular pathologies.

Male patients with advanced cancer experienced reduced fatigue after vitamin D treatment

Karolinska Institutet (Sweden), March 3, 2022

Fatigue, or severe tiredness and exhaustion, is a distressing condition for many patients with advanced cancer. Unfortunately, good pharmacological treatment options are limited, and the ones available come with a risk of side effects and/or habituation. In a recently conducted study in palliative home care in Stockholm, Palliative-D, we were able to show that correction of vitaminD deficiency reduced both pain and fatigue in patients with advanced and metastatic cancer. The effects were moderate, but the treatment was surprisingly well tolerated without any severe side effects. The study showed that correction of vitamin D deficiency caused significantly reduced fatigue in men, but not in women.

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Study finds drinking wine with meals was associated with lower risk of type 2 diabetes

Tulane University Obesity Research Center, March 3, 2022 

An analysis of health data for nearly 312,400 current drinkers suggests consuming alcohol, most notably wine, with meals is associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The analysis found: During an average of nearly 11 years of follow-up, about 8,600 of the adults in the study developed type 2 diabetes. Consuming alcohol with meals was associated with a 14% lower risk of type 2 diabetes compared to consuming alcohol without eating food. The potential benefit of moderate drinking on type 2 diabetes risk was evident only among the people who drank alcohol during meals, although the specific time of meals was not collected in this study. Consuming wine, beer and liquor had different associations with type 2 diabetes risk. While a higher amount of wine intake was associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, a higher amount of beer or liquor was associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes.

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Rhythm Of Breathing Key To Controlling Fear And Emotional Behavior

Northwestern University, March 2, 2022

We live in a fearful world with exposure to a deluge of stressors every day. As much as fear is a result of reacting to the actual or perceived events in our lives, it is also a biological function of the human body, and when equipped with an understanding of how the body manages the emotional system, we can easily outsmart it, tricking ourselves into emotional balance. This perspective is scientifically validated by new research from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, which discovered how the various rhythmic patterns of breath profoundly impact memory recall and the emotional body, specifically the fear response. The brain creates electrical impulses which link physical functions to emotional reactions, and the electrical activity of the brain is deeply affected by our breathing patterns. The outcome of this balance is determined by whether or not we are inhaling or exhaling, as well as if we are  breathing through the nose or the mouth, as each variable creates a different electrical response within the brain. In the Northwestern study, participants were shown images of human expressions, some frightful, while engaging in various patterns of breathing. Researchers observed that people more easily process fear, and more readily recall images, while inhaling through the nose.

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New findings on daily walking steps needed for longevity benefit

University of Massachusetts, March 3, 2022

A meta-analysis of 15 studies involving nearly 50,000 people from four continents offers new insights into identifying the amount of daily walking steps that will optimally improve adults' health and longevity—and whether the number of steps is different for people of different ages. The oft-repeated 10,000-steps-a-day mantra grew out of a decades-old marketing campaign for a Japanese pedometer, with no science to back up the impact on health. For adults 60 and older, the risk of premature death leveled off at about 6,000-8,000 steps per day, meaning that more steps than that provided no additional benefit for longevity. Adults younger than 60 saw the risk of premature death stabilize at about 8,000-10,000 steps per day. Interestingly, the research found no definitive association with walking speed, beyond the total number of steps per day, Paluch notes. Getting in your steps—regardless of the pace at which you walked them—was the link to a lower risk of death. The new research supports and expands findings from another study led by Paluch, published last September in JAMA Network Open, which found that walking at least 7,000 steps a day reduced middle-aged people's risk of premature death.

(VIDEOS)

INVENTION OF WHITENESS

John Powell, Distinguished professor of law, University of California at Berkeley

GUEST - Public Service - Campaign against Smart Meters

Les Jamieson 

Spice up your life: Cinnamon’s weight loss potential

University of Tokyo Japan, March 2, 2022

The active compound in cinnamon maybe a more tolerable weight loss ingredient than chilli pepper's capsaicin, a small exploratory clinical trial finds. A single ingestion of the active compound cinnamaldehyde increased energy expenditure by nearly four more calories over a 90 minute period compared to placebo. The researchers say cinnamaldehyde may offer a more tolerable thermogenic alternative to compounds like capsaicin found in chilli peppers. Anti-obesity effects? Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels are located throughout the body and mediate sensations such as pain, taste and temperature. TRP channels can be activated by natural compounds such as chilli peppers' capsaicin and previous animal studies have suggested this may impact energy balance and have an 'anti-obesity' effect. Capsaicin can increase metabolism in humans through sensory nerve stimulation. A single ingestion of cinnamaldehyde significantly increased energy expenditure by 3.6 kcal over the 90-minute period of the experiment when compared to placebo. Capsaicin and cinnamaldehyde enhanced postprandial fat oxidation and increased nose temperature until 15 minutes after ingestion. Cinnamaldehyde also increased the cheek and chin temperature, the facial thermography revealed. Heart rate variability analysis did not show any changes to the nervous system.

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Exposure to great outdoors boosted mental health during pandemic 

University of Colorado, March 2, 2022

People exposed to more green space during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic reported significantly less depression and anxiety, according to new University of Colorado Boulder research published  in the journal PLOS One. The study also found that, at a time when mental health problems soared due to financial woes, supply shortages and nonstop news coverage of the virus, people sought solace in the great outdoors, with one-third spending more time there than they did pre-COVID. “This research shows how critical it is to keep parks and green spaces open in times of crisis. “It also shows that, as a public health measure, more effort should be made to put in green spaces and make them accessible.” The study adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that green space can have a measurable impact on health.

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National study examines link between accountability to god, psychological well-being

Baylor University, March 2, 2022

Religious believers who embrace accountability to God (or another transcendent guide for life) experience higher levels of three of the four variables of psychological well-being – mattering to others, dignity and meaning in their lives, though not happiness – according to a study from researchers with Baylor University, Westmont College and Hope College. The study also found that this relationship is stronger among those who pray more often, suggesting that accountability coupled with communication may be a powerful combination for well-being. The study, Perceptions of Accountability to God and Psychological Well-Being Among US Adults, appears in Journal of Religion and Health and relies on data from the 2017 Baylor Religion Survey, a national survey of American religious beliefs, values and behaviors.

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Regular chocolate intake linked to enhanced cognition in cohort study

University of South Australia and University of Maine, March 2, 2022

Habitual chocolate consumption has correlation with better cognitive functioning, according to analyses of 968 people living in New York A study due for publication in the journal Appetite by researchers at the University of South Australia, the University of Maine and the Luxembourg Institute of Health (L.I.H.) examined the chocolate eating habits and cognitive performance of participants and assessed the eating habits of 968 people aged 23–98 years for 25 years.

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Acupuncture improves outcomes in carpal tunnel syndrome in part by remapping the brain

Massachusetts General Hospital, March 2, 2022

In a study reported in the journal Brain, a team of investigators based at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) sheds new light on exploring acupuncture for chronic pain disorders Researchers performed a sham-controlled acupuncture neuroimaging study of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), a neuropathic pain disorder. Few chronic pain disorders have established biomarkers or measureable treatment outcomes. However, in CTS measurements taken at the wrist of the speed at which signals are transmitted along the median nerve are a well known and accepted biomarker.

(OTHER NEWS - JUST ONE IF NECESSARY BEFORE MCGOVERN)

Analysis: Nuclear Disaster in Ukraine Could Make Swaths of Europe 'Uninhabitable for Decades'

Russia's assault on Ukraine risks nuclear devastation "far worse even than the Fukushima Daiichi catastrophe of 2011," Greenpeace warns.

Common Dreams. March 2, 2022

The international environmental group Greenpeace warned Wednesday that Russia's intensifying assault is placing Ukraine's nuclear power facilities under serious threat, risking devastation "far worse even than the Fukushima Daiichi catastrophe of 2011." In a 12-page analysis, Greenpeace details the unique hazards posed by Russia's war on Ukraine, which maintains 15 nuclear power reactors and is home to the largest nuclear energy complex in Europe. That facility, known as the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, is currently surrounded by Russian troops looking to force their way through a makeshift blockade erected Wednesday by ordinary Ukrainians. Greenpeace's new brief argues that the Zaporizhzhia plant is especially vulnerable to an accident or attack stemming from Russia's invasion,. Greenpeace raises particular concern over the complex's susceptibility to electrical power outages, its storage of spent nuclear fuel, and risks posed by flooding given the facility's close proximity to the massive Dnipro river system. Severe damage to the plant, the group warns, could "render vast areas of the European continent, including Russia, uninhabitable for decades." "For the first time in history, a major war is being waged in a country with multiple nuclear reactors and thousands of tons of highly radioactive spent fuel," he continued. "The war in southern Ukraine around Zaporizhzhia puts them all at heightened risk of a severe accident."

(GUEST)

GUEST - RAY MCGOVERN

30-60 mins of weekly muscle strengthening activity linked to 10-20% lower death risk

Tohoku University School of Medicine (Japan), March 1, 2022

Between 30 and 60 minutes of muscle strengthening activity every week is linked to a 10-20% lower risk of death from all causes, and from cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer, in particular, finds a pooled data analysis of the available evidence, published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. The findings are independent of aerobic exercise. But the analysis points to a J-shaped curve for most outcomes, with no conclusive evidence that more than an hour a week of muscle strengthening activity reduces the risk further still. Examples of these activities include lifting weights; working with resistance bands; push-ups, sit-ups, and squats; and heavy gardening, such as digging and shoveling.

(NEXT)

Study finds lower oxidative stress in children who live and study near green spaces

Barcelona Institute for Global Health, March 1, 2022

A study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), has analyzed, for the first time, the relationship between exposure to different green spaces and oxidative stress in children. The study concluded that greater exposure to vegetation is associated with lower levels of oxidative stress and that this association is observed regardless of the children's physical activity.

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Depression is more than a mental disorder—it affects the whole body

University of Granada (Spain), March 1, 2022

An international team of researchers has scientifically proven for the first time that depression is more than a mental disorder—it causes important alterations of the oxidative stress, so it should be considered a systemic disease, since it affects the whole organism. The results of this work, published in the renowned Journal of Clinical Psychiatry magazine, could explain the significant association that depression has with cardiovascular diseases and cancer, and why people suffering from depression die younger.

(NEXT)

Milk may exacerbate MS symptoms

University of Bonn (Germany), March 1, 2022

Multiple sclerosis sufferers often complain of more severe disease symptoms after consuming dairy products. Researchers at the Universities of Bonn and Erlangen-Nuremberg have now found a possible cause for this. According to the study, a protein in cow's milk can trigger inflammation that targets the "insulating layer" around nerve cells. The study was able to demonstrate this link in mice, but also found evidence of a similar mechanism in humans. The researchers therefore recommend that certain groups of sufferers avoid dairy products. The study has now been published in the journal PNAS.

(NEXT)

Study Reveals Anthocyanins in Strawberries Improve Insulin Resistance

Illinois Institute of Technology, March 1, 2022

A new study published in Molecular Nutrition & Food Nutrition found that anthocyanin-rich strawberries may improve insulin sensitivity.  Insulin resistance (IR) is a hallmark of metabolic syndrome and a risk factor for heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Researchers observed the effect of anthocyanins on the postprandial insulin response of 21 obese adults with insulin resistance. Subjects were served a typical 'Western-style' meal high in carbohydrates and fat plus a beverage that contained freeze-dried whole strawberry powder. The beverages were controlled for fiber, and the amount of strawberry powder ranged from 0 grams to 40 grams (equivalent to 3 cups of fresh strawberries). When subjects drank the most concentrated beverage, they didn't produce as much insulin as when they drank the least concentrated versions. In other words, they didn't need as much insulin to metabolize their meal after drinking the anthocyanin-rich strawberry shake. While the exact mechanisms are unclear, strawberry anthocyanins may alter insulin signaling at a cellular level.

(OTHER NEWS)

The Consequences of Humiliating Russia

Russia’s actions in Ukraine are to a great extent the culmination of the numerous humiliations that the West has inflicted on Russia over the past 30 years Michael Brenner, CONSORTIUM NEWS. February 28, 2022

The Mafia is not known for its creative use of language beyond terms like “hitman,” “go to the mattresses,” “living with the fishes” and suchlike. There are, though, a few pithy sayings that carry enduring wisdom. One concerns honor and revenge: “If you are going to humiliate someone publicly in a really crass manner, make sure that he doesn’t survive to take his inevitable revenge.” Violate it at your peril. That enduring truth has been demonstrated by Russia’s actions in the Ukraine which, to a great extent, are the culmination of the numerous humiliations that the West, under American instigation, has inflicted on Russia’s rulers and the country as a whole over the past 30 years. They have been treated as a sinner sentenced to accept the role of a penitent who, clad in sackcloth, marked with ashes, is expected to appear among the nations with head bowed forever. No right to have its own interests, its own security concerns or even its own opinions. Few in the West questioned the viability of such a prescription for a country of 160 million, territorially the biggest in the world, possessing vast resources of critical value to other industrial nations, technologically sophisticated and custodian of 3,000 + nuclear weapons. No mafia don would have been that obtuse. But our rulers are cut from a different cloth even if their strut and conceit often matches that of the capos. The West nostalgically celebrates the Yeltsin years as the Golden Age of Russian Democracy – an age when life expectancy dropped sharply, when alcoholism rose and mental health declined, when the tanking economy threw millions into poverty, when the oligarchs strutted their stuff, when the presidential chauffeur was the most influential man in the country, and when everyone was free to shoot his mouth off since nobody else heard him in the din of their own voices. Vladimir Putin, of course, was made of sterner stuff. He put an end to the buffoonery, successfully took on the Herculean task of reconstituting Russia as a viable state, and presented himself as ruler of an equal sovereign in cultivating relations with his neighbors.  In addition, he insisted that the civil rights and culture of Russians stranded in the Near Abroad be respected. Still, he gave no sign by word or deed that he contemplated using coercive means to restore the integration of Russian and Ukraine that had existed for more than 300 years. True, he opposed Western attempts to sever the ties between the two by incorporating Ukraine into their collective institutions – most notably the NATO declaration of 2008 stating that Ukraine (along with Georgia) were in the alliance’s antechamber being readied for entrance. Putin’s restraint contrasted with the audacity of Washington and its European subordinates who instigated the Maidan coup toppling the democratically elected president and promoting an American puppet in his place.  In effect, the United States has been Ukraine’s overseer ever since – a sort of absentee landlord. This attitude has progressively lowered the bar on accusation and insult directed at Russia and Putin personally. For Hillary Clinton he was “a new Hitler” as far back as 2016, for Joe Biden he was a “killer,” for Congress members a Satan using a bag of diabolical instruments to corrupt and destroy American democracy. For all of them, a tyrant turning Russia back to the political Dark Ages after the glowing democratic spring of the Yeltsin years, an assassin – albeit an inept one whose targeted victims somehow survived in unnatural numbers, for the Pentagon a growing menace who moved rapidly up the enemies list – displacing Islamic terrorism by 2017 and vying with China for the top spot ever since. The obsession with Putin the Evil spread as Washington pushed its allies hard to join in the denunciation.  The grossness of their personal attacks on Putin matched the ever-expanding scope of the accusations. In recent years, no election could be held in Europe without the leveling of charges that the Kremlin was “interfering” by some unspecified means or other – and at Putin’s personal direction. The absence of evidence was irrelevant. Russia became the pinata there to be smashed whenever one felt the urge or saw a domestic political advantage. Michael Brenner is a professor of international affairs at the University of Pittsburgh.

Bark of neem tree may protect against coronavirus variants

University of Colorado and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, February 28, 2022

Extract from the bark of the neem tree may help treat and reduce the spread of coronavirus, according to a new study led by scientists at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata. The study, reported recently in the journal Virology, shows that components of neem bark may target a wide range of viral proteins, suggesting its potential as an antiviral agent against emerging variants of coronaviruses (including SARS-CoV-2). "The goal of this research is to develop a neem-based medication that can reduce the risk of serious illness when someone is infected with coronaviruses," said study co-author Maria Nagel, MD, research professor in the department of neurology and ophthalmology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus.

(NEXT)

Black Seed Oil Puts Deadly Asthma Meds To Shame

University College London, February 26, 2022 

A new study published in the journal Phytotherapeutic Research reveals that a powerful little black seed known as nigella sativa-- once referred to as ‘the remedy for everything but death’ -- may provide a powerful alternative to pharmaceutical medicine in the treatment of asthma. The new study  was a placebo-controlled RCT performed on 80 asthmatics, with 40 patients in each treatment and placebo groups. NSO capsules were administered 500 mg twice daily for 4 weeks. The placebo group received an equal dose of olive oil.

(NEXT)

Healthy gut microbiome improves success of cancer treatment

King's College London, February 28, 2022

The largest study to date has confirmed the link between the gut microbiome and the response to cancer immunotherapy therapy for melanoma. The study is published today in Nature Medicine and co-ordinated by King's College London, CIBIO Department of the University of Trento and European Institute of Oncology in Italy, University of Groningen in the Netherlands and funded by the Seerave Foundation. Dr. Karla Lee, clinical researcher at King's College London said that "preliminary studies on a limited number of patients have suggested that the gut microbiome, as an immune system regulator, plays a role in the response of each patient to cancer immunotherapy, and particularly in the case of melanoma. This new study could have a major impact on oncology and medicine in general."

(NEXT)

Physical fitness linked to lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease

Washington VA Medical Center, February 28, 2022

People who are more physically fit are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than people who are less physically fit, according to a preliminary study released today. “One exciting finding of this study is that as people’s fitness improved, their risk of Alzheimer’s disease decreased—it was not an all-or-nothing proposition,” said study author Edward Zamrini, MD, of the Washington VA Medical Center in Washington, D.C.. “So people can work toward making incremental changes and improvements in their physical fitness and hopefully that will be associated with a related decrease in their risk of Alzheimer’s years later.” The study involved 649,605 military veterans in the Veterans Health Administration database with an average age of 61 who were followed for an average of nine years. They did not have Alzheimer’s disease at the start of the study. The group with the lowest level of fitness developed Alzheimer’s at a rate of 9.5 cases per 1,000 person-years, compared to 6.4 cases per 1,000 person-years for the most fit group.

(OTHER NEWS)

The Mess that Nuland Made

Victoria Nuland engineered Ukraine’s “regime change” in early 2014 without weighing the likely chaos and consequences, wrote Robert Parry on July 13, 2015.

The Mess that Nuland Made

Robert Parry.   Special to Consortium News

As the Ukrainian army squares off against ultra-right and neo-Nazi militias in the west and violence against ethnic Russians continues in the east, the obvious folly of the Obama administration’s Ukraine policy has come into focus even for many who tried to ignore the facts, or what you might call “the mess that Victoria Nuland made.” Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs “Toria” Nuland was the “mastermind” behind the Feb. 22, 2014 “regime change” in Ukraine, plotting the overthrow of the democratically elected government of President Viktor Yanukovych while convincing the ever-gullible U.S. mainstream media that the coup wasn’t really a coup but a victory for “democracy.” To sell this latest neocon-driven “regime change” to the American people, the ugliness of the coup-makers had to be systematically airbrushed, particularly the key role of neo-Nazis and other ultra-nationalists from the Right Sektor. For the U.S.-organized propaganda campaign to work, the coup-makers had to wear white hats, not brown shirts. So, for nearly a year and a half, the West’s mainstream media, especially The New York Times and The Washington Post, twisted their reporting into all kinds of contortions to avoid telling their readers that the new regime in Kiev was permeated by and dependent on neo-Nazi fighters and Ukrainian ultra-nationalists who wanted a pure-blood Ukraine, without ethnic Russians. Any mention of that sordid reality was deemed “Russian propaganda” and anyone who spoke this inconvenient truth was a “stooge of Moscow.” It wasn’t until July 7 that the Times admitted the importance of the neo-Nazis and other ultra-nationalists in waging war against ethnic Russian rebels in the east. The Times also reported that these far-right forces had been joined by Islamic militants. Some of those jihadists have been called “brothers” of the hyper-brutal Islamic State. Though the Times sought to spin this remarkable military alliance neo-Nazi militias and Islamic jihadists as a positive, the reality had to be jarring for readers who had bought into the Western propaganda about noble “pro-democracy” forces resisting evil “Russian aggression.” Perhaps the Times sensed that it could no longer keep the lid on the troubling truth in Ukraine. For weeks, the Right Sektor militias and the neo-Nazi Azov battalion have been warning the civilian government in Kiev that they might turn on it and create a new order more to their liking. Clashes in the West Then, on Saturday, violent clashes broke out in the western Ukrainian town of Mukachevo, allegedly over the control of cigarette-smuggling routes. Right Sektor paramilitaries sprayed police officers with bullets from a belt-fed machine gun, and police backed by Ukrainian government troops returned fire. Several deaths and multiple injuries were reported. Tensions escalated on Monday with President Petro Poroshenko ordering national security forces to disarm “armed cells” of political movements. Meanwhile, the Right Sektor dispatched reinforcements to the area while other militiamen converged on the capital of Kiev. While President Poroshenko and Right Sektor leader Dmitry Yarosh may succeed in tamping down this latest flare-up of hostilities, they may be only postponing the inevitable: a conflict between the U.S.-backed authorities in Kiev and the neo-Nazis and other right-wing fighters who spearheaded last year’s coup and have been at the front lines of the fighting against ethnic Russian rebels in the east. The Ukrainian right-wing extremists feel they have carried the heaviest burden in the war against the ethnic Russians and resent the politicians living in the relative safety and comfort of Kiev. In March, Poroshenko also fired thuggish oligarch Igor Kolomoisky as governor of the southeastern province of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Kolomoisky had been the primary benefactor of the Right Sektor militias. So, as has become apparent across Europe and even in Washington, the Ukraine crisis is spinning out of control, making the State Department’s preferred narrative of the conflict that it’s all Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fault harder and harder to sell. How Ukraine is supposed to pull itself out of what looks like a death spiral a possible two-front war in the east and the west along with a crashing economy is hard to comprehend. The European Union, confronting budgetary crises over Greece and other EU members, has little money or patience for Ukraine, its neo-Nazis and its socio-political chaos. America’s neocons at The Washington Post and elsewhere still rant about the need for the Obama administration to sink more billions upon billions of dollars into post-coup Ukraine because it “shares our values.” But that argument, too, is collapsing as Americans see the heart of a racist nationalism beating inside Ukraine’s new order. Another Neocon ‘Regime Change’ Much of what has happened, of course, was predictable and indeed was predicted, but neocon Nuland couldn’t resist the temptation to pull off a “regime change” that she could call her own. Her husband (and arch-neocon) Robert Kagan had co-founded the Project for the New American Century in 1998 around a demand for “regime change” in Iraq, a project that was accomplished in 2003 with President George W. Bush’s invasion. As with Nuland in Ukraine, Kagan and his fellow neocons thought they could engineer an easy invasion of Iraq, oust Saddam Hussein and install some hand-picked client in Iraq, Ahmed Chalabi was to be “the guy.” But they failed to take into account the harsh realities of Iraq, such as the fissures between Sunnis and Shiites, exposed by the U.S.-led invasion and occupation. In Ukraine, Nuland and her neocon and liberal-interventionist friends saw the chance to poke Putin in the eye by encouraging violent protests to overthrow Russia-friendly President Yanukovych and put in place a new regime hostile to Moscow. Carl Gershman, the neocon president of the U.S.-taxpayer-funded National Endowment for Democracy, explained the plan in a Post op-ed on Sept. 26, 2013. Gershman called Ukraine “the biggest prize” and an important interim step toward toppling Putin, who “may find himself on the losing end not just in the near abroad but within Russia itself.” For her part, Nuland passed out cookies to anti-Yanukovych demonstrators at the Maidan square, reminded Ukrainian business leaders that the U.S. had invested $5 billion in their “European aspirations,” declared “fuck the EU” for its less aggressive approach, and discussed with U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt who the new leaders of Ukraine should be. “Yats is the guy,” she said, referring to Arseniy Yatsenyuk. Nuland saw her big chance on Feb. 20, 2014, when a mysterious sniper apparently firing from a building controlled by the Right Sektor shot and killed both police and protesters, escalating the crisis. On Feb. 21, in a desperate bid to avert more violence, Yanukovych agreed to a European-guaranteed plan in which he accepted reduced powers and called for early elections so he could be voted out of office. But that wasn’t enough for the anti-Yanukovych forces who led by Right Sektor and neo-Nazi militias overran government buildings on Feb. 22, forcing Yanukovych and many of his officials to flee for their lives. With armed thugs patrolling the corridors of power, the final path to “regime change” was clear. Instead of trying to salvage the Feb. 21 agreement, Nuland and European officials arranged for an unconstitutional procedure to strip Yanukovych of the presidency and declared the new regime “legitimate.” Nuland’s “guy” Yatsenyuk became prime minister. While Nuland and her neocon cohorts celebrated, their “regime change” prompted an obvious reaction from Putin, who recognized the strategic threat that this hostile new regime posed to the historic Russian naval base at Sevastopol in Crimea. On Feb. 23, he began to take steps to protect those Russian interests. Ethnic Hatreds What the coup also did was revive long pent-up antagonisms between the ethnic Ukrainians in the west, including elements that had supported Adolf Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union during World War Two, and ethnic Russians in the south and east who feared the anti-Russian sentiments emanating from Kiev. First, in Crimea and then in the so-called Donbas region, these ethnic Russians, who had been Yanukovych’s political base, resisted what they viewed as the illegitimate overthrow of their elected president. Both areas held referenda seeking separation from Ukraine, a move that Russia accepted in Crimea but resisted with the Donbas. However, when the Kiev regime announced an “anti-terrorism operation” against the Donbas and dispatched neo-Nazi and other extremist militias to be the tip of the spear, Moscow began quietly assisting the embattled ethnic Russian rebels, a move that Nuland, the Obama administration and the mainstream news media called “Russian aggression.” Amid the Western hysteria over Russia’s supposedly “imperial designs” and the thorough demonizing of Putin, President Barack Obama essentially authorized a new Cold War against Russia, reflected now in new U.S. strategic planning that could cost the U.S. taxpayers trillions of dollars and risk a possible nuclear confrontation. Yet, despite the extraordinary costs and dangers, Nuland failed to appreciate the practical on-the-ground realities, much as her husband and other neocons did in Iraq. While Nuland got her hand-picked client Yatsenyuk installed and he did oversee a U.S.-demanded “neo-liberal” economic plan slashing pensions, heating assistance and other social programs the chaos that her “regime change” unleashed transformed Ukraine into a financial black hole. With few prospects for a clear-cut victory over the ethnic Russian resistance in the east and with the neo-Nazi/Islamist militias increasingly restless over the stalemate the chances to restore any meaningful sense of order in the country appear remote. Unemployment is soaring and the government is essentially bankrupt. The last best hope for some stability may have been the Minsk-2 agreement in February 2015, calling for a federalized system to give the Donbas more autonomy, but Nuland’s Prime Minister Yatsenyuk sabotaged the deal in March by inserting a poison pill that essentially demanded that the ethnic Russian rebels first surrender. Now, the Ukraine chaos threatens to spiral even further out of control with the neo-Nazis and other right-wing militias supplied with a bounty of weapons to kill ethnic Russians in the east turning on the political leadership in Kiev. In other words, the neocons have struck again, dreaming up a “regime change” scheme that ignored practical realities, such as ethnic and religious fissures. Then, as the blood flowed and the suffering worsened, the neocons just sought out someone else to blame. Thus, it seems unlikely that Nuland, regarded by some in Washington as the new “star” in U.S. foreign policy, will be fired for her dangerous incompetence, just as most neocons who authored the Iraq disaster remain “respected” experts employed by major think tanks, given prized space on op-ed pages, and consulted at the highest levels of the U.S. government.

Vegetarians have 14% lower cancer risk than meat-eaters, study finds

Oxford University, February 24, 2022

Vegetarians have a 14% lower chance of developing cancer than carnivores, according to a large study that links meat-eating to a heightened risk of the disease. A team of researchers from Oxford University analysed data on more than 470,000 Britons and found that pescatarians had a 10% reduced risk. Compared with people who eat meat regularly – defined as more than five times a week – those who consumed small amounts had a 2% lower risk of developing cancer, the study found.

(NEXT)

Dietary Lutein Modulates Growth and Survival Genes in Prostate Cancer Cells

Indiana University School of Medicine, February 26, 2022

Reports from Indiana University School of Medicine Provide New Insights that Dietary Lutein Modulates Growth and Survival Genes in Prostate Cancer Cells) According to news originating from Indianapolis, Indiana, research stated, "Lutein is a carotenoid pigment present in fruits and vegetables that has anti-inflammatory and antitumor properties. In this study, we examined the effect of lutein on proliferation and survival-associated genes in prostate cancer (PC-3) cells." Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the Indiana University School of Medicine, "We found that in vitro culture of PC-3 cells with lutein induced mild decrease in proliferation that improved in combination treatment with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR gamma) agonists and other chemotherapeutic agents. Flow cytometry analyses showed that lutein improved drug-induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in prostate cancer. Gene array and quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analyses showed that lutein altered the expression of growth and apoptosis-associated biomarker genes in PC-3 cells."

(NEXT)

Walnuts may support sperm health, according to new animal research

University of Delaware, Feb. 28, 2022 

New animal research suggests eating a walnut-enriched diet may improve sperm quality by reducing lipid peroxidation, a process that can damage sperm cells. This form of cell damage harms sperm membranes, which are primarily made up of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Walnuts are the only tree nut that are predominantly comprised of PUFAs (one ounce contains 13 grams of PUFAs out of 18 grams of total fat). Research on the health benefits of PUFAs has advanced and most recently the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans has emphasized this type of fat as a replacement for saturated fats. As this is an animal study, there is no direct correlation to processes that occur in the human body. However, the findings support previous research suggesting that walnuts provide key nutrients that may be essential for sperm function.

(NEXT)

Broccoli and kale microgreens pack a nutritional punch that varies with growing conditions

American Chemical Society, February 15, 2022

Although microgreens were initially gourmet ingredients for upscale restaurants, they’ve become popular among gardeners and home cooks. Despite their “superfood” label, the levels of healthful compounds, such as phytonutrients, in most varieties of microgreens are unknown. Researchers in ACS Food Science & Technology now report that kale and broccoli microgreens grown in either windowsills or under commercial growing conditions are rich in phytonutrients, though the levels of some compounds varied considerably between the two environments.

(NEXT)

Sugar’s molecular link to Alzheimer’s: Study

University of Bath (UK), February 25, 2022

A "tipping point" molecular link between the blood sugar glucose and Alzheimer's disease has been established by scientists for the first time, who have shown that excess glucose damages a vital enzyme involved with inflammation response to the early stages of Alzheimer's. Abnormally high blood sugar levels, or hyperglycaemia, is well-known as a characteristic of diabetes and obesity, but its link to Alzheimer's disease is less familiar. Scientists already knew that glucose and its break-down products can damage proteins in cells via a reaction called glycation but the specific molecular link between glucose and Alzheimer's was not understood. But now scientists from the University of Bath Departments of Biology and Biochemistry, Chemistry and Pharmacy and Pharmacology, have unraveled that link.

(RFK)

Adam Nagourney’s recent effort to cancel and condemn Robert Kennedy Jr. has registered another low in the New York Times’ registry of crank tabloid journalism.  Americans’ trust in our media is already at an all time low, down to 21 percent last year, and the lowest in the world. The Times’ propensity for fake reporting undoubtedly has contributed to American journalism’s steady decline. So if a journalist is clueless about the individual he is writing about, what better weapon to employ than Robert’s own family members and friends?  Fortunately Nagourney’s article is just a rambling, incoherent diatribe recycling earlier Times hit pieces by Roni Rabin and Robert’s niece Dr. Kerry Kennedy Meltzer. Its message is that Robert has turned his life away from being a conscientious advocate for the environment and jumped on the conspiratorial bandwagon. However, there are glaring flaws in Nagourney’s reasoning that his apparent ignorance about the subject matter would account for. Nowhere does Nagourney mention Robert’s international bestselling book The Real Anthony Fauci, which has caused such a stir worldwide. Did the author bother to read the book?  Highly doubtful. Nagourney’s writing seemingly focuses on Hollywood and LBGT issues.  Evidently he is not the ideal journalist for the Times’ editorial management to assign an article that otherwise requires many years of research into our nation’s federal health system and reams of legal documents and peer-reviewed studies about vaccine efficacy and safety. Robert is publicly on record inviting anyone who wishes to debate and challenge his book’s content and the over 2,100 references supporting its claims. Would any of the Times’ journalists, who hide behind their quills, have the courage to accept his invitation? To our knowledge nobody from the mainstream media has taken up Robert’s offer. We might challenge the Times’ editorial management to unearth a single instant where Robert has stated he was not pro-vaccine.  If the Times is so worried about Kennedy being on the wrong side of history and science, then why not review The Real Anthony Fauci with reliable, independent fact checkers to debunk any misstatements and untruths? The fact that the Times and the mainstream media have in unison ignored the book entirely, hoping it will fade away into obscurity, is itself gross negligence. Even Fauci and Bill Gates have failed to satisfactorily make a concerted effort to exonerate themselves from the book’s damning evidence. If the Times’ fraudulent charge is guilt by association, then yes indeed Robert has a fan base among tens of thousands of anti-vaccination parents across the nation with vaccine-damaged children. But this follows the kind of illogic that Bill Clinton, Bill Gates and Allen Dershowitz should be behind bars for their fellowship with Jeffrey Epstein. Repeatedly, Robert is very succinct about being pro-vaccine and he has reason to be very worried about the credibility of vaccine makers’ clinical trial data and the deep conflicts of interest between the drug industry and federal regulators who are too willing and eager to give their Big Pharm masters a green light to licensure. That Nagnourney would resurrect the old vaccine-autism chestnut is to be expected of any hit person assigned to target an anti-vaxxer. Yet there is very sound evidence to support Robert’s stance on the vaccine-autism debate. We may recall that it was Robert who filed the Freedom of Information request to uncover the smoking gun behind a CDC study showing that there was indeed a relationship between earlier thimerosal (mercury)-laced vaccines and neurological disorders, including autism. The evidence is clearly outlined in the transcript of a 2000 secret meeting held at the Simpsonwood retreat facility outside CDC headquarters in Atlanta.  During the meeting, the study’s chief scientist, Dr. Thomas Verstraeten, stated, “This analysis suggests that in our study population, the risks of tics, ADD, language and speech delays, and developmental delays in general may be increased by exposures to mercury from thimerosal-containing vaccines during the first six months of life.”  The clandestine Simpsonwood gathering decided to withhold its findings from the public and, instead, proceed with a recalculation of the same data by employing confounders, or biased criteria selection in order to confirm the CDC’s desired results. Later a House Committee on Government Reform’s three-year review of the CDC’s and FDA’s handling of the exponential rise in autism concluded that “It appears that many who participated in the thimerosal debates allowed their standards to be dictated by their desire to disprove an unpleasant theory.” Dr Roger Bernier confirmed a deep concern Robert has been sounding for years to the mainstream media’s plugged ears. During the Committee hearings, Dr. Bernier, who was then the CDC’s associate director of science, stated, “It [removing thimerosal from vaccines] could entail financial losses of inventory if current vaccine inventory is wasted. It could harm one or more manufacturers and may then decrease the number of suppliers… The evidence justifying this kind of abrupt policy change [immediate removal of mercury from all vaccines] does not appear to exist, and it could entail financial losses for all existing stocks of vaccines that contain thimerosal.” In other words, for the CDC, then as now, protecting pharmaceutical interests and money trump public health and well-being. The Real Anthony Fauci is riddled with similar examples of financial incentives driving health policies directly under Fauci’s control. Finally, the Commission recommended that “studies be conducted that pool the results of independent research that has been done thus far, and a comprehensive approach should be developed to rid humans, animals and the environment from this dangerous toxin.” Yet unsurprisingly a subsequent CDC study, after several attempts to massage the original data, was published to deny any relationship between vaccination and autism. This remains the position of the CDC, FDA and HHS despite a large body of independent research, with no conflict of interests with governmental and private industry interests, continues to mount against our policy makers’ reliance on tabloid science. Separate from Robert, cases have been adjudicated through the Justice Department to award monetary compensation to victims of vaccine-related autism and encephalitis. However, most dramatic is the whistleblower case of Dr. William Thompson, a senior CDC epidemiologist. Dr. Thompson released thousands of documents to Prof. Brian Hooker, a biologist at Simpson University, providing evidence that the CDC under Julie Gerberding’s watch, withheld and later destroyed research data proving the MMR vaccine contributed to higher autism rates in African American boys The documents also proved the CDC has known for years that the influenza vaccines, which still contain mercury, contributed to neurological tics and disorders. If we can easily find these references, certainly it is within the Times’ capability to do so also. We should lend an attentive ear to Robert’s Covid vaccine warnings because on many occasions in the past he has been on the correct side of history. Perhaps Nagourney’s conflating the safety profiles between the experimental mRNA and adenovirus vector Covid injections from traditional pre-Covid vaccines. For example, Robert was a lead attorney in the historic ruling against Monsanto and its carcinogenic glyphosate herbicide or Roundup. The latest legal update is that Monsanto has settled nearly 100,000 lawsuits and paid out $11 billion. Another 26,000 cases remain pending. Throughout his law career Robert has been involved in hundreds of legal cases to protect the environment such as New York City’s watershed; enforcement of the Clean Water Act; protecting poor minority, indigenous communities, and military personnel from corporate and federal toxic pollution; and legal victories against the oil, hydrofracking, pipeline and nuclear power industries. Last year, Robert’s Children’s Health Defense (CHD) won a US Court of Appeals case against the Federal Communications Commission for the agency’s failure to review the health and safety guidelines on 5G and other wireless technology. In 2019, 26,000 scientists submitted a petition to the UN, World Health Organization, European Union and world governments demanding a halt to a 5G rollout. There are over 10,000 peer-reviewed studies now warranting global caution about radio frequency radiation’s adverse effects to the environment and human DNA, the endocrine system and various organs. Undoubtedly the CHD case unsettled the New York Times; it may be a reason among others for the newspaper to print vindictive articles against Robert. Following the Times’ partnership with the telecom giant Verizon to launch a 5G Journalism Lab, the paper’s 5G coverage has consistently parroted the telecom industry’s talking points. The Verizon collaboration will provide the newspaper with a jump start ahead of other mainstream media to gain “early access the 5G network.” Nor should we forget that the Times’ top shareholder is Mexican billionaire and mobile phone magnate Carlos Slim, who is positioned to rake in billions from 5G’s rollout south of the border. We might ask why Robert would risk tarnishing the Kennedy legacy, which his siblings seem determined to keep pristine? Quite simply, like his father and uncle, Bobby is a rebel at heart who seeks the truth rather than to preserve a family legacy or bureaucratic ideology. As for the New York Times, on matters of critical domestic and international importance, it has repeatedly proven to be unreliable. This is the same Times, despite its enormous resources and government contacts that has gotten its stories wrong at the cost of countless lives. It got the story of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction reprehensibly wrong, which led to one of the greatest debacles in foreign policy in this century. It got Libya, Venezuela, and Syria wrong. It was wrong about the Obama-Clinton backed coup spearheaded by Hillary sidekick Victoria Nuland.  And to this day the Times has failed to hold the US’s co-responsibility for prolonging the Saudis’ genocide in Yemen. And the Gray Lady refuses to cover other nations’ success stories in their handling the pandemic, including prescribing repurposed inexpensive drugs such as ivermectin which has reduced SARS-2 infections and deaths dramatically. Had Nagourney, Rabin and Robert’s siblings and friends spent thousands of hours doing meticulous research to uncover the truth, it would be less likely they would have proceeded in advancing their shared conspiratorial delusions. In the absence of any observable scientific background, to denigrate Robert with personal biases and dogmatic assumptions is disingenuous. Certainly he has spent more time investigating the corruption endemic in our federal health system than anyone in the history of the New York Times. So at what point do the Fed’s junk science, misdemeanors, and perjury before Congress pile up to a tipping point whereby nothing coming our health agencies can be taken at their word?  Robert evidently passed that threshold long before the rest of us. As we witness our federal health officials back pedaling or abandoning their own health advice, rewrite scientific analyses, rapidly fund compromised research institutes in order to debunk the next damning study about the inefficacy of masks, social distancing and the Covid vaccines’ adverse effects and mandates, we are observing a health system in dismal disarray. Improvising on a meditation by the Trappist monk Thomas Merton, who had carried on a correspondence with Robert’s mother Ethel, Times’ journalists such as Nagourney and Rabin are like people who wander the countryside painting billboards that say “The CDC Saves” or “Prepare to Meet God (Anthony Fauci).”  Oddly, these biased opinion essays should not make us think about the CDC nor Fauci. Rather we should wonder what goes on in these writers’ minds. Absent any journalist integrity, we should wonder what their motives are to force THEIR CDC and Fauci upon us by way of condemning the critics of the government’s failed Covid pandemic policies. Or rather should we pity these journalists’ scorn and vitriol as simply pathetic projections of themselves?